CROSS TO COMMISSION | Between Devotion & Deceit | Matthew 26:1-16 | Philip Anthony Mitchell

be seated. I want to take a moment to just honor not a man but God for the miraculous thing he did two weeks ago at Access. I want to say thank you to the Lord for the blessings he did. You are the spirit of God drew over 40,000 believers from across the country and around the world, not for entertainment but for prayer. And to worship God and for that we are eternally grateful. And I do want to acknowledge that there are people who traveled great distances and could not get into their arena and perhaps you were disappointed at that and we understand that and we take full responsibility and we acknowledge that and we apologize. It would have never dawned on us that when we rented out a 20,000 seat arena that God would overflow that arena. And at the last minute when we just said just in case let's run out the building next door we would never imagine that another 20,000 would sit in that room and that God would overflow that and that thousands of people would just turn the streets of Atlanta into a secret place. And they turned Centennial Olympic Park into a secret place. And if you did not get into a building I just want to encourage you that the goal was not really to get into a building but for us to just come together to pray. And so whether we prayed inside or we prayed outside we all sought the Lord together. Maybe 50,000 of us maybe. It was a historic day in the city of Atlanta. It was a historic day for State Farm Arena. History was made in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The largest crowd to ever descend on State Farm Arena in this history and Jesus will hold that record. I said Jesus will hold that record. Jesus will hold that record. My prayer is he will hold that record until he call us home. And not just for 2019 for the Kingdom. For the Kingdom. So if you are a guest we welcome you to the 2018 Church and to all of our digital disciples watching live right now across the nation and around the world. We welcome you to the 2018 Church. 2019 we love you. We pray for you every single week you are part of our family wherever you are in the United States and around the world. And if you slipped into this gathering or you're watching right now you're not a follower of Christ. We want you to know that you're welcome to be here. We're thankful that you're here. We want you to know that you could belong before you believe and be amongst us before you believe. And our constant prayer every single week for those of you who creep in here and who watch you are far away from God is that in a moment during worship or proclamation or prayer you will be brought into the Kingdom before time has run out on you. In the first century AD Jesus was walking by the booth and saw a man inside that booth whose name was Levi. We know him as Matthew. He was an outcast Jew because of his job Roman working for the Roman government. But the Lord looked him in his eyes and said to him, come and follow me. And history tells us that Matthew walked away from his government job and he went into full time ministry to follow Jesus. And you never know what's on the other side of a committed yes. For had Matthew not made that decision we would not know who he was today. History tells us Matthew went on to be an eyewitness of the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. And some 30 years after the resurrection of Christ he was set in order to write an account of other things he remembered about the life of Christ. And he would be put to death as a martyr for the faith that he had in the Lord Jesus. Matthew wrote the Gospel that bears his name. The book that we have been studying since the founding of 2018-19 in January 2023. A series that began with maybe 183 disciples and a series that now is coming to the very end. Which today we come to the final three chapters in Matthew's Gospel in a brand new series called Cross to Commission. In which we are getting ready to unpack the final three chapters of this study that we have been in for three full years together. Walking through the book of Matthew and as we have walked through the book of Matthew we are thankful that we began with less than 200 disciples in the beginning of this book. God has added brothers and sisters to this family. For Jesus said, if I be lifted up, not men, if I be lifted up, not tradition, if I be lifted up, I would draw all men into myself. And as Christ has been exalted through the preaching of God's Word, he has drawn people to himself and has built this global family as we began this series in Matthew. And we come down to the last three chapters, the apex of the book. Today's text is coming from Matthew chapter 26 verses 1 through 16. And we are going to tag a title to this message. Between devotion and deceit. Which camp are you in? Which camp do you want to be in? Which camp have you been in? Which camp will you remain in? Which camp will you die in? Eternal God and otherwise Father. Lord in weakness and travels and weariness. I just ask that you would give me strength to proclaim the beginning of the end of Matthew's gospel. I ask that you would open the eyes of these my brothers and sisters and that you would stir the heart of the unbeliever. We have not come to be entertained but to be educated in the Word, to grow in the knowledge of these sacred holy scriptures and to grow Father in awe of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And him and him alone, draw us to yourself as the Word is proclaimed. And do a work in our hearts as the Word is proclaimed. I ask in the mighty, you should look up that Word. And the majestic, you should look up that Word. And the matchless name, look up that Word. Of our soon coming King, the Lord Jesus Christ. And all God's people said, Amen. And Amen. And Amen. Between devotion and deceit. Family, you know one of the greatest challenges that you and I have in this life is the wrestle that we have with our sinful human nature. It is a battle that has come to frustrate me the more I have grown in the Lord because the longer I walk with Jesus, the more I've learned to hate this flesh. And the more I've learned to despise the wrestle that Paul talks about in the back half of Romans chapter seven. The things I don't want to do, I do. And the things that I want to do, I don't do. And I've learned the older I get that one of the biggest frustrations that humanity will ever deal with in this life is I'll wrestle with this sinful nature that we cannot escape. Sin has infected every single part of the human being. It has infected your intellect. It has infected your thoughts. It has infected your words and your deeds and your actions. Sin is at the origin of all of your frustrations. It's at the origin of everything that makes you feel ashamed or insecure or regret. Sin is at the origin of every divorce, every relational tension. It's at the origin of every war, every sickness and every disease. It's at the origin of human suffering, the genocide that's happening right now in Nigeria, the persecution of Christians around the world. The lies we see on TikTok, Instagram, X and Facebook. It's at the origin of people who are separated from God. It's the birthplace of every false religion that's known on the planet. Sin is the bane of all human existence. It has completely ruined the human experiment that God created perfect in the beginning. This is the situation we find ourselves in because of the fall of human beings. The rebellion of mankind from our pristine parents against God that plunged the world into sin. Genesis chapter 3. And it's because of this David writes in Psalm 51, In sin my mother conceived me so we know theologically every human being was born in sin. So there's no escaping that for anybody. It doesn't matter how pious you think you are or how righteous you think you are. According to Psalm 51, every person under the sound of my voice, watch, you were born in sin. No escape for you. It is for this reason the spirit of God writing through the apostle Paul said in Romans chapter 3, For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. That is all have committed sin so you were born in sin and you have committed sin. And Paul will write in Romans chapter 6 that the wages of sin is death. That is what we have earned for our sinful nature. It's not just physical death that is coming for you and I, but we have earned spiritual death. Theologically every human being has been born separated from God. It does not matter if you was baptized as a baby or they sprinkled you in a Catholic church. Every human being was born unsaved, separated from God is why Jesus says you must be born again. So no one is born righteous in the sight of God. Everybody theologically is born damned. Every human being is already born hell bound and there is no escape from that sentence. Apart from the righteousness of Christ, i.e. Enter the redemptive plan of God in his love for human beings wanting to redeem a subsection of humanity. He sets in motion a plan to make an escape from damnation and to redeem a people to himself. He accomplishes that through the cross of Christ that on Calvary God nails his son to a wooden beam. And then upon that cross theologically Christ absorbs all the wrath of God towards sin. And then from the cross he exchanges his perfect righteousness for your unrighteousness. So that those who place their faith in Christ and Christ alone have been made justified in the sight of God. Who now sees sinners as holy not because of behavior but because of the righteousness of Christ. So that the only escape from that penalty is the cross. And that without the cross every person will die and be separated from God no matter their good behavior, morality or church attendance. If a man dies without the cross they will be hell bound forever. This is why the cross was the most important event in human history and why our calendar is split around the cross into years BC before Christ and years AD and new domini in Latin for the year of our Lord. And it is the cross every time we see it hanging anywhere as a reminder to us of the love of God that made a way for you to be seen as righteous and escape that sentence. Matthew 26 through 28 is the apex of the entire book. It is the beginning of Matthew's narratives about the cross and the resurrection and the greatest assignment God has given human beings the great commission. These last three chapters in Matthew is the narrative of the final days of the life of Christ, his death, his burial, his resurrection, his great commission, his mission to you and I who calls ourselves followers. Matthew the eyewitness of the Lord Jesus Christ begins the apex of his book, the whole reason for which he wrote to prove to a Jewish artist that Christ was king. He begins his narrative of the end of the life of Christ with these words in Matthew chapter 26 and beginning in verse one. When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, you know that after two days, so it is Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, that after two days, the Passover is coming and the Son of man will be delivered up to be crucified. So this is the beginning of Matthew's record of what he remembered Jesus said on that day, that in two days the Lord will be crucified during the Passover. This is the fifth and last time Matthew would use the words when Jesus finished all these things because Matthew's book has five blocks of teaching. This is the final block of teaching, the final discourse in the book of Matthew. Now what things did Jesus just finish saying? He just finished the teaching we call the Olivet discourse. It is the teaching we finish in our last series. It is the Lord's teaching about the end times and his own second coming things that could be possibly unfolding in the generation that you and I live. So after the Lord taught his followers about the things that were coming in the future, now he begins to teach them about the things that's coming. In a few days, he taught them about what was coming in the end. Now he teaches them what's about to happen on a Friday. He says to them, in a few days the Son of man will be delivered up to be crucified. Now this is the fourth time in Matthew's gospel that the Lord predicts his own death by crucifixion. This is important to me as a student of the word because it reminds me and you that the Lord does not want his people to be ignorant of what is happening. The Lord desires for you to know his will, pay attention, and it's his will for you to know his will. He does not want his children to live in ignorance. He does not want his children to live in darkness. And if you are ignorant, it is your own fault. Now in the time he wrote this, they did not have the New Testament. The New Testament will be compiled over a few decades until it was canonized into the final book that we have today. The closed canning of Scripture. Can't add to it. Can't take away from it. So don't talk to me about the pearl of great price. And when I go into the hotel room, I take that book and I throw it somewhere under the bed. The only thing you need in that hotel drawer is the Word of God. Don't talk to me about the Quran. Don't talk to me about any religious book. Here we have the Word of God closed, sealed, the revelation of who God is, the origin of all things, the beginning of humanity, is dealing with the nation of Israel, the coming of his son, the death of his son, the resurrection of his son, the recreation of all things. We don't need anything else but the Word of God. And every book we read should be, watch this word, supplemental to the Word of God. That we should be careful about consuming too many podcasts and too many sermons and too many devotions and too many books more than you take time to consume. The Word of God. You'd be believing authors because they have accents and they walk slow and they're good writers. Don't you know people teach heresy eloquently? And what the Lord has given them is the fourth time, the prophecy of his death, because hear me, it is the will for you to know his will. And when people say, but I don't know what God's will is, all you have to do is open up the Scriptures and read and you have over a thousand pages of God's will. His will for marriage, his will for relationships, his will for business, his will for how you should love your dog. That's why we're praying for chance. And it says in Proverbs, the righteous or the godly care about their animals. So all of the Bible is full of his will. Then in verse 3, then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priests, whose name was Caiaphas, and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth, which means secret and to kill him. But they said, not during the feasts, lest there be an uproar of the people. So I want you to see that during the Passover, this final week in Jerusalem, there is a plot brewing around the Lord Jesus Christ during the Passover. Very important that Matthew mentioned this is happening during the Passover, which is one of the most important feasts in all of Israel. Some 1500 years before Christ came on the scene, the people of God were enslaved in the nation of Egypt for 400 years. They're crying out to God for help. God is speaking to an answer named Moses. They're crying out to God for deliverance. He's speaking to an answer named Moses. They're crying out to God for deliverance. He's speaking to a man named Moses because sometimes you're crying out to God about something he's already working on your answer. He raises up a man named Moses, goes down to Egypt, and he commands a pharaoh to let God's people go. God would then overthrow the nation of Egypt with 10 plagues, and the last one was the death of every firstborn child. But that plague, Pharaoh's will is broken. He releases the people of Israel, and on that night before they go, Moses gives them a command. The death angel will pass through the city, kill a lamb, and take the blood of the lamb, and put the lamb on the doorpost. And when that death angel passed through the city, he will see the blood on the doorpost and pass over your house. Sparing your son that's on the inside is why it's called the Passover, which was just a photo-shadow or foreshadow of the coming death of the Messiah. That because of the blood of Christ, he passes over the sins of people who are in Christ. Jesus Christ. In a sense, we Gentiles also do celebrate a Passover, the cross of Jesus Christ. And during this Passover, Josephus, the Jewish historian, taught us that during this Passover, it is recorded that the people killed over 250,000 lambs during the Passover. This is powerful to me because men are killing lambs for sport, but on the same day God will kill the Lamb of God for salvation. So in the same week, 250,000 lambs was killed is in the same week that Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, was killed. And I want you to see right here in the text that there is no real ministry without opposition. There is no real ministry without protests. There is no real ministry without enemies. And oftentimes it is a sign to people that God has anointed a man, a woman, a church, that that man, woman, a church can't expect enemies and opposition and protests and beasts. Because there is no real ministry without opposition. Jesus did not do ministry without opposition, and you and I will not do ministry without opposition. If you are a real woman of God and if you are a real man of God, you can expect opposition as you are walking with the Lord. In fact, for some of us, opposition is a sign to you that you are moving in the right direction. Lest you think the devil is going to let you walk all the way into glory with no opposition. It's not to make you afraid, it's not to make you a coward, it's not to make you run, it's to let you know that you are in the will of God. Come on, man. And that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. No need to argue, no need to fight you in the street, no need to pull out a weapon. We kneel down and pray for our enemies. Come on. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, so we kneel down and pray for our enemies. Lord, save them. Open their blinded eyes. Cause them to drop their weapons. Herald them into confusion. Bring them into the kingdom. That's the sign of godly character. The godly are praying. The ungodly are protesting. Come on, man. For Jesus says love your enemies. Jesus says pray for your enemies. Jesus says, who are you when all men speak good of you? Jesus said, blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you falsely and say all men of things against you falsely. For my name say, oh rejoice and be exceedingly glad for great is your reward in heaven. Now there are rewards we get for stewarding beasts well. There is a reward for stewarding opposition well. Amen. You handle opposition with love and with prayer. That shows the character of who is the righteous and who is not. So notice there is opposition around the ministry of Christ. And the ministry of Christ has always had opposition. Watch. They say that first time people was plotting to kill him. People was plotting to kill him when he came out the womb. Jesus didn't even have to be walking on two legs. From the time he was born, a king named Herod was trying to kill babies. Trying to find him to get rid of him. Watch this word, because his opposition was full of jealousy. It's what we see in the text that these chief priests and elders and Caiaphas, Matthew told us earlier that these men are full of jealousy. It's the toxicity of misplaced emotions. But you can't be focused on your own walk. So you have to try to tear down somebody else to prop yourself up. Can't be focused on your own ministry. So you have to try to tear down somebody else's to prop yourself up. No, you are full of jealousy and pride and arrogance. This ain't the first time they tried to kill Christ. They were trying to kill him since he was born. They tried to throw him off a cliff in his hometown. I've been on that cliff in Nazareth. I stood on that cliff in Nazareth. They tried to throw him off that cliff. They tried to kill him when he was a baby. They've been plotting on him since the time he showed up on the scene. Why? Because gnats hang around light. Don't believe me? Just wait till it gets dark. Put a light on outside and watch how flies come out. Come around light. Flies love to hang out around light. Nats love to hang out around light. Demons love to hang out around light. So they're plotting to death of Christ. Now watch this. They say we can't take them during the Passover. Let's get them after the Passover. They're trying to get them after the Passover. God says no. When they were trying to get them, God said no. Now he says you will get them but during the Passover. But watch, they want to do it by night, by stealth. Because they're worried about the crowd. This is so powerful to me. They have more fear of man than fear of God. You fear man so you want to get Jesus at night. But you don't fear God but you're trying to kill the son of God. You don't have a fear of God. You're trying to persecute the son. But you have a fear of man so you want to do it at night. There are many people like this all across our society. Got more fear of people than of God. And when you fear people more than God. That is a bondage on proclamation and a catalyst for compromise. Come on man. Repeat. When we fear men more than God. That is a bondage on proclamation. You'll be timid with your speech and timid with your witness and timid with your post. You're afraid to put your scriptures on social media. God forbid somebody might persecute you. Because you're posted John 3.16. And when we fear man more than we fear God. That is a bondage on proclamation and a catalyst for compromise. Because wherever you fear man you will compromise to fit in. If I was afraid of y'all I wouldn't preach the way I preach. Which one should I fear most? You not liking my sermon and not coming back next week? Or your blood being on my hands if you die in your sin? So we fear no man. So they're plotting on him to bring a man at night. Verse 6. Now this insert by Matthew is out of chronological order. This did not happen immediately around this time. But Matthew is reflecting 30 years after the death of Jesus. He remembers this incident. So he inserts it into his narrative. Because this did not happen that week. This happened the week before on the Saturday before Jesus came into Jerusalem. So Matthew puts this out of chronological order. Because he's sitting down 30 years later. And he's thinking about the week when Christ was crucified. And he's thinking what were all the things that happened this week? Yes, there was something that very important happened with an unnamed woman that week. Let me put this in the text. And so he inserts this thing out of chronological order. About an incident and encounter between God and a woman. Jesus and a woman that happened at Bethany. Bethany, Bethany, Bethany. Bethany is not just your daughter's name. Bethany was a city two miles outside of Jerusalem. On the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives. It was at Bethany that Jesus hung out a lot with a family of three people. A man named Lazarus, who he raised from the dead. His two sisters named Mary and another one named Martha. It was at Bethany that Jesus was spending the night. Every single night during his last week of his life. It was at Bethany that we see now Jesus is hanging out at another place. The house of a man named Simon the Lepper. Bethany also had a leper colony. The fact that he was a leper and Jesus is at his house. This means that Jesus may have healed this man. And now what do we see here on display? Simon prepares a meal for the Lord Jesus Christ. Probably as an act of gratitude and thanksgiving. So we see here in the text the Christian ethic of washes. Gratitude and appreciation for someone who has deeply impacted your life. This has gone lost on a generation who are self-entitled. It's why I talk to you all the time. Not to be entitled. I teach my children don't take anything from anybody without saying thank you. I teach my daughters don't let a man hold the door for you without saying thank you. Don't take anything from anybody without showing gratitude. When you do that you give up for ear of entitlement. Like somebody owes you something. The Lord didn't owe Simon healing but perhaps he did heal him. And what we see right here on display is an act of gratitude. Now who is this unnamed woman? Matthew doesn't give her a name but John gave her a name in his gospel. In John chapter 12 verse 1 he identifies this woman. John records the same narrative. Now he puts it in chronological order. Six days, not two days before the Passover. Jesus therefore came to Bethany where Lazarus was whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served. Y'all write about that. And Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at the table. Here is the woman. Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment and made from pure gnawed a very expensive oil from a rare plant. Used to make perfume and medicine. Anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped it with the hair of her head. The woman's hair was her glory. So she glorified God with her hair. She wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples who was about to betray him, said, Why was this ointment not sold for 300 denarii, which is a year worth of wages, one year's salary? He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief. And having charge of the money bag, he was the treasurer, the CFO for Jesus' ministry. He used to help himself to what was in the bag. So he was a CFO stealing for three and a half years from the ministry of Jesus. So now we come back to Matthew and the woman has been identified. She's no longer the unnamed woman. She is now Mary. And I want to say something about Mary, very important. And look at me carefully. Mary's name only shows up three times in the Gospels. This is important. Her name pops up one time. She's at the feet of Jesus shedding tears. Another time she pops up, she's at the feet of Jesus listening to him teach. Another time she pops up, she's at the feet of Jesus wiping his feet with her tears. Every time Mary pops up, she's at the feet of Jesus. She's there getting her blessing. She's there sharing her burden. She's there blessing him at his feet. Every time we see Mary, she's at the feet of Jesus. And every time we see Mary, somebody does not understand her. Watch. She's at his feet listening to his teaching. Martha is saying, tell her come help me. She runs out and sits at his feet crying. When her brother died, they run out thinking that she's crazy. She's heading back to the tomb. She's at his feet with oil and the disciples are confused about that. Every time they see Mary in worship with Christ, people are misunderstanding her. Gosh. Watch. Because I'm telling anybody that has true devotion to Christ, you will be misunderstood. And there's some of you men who love Christ with all of your heart. We see your posts, we see your life, we see your devotion, we see your service, we see your giving. And you have people who even got your last name that don't understand you. Persecuted by sisters and brothers, persecuted by parents, persecuted by coworkers. I know I'm not the only one that has been persecuted for having a deep devotion to Christ. And I just want to inform you so you don't feel like a black sheep all the time. Wherever there is a person that's deeply devoted to Christ, watch this, you will be misunderstood. You are welcome, my brother. Wherever there is a person that's deeply devoted to Christ, you will be... Why do you listen to so much William Augusto? Why are you always up praying early in the morning? You're weird, you're spooky, you're crazy. Why do you read your Bible so much? Why are you always going to church on Sunday? How come you be giving offerings to the church? Why are you be serving the poor? How come you be doing outreach? Man, how come you don't come to us with the club no more? How come you don't do this no more? Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-da-da-da-da-da. Wherever there is deep devotion to Christ, you will be misunderstood. Mary was deeply devoted to Christ and she was misunderstood. Now listen to me carefully. Family, listen. I don't even think my words can do this justice. Mary's not wealthy. She has a flask of oil. An alabaster box of oil that was worth one year's salary. I've never met a person that took the entire salary for one year and bought a gift for somebody that impacted their life. I've never heard of such a testimony in my entire life. I've never met a person in 21 years of walking with Jesus. I've never met a human being that saved up one year of their salary to give it away to one person that impacted their life. You have probably never even heard of such a testimony. And that's the whole point. What she did was extravagant. A woman takes a year's worth of salary in a bottle. Tangled by the cry. And she breaks the bottle. And if you put the gospel together, she pours it on his head and on his feet. She drips his body with this oil. Mary is so deeply devoted to Christ. That her act shows that there is nothing in her life she thought too valuable not to lay at his feet. Give me that car, but you can't do that. Leave that job, but you can't do that. Move from that city and move to Atlanta to join 2019, but you can't do that. Give away that to that single mother, but you can't do that. Be faithful with what you're giving for one year, but you can't do that. You can't give away 2%, 5%, 10%. You can't do that. This woman sees nothing she has that's so valuable that she cannot bestow it at the feet of Jesus. She is so enamored with him. She is so enamored with him as a person. She is overwhelmed at the fact he raised my brother from the dead. I've listened to him teach. I've seen him shield. I've seen him perform miracles in her heart. She is deeply devoted to Christ. She displays a type of love for Christ that is almost unheard of in Western Christianity. She beholds him. She sees him. She loves him. She adores him. She is deeply devoted to Christ. Watch, there was nothing in her possession she would not give. My God, let's go. My question is where is that in America? No, I'm serious. Where is that in you and me? Where is that in you and me? Where are the people that are so deeply devoted to Christ that he can ask you for anything and you will pour it over his feet? Do you love him that much? Do you appreciate your salvation that much? Is escaping hell worth that much to you? Is your name being recorded in the book of life that much worth to you? Is the fact that you're headed to glory is it worth that much to you? Is there anything you possess that's more valuable than your relationship with Christ? There is nothing you possess in this life that's more valuable than Christ. And my question is, have you beheld him like that? Seen him like that? Love him like that? Devoted to him like that? Have you sat in his presence like that? I get it. You said, but preacher, Mary saw him in the flesh. I feel you, but man, if you sat still in a room, man, you could perceive him in your spirit. Do you love him without holding nothing back? Where is your alabaster box? What have you poured over the feet of Jesus? I mean, come on, man. Look, look, look, look, look, man, we live in a country you could barely get a Christian to praise or worship or lift a hand or sing. Things that cost you nothing except your dignity and your pride. We could barely give the Lord that yet this woman takes a year's worth of wages and she pours it over the feet of Jesus. And you'll hear this and we're not moved. We're not moved. We're not excited. We hear this and it means nothing to us because this type of love is like, where is that? And to be honest with you, fam, before I finish up this text, listen, man, I, man, I was reading this this week, man, and I just burst into tears when I got to this point. And I was crying and I'm weeping because I said this is what I want for my wife and for my kids. This is what I want for myself. This is what I want for everybody who attends 2019. Like this is what I want for you. I shed tears praying, pleading with God that he would he would give you such a revelation of Christ that you would love Christ more than anything else in this life. You would love him more than church. You would love him more than titles. You would love him more than cars and houses. You would love him more than your spouse and your children. You would love him more than your job, your business, your 401k, that you would love him so much that you even desire to leave this life and be with him. Like Paul says, I'm stuck in between wanting to leave and be with Christ and staying to spread the gospel. That you would love him so much that you actually look forward to the day you go to be with him. Some of us are so attached to this life. You're not even dreaming about the day you go to see him. And I'm talking to you, man. I'm talking to you. That's some of you. You've never, the thought has never even entered your mind. Man, Lord, I look, you never even stared at the sky and said, Lord, I look forward to the day that you're going to come back to get me. Some of you have never even said that because you don't love him that much. But we love people like that. And you want to spend all your time with your wife or your husband or your boyfriend or your girlfriend. But do you want to spend time with the Lord like that? I think this is all it is, a gathering. And I just want more of us would love Christ like this. And man, you would break your own box over him. Come on, man. I know that ain't sexy. I know it's not. Nobody going to invite me to the conference to preach that. Come preach to us about the alabaster box. That's why I love y'all too. I'm going to move on and I'm going to finish this up real quick, but I just hear me, please, man. I want you to pray for yourself. Lord, reveal yourself to me. Let me see you the way Isaiah saw you. Let me see myself for what I really am, a sinner in need of grace. Lord, give me a love for you where I would love you more than anything else in this life. I pray this over myself. Lord, I pray you would demolish every idol in my heart. Platforms, glory, money, stages, lights. Lord, everything in there that I love more than you, would you topple those idols in my heart? Would you break those chains off of my heart? Lord, would you fill up in my heart such a love for you that I would desire you more than anything else in this life? And that my worship to you will be true, pure, genuine. I will feel your presence and want to stay there. I will go into my secret place and want to stay there. I will look into the clouds and think about you. I'll be driving to work and my mind be on you. I'll be sitting at my desk and I'll be getting glimpses of you. I'll be reading the Word and I'll be imagining you. I'll be walking my dog and I'll be thinking about you. I'll be in the park and I'll be listening to music about you. I'll be in church and lifting my hands to you. I'll be in church and singing songs to you. I'll be in church and shouting to you. I'll be in church and leaping for you. Congratulations. Hallelujah. Thank you. Right God. Verse 8. And when the disciples saw what she did, they were indignant. They were mad saying, why this waste? For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor. Now everybody pay attention. Matthew, he says when the disciples saw it, but John told you who started this. Judas. Now this is important because Judas saw what she did. And John told us that when Judas saw he thought to himself, that money should have been in the bag. So I could help myself to that money. She took a year's worth of salary, poured it on my savior. It should have been in the money bag so I could have took that from myself. But Matthew says all of the disciples felt that way. But John said it started with Judas. Matthew said it was disciples. John said it was Judas. Matthew said it was disciples. John said it was Judas. Judas filled the other disciples with his own offense. This is what I call acquired offense. When you be mad at people you don't even know because of somebody else's beef. It's why you got to guard your heart from acquired offense. You be not liking people for no reason. Don't know what you're talking about. You hear one thing about Philip Anthony Mitchell and then you join the bandwagon but you don't know me. They don't know you. So here is Judas stirring up trouble. Why is Mary doing that? Because he want that year's worth of salary. He takes his offense towards Mary and puts it in the other disciples. Now Matthew said all of the disciples now are indignant at Mary for what she had done. This could have been sold and given to the poor. They preoccupied with ministry over sitting at the feet. It seems noble to think we can sell this and give it to the poor but we do this all the time. We exalt ministry over Christ. We exalt work over Christ. We exalt labor over Christ. We think these things are noble. But what Mary realized was watch. Spiritual priority. What's more important? Work or sitting at his feet? Business or sitting at his feet? Activity or sitting at his feet? What good is activity if you're never at his feet? What good is being on a ministry team if you're never at his feet? What good is standing in a podium preaching if you're never at his feet? Why are we up here singing if you're never at his feet? Why are we doing podcasts and you're never at his feet? Why are we writing books and you're never at his feet? Why are we doing conferences and you're never at his feet? We're doing outreach but you're never at his feet. We use all these Christian activities to master fact you have no intimacy with Christ. Enter the American church. A church full of busy bodies that don't sit at his feet. This is why we meet nasty Christians all the time. And nasty leaders all the time. And nasty preachers all the time. And nasty praise and worship leaders all the time. Because you gifted but you don't sit at his feet. Busy but don't sit at his feet. Be sick and tired of bumping into believers that are nasty and disgusting and disrespectful. Because you got titles and you got positions and you got salaries but you don't sit at his feet. Be fooling people with your posts. Create a platform thinking you're a real man woman of God but you spend no time with the Lord. I'm telling you as your pastor, brother and friend that the better thing is not just labor but sitting at his feet. So that from his feet comes the overflow of labor, the overflow of preaching, the overflow of singing, the overflow of service, the overflow of filling the blank. Everything we do should be an overflow from sitting at his feet. I did not mount this platform and proclaim nothing unless you found me at his feet first. Come find me three o'clock in the morning on Sundays sitting at the feet of my Savior. That's why I fight my worship leaders. They'll tell you we create a culture of pure hands and clean heart. That's what we talk about in our staff. Pure hands, clean hands, pure heart. You guys want to know staff where we are? Clean hands, pure heart. That's what we talk about. I don't want y'all working and you don't sit at the feet. Don't want y'all up here singing and you don't sit at the feet. So I get at my staff. How clean are your hands? How pure is your heart? What's your devotion looking like? I don't care about your title. I don't care about your gift. Have you sat at his feet? It's a true story. Put a camera on us. You'll see how much hell I give them about purity. Ask them. Walk up to any one of them and ask them how much hell I give them about purity. Jesus is the first hand aware of this said to them. Why do you trouble this woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you. But you will not always have me. So I want you to see that Jesus vindicated you. Because he does the same for you. Sometimes you don't have to fight for yourself. The Lord will vindicate you and time the Lord will defend you in the dark. When people are talking bad about you, he will defend you. He defends this woman. He says she did a beautiful thing, a beautiful work. He says the poor you have what you always but you don't always have me. Now he's not coming against ministry to the poor, but he's trying to say you got to know what is priority. Am I priority or is work priority? He said she knew what her priority was. The poor you will have what you always. Now there is a reverse revelation in the text. For those of us who are in Christ, we will have him always, but you will not always have an opportunity to minister to the poor. So you will not always have an opportunity to preach the gospel. You will not always have an opportunity to use your social media to share faith. You will not always have an opportunity to share some of your income to spread the gospel. You will be with Christ forever, but you will not be with Christ forever. We ain't doing the outreach in glory. We ain't doing that in glory. The time to do that when is now. So you will have Christ always, but you will not always have an opportunity to serve him. The way you can serve him now. So there's a reverse revelation in the text for you and I who are alive today. V. V. V. V. V. V. V. V. V. V. V. V. V. V. V. You may honor God, God will honor you. Why you not answering my prayer? Do you honor him? Why you not opening doors? Do you honor him? Why you not moving on my behalf? Do you honor him? She honored Christ, Christ honored her. You honor God, God honors you. You take a stand for God, you take a stand for you. You acknowledge Jesus, he'll acknowledge you. And I just want you to notice before I close, he says, whatever this gospel is preached in the whole world, that is until I come back, what she did will always be told. Now, the Lord washes, enshrined her act of love, devotion, and generosity. He enshrined her act in the gospels, is told by three gospel writers out of the four. And wherever the gospels preach, wherever people read the scriptures, they will remember what this woman did. The Lord preserved this act, watch as an example for all Christians across all generations. This is how I want you to love me. God, God, God, God. God, God, God. You'll be a more dangerous man when you love Christ like this, a more dangerous woman when you love Christ like this, a more dangerous preacher worship leader servant. This kind of love is powerful. Right? And then I want you to see this, watch how this finishes. Verse 14, then one of the 12 whose name was Judas, Iscariot went out to the chief priest and said, what will you give me if I deliver him to you? And they paid him 30 pieces of silver. And from that moment, Judas sought an opportunity to betray Christ. Now look right at me. Judas has to make a decision in the room. They get rebuked by Christ. And now he has the choice to make, respond to that rebuke with humility or respond with arrogance. He chooses the latter. Instead of responding with humility, he's mad that Christ rebuked him. So from that day he makes the decision, forget this dude. He goes in private to try to sell out Christ. Why would he do this? Judas is looking for Christ to be a military leader. This is important. He's looking for Christ to overthrow Rome. He's looking for Christ to be the Messiah that gives them the kingdom now. And now he thinks himself, you know what? I don't think he's the leader I want no more. He taken too long to give us the kingdom. So now you don't want to handle rebukes. So now you make a decision instead of being humble and receive correction, he runs out to try to betray Christ. How do you deal when Christ disappoints you? How do you handle your disappointments when God does not move the way you want him to move? Judas has a choice to make with his disappointment. He could either worship God and be devoted or he could fall into deceit. He chooses the latter, not devotion, but deceit. He can't handle the fact that the Lord has not given him what he wants. He can't handle the fact that he's being rebuked. He can't handle that. One person chooses devotion. The other person chooses deceit. And that begins the plan that will eventually take Jesus to the cross. And here is my question to you is, is it an alabaster box for you or is it deceit? Is it devotion or is it deceit? Is it plots towards Christ in your heart, mad towards Christ in your heart, or is it deep devotion? Family, listen to me. Man, I pray for you. That you would follow after the example of Mary, that you would learn to enjoy the feet of Christ more than anything else, that you would think constantly about what Christ has done for you, the salvation that you have, all that he has, and my prayer for you is that you would find yourself constantly at the feet of Christ, that you will see his feet as more important than just his hands and business and work, that you would learn to love him at this level and be devoted to him at this level and be deeply caring about him at this level. My prayer for you is that you will remember what Christ has done for you on the cross and you will be moved with a type of love for Christ and that there is nothing that you have that you will withhold from him, that you will be on the side of devotion and not on the side of deceit. That is my prayer for you. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. So spirit of the living God, I pray now over every person under the sound of my voice. I pray God that you would give us a depth of love for Christ that explodes in acts of deep devotion and love and humility. I pray you bring healing to those who are disappointed with Christ, disappointed with how he has moved in their lives. I pray for healing. We pray for enemies, those who are plotting and those who are opposed to us as individuals and as a church and as a ministry. We pray for them. And Father, I just pray you would pour out a spirit of love in our hearts that is expressed and spills into the lives of others. Lord, what can I say? I just, gosh, Lord, I pray you would just deliver us from my idols and just deepen our intimacy with you, our devotion and our desire for you. That it would be more than just services and sermons and books, God, but it would be like something so real and deep in our hearts, like something we feel, it brings tears to our eyes when we just sit still in your presence. We burst into tears, we weep, we drive home and we draw close to you in the car and we feel your presence in the shower and at the job and we just behold you and we think about the day we will be with you and we long for eternity and glory. I pray you would pour this out on the brothers and sisters of 28, 19 and our digital disciples and our wives and our husbands and our children. I pray you pour this out on our family members and you would pour this out on the bride in America and around the world, God, that we would, we would behold you and desire you like this. This is my prayer and the mighty and the majestic and the matchless name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen and amen and amen. Put your hands together and give God God award.