Participants: C. A. Murray
Series Code: AOT
Program Code: AOT000059
|
00:12 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth from Puerto Rico.
00:17 The Unchanged with C.A. Murray. 00:21 Hello friends, and welcome to another night of our 00:24 Anchors Of Truth series coming from the beautiful island of 00:28 Puerto Rico from the Bella Vista Seventh-day Adventist Church. 00:31 We have had a blessed week thus far. 00:34 And we know tonight the Lord is not going to disappoint. 00:37 And so we thank you for joining us for this very 00:40 spirit filled evening. 00:42 I looked at the sermon title. 00:44 I also know the speaker very well. 00:46 And I know that God has a wonderful message 00:48 in store for you tonight. 00:50 So invite your friends and your family members 00:52 to stop shuffling around. 00:54 If you're at home and very very busy, I would encourage you 00:57 to sit down and tune in to hear what the Spirit 01:00 has to say to the church. 01:02 We've also enjoyed some beautiful weather. 01:05 If you're joining us from the islands, you know 01:07 exactly what we mean. 01:08 But we also pray for our brothers and sisters 01:11 who are enduring the cold weather maybe there in the 01:13 northeast of the United States. 01:15 But the Lord, tonight, is going to warm your heart 01:17 as you listen to this servant of the Lord 01:20 break the bread of life. 01:22 We'd also like to remind you, tomorrow morning 01:24 we have another sermon. 01:25 Almost the last sermon in our series here 01:28 of the Anchors Of Truth. 01:30 And on Sabbath afternoon at 3 o'clock, there's going to be 01:33 our final message. 01:35 So out of our series we've had Pastor Jim Gilley, 01:39 we also had Pastor John Dinzey, I spoke last night, 01:42 Pastor C.A. tonight, tomorrow morning Pastor John Dinzey. 01:45 And then I cap off our series here in Puerto Rico. 01:48 But for this evening, we thank you for tuning in. 01:51 We have some wonderful music tonight, but before we get to 01:54 the music, we also like to come to the Lord in prayer. 01:57 And our prayer this evening is going to be brought to us by 02:00 Dr. Carmen Perez, who is the Vice President of the 02:04 Inter-America Division Theological Seminary. 02:07 And she's stationed here at the Antillean University. 02:11 So tonight let's invite the Lord as we invite her to come 02:14 and bring us before the Lord through the 02:17 wonderful medium of prayer. 02:21 Let us all pray. 02:23 Heavenly Father, we acknowledge Your presence 02:28 in this house of prayer and in our lives this evening. 02:32 You are the only all knowing, all powerful, 02:37 and always present God. 02:40 And we want to bring honor and glory to Your name 02:42 forever and ever. 02:44 We would like to thank You for the riches of Your kindness. 02:49 And we know, dear Lord, that Your forbearance and 02:53 Your patience towards us is always there. 02:58 Father, we would also like to thank You for the wonderful 03:02 presence of Your Holy Spirit among us, 03:05 the wonderful messages that we have heard. 03:08 Father, we pray also for all of those that will hear us tonight. 03:14 We thank You for the wonderful opportunity to be able to air 03:17 live from the Bella Vista church. 03:21 And Father, we thank You also for this continuing series of 03:24 Anchors Of Truth, Growing In Christ. 03:27 We pray for a special blessing for everybody that is 03:30 here tonight and for each one of those who will join us 03:34 as we humbly learn together what the Bible clearly teaches. 03:39 We ask all of this in the gentle and humble name 03:43 of the true and living God, Jesus Christ. 03:47 Amen. 03:49 Thank you so much. 03:51 Just before our music, just a few more words 03:53 about our speaker tonight. 03:54 Pastor C.A. Murray is not only a colleague in ministry, 03:58 he use to be my pastor in New York City 04:00 at the Bethel Seventh-day Adventist Church. 04:02 He pastored many years in the Northeastern Conference, 04:04 more than 30 years of ministry. 04:06 So he is a man of the Word. 04:08 But at the present time, he is the Production Manager for 04:11 Three Angels Broadcasting Network. 04:13 So he wears many, many hats. 04:15 But tonight, he's the one that God has chosen to 04:18 bring the message entitled, The Unchanged. 04:22 But before he comes, our music tonight will be brought to us 04:25 by Amy Soto. 04:27 A very familiar song. 04:28 One that reminds us that if we are walking with the Lord, 04:32 all things can be well with our soul. 04:35 So let's invite her to come tonight and prepare our hearts 04:38 for the message for what God has in store for us. 05:07 When peace like a river 05:13 attendeth my way, 05:18 when sorrows like sea billows roll, 05:27 whatever my lot, 05:31 Thou has taught me to say, 05:37 "It is well, it is well, with my soul." 05:48 It is well with my soul. 06:00 It is well, it is well, with my soul. 06:11 Though Satan should tempt me, 06:18 though trials should come, 06:22 my blest assurance control, 06:31 that Christ has regarded 06:37 my helpless state, 06:42 and hath shed His own blood for my soul. 06:53 It is well with my soul. 07:05 It is well, it is well, with my soul. 07:18 And Lord, haste the day 07:23 when my faith shall be sight, 07:29 the clouds be rolled back as a scroll. 07:37 The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend. 07:47 Even so, it is well with my soul. 07:58 It is well with my soul. 08:10 It is well, it is well, with my soul. 08:35 Amen and amen. 08:36 Thank you so very much, Amy. Well done. 08:39 Good evening and happy Sabbath. 08:42 I see we have some people standing in the rear. 08:46 You can come on in and be seated. 08:48 Or maybe I'll preach so long that you'll just get 08:50 weary and sit down. 08:52 I don't know. 08:53 But we wish you happy Sabbath. 08:54 We have had a wonderful week together. 08:58 And we pray that tonight will be no exception. 09:01 I want to thank my friend and colleague of many years, 09:03 Pastor Lomacang, for his kind and gracious introduction. 09:07 We want to move right into the Word. 09:09 And I would ask you to turn with me, if you will, 09:12 to the gospel as recorded by Mark. 09:15 Mark's gospel, the 14th chapter. 09:18 I want to read just several verses from the gospel 09:22 as written by Mark, chapter 14. 09:31 Before we read the Word, let us pray to the Author of the Word. 09:38 Our gracious Father, again we call upon You. 09:41 For we realize that Your Word is a lamp unto our feet 09:46 and a light that shines on the path before us. 09:50 We ask just now for the illumination of Your Spirit 09:56 so that we can read the Word and understand the Word 10:03 and make application of the Word to our lives. 10:08 We ask You to be the honored guest 10:10 and indeed the Teacher this night. 10:13 And we thank You. In Jesus' name, amen. 10:18 I'm reading from Mark chapter 14 verses 3 through 10. 10:24 Mark 14 beginning at verse 3. 10:28 I'm reading from the New King James. 10:33 The Bible says, "And being in Bethany at the house of 10:37 Simon the leper, as He sat at the table..." 10:41 I think your King James may say, "as He sat at meat." 10:44 "...a woman came having an alabaster flask 10:47 of very costly oil of spikenard. 10:51 And she broke the flask and poured it on His head. 10:57 But there were some who were indignant among themselves, 11:02 and said, 'Why was this fragrant oil wasted? 11:08 For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii 11:12 and given to the poor.' 11:17 And they criticized her sharply. 11:20 But Jesus said, 'Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? 11:24 She has done a good work for Me. 11:26 For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish 11:31 you may do them good; but Me you do not have always. 11:38 She has done what she could.'" 11:41 And that is a sermon in itself. 11:44 "'She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial. 11:47 Assuredly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached 11:51 in the whole world, what this woman has done will be told 11:58 as a memorial to her.' 12:02 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the 12:06 chief priests to betray Him to them." 12:12 The Bible says, "And being in the house of Simon the leper, 12:17 He sat at the table." 12:19 Or at meat, depending on which version you have. 12:23 Many times in reading this particular story, 12:26 our minds are drawn to Mary and Martha. 12:31 For truly this is a story about Mary and Martha. 12:35 And we may think of it as their story. 12:38 Or we may even think of it as the story of Judas. 12:43 But there is another name that we oft times 12:46 don't really pay attention to. 12:49 This is the story within the story. 12:52 Or the subtext under the story. 12:55 And that name is Simon the leper. 12:59 It is always important to realize and recognize 13:02 how the Bible introduces a person. 13:05 You always want to take note how the Bible introduces a person. 13:08 In this same book of Mark, we are introduced to another man 13:12 by the name of Jarius. 13:13 The Bible calls him a ruler. 13:16 In the book of John, we're introduced to Nicodemus. 13:19 Again, a ruler. 13:20 And yet, in this particular story as written by Mark, 13:26 Simon is not introduced as a ruler as is Jarius, 13:30 or as is Nicodemus. 13:31 He is introduced as Simon the leper. 13:36 And when I read this, my mind was fastened on that term, 13:40 "Simon the leper." 13:43 Because Mark pegs him or links him to his disease. 13:50 Simon's last name is not, "the leper." 13:53 When you are dialing trying to find Simon in the phone book, 13:57 you wouldn't look up, "Simon the leper." 14:00 And I'm sure when Simon was born, the doctor didn't 14:03 whack him on the bottom and christen him, Simon the leper. 14:12 We don't identify people by disease. 14:16 That's kind of crude and rude. 14:19 When a person has a disability, the politically correct thing 14:23 to do is to ignore that disability. 14:27 If someone has a cane or a wheelchair, you don't 14:29 go up to him and say, "Well, I see you've got a wheel chair. 14:31 How does it feel to be cripple?" 14:33 You don't do that. 14:34 That's crude, that's uncouth. That's not life. 14:37 We don't identify people with their diseases. 14:40 And yet, we have this notable exception here 14:43 in the book of Mark. 14:44 He is called, Simon the leper. 14:47 Simon the leper. 14:49 There are other Simons in the Word of God. 14:51 There is Simon the tanner in the book of Acts. 14:55 He is identified by his occupation. 14:57 He is a tanner of leather. 14:58 There is Simon the Canaanite. 15:00 He is identified by his racial origin. 15:03 He is a Canaanite. 15:04 There is Simon of Cyrene. 15:06 He is identified by his country. 15:08 These things are fairly common in the Bible. 15:10 But it is not common to identify a person by his disease. 15:15 He is called, Simon the leper. 15:17 That statement in itself is a statement on the fear 15:21 that this particular disease was held in. 15:25 Simon could have been a lawyer, he could have been a doctor. 15:29 He could have been a priest or a senator, or even a king. 15:34 But that didn't matter. 15:36 Because once you got this disease, you are 15:40 pegged with it forever. 15:42 The book of Luke tells us that Simon was a Pharisee. 15:46 The Pharisees, or the parus, in Christ's time were a group of 15:51 religio-political laypersons. 15:54 They weren't priests in the truest sense. 15:56 They were people who were trained in the study of the law. 16:00 It was the job of the Pharisee to be a 16:03 sort of air sock theologian. 16:05 The Pharisees were the interpreters of the law. 16:08 It was their job to tell the common people 16:10 what the law meant. 16:11 So they were the doctors, the PhD's, of the law. 16:15 They were the lord's of the sacred writing. 16:18 They commanded and demanded respect. 16:23 Simon was one of these respected Pharisees. 16:27 But that high position meant nothing 16:31 because now he would be identified by disease. 16:34 From now on, he would be Simon the leper. 16:38 Simon the Pharisee, Simon the priest, 16:41 Simon the aristocrat. 16:44 Didn't matter. 16:46 Now he was Simon the leper. 16:50 There are few diseases in ancient times, and perhaps 16:53 even modern times, that carried the fear of leprosy. 17:00 Just the mention of leprosy was enough to make 17:04 someone's knees shake. 17:07 Leprosy was a bacterial infection that attacked the 17:11 nervous system, beginning often in the limbs 17:15 and deadening the sensations so that by the time a leper 17:20 was close to death he could not even feel his own pain. 17:24 Many times, they would lose fingers and toes. 17:27 Even the nose sometimes. 17:30 Scientists and archeologists have unearthed the bones 17:34 of people who have died of leprosy and they've seen how 17:37 the disease had even eaten its way into the bones. 17:39 It was a dreaded disease, a fear disease. 17:43 If you could mix cancer and aids and just about every other 17:50 horrible disease that we could mention, 17:52 that's what leprosy was like back in Bible times. 17:57 It was called, "the finger of God." 18:01 Because many Jews in their misguided interpretation 18:05 of how God deals with His people thought that leprosy 18:10 was God's pet punishment for evil deeds. 18:16 They thought and they taught, rabbinical literature is 18:20 replete with references, they felt that when you really 18:24 got out of line, when you really got, as we say in English, 18:28 "too big for your britches," God gave you leprosy 18:31 as a punishment. 18:33 And so they called it, "the finger of God." 18:38 It is interesting that when you got leprosy, 18:42 you didn't report to the doctors. 18:46 You went to the priest. 18:49 You had to go show yourself to the priest. 18:51 You remember when the ten lepers were healed? 18:53 Christ said, go to the priests. 18:55 Not the doctor, but to the priest. 18:56 Because that was the spiritual mindset that they had. 18:59 They felt that God gave you leprosy and it would have to 19:02 be a priest who pronounced you leprous and a 19:05 priest who pronounced you clean. 19:06 Not a doctor. 19:09 You couldn't return to your family, 19:11 you couldn't return to your friends. 19:14 You had to go to a leper colony in the valley of the leper; 19:19 the place of the living dead. 19:22 You were not allowed to comb your hair, 19:25 you were not allowed to show your beard. 19:28 It was your job to yell, "unclean, unclean," 19:32 whenever you came near a person who didn't have leprosy. 19:36 You could be stoned, you could be spat upon. 19:41 You were not allowed to encourage a leper or 19:45 even to say a kind word to a leper. 19:49 If you had leprosy, you were kicked out of your house, 19:54 you were kicked out of society, you were kicked out of town, 19:59 and you were kicked out of church. 20:02 Doctors wouldn't treat you. 20:05 You couldn't even get a minister to pray for you 20:09 if you had leprosy. 20:12 You were considered one dead. 20:16 Rejected by friends and family and society, 20:19 and even the synagogue. 20:21 You couldn't even get your pastor to pray for you 20:26 if you had leprosy. 20:29 Simon, as a Pharisee, had no doubt heard the sentence 20:34 of leprosy passed upon many people. 20:37 And now he heard those same words pronounced 20:40 over his own name. 20:41 Whatever Simon was before, from now one he was going to be 20:48 Simon the leper. 20:50 Identified by his disease. 20:55 Now let me give you some insight into how good 20:59 the God we serve is. 21:01 Let me give you just a little insight into the grace 21:04 of the God that we serve. 21:06 This text in Mark that we read a few moments ago, 21:09 Mark chapter 14 beginning at verse 3, gives us indication 21:15 that a social event of some kind was taking place. 21:19 Now you listen to me carefully. 21:21 Mark is describing a dinner party. 21:25 What is he describing? 21:27 A dinner party. 21:29 It is a dinner party. 21:30 Mark 14:3, a party is being thrown. 21:35 But Mark 14:3 ought also to throw a red flag for you 21:39 and for any Bible student, because this passage 21:43 here in Mark is beginning with a miracle. 21:46 The Bible says, "And being in Bethany at the house of 21:51 Simon the leper, as He sat at the table..." 21:55 That, ladies and gentlemen, is a disguised miracle. 22:00 Follow me closely. 22:02 The fact that Simon the leper was having a dinner party 22:10 ipso facto means he is no longer a leper. 22:15 Are you following me? 22:17 Couldn't be. 22:18 Because he's having a party. 22:21 So he's not a leper. 22:23 So a miracle somewhere along the line has already taken place. 22:27 Amen? 22:28 Because Simon the leper is having a dinner party. 22:32 Lepers couldn't have dinner parties. 22:35 Amen. 22:37 And if a leper did have a dinner party, who would come? 22:44 Would you take an hors d'oeurve from the hand of a leper? 22:49 Would you eat potato salad made by a leper? 22:55 Would you eat a sandwich, even a vegetarian sandwich, 23:00 given to you by a leper? 23:04 I think not. 23:05 And so the fact that Simon the leper is having people over to 23:10 his house for dinner means that Simon is no longer a leper. 23:15 Do you follow me? Couldn't be. 23:17 Number one, lepers couldn't have houses. 23:20 Amen. 23:21 Two, lepers didn't have friends. 23:24 Three, lepers didn't have anything to celebrate. 23:32 And I say again, who would come to the house of a person 23:36 with an infectious highly communicable disease 23:40 that you possibly, in fact probably could catch 23:44 if you went there? 23:47 Not in Bible times. 23:49 Not even today would anyone put themselves in for a disease 23:53 that had no treatment and had no cure. 23:57 And so we must assume that Mark 14 verse 3 24:02 is talking about Simon use to be leper. 24:07 Because he's not a leper any more. 24:10 Now this story is spoken of four times in the Word of God. 24:13 Matthew, Mark, Luke, John all touch on it. 24:15 And each of them gives us more information. 24:18 But we get the clue really from that great work, Desire Of Ages. 24:23 Ellen White says, in point of fact, Simon had been 24:27 cured of leprosy. 24:28 And this dinner party was sort of Simon's, shall we say, 24:32 coming out party. 24:34 This was the celebration of the new Simon, the post leper Simon. 24:38 He wants everybody to come to see what he is like now. 24:43 For he is no longer Simon the leper. 24:47 Simon has been healed. 24:49 And there is only person in all of Galilee who could heal him. 24:54 And that person was Jesus. 24:57 Rather interesting that Simon the leper somehow 25:02 met Jesus and had gotten healed. 25:05 Now I really shouldn't do this, but sometimes you study 25:07 this stuff and you've got to just... 25:09 I want to show you something real quick. 25:11 I found out how Simon met Jesus and got healed. 25:14 Turn over real quick to the book of John chapter 12. 25:19 And this is a whole separate sermon, but I just 25:21 stumbled across something the Lord showed me the other day. 25:25 And the reason this is interesting is because the 25:27 Pharisees, of which Simon was one, were out to put Jesus 25:31 to death almost from the time He was born. 25:34 So why would a group of people who wanted Jesus' death, 25:37 how could one of their chief leaders be healed by Jesus? 25:42 I found out how right here in John chapter 12. 25:47 John chapter 12 and let's look at verse... 25:54 ...start at verse 3. 25:56 This is the same incident that is spoken of in Mark 14. 25:59 But John picks up the story in chapter 12. 26:01 "Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, 26:05 anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. 26:08 And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil." 26:13 Follow me? Okay. 26:15 "But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot..." 26:19 Who's son? 26:20 Simon's son. That's the connection. 26:23 That's the connection. 26:27 Judas was a disciple. Simon was his dad. 26:32 Judas was the connection between Jesus and Simon. 26:36 You follow me? 26:37 It's his dad. 26:38 That's the connection. 26:39 There's another interesting connection I'm going to 26:41 get to in just a little bit. 26:43 But I want you to get the picture. 26:44 That's how Simon met Jesus. 26:48 Jesus healed Him and he was a happy man. 26:52 Of course he was a happy man. 26:54 Because Jesus had given him a new lease on life. 26:58 Jesus had revoked his death sentence. 27:02 Who wouldn't be happy? 27:04 You're a pariah, you're an outcast. 27:06 You've got to live by yourself. 27:08 You've got a death sentence. 27:10 Christ comes along, heals you, and gives you a brand new life. 27:15 Wouldn't you be happy? 27:16 Of course you would. 27:18 The problem was, Ellen White says, he was thankful 27:22 but he wasn't converted. 27:24 I'll give you a little sidebar. 27:26 So many times in the Word of God you'll hear Christ, 27:29 at the beginning of His miracles, say something like, 27:32 "Thy faith has made thee whole." 27:35 You'll never find that with Simon. 27:38 There is no profession of faith with Simon's healing. 27:42 Ellen White makes it clear in the book, Desire of Ages, 27:44 Christ healed Simon without a profession of faith. 27:49 In other words, Simon was a rat before his healing. 27:57 And he was a rat... 27:58 What's the Spanish word? Ratón? 28:01 ...after his healing. 28:04 He wasn't changed. 28:06 Christ healed Simon without a profession of faith. 28:11 So Simon was thankful to be healed, but he wasn't saved. 28:16 He hadn't given his heart to the Lord. 28:18 He was happy to have a new lease on life, 28:21 but he wasn't saved. 28:24 I am convinced, ladies and gentlemen, 28:26 that there will be a lot of people who will not make it 28:28 to the kingdom of God because of their ingratitude 28:33 for the goodness of God. 28:34 When you look at your life, every time you count 28:37 two and two you get four. 28:39 Every morning you wake up in your right mind, 28:41 you ought to be thankful to the Lord. 28:43 That ought to make you thankful enough 28:44 to surrender each and every day to Him. 28:46 Amen? 28:48 Some people are going to miss out on the kingdom, 28:51 not because of the sins they commit, but because of 28:54 their ingratitude for the grace that God has shown them. 28:59 Simon was happy to be cured. 29:01 He was happy to have Christ as Savior, 29:04 but he didn't want Jesus as Lord. 29:07 Ellen White says his principles were unchanged. 29:10 Nothing had changed about Simon except his physical condition. 29:14 His heart was just as black after his healing 29:17 as it was before his healing. 29:20 Character was unchanged, his principles untransformed. 29:25 There are many in the church today who are happy to have 29:27 the joys and blessings of Jesus. 29:32 But they don't want to surrender to Him. 29:34 They don't want to make Him Lord. 29:36 They follow Christ for the goodies, for the blessings. 29:39 But they don't want to give Him their lives. 29:46 They haven't taken the final most important step. 29:49 And that is surrender to Jesus. 29:51 To Simon, Jesus was a good man. 29:56 Powerful man. 29:57 Exceptional teacher. 29:59 Worker of miracles. 30:02 But he didn't accept Jesus as Lord. 30:07 It's not enough to be Savior, we've got to make Him Lord. 30:11 So now he's throwing a party 30:14 to celebrate his new lease on life. 30:16 It's a party, ladies and gentlemen. 30:19 Food, drinks. Everybody is there. 30:22 It's the social event of the season. 30:26 One of those parties where everybody who is somebody 30:31 has to show up. 30:32 You cancel your calendar for this particular party 30:35 because this is a party thrown by Simon the Pharisee. 30:39 This is an expensive lavish party. 30:43 You should just check out the guest list of this party. 30:48 A veritable who's who of liars and extortioners and 30:52 curiosity seekers and gate crashers and would be saints. 30:57 And twelve unconverted disciples. 31:03 There are Pharisees there. 31:05 The Pharisees were there to see what they could do 31:09 to trap Jesus. 31:13 There were other people there because they knew 31:17 that Lazarus was going to be at the party. 31:20 And Luke says in his gospel, some people came to the party 31:23 because they had heard that Lazarus was 31:26 raised from the dead. 31:27 And they just wanted to see what a walking 31:29 dead person looked like. 31:31 So they came to the party too. 31:34 There were some who wanted to see what a 31:36 healed leper looked like. 31:38 So they came to the party. 31:40 So Pharisees are there and Sadducees are there. 31:44 Now the Sadducees, you must understand, 31:46 are the true priestly aristocracy. 31:49 When you talk about the high priest in the land, 31:52 you're talking about Sadducees. 31:54 These are the real priests. 31:57 These are the ecclesiarchy of the church, 32:00 the crème de la crème. 32:02 These are the top guys. 32:03 They came to the party also. 32:05 But Sadducees didn't believe in angels. 32:08 Sadducees didn't believe in miracles. 32:11 Sadducees didn't believe in the judgment. 32:14 Sadducees didn't believe in man cooperating with God. 32:18 Sadducees didn't believe in the work of the Holy Spirit. 32:21 Sadducees didn't believe in the resurrection. 32:24 I mean, good night. 32:25 Why get out of bed in the morning? 32:28 You go to your pastor and he doesn't believe in God, 32:30 doesn't believe in the Holy Spirit, 32:31 doesn't believe in miracles, doesn't believe in changes, 32:34 doesn't believe in cooperating with God, 32:36 doesn't believe in the judgment, 32:37 doesn't believe in the resurrection. 32:38 What does he got to say to you? 32:41 And yet, the Sadducees were the true priests of the temple. 32:46 But they believed in nothing. 32:48 They, too, were there. 32:51 And it is interesting, you read the Word of God, 32:56 Luke, in telling the story, says they were plotting 33:00 to see how they could put Lazarus to death. 33:04 Now Jesus had just raised Lazarus from the dead. 33:08 And the ministers were plotting to see how they could 33:12 put him to death. 33:14 Because just the fact that he was alive was testimony 33:18 to the power of Jesus. 33:20 So there were people at the party who were trying to 33:22 find out ways, "How can we get rid of Jesus and Lazarus 33:27 before the Passover." 33:29 They wanted them both dead. 33:31 So this is an interesting party. 33:34 This is an interesting dinner party. 33:36 There are all kinds of texts and subtexts, 33:39 all kinds of things going on. 33:40 People there for different reasons. 33:42 A house full of people, most celebrating something that 33:46 they really didn't understand. 33:49 Besides Jesus, there were only three truly converted people 33:54 in that entire gathering. 33:57 Certainly wasn't Simon, although it was his house. 34:01 It was just Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. 34:07 Here's where the story gets good. 34:11 Ellen White tells us, and the Bible also indicates, 34:15 that Christ strategically placed Himself 34:19 at the head of the table. 34:22 He put Himself at the head of the table with Lazarus 34:25 on one side and Simon the leper on the other. 34:30 That was no accident. 34:32 Christ wanted to be between these two strategic individuals. 34:37 Lazarus, who has just been raised from the dead, 34:40 on one hand. 34:42 Simon, who had just come back basically from the dead, 34:47 on the other. 34:48 And Jesus, the giver of life, in the middle. 34:52 And so all eyes were focused on that end of the table. 34:56 You've got Lazarus who had just come out of the grave, 35:00 Simon who had just gotten a new lease on life, 35:04 and the Giver of life sitting in the middle. 35:06 Everybody was looking at that end of the room 35:08 to see what was going to happen. 35:10 All this intrigue swirling around. 35:12 It was like a modern day soap opera. 35:14 Kind of like a novella. 35:18 Into the mix of all this intrigue comes Mary 35:23 at the most inopportune time. 35:26 She decides to crawl to the end of the table, 35:32 open up a jar of very costly ointment, 35:38 and pour it on the head and feet of Jesus as a secret. 35:46 But soon the smell of the ointment broadcast her secret. 35:49 Everybody in the room who is looking at that end of the table 35:54 sees this little intrigue between Mary and Jesus. 35:58 And immediately tongues begin to wag. 36:00 You know how we do. 36:03 "What in the world is she doing with Jesus? 36:10 Do you see what's going on? 36:12 Do you see what that woman with that reputation 36:15 is doing with Jesus?" 36:19 Everybody picks it up. 36:21 Judas picks it up. 36:24 Judas, who can never control himself, speaks out. 36:28 Simon is thinking something in his heart. 36:33 Simon is thinking in his heart, 36:38 "If He really was the Savior, He would know what kind of woman 36:45 is handling Him. 36:49 And He wouldn't let that happen." 36:52 Simon thinks it, Judas says it. 36:58 "Why is this money being wasted? 37:06 We could have saved this money and given it to the poor." 37:12 Now let me make a quick side turn. 37:14 Because that's also a ruse. 37:16 Ellen White says Judas was a treasurer for the disciples. 37:20 He held the money. 37:22 So basically he was saying, "Why wasn't the money put 37:25 in my pocket?" 37:27 And Ellen White also says he was embezzling 37:29 money from the disciples. 37:30 He was stealing money and using it for his own good. 37:33 And she says had he gotten that money for the spikenard, 37:36 he would have spent it on himself like all the rest. 37:38 You see all the intrigue that is going on in this story? 37:40 There's story, upon story, upon story, upon story. 37:43 And Jesus is aware of it all. 37:47 He knows what Simon is thinking. 37:50 Everyone is turning their nose up at this poor woman. 37:54 It is difficult to understand, many times, how we 37:57 in the church can be guilty of the same sin 38:00 and not see it in ourselves, but see it so clearly in others. 38:09 So everyone is turning their nose up at Mary. 38:12 But Mary is not aware of any of this because her act 38:15 is an act of love and faith to her Lord. 38:18 And Simon is saying in his heart, "If He were the 38:22 Son of God, He wouldn't let a woman like that touch Him." 38:26 You remember I told you Simon was unchanged? 38:28 He was unchanged and unconverted though he was healed? 38:34 Ellen White tells us a little sideline about Simon. 38:37 My time is slipping away so I've got to go fast. 38:41 Simon could make that statement about Mary, 38:45 because when you read that book, Desire Of Ages, 38:47 you find out this. 38:50 We don't know precisely what kind of trouble Mary go into 38:57 to get her reputation. 39:00 But Ellen White says in the book, Desire Of Ages, 39:05 whatever trouble she got into, Simon led her into trouble. 39:13 Did you hear me? 39:15 Surely he could say, "If Christ knew what kind of woman 39:20 she was," because Simon was the one who made 39:24 her that kind of woman. 39:26 Are you listening to me? 39:28 Simon was partially responsible for the life Mary had. 39:33 Now it is my belief, and I'm doing research, 39:37 I believe that Lazarus and Simon were brothers. 39:42 I believe that Simon was Mary's uncle. 39:48 That would mean that Simon was responsible for some kind of 39:55 abuse of his own niece. 39:59 So surely he could say, "If Christ knew what kind of 40:03 woman she was," because he made her that kind of woman. 40:07 And all this is going on at this party. 40:10 And Christ has healed him. 40:14 But his heart is unchanged and he is unthankful. 40:21 Well she is there in the house. 40:23 And she is fixed on Jesus. 40:25 And she is in love with Jesus. 40:28 And she is not concerned about Simon or anybody else. 40:32 Her love for Christ is supreme. 40:37 But Jesus did know the kind of person that she was. 40:42 And he also knew the kind of person Simon was. 40:46 Isn't it wonderful that Christ knows us intimately 40:50 but He doesn't let that stop Him from saving us? 40:54 From blessing us? 40:57 From helping us when we call upon Him? 40:58 Christ knows you better than you know yourself. 41:02 Amen? 41:03 You know, sometimes we do things and we say, 41:06 "Was that me, did I do that? Did I say that? 41:09 That couldn't be me." 41:11 That's because we don't always know ourselves. 41:13 I'll give you a secret. 41:18 The Lord knows you better than you know yourself. 41:22 Amen? 41:25 Satan also knows you better than you know yourself. 41:31 He does. 41:32 He has studied you for six thousand years. 41:34 And if you read the Word of God, the same trick he was pulling 41:36 three thousand years ago, he's pulling them today. 41:38 And they still work. 41:40 Then there's you, and you think you know yourself. 41:47 But you don't know yourself. 41:49 And you know how I know you don't know yourself? 41:52 Because sometimes you do things that surprise you. 41:57 Amen. 41:58 And when you do things that surprise you, 42:01 the only person who's surprised is you. 42:07 God knew. Not surprised. 42:10 Satan knew. Cause it; not surprised. 42:14 The only person scratching their head... 42:19 That's why you cannot hope to defeat Satan 42:22 without the power of the almighty God. 42:25 Amen? 42:26 Got to have God. 42:28 So Christ knew what was going on. 42:30 He knew what was going on in the heart of Mary, 42:32 and He knew what was going on in the heart of Lazarus. 42:39 And so Jesus had to give this still proud unconverted Pharisee 42:44 named Simon a little hand slap. 42:48 Christ told him a story. 42:50 He said, "Simon, when I came into your house, 42:53 you didn't kiss Me, you didn't wash My feet, 42:57 you didn't greet Me, you didn't serve Me. 43:00 You didn't do anything for Me. 43:03 But this young girl did. 43:06 She hath done what she could." 43:11 And in Mark chapter 14 verse 8, 8 and through 10 really, 43:16 Christ memorializes her. 43:18 Jesus says, "Whenever the full gospel is preached, 43:22 you've got to tell this story of Mary. 43:25 Because she did what she could." 43:26 Ladies and gentlemen, that's all Jesus asks of any of us. 43:30 Do what you can. 43:35 He doesn't ask for everybody to preach sermons. 43:37 Because everybody can't. 43:39 He doesn't ask for everybody to sing. 43:41 Because everybody can't. 43:43 He doesn't ask for everybody to be colporteurs. 43:47 Because everybody can't. 43:48 I tried. I can't do it. 43:50 I can't sell books. 43:51 When I was in college, we had to sell books on one vacation. 43:56 You know, you had to preach some, you had to sell books. 43:58 You had to do everything. 43:59 I tried selling books. I can't do it. 44:02 If I had to sell books for a living, I would starve to death. 44:06 Because people would give me a story. 44:07 I'd give them Desire Of Ages or the Conflict Series. 44:12 And they'd say, "Oh, I can't afford it. 44:13 I don't have the money, but I really want it." 44:15 And I'd say, "Okay, take it." 44:18 You can't eat that way. 44:19 So I know I can't do retail. 44:21 I can preach, but I can't sell books. 44:24 So God doesn't ask me to sell books. 44:26 Praise the Lord. 44:27 He asks me to do what I can. 44:30 I can sing a little bit, I can preach really loud. 44:35 And that's what God says do. 44:37 Amen. 44:38 Christ says, "Do what you can." 44:43 Amen? 44:44 "And if you do what you can, I'll give you blessings 44:48 to do a little bit more." 44:49 And so Mary did what she could. 44:54 She loved Christ and she showed that love. 44:57 And so Christ is saying to Simon, 45:00 "You didn't do these things for Me." 45:01 Christ is beginning to dig at Simon's pontifical patina. 45:05 He's beginning to pull down his pride and his prejudice 45:09 and his arrogance. 45:10 Christ is trying to show him that, "Your looking down 45:16 on this little girl and your disgust at her repentance, 45:23 your hating of her repentance, doesn't say anything about her, 45:28 it says something about you." 45:33 And so Christ is trying to tell Simon that He wants him 45:37 and that He loves him still. 45:41 He's trying to tell this man who thought of himself as more 45:43 righteous than Mary that in despising her love of Christ 45:50 he was showing that his sin was greater. 45:54 Because he was adding to his own sin by hating her repentance. 46:04 And when Simon answered Christ's little parable 46:07 and said, "The one who forgives more loves more," 46:11 Simon was actually condemning himself as David did when Nathan 46:17 gave him that story about the ewe lamb. 46:19 He had passed judgment on himself. 46:24 Simon realized, like David did some 700 years before, 46:29 that he was a sinner in need of a Savior. 46:34 You see, sometimes Jesus has to give us a little wrist slap 46:42 to get our attention. 46:45 I tell the story of how I thought I was called to be 46:50 a minister from age 10. 46:55 I had a little bird fall out of his nest. 46:58 And our little group got together and we had a 47:01 funeral for that little bird. 47:03 Got a little cigar box, got some little drums and a 47:07 little tiny piano with twelve keys. 47:09 And we marched down the street in a funeral procession. 47:12 Dug a little hole. 47:13 And I preached my first sermon over a little bird. 47:16 And I knew then I wanted to be a preacher. 47:17 But I got kind of good at basketball in high school 47:20 and got a scholarship to play basketball in college. 47:24 To this day when I try on my shoes, I've got to 47:26 try on my left one first. 47:29 Because I broke my ankle. Not one, twice. 47:34 Playing basketball on Friday two years in a row. 47:39 And the doctor said it is very unusual to get the exact 47:44 same fracture of an ankle. 47:47 But he held up the x-rays after my second fracture, 47:51 and there it was the exact same break. 47:54 Friday night in college playing basketball. 47:58 And my pastor came to the hospital and said, 48:01 "This time it's your ankle. 48:04 Next time it may be your neck." 48:12 Christ will let you break your ankle to keep you 48:17 from breaking your neck. 48:20 You hear me? 48:22 And so Jesus was giving Simon a little slap on the wrist 48:26 because He was trying to save Simon. 48:29 He still loved Simon enough and cared about Simon enough 48:35 to try to win Him back. 48:37 Christ was warning him that his sins stood unpardoned. 48:42 Now Christ could have sat at that party, 48:44 He could have stood up at that table, 48:45 and turned to Simon and said, "You're looking down on Mary. 48:49 You are the cause that she is what she is." 48:56 But He didn't do that. 48:59 Because that wouldn't have won Simon. 49:02 That would have turned him away. 49:05 And so Jesus tells him a story. 49:06 And only Simon understands that the story is made for him. 49:12 "This young girl has given her heart to Me 49:15 and turned her life around. 49:17 And the best you can do is hate her? 49:22 Is that how you repay the love I've shown you 49:25 by healing you from leprosy?" 49:31 And in the book, Desire Of Ages, Ellen White says, 49:35 Simon at that moment realized, he realized that Jesus 49:42 didn't want to destroy him, didn't want to embarrass him. 49:48 Jesus wanted to save him. 49:51 And it was the fact that Christ privately rebuked him 49:56 instead of publically humiliate him that broke his heart. 50:01 And at that very party, at that very instant, 50:05 on that very night, Simon became a follower of Jesus Christ. 50:11 He still carried the name, but he no longer carried the shame. 50:17 He will always be Simon the leper. 50:21 But now it became a badge of honor. 50:25 Because he could say when they called him Simon the leper, 50:28 "Yeah, I use to be Simon the leper. 50:31 But I met a Man called Jesus and I'm a leper no more." 50:35 You know, I found out something interesting 50:36 about Latino culture. 50:38 My wife is from Panama. 50:39 I found out that if you get stuck with a nickname 50:42 in Latino culture, you carry it until you die. 50:44 Is that true? 50:46 If you say something or do something one time in your life 50:49 and they get a little handle on you, a little hook, 50:51 you'll carry that until you die. 50:54 There is a good friend of ours in Panama, 50:57 she's the pastor's wife. 50:58 She's seventy something years old. 50:59 They started calling her, because she's a little brown, 51:01 they started calling her "chumby" maybe at 10 years old. 51:07 She's 70 years old, great grandmother. 51:08 They're still calling her "chumby." 51:11 So you get a handle and it stays with you. 51:14 So he was Simon the leper. 51:19 But now it was just an opportunity to talk about Jesus. 51:23 Because people would ask him, "Why are they 51:26 calling you Simon the leper? 51:27 You don't look like a leper to me." 51:29 And he could say, "I use to be a leper. 51:32 My life use to be a waste. 51:34 I use to be as one dead. 51:36 But I met a Man called Jesus and I am a leper no more." 51:42 And that same Jesus can cure you of the leprosy 51:47 of sin in your own life. 51:50 Christ was not out to expose him. 51:52 Christ was out to win him. 51:56 Desire Of Ages, page 568, I want to read something 51:59 just real quick in the time that is left to me. 52:03 "When to human eyes her case appeared hopeless," 52:06 talking about Mary, "Christ saw in Mary capabilities for good. 52:09 He saw the better traits of her character. 52:11 The plan of redemption has invested humanity with 52:15 great possibilities, and in Mary these possibilities 52:19 were to be realized. 52:20 Through His grace she became a partaker of the divine nature. 52:24 The one who had fallen, and whose mind had been 52:28 a habitation of demons, was brought very near to the 52:31 Savior in fellowship and ministry. 52:33 It was Mary who sat at His feet and learned of Him. 52:36 It was Mary who poured upon His head the precious spikenard oil, 52:39 and bathed His feet with her tears. 52:41 Mary stood beside the cross and followed Him to the sepulcher. 52:44 It was Mary who was first at the tomb after His resurrection. 52:48 It was Mary who first proclaimed the risen Savior. 52:51 Jesus knows the circumstances of every soul." 52:54 Amen? 52:55 Everything going on in your life Christ knows. 52:57 But that does not turn Him away. 52:59 "You may say, 'I am sinful, very sinful.' 53:02 You may be; but the worse you are, the more you need Jesus." 53:08 Amen? 53:11 "He turns no weeping, contrite one away." 53:15 What is that text? 53:17 I think it's Matthew 12:20 that talks about the smoking flax. 53:21 He's not going to crush you, you know. 53:22 If you come to Him, He will always be there for you. 53:25 Read that when you get a chance. 53:27 It's got to be Matthew 12:20. 53:29 "He does not tell to any all that He might reveal." 53:33 You know, when Christ is trying to call you, He doesn't even 53:36 reveal all of your sins to you. 53:38 He spares you that. 53:40 He just cleans you up as you come to Him. 53:42 He doesn't tell you everything about yourself. 53:44 Because He's not trying to wash your face with your sins. 53:47 He's trying to save you and bring you to salvation. 53:50 Amen? 53:51 Alright, one last line. 53:53 "He bids every trembling soul take courage. 53:57 Freely will He pardon all who come to Him 54:03 for forgiveness and restoration." 54:05 You can't go too far, you can't run too fast, 54:08 to get away from Jesus. 54:11 If you've got enough sense to call, I'm telling you 54:14 He's got enough love to answer. 54:15 If He can save Simon, the hard headed, hard hearted Pharisee 54:22 who led a young girl into sin, don't you think He can save you? 54:26 If He wasn't turned off by Simon's laundry list of sins, 54:30 He is not going to be turned off by yours. 54:33 There is room and grace at the cross 54:36 for each and every one of us. 54:39 I've got to go over and end with a quick story. 54:43 When the Mennonite missionaries went up to the North Pole 54:49 to Alaska above the Arctic Circle and met with the Eskimos 54:53 and tried to bring them the gospel, 54:54 they found that in the Eskimo tongue, there was no 54:58 word for "grace." 55:00 They just didn't have it in their language. 55:04 They were a people of judgment. 55:05 You do something wrong to me, I do something wrong to you. 55:08 You hurt my cow, I kill your chicken. 55:10 They had no concept of grace. 55:14 And so they had to invent a word for "grace." 55:17 I've got to read this word. 55:18 It's called, issumagijoujunnainermik 55:25 Yeah, issumagijoujunnainermik. 55:32 It's translated, "not being able to think about it anymore." 55:37 Amen. 55:38 That's their word for "grace." 55:39 Issu... Well, never mind. 55:42 That's their word for "grace." 55:44 It means, "not being able to think about it anymore." 55:46 That's what God does for us. 55:49 He doesn't think about it anymore. 55:50 He forgets about it. 55:52 He tosses it into the depths of the sea. 55:54 Puts out the "no fishing" sign. 55:55 It's not going to come back anymore. 55:58 Forgiveness, they say, is the fragrance that a rose petal 56:03 gives when it is crushed. 56:06 Isn't that beautiful? 56:07 That's what grace is all about. 56:09 You bring your broken down dead life to Jesus 56:16 and He gives you a brand new life. 56:21 I'm learning a song, Pastor John, that's called, 56:23 "New Lives For Old." 56:25 It's kind of a complicated song but I ran across the words, 56:29 "God gives you new lives for old." 56:31 You bring your broken down life and God will give you 56:36 a brand new life for your old one. 56:40 That's what He did for Simon. 56:42 He gave him a new life for his old one. 56:46 He gave him a new heart for his old one. 56:50 And we find out that Simon the Pharisee, the leper, 56:58 became one of Christ's most loyal, trusting, steadfast, 57:06 loving disciples. 57:09 Simon, like Nicodemus, gave up Pharisaism 57:15 and became a Christian in love with Jesus Christ. 57:21 And I submit to you, if He did it for Simon, 57:26 by the grace of the living God, He'll do it for you. |
Revised 2014-12-17