Devotion in Worship (Mark 14:6-9)
“She has done a beautiful thing to me.”
Before pouring this expensive perfume on Jesus, what kind of person was Mary? She was completely centered on Jesus’ words. When Lazarus died, she didn’t move out of her house until Jesus called her. Whenever she’s around Jesus, she’s always sitting at His feet, so that means she’s centered on worship. What is worship? It’s a service, she’s a servant, “Please give me Your Word and I’ll do what You say.” You have to have the posture of a servant. She completely humbled herself and knelt before Jesus. These were the people who received the Word of God correctly, and when filled with the Word of God, they act accordingly.
Her older sister Martha was diligently working without being centered on the Word. She’s the kind of person when, if given nothing to do, she’ll start working. When these people come to church, it’s good because it’s necessary, however, when they ask what’s good in Jesus’ eyes, it’s different. If President Trump says someone is good, what will happen to them? President Trump will use them. Jesus uses those whom He considers good because they are His servants. I’m not telling you to not prepare anything, but no matter how much you prepare, God will only use you when you have the posture of a servant, one who only does whatever the Owner commands.
Worship
What is worship? It is completely denying yourself, why? “I will only listen to the words of the Lord. I reject living by my own thoughts and desires, I will only live according to Jesus Christ.” You live like this and devote. We think we’re diligently doing good work, but the work might be related to the devil. There’s something else that Jesus considers to be good. Young Samuel was always by the Ark of the Covenant where Jesus Christ resided. In the Old Testament, God resided in the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies, and those who respected this were most greatly used by God. When the Ark of the Covenant was in the Temple in Jerusalem, Daniel’s heart was always there, “Even if I become the governor, I will let go of myself as governor and serve God.” Without a doubt, these people are used by God and will save the world. God will pour His power on these people. Don’t think diligently like the world does, everybody works hard, but your diligence must be good in Jesus’ eyes.
Mary listened to the words that Jesus Christ said very accurately. Jesus said, “I will die and rise again on the third day,” but the disciples didn’t listen. God is telling you something important, but are you listening? You can’t hear it if you’re not interested in it; you’re only listening to the words you want to hear, you think about the miracles of the five loaves and two fish. You pick out things in the Bible and think, “I made such a small investment and made a great return.” But when you hear the Miracle Maker is going to die, you’ll reject that. The disciples of Jesus were only interested in raising Jesus Christ to be the king, because once He is made king, they would get good positions.
However, Mary kept Jesus’ words in her heart. This dinner party happened six days before the Passover, so this would be the last time to give this offering. She also knew that Jesus would resurrect because she heard it. That’s why Mary Magdalene was the only one waiting by the tomb waiting for Jesus Christ to resurrect. The people who follow after the Word of God will follow because they see it as important. But others will focus on unimportant information; the people of God know what will happen in advance, so they know what they have to do.
Without Worship?
This Sunday worship is to let you know what you must do in advance. You’ve heard it, but if you don’t listen, you’ll be confused in your field and wander. That means you’re spending your life in a foolish place, wasting your money on useless things, and being conned and swindled over useless things. Your heart gets moved by frivolous things instead of offering. Why is it like that? You don’t know what worship is, you don’t know how to serve Jesus Christ. You think, “Sure, give me Your Word and I’ll listen,” but if you don’t feel like coming to worship, you’ll skip it. That’s not worship; that’s just having the knowledge of the Bible. If you choose things based on your convenience and your desires, that’s not worship.
What happens when people can’t worship? Look at Mary’s family. They’re diligent like Martha who produces okay work, but it’s not good work, and it won’t cast out demons. May you know correct worship. When the king sends someone out into battle, he will give them a sword and the soldier will kneel to receive that sword, confessing, “I will sacrifice my life for the throne.” That is worship. But instead, you think, “Forget about the king.” If you raise your head in front of the king, you will die immediately. That’s where the problems begin.
First of all, you don’t know who you are, and you don’t know where real blessings and authority come from. That’s someone the devil plays with very easily. Instead, you have to be someone who can go all in with expensive perfume. Once Jesus dies, I have to use this perfume to sprinkle on His body. What does “death” mean? The death of Jesus Christ is the one act that has liberated us all from death, sin, curses, hell, and Satan. Why are you hesitant for using your studies for the Lord? Because you don’t know what working for the Lord in your studies means. If you knew how to work for the Lord in everything, it would be different.
You first need to stake your life on worship in order to come to life. There are so many churches in America, but why is it that mental patients and suicide rates are continuing to increase? They continue to come to worship, but there are many people like Martha and Judas Iscariot who followed Jesus around for money. So that means he goes to church, but his goal is getting money from Jesus. That’s his only interest. When he sees someone like Mary, he criticizes her, “Why are you making such a show?” Others will not give offering, but they spend frivolously on things of the world. They spend without limit on tuition fees and academic courses, however, they don’t want to spend any money on the gospel because they don’t know what it means.
Until your ideologies like that change, you’ll always be dragged around by Satan. That’s why God said, “She has done a beautiful thing to me.” Some people say Jesus is self-centered here, because Jesus Christ only thinks about what is good for Him, but in reality, what’s good for Jesus is for the salvation of mankind. If you devote to what Jesus considers to be good, it’s the same as devoting for saving the whole world.
Devotion to Evangelism and Missions
However, if the church is not devoted to evangelism, missions, and sharing the gospel, then it’s a wasted devotion. That’s why the churches crumble. The reason is because God called us as a holy nation, a nation of priests. What was the role of the priest? To take the responsibility of all the sins of the world and to forgive. But the Jewish people have no interest in that, they’re only interested in how much of the Word they’ve memorized. This does not please God. God called you to save the world, but you misunderstand; you need to know the sense of the church. I don’t know how you view the church because there are a lot of people who used to go to other churches, some churches fall apart, but the conclusion you make is, “Let’s give a little bit of offering.” If you say, “Let’s just give adequate offering to God,” that’s an error because Jesus is the King of all Kings.
If the church has the gospel and goes in the direction of the gospel, then it will be blessed. If not, you can devote your entire life but God doesn’t know you. It’s like you work hard and get a job, but God doesn’t know you. That’s why the church is so important. Lately, the remnants are coming back, “You’re coming back to church after 5, 10 years,” and one remnant never came to church until now, but I said, “I’m glad you’re here, I’ve been praying for your older sister and her boyfriend, and I know you.” She was surprised, “I’ve seen your face once, I went to your house to do Bible study, and I saw you running out of the house to go to work in a frazzled state.” Regardless of her state, she came to church, and she said, “I didn’t know you guys were worshiping,” Although she’s smart and capable, she doesn’t know her identity or authority, so nothing is working out.
If the remnants know life and worship, that would be strength and a blessing. The fact is that my heart used to race only when I drank alcohol, but now my heart races when I see the remnants come to life. A lot of people have to go travel or do some extravagant things, shooting themselves up with drugs, but I don’t need those things. I feel that bliss through the gospel, and I get so excited about what the kids are going to do for the Lord in the future. Things must be good in the Lord’s eyes, and this moment is what God considers to be the greatest.
Christ Is My Master
Worship. You’re not just sitting here, but you’re sitting as a servant. How about your studies? My studies will be used in service of the Lord. “God, I will use this gospel that You’ve given me for Your Kingdom.” That’s worship, and when God sees this, God is happy and continues to give me happiness. That’s why Potiphar wasn’t able to understand Joseph. Daniel was facing death, but he continued to do what the Lord delighted in the most. Even though he was so far from Israel in Babylon, his heart was turned towards Jerusalem, so that’s why God had no choice but to use Daniel, His servant. If someone comes to worship thinking they’re their own master of their lives, how can God use them? They study and work for their own benefit; that’s not worship, that’s religion.
I make it so that nobody can look up to me. I make it so that nobody would ever think, “I need to become a pastor,” but I make it so that you focus only on the word. I’m not saying I’m a model, but I live according to what God has given to me, and I relay what’s important. Make it so that you have no choice but to rely on God. Every single one of our decisions must be “good” in God’s eyes.
The biblical church is centered on Christ, not just theologically, but realistically. Not about emphasizing the law over the gospel, not a church that emphasizes mysticism, about who’s right or wrong, but about the gospel. If the gospel is correct, God will receive your devotion. Lazarus and his family were so poor, his house was so small that he couldn’t invite a lot of people. Regardless, God’s interest was on Mary. People have so many scars from the church, they want to devote but they cannot. Churches buy a lot of land and they fight and break apart. But if the devotion is to the Lord, God will be pleased.
Conclusion
May your studies and work delight God. That’s why Church and worship are truly everything. Not knowing this, some people stake their lives on the lord. Nonbelievers say they have received much grace but they cannot focus on their job. David being a shepherd was one who could made his confession in Psalm 23. Shepherds might be very good, but they aren’t very popular. Use your specializations for the church and serve the church. You might not get any recognition, but your life will otherwise be difficult and it’s very good for the devil. You must learn correctly. Correct things must go into you for your decisions and judgments to be correct.
Without this conclusion, you cannot decide what is truly important, but people come to church and brag what they’ve done. They don’t want to do anything in church, but they need to know what’s important. You don’t miss your online classes, but you’ll miss worship. Why do we train soldiers? You change a civilian into someone who can fight for the country, so that’s what’s called military training. The training is given to change our value system.
The Filling of the Holy Spirit is emptying yourself and acknowledging that I’m nothing, then you confess with your faith, “All I need is the filling of the Holy Spirit,” and then God will give it to you. Who will be able to hear the words? Don’t just store it in the back of your mind, but realize the Word of God determines your life, so then your life will be revived through worship. Then there’s prayers, like Intercessory Prayer. God will fulfill His Word, and the owner of your family is Jesus Christ, isn’t that so? So, everything you do will be used for the Lord.
These are the things God considered “good” when Mary did them, and those who live like this and do this work will be remembered for all eternity. Your work, worship, and life should be eternal. Martha cannot save the world, they work diligently for their own benefit, but it has no bearing on saving the world. Some people are naturally diligent. So, even before creating a Christian club, you need to have individual worship in your field.