I briefly described good works
as works of love, faith, and gratitude. Now I want to pick
up on that this evening. If you will, turn with me to
Mark chapter 14, and let me show you this picture that God the
Holy Spirit gives us of good work. is the only thing ever performed
by a human being that the Lord Jesus called a good work. Mark chapter 14 verse 3. Being in Bethany in the house
of Simon the leper. You have this same thing spoken
of in Luke chapter 7. And in John chapter 12, as he
sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment,
a spikenard, very precious. And she broke the box and poured
it on his head. And there were some that had
indignation within themselves and said, why was this waste
of the ointment made? For it might have been sold for
more than three hundred pence, and had been given to the poor.
And they murmured against her. The one who started the murmuring
was Judas, because he carried the bag, but his influence spread
among those who were true disciples. They murmured against her. And
Jesus said, let her alone. Why trouble ye her? She hath
wrought a good work on me. For you have the poor with you
always, and whensoever you will, you may do them good, but me
you have not always. She has done what she could.
She has come beforehand to anoint my body for the burying." Now,
the woman described here is Mary, the sister of Martha and of Lazarus. The Apostle John identifies her
for us in chapter 11 of his gospel, and she was a woman who was set
before us in Scripture as a woman who was imminent because of her
faith and her devotion to the Savior. a woman identified as
one full of grace and full of devotion to Christ. Our Lord
said, Mary hath chosen that good part, speaking of himself, which
shall not be taken away from her. Every time this woman is
identified in the scriptures, every time she is spoken of,
she is set before us as an example of faith and devotion to Christ. In Luke 10.39, we see Mary sitting
at the Savior's feet and hearing his words. In John 11, 3, Mary,
along with her sister Martha, sent a message to the Master
saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick, seeking
his help in time of desperate need. In that same chapter, while
both she and Martha showed some things that perhaps were not
commendable, Yet Mary sat patiently waiting on the Lord, and she
worshipped Him even in the midst of great, great sorrow. Her brother
whom she loved had just died, and she's worshipping the Savior.
And then here in Mark 14, just a few days before the Lord Jesus
would lay down His life as her substitute, just a few days before
He would die, under the wrath of God in her room instead, knowing,
and she seems to be the only one amongst the disciples who
did, knowing that he would soon die for her. Mary came beforehand
to anoint him for his burial, to embalm his body with those
precious, precious ointments contained in this alabaster box,
the sweet perfume, and she did it in anticipation of him rising
again the third day. Peter didn't grasp that, not
yet. John didn't grasp that, not yet. Matthew, Mark hadn't grasped
that, not yet. Mary alone understood and believed
that the Lord Jesus in just a few days would die in her stead and
that he would rise from the dead. Though some thought she acted
with fanaticism and rebuked her for having made such a waste
of her goods, the Lord Jesus not only received what she did,
but honored her for doing it. Look what it says here. Why trouble
ye her? They murmured against Mary. And
the master said, why are you troubling her? And so with those
words he sharply rebuked those who murmured against her indignantly,
calling her sacrifice a waste. Oh, how common that is. The spirit
of this murmuring, the spirit led by Judas and followed by
the disciples. These narrow-minded, fault-finding
men and women are found everywhere in every generation. Those are
folks who think themselves pious and righteous and good, and they're
quick to denounce anything that they look at and say, that's
extreme. That's just not reasonable. They call any kind of real devotion
Extremism, fanaticism, a waste. Dedication and commitment to
Christ is something that most folks just can't grasp. These
people who are always urging moderation in the service of
Christ and his gospel. If they should see a man devote
his time, his money, and his affection to the pursuit of any
worldly interest, They call him wise. If he dedicates himself
to the pursuit of riches, politics, fame, they find no fault with
him. If he decides to be an athlete
and devotes himself to exercise, training, and practice, they
say he's to be admired. As a matter of fact, I just heard
Mr. O'Reilly the other night. I don't even know what the gal's
name is. She was U.S. swimming champion in the Olympics.
Some of y'all might know her name. She was on his program,
not because she was U.S. swimming champion, but because
she appears in Playboy magazine sometime last month, this month,
next month, I don't know when. I won't be buying a copy. But
she's devoted herself. She gets up every morning at
6 o'clock, or by 6 o'clock she's in the pool, swims 10 miles a
day, and she exercises until 5 in the afternoon every day. And when she got done with that,
she got a contract with Playboy Magazine, and Mr. Rogers says,
I admire your devotion. I admire your devotion. But devotion
to Christ. Devotion to Christ. I'm talking
about real devotion to Christ. Folks call fanaticism foolishness,
a waste. Cold, hard hearts are always
slow to do and quick to criticize. Those who labor most earnestly
and are most devoted in the cause of Christ, as I observe it, and
I can only speak from what I observe, as I perceive devotion to be,
are those who are slowest to ever say anything critical about
another service. And those who do nothing carp
about everything, gripe about the way folks do everything.
So many times somebody will be doing something around the church
building here and, well, I hope folks will like it. I said, don't
like it, let them do it. Let them do it. You're doing
it, do it. But folks gripe and they carp
and they don't like the way things are done. But the only ones who
do are folks who do nothing. Kind of like the folks who Get
upset because people aren't very friendly. You ever notice folks
who are most upset because people aren't friendly with them? That's
folks who run around with a scowl on their face, don't speak to
anybody who speaks to them. Just walk. Don't even exist. And they gripe about folks not
being friendly. That's the way it is with folks who don't know
anything about devotion to Christ. You can bank on it. Mr. Critical
Tongue and Miss Gossip Jaws are do-nothings in the kingdom of
God. But if ever we come to understand something of the sinfulness of
our hearts, and the compassion our Lord has
had on us, and what great things He's done for us, that'll change
our attitude. We'll never imagine anything
too costly. any gift of sacrifice, any service
of labor. Rather, we will cry, What shall
I render unto the Lord for all his benefits? Then our Savior said, She hath
done a good work. What a marvelous declaration. She's done a good work. She hath
wrought a good work on me, he said. What is a good work? Well, let's see what we see here. This was a work that was done
just for Christ. Just for Him. And any work done
just for Him will benefit many. Oh, how this work has benefited
God's people throughout the ages. Our Lord said this thing that
she's done will be told as a memorial to her as long as the world stands
wherever the gospel is preached. And God's people have read this
story and heard this story. I've preached to you from it
I don't know how many times. In every way I can think of preaching
to you from here. If I can think of another way,
you'll hear it again next time. But it's all for the benefit. But the work was done just for
Him. She was wrapped up in Him. She was absorbed with Him. Her affection was consumed with
Him. She cherished Him. This perfume
was meant for no one but Him. Other folks smelled it, but she
gave it to him. She had no regard for herself.
She had no regard for the consequences of her actions. She had no regard
for what she might lose or what she might gain. She wanted nothing
but to honor him. Look at it. She hath wrought
a good work on me. She had no thought for anyone
else. And she took that cost the ointment, that precious ointment,
broke the box in which it was contained, and anointed him for
his burial. It was purely for his praise,
for his honor, from the heart of love. That's the second thing
about a good work. This which our Savior calls a
good work was a work of love, devotion. Turn over to Luke chapter
7. Let me show you how Luke describes
it. We'll begin reading at verse
36. And one of the Pharisees desired
him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's
house and sat down to eat. And behold, a woman in the city,
which was a sinner, That's how everybody else knew her. This
woman who had been saved by God's free grace was a sinner. We're all a little suspicious
because of the religious world. Everybody gets religion in jailhouse.
Paris Hilton, she'd been known for a lot of other things ever
since I've heard her name the first time. Sinner. The other night she announced
she found God. Well, the way she talked about
it, that's kind of doubtful. But let me tell you something.
This woman who was a sinner had been made a saint by the transformation
of God's grace. This woman that everybody else
regarded her as nothing but a harlot, a streetwalker, a sinner. When she knew that Jesus sat
at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,
and stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash
his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her
head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.
Try to get the picture. Here she stands. She is aware
that the cost of the forgiveness she's experienced is the sacrifice
of this sitting in front of her who is her God. And her heart
breaks. And she begins to sob. And she
washed his feet with her tears and let down her hair and wiped
them with the hairs of her head and then she anointed him with
this alabaster box. Verse 38, she stood at his feet
behind him weeping and began to wash his feet with tears and
did and wiped them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet,
and anointed him with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee, which
had bitten him, saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were
a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this
is that toucheth him. She wouldn't dare touch me, for
she is a sinner. And Jesus answering said unto
him, Simon, Now that identifies it as the same thing Mark's describing,
same event. This is the Pharisee's name where
the master was eating. I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.
There was a certain creditor which had two debtors, the one
owed five hundred pence and the other fifty. And when they had
nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me, therefore.
Which of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose
that he to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast
rightly judged. And he turned to the woman and
said to Simon, What a great way to teach. He looked at the woman
and is talking to this Pharisee. He said to Simon, Seest thou
this woman? I entered into thine house, thou
gavest me no water for my feet. But she hath washed my feet with
her tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest
me no kiss, but this woman, since the time I came in, hath not
ceased to kiss my feet." She was like that prodigal. She came
home and the father ran and fell on her neck and kissed her and
didn't stop kissing her. And now she falls at his feet
and she kisses him and doesn't stop kissing him. My head thou
didst not anoint, but this woman hath anointed my feet with her
ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, her
sins, which are many, are forgiven. For she loved much, but to whom
little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins
are forgiven. And they that sat at meat with
him began to say within themselves, Why is this that forgiveth sins? Who is this that forgiveth sins
also? And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee. Go
in peace. The one thing that motivated
this woman was love for Christ. Love that beats any kind of love
there is. Now listen to me. Love that beats any kind of love
there is known among men. Love that arises from nothing
else but absolute gratitude. overwhelming gratitude, an overwhelming
sense of debt, a debt not demanded, a debt not required from anyone
except the one who loves. When our Lord speaks and says,
he to whom much is forgiven, the same love it much, He's not
suggesting that there are some of his saints who have been forgiven
much and some who've been forgiven a little. And therefore some
love him greatly and some love him little. That's not the teaching
at all. Because that is totally contrary
to the teaching of scripture. But all his are men and women
who have been forgiven much. They count themselves the chief
of sinners. And because they've been forgiven
much, they love much. This is the language of scripture.
We love Him. And just in proportion, as we
grasp something of the reality of what He's forgiven us, so
we love Him. We love Him because He first
loved us. We love Him. Yes, we do. We do. But our love flows from and is
caused by His love for us. We come to love Him in time because
He loved us in eternity. Paul reasons like this. You're not your own. You're bought
with a price. Will you hear me? Alvin, you
and I have been bought with the precious blood of God's darling
son. Therefore, do you need something
else? You need some other motive? You
need some other inspiration? You need some other constraint?
I fear for your soul and for mine if we do. Glorify God in your body and
in your spirits, which are God's. I'll tell you something else
about this work. Our Master calls this a good
work performed by this woman on Him, because this was a work
that required considerable, thoughtful, deliberate self-denial and sacrifice. If you read the accounts of Mark
and John and Luke and Matthew together, you'll see that this
woman's sacrifice was weighed at 300 pence value. Do you remember in Matthew's
gospel narrative in chapter 20, it talks about those men who
went out and labored the common wages of the day for a penny
a day. That's almost a year's wages. That's almost a year's wages. I have no idea what the wage
of a man is today, but whatever it is, that's what she gave.
She'd been saving it up, saving it up, saving it up, saving it
up, saving it up. After all, she knew she couldn't
always perform what she'd been performing. And she'd been saving
it up for a rainy day, saving it up for the day when she'd
need it, until she met the Master. And from that day on, she'd been
saving it just for Him. Just for Him. One of these days,
one of these days I want to get an opportunity to do something
for Him. That's what this is for. It was a costly sacrifice, one
for which she made deliberate preparation, thoughtful, thoughtful
care. It was something she had been
planning for a long time. She had been saving this rich,
costly ointment, our Lord tells us in John 12, 7, specifically
for him. He said, let her alone against
the day of my burying has she kept this. She didn't know exactly
what was But our Lord said she'd been saving it for this opportunity. And this woman's sacrifice was
done silently. I wish we could learn never to think about, much less
mention, what we think we've done for the Savior. As soon as I tell you about it,
it's wasted effort. As soon as I start to talk about
it, that was done for me, not for him. What she did, she did
without saying a word to anyone. She didn't ask if it was all
right. She didn't ask anyone for their advice. She didn't
ask anyone if this was reasonable. She didn't ask anyone, do you
think this is what I ought to do? Love needs no direction, but
its object. Love needs no guidelines, but
the love itself. Love needs no inspiration, but
its object. Love needs no discipline, but
the one who is the object of love, and the love itself. She made this sacrifice silently. and did what she could. That's called a work of faith. A good work is a work of faith. It arises from faith, it is inspired
by faith, it requires faith, and it is performed in faith.
This woman, as I said in the beginning, understood She understood
what the Old Testament prophets understood. She understood what
those who really worshipped God back in the days of the temple
ceremonies and tabernacle ceremonies understood. When they saw that
paschal lamb sacrifice and they saw the scapegoat going off into
no man's land and a man coming back without that goat, she understood. She understood what Adam understood
when the Lord God killed the first lamb and clothed him with
the skins of that lamb. She understood what Abel understood
when he offered Christ in the sacrifice he offered to God.
She understood he's going to die, just as you read just a
minute ago, the Lamb of God take away my sins, for me is she. And when he does, He will fully
satisfy the justice of God, bringing in everlasting righteousness,
and he will rise again. Let me show you that. Isaiah
53. Our Lord said, She has done this and kept this against the
day of my burying. Isaiah 53. Look at verse 10. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. The word means satisfied. Satisfied. So many times folks argue against
the gospel of God's grace, so God has no pleasure in the death
of the wicked. He wants everybody to be saved. The word means God
gets no satisfaction out of sending anybody to hell. No satisfaction. Should the world
suffer the terror of God's wrath forever, no satisfaction to justice. But here is one great sacrifice
with whom and in whom and by whom all of God's character,
all of God's will, all of God's fury, all of God's justice, all
of God's demands are fully satisfied. It pleased, it satisfied the
Lord to bruise he hath put him to grief. When thou shalt make
his soul an offering for sin, this will be the result. He shall
see his seed. He shall prolong his days, that
is, he's going to live again, and the pleasure, the will, the
purpose of God, the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in
his hands. That is, when he sees his seed
and the pleasure of the Lord prospers in his hands, he will
accomplish all that the Father from eternity purposed to be
done. He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. All for whom he died shall be
saved. And by his knowledge That is, by his knowledge of who he
is and what he has done, by his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities,
those who are justified by him. Therefore, the Lord God speaks
and says, Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong. because he hath
poured out his soul unto death, and he was numbered with the
transgressors, and he bared the sin of many, and made intercession
for the transgressors. This woman did what she did because
she believed him, and believing him to be her risen Lord who
had redeemed her, she was willing and happy and honored to take
her whole life and throw it to Him. Her whole
living. Her whole life. Like Jephthah. She said, I've lifted my hand
to the Lord. I can't go back. She took everything she owned,
everything she had, and laid it on Him. just for his honor. It was a good work because she had done what she
could, the Master said. I could name any number of you. Over the years, come out here
and do things, Bob, Bobby, Celeste, Bob Duff, others. Many of you,
many of you, any of you, I can catch you out here and see you
doing things. And I say, I can't tell you how
much I appreciate you doing that, taking care of this, taking care
of that. And almost identical words come from each one, almost
identical words. I can't preach, but I can do
this. Bob Ponce was out here a few weeks ago picking up the
garbage one day. So I didn't have to go call the
garbage off. And I'm not recommending anybody to do it. Don't ask anybody
to do it. He just came out and did it. And I said, I so much
appreciate it. I can't preach, but I can't hold
garbage. I can't hold garbage. What can I do? Whatever God gives
you the means and opportunity to do, do it for Christ's sake. Do it for Christ's sake. Shelby
and I watched a video the other night. Sunday night, I guess
it was. Yeah, Sunday night. At the services, about the history
of Spurgeon. Video someone had sent me. Pretty
good. It's pretty good. Just reminded me of a few things
I had read reading his autobiography. And I guess the experiences of
God's servants in most any generation, pretty much are the same. Spurgeon
talked about the first time he preached. He hadn't been converted
long. He was 16 years old. And he was going out to a little
place, I believe it was Water Beach. And someone had to ask
him if he would go along with someone else who was kind of
timid and just didn't like to go by himself, just give out
a lesson at this meeting of some folks. And Spurgeon agreed and
they were walking along. As they got close to the place,
Spurgeon said to the fellow walking with him, he said, I trust the
Lord will be with you as you give the Word tonight. He said,
give the Word? Oh no, you're going to do the
preaching tonight. Spurgeon said, me? Oh, no, I can't do that. Well, I was sure not going to.
If you don't preach, there won't be any preaching. And Spurgeon
said, well, I thought to myself, I could at least tell folks about
the love and mercy of God in Christ. I know something about
that. And that began the ministry of
C.H. Spurgeon. And I couldn't help
but to think And I just started dating. I had no thoughts about
preaching. No thoughts about preaching. I couldn't hardly
read, much less preach. I got asked to preach. A friend of hers in school had
a little mission. And I thought, I can't do that. I can't even read this book,
much less preach from it. But I can tell what I know. how the Lord has had compassion
on me, what great things He's done for me. I can do what He's
given me the opportunity to do, and given me the ability to do, and I'm responsible to do what
He's given me the opportunity to do, and what He gives me the
ability to do, and you too. She did what she could for the
Master. Whatever you can do for Christ,
do it. But what can I do? Matthew 10, 42. You see a thirsty
child? Give him a drink of water. Whoso offereth a cup of cold
water, in the name of a disciple shall not lose his reward. See
one of his children in need? Somebody just needs you to come
see them. Just needs you to give them a
call. Just needs you to drop them a note. Just needs to know
that you care. Make sure they know. For if you
do it to one of the least of these, my disciples, You've done
it to me. God gives you opportunity to
tell somebody how He's had compassion on you, what great things He's
done for you. Do it. Do it. I wish I could
say this to the whole world of folks who profess to believe
the things we do concerning the grace of God. Quit arguing with
folks about religion. It never did anybody any good.
I don't give a flip for the folks of Calvinist or Arminian, Baptist
or Methodist, Catholic or Buddhist. It doesn't matter. It doesn't
matter. I don't give a flip. Oh, you
don't dare say that. I said it and I'll say it again.
I don't give a flip. I want folks to know Christ. Know Christ. And if you ever
come to know Him, all the other stuff will fall in place. Quit
arguing with people about election. Quit arguing with people about
predestination. Quit arguing with people about
limited atonement. Aren't those things important? My soul, you
don't have to ask me that, do you? Those things are vital.
Those things are vital. But you don't come to know Christ
by coming to know doctrine. You come to know doctrine by
coming to know Him. who's had compassion on my soul,
who has done great things for me. Go home now and ask for grace
from God to do what you can just for Christ. Amen. You take your handbook and turn
to number 64.