Turn with me to John chapter
12. The title of my message is found
in the opening verse of this chapter, six days before the
Passover. Six days before the Passover. As we open our Bibles to this
twelfth chapter of John, we come to the conclusion of our Lord's
public earthly ministry. Everything that follows from
chapter 13 until our Lord's arrest in the garden and his mock trial
before his crucifixion, everything else that follows from John 13
on is private instruction. It is instruction that our Lord
gave to his disciples in private. These things that are recorded
prior to his private instructions took place publicly. The other
things, the Lord pulled his disciples into private place and ministered
to them. Now, it looks like we're just
halfway through the Lord's life because we're just halfway through
the gospel of John. But John's gospel has taken up
more than any of the other gospel narratives with the last days
that our Lord was upon this earth. Everything from John 12 until
you get to the end of the gospel narrative in chapter 21, takes
place in just six days. There are just six days left. Six days before the Passover. If you want to make a note, that
means six days before Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed
for us. So this 12th chapter of John
is really climactic. Everything leading up to this
chapter, we see the Lord's disciples awakened more and more to him. They have a deepening awakening
and a deepening awareness of who he is. And those who believe
not were hardened all the more. After three years of ministering
to his disciples, they began to understand his word. They began to see who he is. They began to value him. They
had a growing depth of commitment to him. And after three years
of seeing his miracles and hearing his words, eating the loaves
and fishes he multiplied, drinking the water he had turned into
wine, beholding the wonders he had performed, the unbelieving
were hardened all the more. I preach with the constant awareness
that if God is pleased to do as I beg him to do and you beg
him to do, if God is pleased to speak through this man's lips,
his word to the hearts of men, If God speaks, if God speaks,
you will not hear this word and be unaffected by it. We are always
a sweet savor in Jesus Christ to our God, a savor of life unto
life to some, and a savor of death unto death to others. Many
hear the word and believe. Many hear the word and are only
hardened in obstinate rebellion and unbelief. Now let's look
at John chapter 12 verses one through 11 together. May God,
the Holy Spirit, whose word we now read, apply his word to our
hearts. Then Jesus, six days before the
Passover, came to Bethany. where Lazarus was, which had
been dead, whom he raised from the dead. There they made him
a supper, and Martha served. But Lazarus was one of them that
sat at the table with him. Then took Mary a pound of ointment,
of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and
wiped his feet with her hair. and the house was filled with
the odor of the ointment. Then saith one of his disciples,
Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him. Why
was not this ointment sold for 300 pence and given to the poor? This, he said, not that he cared
for the poor, but because he was a thief. and had the bag,
and bare what was put therein. Then said Jesus, let her alone. Against the day of my burying
has she kept this. For the poor always you have
with you, but me you have not always. Much people of the Jews
therefore knew that he was there, and they came not for Jesus'
sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had
raised from the dead. But the chief priest consulted
that they might put Lazarus also to death, because that by reason
of him, many of the Jews went away and believed on Jesus. This event is recorded no less
than three times in the gospel narratives. I'm inclined to think
that it's recorded a fourth time in Luke's gospel, but certainly
the records in Matthew, Mark, and in John are all about this
specific event. Obviously, the Spirit of God
intends for us to remember what transpired here and learn the
lessons here and think of them often. Let me show you five,
maybe six things this morning from this passage. Number one,
we have here a sweet picture of the blessed company of the
redeemed. Here is the Lord Jesus and Martha
and Mary and Lazarus, and they made a feast for him. His disciples
are present and a great multitude of others. Now before I proceed,
it must be stated that with the observance of this Passover,
this fourth time the Passover had been kept during our Lord's
earthly ministry, this last Passover he kept with them, with the observance
of this Passover, The Passover sacrifice and the Passover ceremonies,
the Passover law ceased forever. I'll say more about this tonight,
but all over the world this week, Jews are celebrating what they
call the Passover. And our Lord here refers to it
as the Jews Passover that was at hand. But it's the Passover
they observe, their celebration of coming out of Egypt by the
mighty hand of God when God brought them out on the night when the
Paschal Lamb was slain. Sadly, there are a good many
churches that pretend to observe the Passover, right along with
the Jews, and pretend that it is a good thing to do, to keep
the Passover. And sadder still, there are many
who suppose that the Passover and the Lord's Supper are the
same thing. Nothing could be further from the truth. When
our Lord Jesus, Christ our Passover, was sacrificed for us, when our
Lord Jesus, the true Passover, died in our stead, all the law
was fulfilled. All the types, pictures, ceremonies,
and promises of the prophets were finished, completed, and
fulfilled. He is the period to the Old Testament. He is the end of the sacrifices. He is the finishing of the ceremonies. Now, how important is it that
we understand this? Any reversion to those things Any reversion
to those things is just idolatry, nothing else. It is as much idolatry
to keep the Old Testament ceremonies and the Old Testament law as
a Israelite kept it in those days or to pretend to keep it
as Israel pretended to keep it. It is just as much idolatry as
it would be to go bow down to a stump and drink water out of
the stump and call it worshiping God. Just idolatry. How can you say that? Turn to
the book of Colossians and I'll show you. Our Lord was anxious to eat this
Passover with his disciples before his death because he was anxious
to fulfill his father's will. He was anxious to complete his
covenant engagements as our surety. He was anxious to finish the
work, the mission for which he had come into the world, anxious
to save his people from their sins. And with the celebration
of this Passover, our Lord Jesus fulfills the Passover by the
sacrifice of himself as our substitute. Now look at Colossians 2, verse
16. Let no man therefore judge you
in meat, are in drink, are in respect of an holy day. You remember
the instructions Paul gives in Romans 14, I believe it is, about
some observe a day into the Lord, some observe it not. There was
a transitional period, certainly there was a transitional period
when the disciples still worshiped God in the temple and worshiped
God in the synagogues. And the disciples still continued
in that transitional period with relation to the law that the
Jews clung to, the Jewish believers. Paul, inspired by God, the Holy
Spirit, writes to these Gentile believers and says, don't you
go back to the law? Said the same thing in Galatians,
particularly in chapter five. He says, let no man judge you. Let no man condemn you. Don't
don't let anybody bring you into bondage because you don't keep
a Sabbath day. Don't let anybody bring you into
bondage because you don't observe the Passover day. Don't let anybody
bring you into bondage because you don't pretend to live under
the Ten Commandments. Christ is the end of the law. All right, look up. Or of a new
moon or Sabbath days, which are a shadow of things to come. But the body is Christ. When
the body is here, the shadow is gone. When the person comes,
the picture is no longer needed. We don't need pictures and emblems
and religious doodads and religious nonsense. I got pictures recently, just this
week. Somebody saw some pine trees budding out with new growth,
and they decided that the pine trees were a reminder that Easter
is at hand. The pine trees know when it's
Easter. Isn't that wonderful? Don't you need that? That helped
me a lot. It helped me feel more spiritual
because the pine trees know that Easter is at hand. Because they've
got these little shoots that sort of somehow, if you get it
just right, look a little bit like a cross. And people, I'm talking about
grown-up, grown-up people who read this book think that somehow
there's something spiritually significant about that. It's
just pine trees putting out more needles. That's all. That's all.
We don't need the idolatry. We are the circumcision who worship
God in spirit and in truth. And we have no confidence in
the flesh. Don't let anybody bring you into
judgment or condemnation concerning these things. Walk at liberty
before God and worship in the Spirit. All right, back here
in John chapter 12. Maybe I'll give you a little
more of that tonight. We read here in verse 2 that they made him a feast. They made
a special supper for the Lord Jesus. Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. Martha, who was always busy and
active, served the supper. Lazarus sat at the table. And
Mary was her normal self, just worshiping the Redeemer. They
worked together. and made this feast. They made
him a feast. Mary brings this ointment, this
precious pound of spikenard, breaks open the casket, the box
that it's in and anoints the Savior's feet. And Matthew tells
us she anointed his head and she anointed his feet as well.
And she she takes his feet and washes them or wipes them with
her hair and bathed them in her tears and kissed his feet. this
woman, Mary, worshiping the Redeemer. Now, as we see this company,
here is the Lord Jesus, and here are three people loved of God
and loving God, three people born of God's Spirit, chosen
by His grace, objects of His favor, serving Him together as
one. Now, Martha On one occasion,
we read in Luke chapter 10, it seemed a little concerned that
Mary wasn't doing her part and got a little upset, but we have
no sense of that here. Here, Martha is doing what Martha
did. She's doing what Martha did.
She's serving the tables. Thank God for Martha's. Thank
God for Martha's. No complaint with Martha. She's
busying herself, serving the tables. He's just one of those
folks who was always going about doing something, but doing it
for somebody. They made him a feast. And here's
Lazarus sitting with the Lord Jesus at the table and worshiping
him. This one who has just been raised
from the dead. Doesn't say anything. Doesn't
say anything. I can almost picture me just
sitting there. Wow. Just overall. And here's Mary. She's been saving
ointment. This spikening, this spikening. Judas knew his fighting well.
Covetous men usually do know the price of things. He knew
this wasn't just a dime store perfume. He knew this was expensive
stuff. It was costly. It cost him worth
300 pence. If you read the 20th chapter
of Matthew, you'll find out that's almost a year's wages for an
ordinary worker. Men made a penny a day. That's
almost a year's wages. She'd been saving up this ointment
for the Lord's burial. She believed him. And now they
make him a feast together. Oh, how blessed it is when the
Lord God gathers a people in Christ Jesus and with him and
make him a feast. That's what we ought to do every
time we come here to worship. Every time we go to our closets
to pray, every time we gather our families to read the word
and pray, our object ought to be to make him a feast. That is, to celebrate his praise
and to give honor to him. The church prays in the Song
of Solomon, tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest,
where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon. For why should
I be as one that turneth aside to the flocks of thy companions?
If we make him a feast, laboring together as one, doing what the
Lord gives us the ability and opportunity to do, the Lord Jesus
promises that he will come in and sup with us. Where two or
three are gathered together in his name, part of gathering in
his name, Alan, is gathering for his honor. Just two or three
have been gathered here today to honor him. He promises he'll
come in and sup with us. Now, here are these three things
that are great features that ought to characterize every believer
in every gospel church. Here's these people, Martha and
Mary and Lazarus, Sitting in sweet communion. At the table
with the Savior. Worshipping him. As portrayed by Mary, anointing
his feet. Serving him. As pictured by Martha,
serving the table. And everything's harmonious,
no envy. But no self exaltation, each
one. in their place, doing what they
could do, working as one. Paul said in Philippians, turn
over there, if you will, Philippians chapter two, talk about consolation
in Christ. Comfort in Christ is as if there
be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of
love, if any fellowship of the spirit, if any bowels and mercies
fulfill you, my joy, that you be like minded, having the same
love Being of one accord and of one mind. Oh, God, give me
that. God, give us that. One accord,
one mind, like-minded. Seeking Christ's glory. Let nothing be done through strife
or vain glory. Nothing be done because that's
the way you want it. Nothing be done because you've
got to have your way. Nothing be done because that's
the way I want it. I've got to have my way. Nothing done to please
and gratify me. Nothing done to please and gratify
you, but everything done to please and honor and gratify the master. Let nothing be done through strife
or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other
better than themselves. Look not every man on his own
things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this
mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. And a verse
14. Do all things without murmurings and disputings. No grumbling,
no griping. If you grumble and gripe, you
may as well not do it. That you may be blameless and
harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke in the midst of a crooked
and perverse nation among whom Ye shine as lights in the world,
holding forth the word of life. Yeah. All right. Back here in
John 12 again. Here's the second thing. John just casually mentions the
fact that Lazarus, whose body just a few days earlier, just
a few days earlier, lay rotting in the grave. John just, he just
casually mentions and Lazarus was sitting at the table. Now, if this book had been written
by a man and not written by inspiration of God the Holy Spirit, I'll
guarantee you he would have said something more about it. But
this is written by the inspiration of God. He doesn't have to elaborate
anything. He doesn't have to explain anything.
He doesn't have to add some details or add a little color or put
a little fluff out. He just says Lazarus is there.
Lazarus is there. So the second thing I want you
to see is the fact that our Lord's wondrous works are as undeniable
as they are unexplainable. No one could pretend that Lazarus'
resurrection was a mere optical delusion. that these folks at
this feast and all those who saw him come out of the grave
were somehow they were all they were all strung out on some kind
of dope and they didn't know what was going on. Not for all
this time. Lazarus was raised from the dead. Now, a couple
of weeks later, here Lazarus is sitting at the table with
a feast, a huge party with the Pharisees and the scribes and
the chief priests and the Jewish neighbors all invited to the
party. And there sits Lazarus. And many
came just because they heard there'd been this fella in Bethany.
Folks tell us that there was a man called Jesus of Nazareth
This fellow who claims to be the Messiah, you know, you've
heard about here This fellow who claims to be the Son of God
and equal with God this this fellow who claims he's come to
fulfill all the scriptures This fellow who claims to be God in
the flesh He he says he raised him from the dead and folks say
it So I'm gonna go down Bethany and find out here tell they're
having a party down there And a bunch of them went down just
to see Lazarus, who was raised from the dead. So this thing
was not done in a corner. It's manifest, it's open. And
there sits Lazarus, feasting on fried potatoes and gravy, nice pot roast, bread,
butter all over it, just having a feast, eating it like a man
in the flesh. Well, Brother Don wasn't he in
the flesh? Of course he was. Of course he was. The Lord raised
him from the dead. It was an undeniable fact. Well, explain that to me. All
right. The Lord raised him from the
dead. The Lord raised him from the dead. I can't believe that. Oh, how come? Well, that's just
not scientific. That's just not reasonable. That's
just not, you know, folks think you're crazy to believe something
like that. A few weeks ago, I was preaching about this very thing
where Lazarus made the statement that the Lord had brought him
back from the dead. I walked out the door and said,
did you say Lazarus was in heaven and the Lord brought him back?
I said, yeah. Hadn't been back. Hadn't been back. Well, you can't
believe that. Can't believe that. Why? I'll
tell you why. Because you don't believe Christ
was raised from the dead. Because you don't believe God
is God. Now, you say, Brother Don, don't you have trouble with
these things? Oh, I do. Because I'm a man of flesh. And
there's much unbelief with me. But we believe God's word and
rest our hope on God's word. If Lazarus was not raised from
the dead, we say Christ raised him from the dead. No, no, no,
no, no. He couldn't do that. How could he raise himself from
the dead? If Lazarus was not raised from the dead, when the
word of God declares that he is, How do you hope to be raised
from the dead? Well, we must understand these
things in a more academic and more intellectual and more spiritual
way. It doesn't get more academic,
more intellectual, more spiritual than this. The Lord raised Lazarus
from the dead and with all his wondrous works, they are as unexplainable
as they are wondrous. Remember, the word was made flesh. Would anybody care to explain
to me how a virgin can give birth? God did it. The Lord Jesus was
made sin and bore the wrath of God in our room instead, dying
for us. And we died in him and he rose
again. The Lord God comes and makes
us new creatures in Christ by his almighty grace. And here
we are. Manifestly so. Manifestly so. New creatures
in Jesus Christ. Next, John gives us a brief description
of Mary's very instructive act of anointing the Savior. Verse
three, then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard very
costly and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with
her hair and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment.
Let me just state several things that I find marvelously instructive
about this. When we consider who Christ is,
we ought to be overwhelmed at the thought of his condescension
in allowing this woman thus to wash his feet with her tears,
anoint his feet with this ointment and wipe his feet with her hair. What could be more amazing? Here is God in the flesh and
he condescends to let a sinful woman hold his feet in her hands, kiss
them, wiped them with her hair, having anointed him for his burial. Well, here's something almost
as wondrous. He allowed this woman to do it,
who was a sinner. And this is most wondrous of
all. He who is God, the holy God,
allows me and you to serve him. Me and you. He's put this treasure of his
grace in earthen vessels that the excellency and the honor
may be of God and not of us. This was an act of great love
and devotion displayed in an extraordinary act of sacrificial generosity.
As I said earlier, this spike was worth right at a year's wages,
right at the average working man's year wages, done at one
time, at one time. And you know, nobody there could
make any sense of it. Nobody there could make any sense
of what this woman did. She took I don't even know what average
wage is in these days. $50,000? She took $50,000, $60,000,
$70,000 and just threw it up in the air and set it on fire
and smelled it burn. That's all she did for him. For him. She took the ointment,
broke it on his head, his body. And his feet just covered him
up with it. And the fragrance filled the air. And she wasn't looking for anything.
She wasn't expecting anything. And nobody had a clue what she
was doing except her and the one for whom she did it. So that's
extravagant. You try explaining extravagance
to somebody who does something for one they dearly love. You start defining extravagance
now. Love counts no cost. Love considers nothing a sacrifice. Love thinks nothing extreme that's
done for its object. This was an act of great humility. This woman takes down her hair
Wipes off his feet. Wipes off his feet. And while
motivated by gratitude and inspired by love and gratitude, this was
something that's obvious because this woman who had been forgiven
much, there sat her brother whom she
loved. And the Lord had just raised
him from the dead. How can I thank you? Not only
for your grace to me, but your mercy in preserving him for me. And though this was a spontaneous
thing done on the on the spur of the moment, inspired from
deep within, because as she saw the Lord sitting there, she just
overwhelmed. Yet it was something she had
been preparing all the while, for the Lord said, she's kept
this for me, for my burial. One more thing. She did it without
calling any attention to herself. She didn't stand up, Merle, and
clear her throat real loud, wait for everybody to start looking,
and break open the box. She didn't sound a trumpet and
say, I'm going to do. She didn't say, I used to do. She didn't
say, this is what I did. No. She just silently broke open the ointment. Nobody knew anything about it
until they smelled the aroma. Nobody but her and the master.
Spurgeon said, silent acts of love have musical voices to the
ears of Jesus. Sound no trumpet before thee,
or Jesus will take warning and be gone. Do what you do for Him. Not for me, not for your wife,
not for your husband, not for your son, daughter, not for name,
not for recognition. Whatever you do in the cause
of Christ and the kingdom of God, do it for Him. Quietly. Say nothing about it. Her love and gratitude produced
humility, generosity, and devotion. And this anointing of the Lord
Jesus by Mary was a beautiful picture of what gospel preaching
is, this word. You're working on the message
for next Sunday morning, Frank. This book is a casket, a treasure
chest. It contains the precious ointment
of Christ crucified. The business of the preacher,
every time he stands in this place, is to break open the casket,
pour out the ointment, and the sweet aroma of Jesus Christ crucified
fills the house of God. God's honored and his people
are profited. Then in verses 4, 5, and 6, Judas
raised a stink. Mary met with opposition. Sadly, Judas was a man of such
prominence and influence in the early church that he was not only the one
who was treasurer, the one who carried the bag, He was trusted
with all that the men brought in, all that the folks gave,
all that the men and women brought to the Lord Jesus, everything.
Judas was trusted with it all. The disciples appointed him treasurer. But not only that, he had such
high esteem among the disciples. He was so highly regarded that
when the Lord announced plainly that one should betray him, No
one suspected Judas. Nobody. Rather, each one said,
is it I? Is it I? And Matthew tells us
that all the disciples joined in this opposition to this woman.
Judas led the way and the others followed. What Judas did, they
did. What Judas said, they said. Wherever
Judas, whatever side Judas stood on, they walked over and stole
that side with him. And Judas was the betrayer. What a warning. But Judas, not that he cared
for the poor, he said, why wasn't this ointment sold and given
to the poor? We could have given 300 pennies. Look at the thousands of dollars
we could have given to the poor. if you hadn't made this waste.
Now, it's gone. Why this waste? You can bank
on it. Many, like Judas, who have no
interest in the cause of Christ, except in pretense, openly oppose
true devotion at every opportunity. Sadly, many truly faithful disciples
Are influenced by them and follow their lead, but we must not be
deterred from patiently doing the will of God as God makes
it known to us. Fifth and verses seven and eight. Look at this. Then said Jesus, the Lord comes to her defense.
Our God has promised them that honor me. I will honor. but he's
as good as his word. Then said Jesus, let her alone. For against the day of my burying,
she have kept this. For the poor always you have
with you, but me, you have not always. Mary sat at the Savior's
feet and heard his words. She listened much and said very
little. And we read a little, just very
little of anything about Mary, except that she here anoints
the Savior for his burial. And later, she's at the tomb
to anoint his buried body. This woman, Mary, seems to have
understood, as none of the other disciples did, what the Lord
taught concerning himself, his death, and even his resurrection. And yet, after he was dead, Mary
too seems to have doubted. Now look what the Lord says as
he comes to her defense here. Turn back to Mark chapter 14.
Let's look at Mark's account of the same thing. Verse six. Jesus said, let her alone. Why
trouble you her? She hath wrought a good work
on me. For the poor you have with you
always, and whensoever you will, you may do them good, but me
you have not always. Now, let me tell you what that
means. And the Lord says, I'm fixing to leave here. I won't
always be here on this earth. I won't always be with you in
the flesh poor. You can serve anytime. We understand. However, in our day, as our Lord
declares in Matthew 25, that, uh, if you give so much as a
cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, what's that name?
I had brother Ron wood. He, uh,
he says he's brother Ron wood. He wanted Lord's disciples. He
looks thirsty. Have a little water, buddy. That's
just what that means. He'll not lose his reward. He
said, whatever you do for these little ones is done for me. Whatever
you do. You ladies have a guest preacher
in, you have him at your house, and you fix up things, and you
make the beds, and then he leaves the next day, and you take him
down and strip him and redo him, and you feed him, and you take
care of him. And sometimes you think, well, Maybe that's just
too much anymore. Is it now? Is it now? I wonder, Merle, if
it'd be too much if the Lord Jesus came knocking at your door.
I wonder if it'd be too much if
the Son of God sat at your table. For the least of these, my disciples,
you've done it for me. But you don't. Well, what am
I expected to do, Brother Dodd? just what you can. She hath done
what she could. I can't preach who said you should. I can't give much who said you
should. I can't do. Do what you can for the Master. She has come beforehand to anoint
my body to the burial. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever
this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this
also that she hath done shall be spoken of for memorial of
her. Honor to whom honor is due. Is
that the word? And the Lord our Savior declares
that this woman shall have honor forever. for what she's done. I give it to her. You know what? I'm sure anxious to meet her.
I'm anxious to meet her. I'm anxious to see her face around
the throne with my Redeemer. She believed His Word and believing
His Word, acted on His Word, anointing Him as her Savior. And the Lord Jesus comes to her
defense. I want to follow her example.
and I want to have her defender. I say with David, be thou my
strong rock. For in house of defense, save
me, plead for me. Plead my cause, O Lord, with
them that strive against me. With the prophet, O Lord, I'm
oppressed. Undertake for me. This is what
Job said. I would seek unto God. Unto God
would I commit my cause. There you go. He's my rock. He's my defense. He's my shield. He's my fortress. He's my refuge. And just as much, just to the
degree that I realize that, just as much, just to the degree that
I believe that, I need no other rock. no other refuge, no other
fortress, no other shield, no other defense. Oh Lord, plead
my cause, undertake for me against them that oppose me and oppress
me. One last thing. This passage shows us a clear
display of the desperate hardness and unbelief of fallen man's
depraved heart. The Jews and the chief priests
and the Pharisees, they saw this miracle, Lazarus raised from
the dead. And their hearts were heartened. Their hearts were hardened. Hardened
in unbelief. Hardened in opposition to the
Master. They could think of nothing but their position and their
place. And they said, let's kill Judas
and him too. They plotted the murder of the
Son of God. And plotted the murder of Judas.
Not Judas, but of Lazarus. Plotted Lazarus murder. Why? What had Lazarus done? He's just
sitting there eating and drinking. Hadn't said anything. He's just
sitting there. But the fact that he was sitting there was a constant
reminder of their hypocrisy and deceit, and they couldn't stand
it. They weren't satisfied just to
crucify the Son of God. They wanted to erase his memory
and his influence from the earth. So they must eliminate Judas
as well. Not only were they hardened,
I'm sorry, eliminate Lazarus as well. Judas, Iscariot. You talk about hardness, hardness. How blind How hard the heart
of man, so blind, so hard that you will never believe. You will never trust the son
of God unless he graciously gives you faith and performs faith
in you by his omnipotent grace. Judas For three years, heard
every sermon the master preached. For three years, heard every
doctrine he taught. For three years, in private and
in public, walked with the Son of God. Saw every miracle he
performed. Now, just imagine this. Judas,
you were teaching about the loaves and fish this morning, wasn't
you? He broke the bread. He passed it out. He distributed
the fish. He gathered up the fragments. And he was obstinate in his hardened
unbelief, growing only in his hatred for the God he pretended
to worship. Mary and Martha and Lazarus believed. And they believed on the Son
of God exactly for the same reason you
believe if you do. Because God called them from
death to life, from darkness to light, and gave them faith. Look in John chapter 12, verse
37. Verse 37. Though he had done so many miracles
before them, yet they believed not on him. Miracles never produce
faith. Never produce faith. Don't pay
any attention to the Charismatic poppycock you hear all over the
place Miracles don't produce faith only grace does They believe
not only what's this that the saying of Isaiah the prophet
might be fulfilled? Which he spake Lord Who has believed
our report? And to whom is the arm of the
Lord revealed Now I've given you once more
a report I of the Son of God. I wonder who believes. I tell you, everyone to whom
the arm of the Lord is revealed. Oh, Lord, reveal your mighty
arm. Call sinners to believe. Amen.