Applications from Memorial to Mary #2

The point: As long as the church of Christ exists on earth, she will always have within her pale those who fit the classification of the poor, and whenever it is in your heart and the means are in your hands, you may minister to th…

Jesus' statement about the poor always being with His disciples is used to expose the 'nonsense and distortion' of the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel, as His death does not secure temporal wealth.

And as I die to secure the redemption of my people It will not be a redemption that secures The temporal wealth of my disciples In this present age The poor you have always in your midst And if there were no other text in the Bible necessary to expose the nonsense and the distortion of the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel, this text alone would do it. He's on his way to die, and he knows why he's dying. And he does not include as one of the benefits of his death

15:33 - 16:22 Read in full sermon

The point: In doing good to the poor, we are not attaching something extraneous to our devotion to Christ; we are expressing tangibly and in the only physical way we can our love and attachment to Christ as we minister to his poor …

A hymn by Philip Doddridge is quoted to beautifully capture the essence of showing devotion to an absent Savior by ministering to His poor brethren.

those who hear the word of God and keep it inasmuch as you have done it unto one of these, my brethren, even the least, you did it unto me. You see, our Lord makes clear in these words that devotion to an absent Savior is manifested in deeds of compassion upon His brethren who are seen and are among us. This has been captured beautifully in one of our hymns written by Philip Doddridge.

23:04 - 23:52 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: This section provides extensive biblical evidence for the importance of caring for the poor in the New Testament church. Martin cites examples from Acts 2 and 4, Paul's…

The voluntary community of goods in the early Jerusalem church (Acts 2 & 4) is presented as an example of Spirit-filled, non-coerced benevolence to the poor, flowing from devotion to Christ.

We read in Acts chapter 2 and verse 44 these words, And all that believed were together, and had all things common, And they sold their possessions and goods and parted them to all according as any man had need. Here was this voluntary community of goods, each man looking upon the concerns of another. And when it was necessary to dispossess oneself of a title or of a property in order that that might be converted into money to meet the needs of another, There was no coercion. There was no professional church fundraising group to come in and pull the congregation and assess the potential wealth...

27:42 - 28:42 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: This section analyzes the two sources of criticism Mary faced: short-sighted, judgmental disciples and calculating religious hypocrites (Judas). Martin applies this to…

The example of parents sacrificing legitimate pleasures (vacations, clothes) to pay for Christian education is used to illustrate how true but short-sighted disciples might criticize such 'wasteful' devotion.

in themselves, pursuits not evil in themselves, in order to be able to, say, pay, to have their children attend a school where the values of home and church are not undermined, but shape and frame the whole educational process, the subject matter taught, the climate of the classroom, the behavior expected in the interaction between student and teacher, between student and student. Let someone sacrifice vacations, the latest styles in clothes, things perfectly legitimate in themselves. Let it be either tuition payments for Christian

48:47 - 49:37 Read in full sermon

The point: Don't defend your action. Don't waste your time explaining your action until they see what you see and feel what you feel. You're talking in vain.

The example of a believer giving beyond their tithe to the work of God's kingdom, despite being able to live at a higher standard, is used to show how short-sighted relatives might criticize such 'waste'.

And you may receive their criticism. Let someone so love Christ and the work of His kingdom as to give up many liberties to give not only His tithe, but far beyond that to the work of God. and they may have Christian relatives who see what they do and they say, Look, I know what you make. You've told me.

51:23 - 51:42 Read in full sermon

The point: Don't defend your action. Don't waste your time explaining your action until they see what you see and feel what you feel. You're talking in vain.

The example of someone giving up a legitimate, lucrative career to serve Christ and His church is used to illustrate how others might view this as a 'waste' of potential influence or good.

I cannot. I must pour out as much as I can at the feet of my Savior that others will know him, and that those who know him may be better able to serve him. And true but short-sighted disciples will become angry, will carve, will criticize. let another man give up a legitimate God-honoring lucrative career to serve Christ and his church.

52:03 - 52:36 Read in full sermon

Driving home: What can be more irritating Than a religious hypocrite who wears his mask And who parrots his script than to be in the presence of an unmasked face, an unmasked heart, in the presence of a woman with no script.

The physiological shock of moving from a sauna to a snowbank is used as an analogy for the inner shock a calculating religious hypocrite experiences when confronted with genuine, unscripted devotion to Christ.

A calculating religious hypocrite will always be angry at and harass a Mary. Because his hypocrisy is set in the boldest relief, there is a shock to his inner spirit as real as if you were to yank a man out of a sauna and throw him into a snowbank. The physiological shock from steam room to snowbank. That's what happened to Judas.

58:26 - 58:59 Read in full sermon

The point: Whatever your stewardship may be, that of a parent, a husband, a wife, a man or young man or woman in school, on the job, wherever it is, live your life according to the rule of Scripture, out of devotion to Christ that …

A quote from A.W. Tozer about 'soft-handed preachers' trying to please everyone is used to reinforce the idea that genuine devotion will inevitably provoke criticism and that one should not seek to please all men.

I'll never forget A.W. Tozer in one of the last sermons he ever preached at the National Association of Evangelicals conference. And he was talking, and I'll use his language, about these soft-handed preachers with a saintly flush on their cheek, trying to please everyone.

66:30 - 66:51 Read in full sermon

The point: Whatever your stewardship may be, that of a parent, a husband, a wife, a man or young man or woman in school, on the job, wherever it is, live your life according to the rule of Scripture, out of devotion to Christ that …

Bishop Ryle's comments on the passage are quoted to provide a summary and encouragement regarding Christ's future vindication of His servants.

May God grant you the consolation in your eye by faith that she received there with her own ears. I close with Bishop Ryle's brief comments on this passage. Finally let us see in this passage a sweet foretaste of things to come in the day of judgment. Let us believe that the same Jesus who here pleaded the cause of his loving servant when she was blamed will one day plead for all who have been his servants in this world.

67:52 - 68:27 Read in full sermon