chapter 14 and we'll begin our
reading in verse 3 and read through verse 9. And being in Bethany in the house
of Simon the leper, as he said it meet, there came a woman having
an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious, and
she break 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 300 pence and have been given to the poor. And they
murmured against her. And Jesus said, let her alone. Why trouble you 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 hath done what she could.
She is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying. 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 a memorial of her. The title of my message today
is There Came a Woman, from verse three. The words in verse three,
there came a woman. And those words remind me of
other women who came to Christ. For instance, the woman of Samaria,
the scripture says that came to the well. and Christ revealed
himself unto her as the promised Messiah. And then there was that
woman that came to him in the house of Simon the Pharisee,
to whom he said, thy sins are forgiven. And now this woman,
there came a woman, this time in the house of Simon the leper,
Most likely the Lord Jesus Christ had cleansed this man of leprosy,
and he still was called Simon the leper, just like Matthew. After he was saved, he was still
called Matthew the publican, Simon the leper. And in his house,
the Lord Jesus Christ, along with his disciples, were eating.
And there came a woman. Now, I can't tell you today the
name of this woman or of the other two that I've mentioned,
but I'm going to bring to us today from the scriptures five
truths that I see about this woman. There are more, but these
five will be enough for this morning. The first truth that
I see about this woman, this woman experienced the saving
grace of God. Let that sink in. This woman
experienced the saving grace of God. She by grace through
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ had been saved. You say, how
do you know that? I know this because of what our
Lord said about her. If you notice in verse six, when
he told the disciples, let her alone, why trouble you her? Now
notice this, she hath wrought a good work on me. Can an unsaved person do a good
work? A good work before men is one
thing, and yes, unsaved people can do good works before men,
but a good work before God, a good work before the God-man, the
Lord Jesus Christ, a person cannot do a good work who has never
experienced the saving grace of God, not in the sight of God. A good work in the sight of God
cannot be done by a lost person. Our Lord said this in Matthew
chapter 12 and verse 33, when he said, either make the tree
good and his fruit good, or else make the tree corrupt and his
fruit corrupt, for the tree is known by its fruit. Now, the
Lord Jesus Christ was pleased. This work that she did pleased
him. And the scripture says, without
faith, it is impossible to please him. Without faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ, it is impossible for any man, by nature, I mean
a lost individual, as we come into this world, it is impossible
for a lost individual to do a good work before God, a work that
God will accept. That's an impossibility. A good work before God must come
out of a good heart, and man by nature doesn't have a good
heart. A good work before God must spring
from a good motive, and the truth is the motive of all men apart
from the Lord Jesus Christ is selfishness. A good work must be done for
the glory of God. A good work, a work to be considered
by God to be good must be done for His glory, not to be seen
of other men and not to be acknowledged by other men. This woman did
a good work. Our Lord tells us that and that
tells me She had experienced the saving grace of God. In Proverbs
21 in verse four, the proverb is, a high look and a proud heart,
now listen, and the plowing of the wicked is sin. How can it be sin for a man to
plow his field? Well, the scripture says the
plowing of the wicked is sin. And that word that is translated
there, wicked, it means condemned, guilty, ungodly. And that's the condition of all
of us, apart from the saving grace of God. We come into this
world condemned under the wrath of God. We're guilty. We're guilty before God. We're
ungodly. We're not like God. We're the
very opposite of God. God is love. We love ourselves. No, the plowing of the wicked
is sin. Even though it's right, it's
good for men to take care of their family, to feed their families,
Scripture has a lot to say about that too, doesn't it? Paul said,
if a man will not work, neither should he eat. If a man doesn't
take care of his own household, he's denied the faith and worse
than an infidel. The Bible has a lot to say about
man working, yes. But to do a good work before
God, even the plowing of the wicked is sin. If that man is
wicked, in his heart, if he's guilty before God, if he's condemned
and ungodly, then his work is ungodly. All of us, when we come
into this world, are condemned under the wrath of God. We're condemned because we come
into this world as sinners. And in Romans chapter three,
in that letter where the apostle Paul is showing how it is that
men are justified. How are men declared righteous
with God? And he begins by showing us that
we're all guilty before God, first of all. And he says this
in Romans chapter three, there's none that doeth good. No, not one. There's none that doeth good,
not before God, not good before God. There's none. A person must
be made good, make the tree good, and then the fruit will be good.
But a good work's not going to come out of a heart that is not
made good by the mercy and grace of God. The same way a tree that's
no good is not going to give forth good fruit. Keep your places
here, but look in Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2 and reading from verse 8 through
10. For by grace are you saved through
faith. You're saved by grace. You don't
deserve to be saved. No one that God saves deserves
to be saved. We're saved by the grace of God. But we're saved through faith,
that is through faith in Christ. No one is saved apart from Christ.
or by grace are you saved through faith, and that, that is faith,
is the gift of God. It's not of yourselves, it's
the gift of God. And let me just say this, this
is one reason why attending the worship services is so important,
and inviting your friends, your neighbors, and lost people to
hear the preaching of the gospel. Why? Because faith cometh by
hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Faith is a gift of God,
not of works, lest any man should boast. But now notice, for we
are his workmanship created. Now, you can make something. Man can make something. He can
take wood and a hammer and nails and he can make something, but
man cannot create anything. Notice the word says, for we
are his workmanship created. That's the reason I said this
woman had experienced a saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. She had experienced a new creation. The new birth is not a reformation
in the sense that you don't just turn over a new leaf or join
the church or make a vow and start doing things. No, the new
birth is a new creation and that new creation means a new heart. A new heart where His workmanship created
in Christ Jesus unto good works. When a person is saved and born
again of the Spirit of God, has this new heart, these new principles
within him, now, now he's ready to do a good work. But not before,
not before. He's ready, he's fitted because
the tree has been made good. And so the fruit is going to
be good. This woman, that's the first
thing I would say about her. She had experienced the saving
grace of God. Let me ask you about you. Have
you? Have you experienced the saving
grace of God? Do you have a new heart? A heart
to serve God? A heart to love God? To believe
in Him? To trust in Him? Is it like getting you to go
to the dentist to get you to come to worship God? Or do you
have something within you, a new heart, that delights to meet
with the people of God, to worship, to hear about Christ? And that's
the second thing I'd say about this woman. This woman desired
to be near the Lord Jesus Christ. She came to where he was sitting.
And I would just imagine in that society at that time, especially
for a feast like this was, that women normally would not sit
at the same table with the men. But she broke through the decorum
of that day. Why? Because she wanted to be
near the one who had done so much for her, the one who had
saved her. Now, he had not yet died. He
would die in just a few days, but she was like those who were
saved in the Old Testament. Before his death, she looked
forward to him. She trusted in him as the Messiah,
as the one who would be that one sacrifice that would put
away her sins. But this is always true of those
who are in a spiritual, healthy way. We desire to be with the
Lord, to be near the Lord. I was thinking about this verse
in the Song of Solomon, where the bride, speaking to the bridegroom,
says, tell me, tell me, O thou whom my soul lovest, where thou
feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon. In other
words, you tell me so I can be there. That's where I want to
be. Tell me. She's speaking to her
beloved, her husband, he who she loved. Tell me where thou
feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon. And you
know, she was told, well, you look for the marks of the feed
of the sheep. That's where he's going to be.
That's where his sheep are. In other words, his sheep will
be where he's feeding them. And that's where she's going
to be. That's where the bride wants
to be. And I think about the words of the psalmist in Psalm
42, when he said, as the heart, that is a deer, we would call
a deer, as the heart paneth after the water brooks, the deer is
being hunted, maybe being chased by hounds and running and thirsty. David said, as a heart paneth
after the water brook, so paneth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God. That was the case of this woman. She desired to be with her Lord. She desired to be near Him. And so she came to Him. She desired
to be with him, and that's a desire that God's people have. We desire
to be with him in prayer. Now, not everyone has a closet
that they enter into, but all of God's children probably have
a special place, a special time to get along. That's one of the big problems
that I see with modern day America, the noise. People are always
having to be entertained. Has to be a radio going, music
playing, or TV, or something going on. Always, men do not
wish to get alone. Because when they are alone,
they might have to think, and think about their relationship
to God. But the believer, the child of
God, loves to get alone, pray, Talk to the Lord, fellowship
with the Lord, commune with Him, be near Him, not only in the
prayer closet, but also among the assembly of the saints. When
we come together, a believer, a child of God, desires to be
in the midst of God's people because he knows the Lord has
promised. We don't need to pray, Lord,
would you be in our midst? We do pray that, I know, but
we don't really need to because he's already told us he's going
to be here. Where two or three are gathered
in my name, there am I. He doesn't say that there I will
be, there am I in their midst. And God's people want to be where
he is, to be near him. We sing that hymn sometimes near,
still near, close to thy heart. Draw me, my Savior, so precious
thou art. Fold me, oh, fold me close to
thy breast. Shelter me safe in that haven
of rest. This woman, she desired to be
near the Lord Jesus. The third thing about this woman
is she brought a costly gift to the Lord Jesus. The spikenard,
as it says in the margin of your Bible, was a liquid nard, liquid. And this nard was a, what I would
call a perfume. And it's interesting that its
color was rose red. Rose red, the same color of his
blood that he would shed in just a couple of days on the tree.
The same color of that blood that cleanses from all sin, that
cleansed this woman from all sin. She brought a costly gift
to the Lord Jesus. Some say it was imported. It
wasn't natural to Palestine. It was imported from India. And
as Mark says, it was very precious, very precious. In verse five,
we see that it could have been sold, that is his disciples,
they surmise this could have been sold for 300 pence. Now
that word pence, is the same word that's translated penny
in our Lord's parable when the householder went out and he hired
men to work for one day, all day, for one penny. Same word. And so men have come to the conclusion
this spikenard, it was costly, it was probably worth a man's
yearly wages, whatever a man earned a year. That's what this
was worth. It was a costly gift. It was
carried, now Mark says, a box, but it was in some kind of a
vial, and she opened it and poured it on his head. It was costly,
but it wasn't too costly to give to him. You know, God's people
usually learn early in their experience that you cannot outgive
God. God's people just seem to learn
that. You cannot out-give God. He's no man's debtor. He will
never be any man's debtor. Look with me in 2 Corinthians
chapter 8. She brought a costly gift. 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, Paul is
instructing the church at Corinth about giving. And they were receiving
an offering for the poor at Jerusalem, I believe it was. And Paul is
encouraging them, the church at Corinth, and instructing them
as to how believers are to give. But I want us to notice he begins
by giving an example, first of all. The example of the churches
of Macedonia. Now Philippi, the church at Philippi
was in Macedonia, so certainly he has reference to that church.
But let's read the first five verses here. Moreover, brethren,
we do you the wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches
of Macedonia. How that in great trial of affliction,
in other words, they were very poor. They were going through
some hard times, the believers in the churches in Macedonia.
How that in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of
their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their
liberality. For to their power, I bear record,
yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves, praying
us with much entreaty that we would receive the gift and take
upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And
this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves
to the Lord and unto us by the will of God. Now that last verse
is the reason I wanted to bring us here. to this passage of scripture. Notice, they first, they first,
before they gave any offering, they first gave themselves unto
the Lord. God doesn't need anyone's money. Everything is His. It's all His. All the silver, all the gold,
the cattle on a thousand hills, it's all His. And God says in
one of the Psalms, if I was hungry, I wouldn't tell you. It's all His to begin with. It's our privilege to give. And these believers, by the grace
of God, they first gave themselves unto the Lord. And I say this
about this woman, and I encourage all of us. First, we are to give
ourselves unto the Lord. Paul said, I beseech you, therefore,
brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies
a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service. to give ourselves unto the Lord
wholly. That means our time, our talents,
our, our life, our family, our jobs, everything. And we give
ourselves first unto the Lord that he be first in our lives. I, you know, it seems to me so
many, uh, professing Christians, they want everything to be easy. I want everything to be easy.
They don't want to go through any difficulty or any trial. Just make it as easy as it can
be on me. That's not the way of God's people.
Or at least it shouldn't be the way of God's people. We have a great heritage, brothers
and sisters in Christ. We have a great heritage. We
come from a long line of people I'm talking about believers,
you and I. We come from a long line of believers who have suffered
for the gospel, who have gone the extra mile, who weren't just
interested in me and my four and no more. They did, like these
people, they first gave themselves unto the Lord. And that's what
I challenge you and I challenge myself the same. That's first. You say, well, I've already done
that. Do it again. Do it again this morning. Give
yourself first unto the Lord. Everything that you are and everything
that you have, it's his. Here's the fourth thing about
this woman. This woman experienced criticism
for doing her good work. Now the criticism came from a
place where we would not have expected it. It came from the
Lord's disciples. Now I know you can check the
other Gospels and you will see that Judas had a hand in this
especially, but the other disciples were involved as well. It wasn't
solely Judas. But you wouldn't expect Someone
who did a good work to be criticized from the disciples of the Lord
Jesus Christ. But that's where you would be
wrong if you didn't expect that. No child of God, I don't care
who you are, I don't care in what century you have lived or
do live, no child of God should expect to live in this world
and not be misunderstood and not be criticized and yes, not
be hated for the gospel sake. There's a saying in this world,
you've got to go along to get along. But God's children do
not go along to get along. Not really. Because we know Lord
Jesus Christ and His gospel, and we know that the world hates
the truth. You can preach about man being
good, about men doing good works, and God being pleased with the
man's good works and all of those things, and the world will applaud
you. Just like they told the Lord
Jesus Christ. He said, I've done many good
works among you, for which of them do you stone me? Oh no,
no, no. Not for a good work, but because
you being a man, make yourself equal with God. That's the reason
we're out to stone you. No, you can go along with all
the religion of this world and you'll get along. But the church
of the Lord Jesus Christ is a church that's been, by the grace of
God, chosen out from a world of unbelievers. And the gospel
we believe, the only gospel, there's only one gospel, it's
offensive to the natural man. No child of God should ever expect
to live in this world and not be criticized like this woman
was. And our Lord said this, think
not that I am come to send peace on earth. That's what the religious
leaders will tell you. That's what they're saying, the
exact opposite of what the Lord Jesus Christ said. He said, think
not that I am come to send peace on earth. I came not to send
peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at
variance against his father, and the daughter against her
mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A
man's foes shall be they of his own house." Just get ready to be criticized,
and maybe from people you didn't expect it from. You're too, you're
too zealous or you know, you just go down to that church all
the time. You just live down at that church. You don't have
to do that to be saved. Criticism. Everybody, when someone
dies, everyone in the world says they've gone to a better place.
And you say, well, not everyone goes to a better place. Oh, No one wants to hear that. This woman, she did a good work
and she was criticized for it and it was from a place that
you wouldn't have thought from the disciples of the Lord. And
the last thing, this woman is spoken of throughout the whole
world. As the Lord Jesus Christ said,
this good work would be spoken of as a memorial for her. And
all over this world today, wherever his gospel is being preached,
at one time or the other, a preacher's gonna stand up, I don't care
if it's in India, or New Guinea, or Mexico, or South America,
Europe, wherever, preacher's gonna stand up and read this
passage of scripture out of God's word, and this memorial is going
to be spoken of. Whosoever doeth the will of God,
that will is going to abide forever. But the fashion of this world
has passed away. And I want to close with what
has always spoke to my heart as being the most, maybe the
most convicting words in the New Testament. What our Lord
said about this woman in verse eight. She hath done what she
could. Now that's saying something,
isn't it? People say, well, I've done the
best I could do. Not very many of us have ever
done the very best we could do. Not really. She hath done what
she could. A lot of things she couldn't
do. She couldn't preach. She couldn't do a lot of things
that other have done, but she did what she could. And that's,
to me, that's the greatest commendation that could ever be said about
any child of God. Wouldn't you love that to be
said about you when you end your life? And be said by the lips
of him who knows all things, he hath done what he could. She hath done what she could.
I pray the Lord will bless this message to us this morning. And
before we sing our last hymn, Brother Streeter is going to
come, and he's going to speak to us for just a few minutes.