Do Not Neglect So Great Salvation — John 11-12

0:00 Good morning. Good morning. Okay. For today, we're gonna be looking at the last part of John 11 and the first half of John 12. But before we start, you might just ask the Lord's help again.

0:17 Our God and our Father, as we think of thy word and the tremendous truths we find associated with thy word. I ask for help this morning, confessing that I can't do it in my own strength. That, Father, may the spirit of God take the word of God and impress it upon our hearts, the speaker and the listeners, For we ask it in the name of the lord Jesus Christ. Amen. John 11 and we're going to start at verse 45.

0:57 Well, I'm just gonna start back at verse 43 for the connection. Remember, this is the Lord at the grave of Lazarus. When he had said these things, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, loose him and let him go.

1:38 Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary and had seen the things Jesus did believed on him. But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did. Then the Pharisees and the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, what shall we do? For this man works many signs or miracles. If we let him alone like this, everyone will believe in him.

2:13 And the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation. And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year said to them, you know nothing at all. Nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, that the whole nation and not that the whole nation should perish. Now this he did not say on his own authority, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation. And not for that nation only, but also that he would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad.

3:02 And from that day on, they plotted to put him to death. Therefore, Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there into the country near the wilderness to a city called Ephraim, and there remained with his disciples. And the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went from the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. Then they saw Jesus and spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple. What do you think?

3:40 That he will not come to the feast? Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command that if anyone knew where he was, he should report it that they might seize him. Now in the miracle that Ray covered last week, the raising of Lazarus from the dead after he had been four days in the tomb or the cave. And Martha said, Lord, he's already decaying. The lord stands there and with the majesty associated with the son of god, he gives that command, Lazarus, come forth.

4:36 And he came forth and he was loosed. And this miracle was such a tremendous miracle that the people came to see this man that had brought back from the dead. Now the Lord had raised others from the dead. There was Jairus' daughter, but she had just died. And there was the son of the Willow of Nain, but he was just on being taken out in the funeral procession.

5:06 But here was a man that had been dead for four days and was decaying. And the Lord raised him to perfect health once again. And you can imagine the impact it had on the crowd. So in verse 45, many of the Jews who had seen the things that Jesus did believed on him. But there's a mixed reaction.

5:33 There always is a mixed reaction to the Lord Jesus Christ. There are those that believe that he really is the son of God and came to bleed and die and suffer for our sins. And there are those that do not respond to it, that reject it. And so Christ is the divider of people. Three times in John, we have that phrase, there was a division among the people, among the Jews because of him.

6:15 But some of them went and they told the Pharisees what had happened. And so the chief priest and the Pharisees gather the council or the Sanhedrin. And they're wringing their hands and they're saying, what can we do? What shall we do? We cannot deny that this man has done many miracles, tremendous miracles.

6:47 And if we just let them continue, we are going to lose our place and our nation. Now Rome had given the Jewish leaders not only the position of being religious leaders, but also they were the judicial and administrative leaders of that country. And they said, we've got this great position and we just don't know what we can do. Whatever we do, we're boxed in. If we try to discredit this man, everybody knows that the miracles he's doing are tremendous.

7:45 No one else can do them. But if we allow him to continue, Rome's going to say, we've allowed a leader to arise that the people are going to make a king and they're gonna wanna take and be delivered from being under the bondage of Rome. What can we do? What shall we do? We don't know what to do.

8:19 And Caiaphas looks at him, and in today's language, he would say, you guys just don't get it. There's only one thing to do. This man called Jesus must die. And he says, it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people and not that the whole nation should perish. And the bible tells us that as he prophesied this as high priest that year, he did not say it really on his own initiative.

10:11 We had a price we could not pay. He paid the price he did not owe because he was willing and able to die for our sins. And you know, as we have the facts that Christ came into the world to save sinners, that Christ has paid the price and salvation is offered freely today. Each one has to reflect, what have I done with that offer? There are so many in the room that have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as personal savior and know your sins are forgiven because he paid the price at Calvary.

11:09 But for anyone in this room still that has not made that choice, the offer goes out today. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold now is the day of salvation. In Hebrews chapter two and verse three, there's a very solemn warning. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?

11:45 It doesn't say reject, it says neglect. And neglect is so easy. You don't really have to do anything. That's the issue, you don't do anything. And the salvation is so great, It cost God the life of his own son.

12:11 As he paid the price and tremendous suffering and shame, disgrace, and judgment at Calvary. But the other part is, if neglect is so easy and salvation is so great, escape is so impossible if we neglect, because neglect ultimately leads to rejection. But as the council decides that they're going to plot to put Jesus to death, this is something they've been trying to do for a long period of time. For between John chapter five and John chapter 10, there are 10 references to the Jews, the Jewish rulers wanting to put the Lord Jesus to death. And so as we find in verse 54, the Lord no longer walks openly in Judea, but he moves about 14 miles north near the wilderness to the city called Ephraim, and then he crosses from there east over the Jordan River and goes to an area that we call Perea.

14:21 And I was reflecting on that and I realized that between verses 53 and verse 54 is all the events that Luke records between the middle of Luke 13 and the middle of Luke 19. All those many parables that he spoke about. And then as he takes his last journey west over the Jordan, he comes to Jericho for the last time. As he gives sight to blind Bartimaeus and the other blind man. Then he has that meeting with Zacchaeus and he's approaching the city of Jerusalem.

15:08 But in the meantime, a number of the Jews had come to Jerusalem for the Passover. Because according to the Jewish law, all the males were required to go three times a year to Jerusalem and the Passover was one of them. And I was interested in doing some research and they tell us that they feel that there was more than 3,000,000 people in that city of Jerusalem. And for any that have been there, that had to be a mob scene. We thought we had a mob scene Wednesday in Cleveland.

15:49 I think we had a mob scene in Jerusalem on that. And they were speaking among themselves and they're saying, well, what do you think? Is Jesus gonna come? Is he not going to come? We know the Jews are trying to kill him.

16:08 You think you'll have enough strength to come? Enough nerve? I don't know. What do you think? Well, I'm not sure.

16:17 We'll have to wait and see. Because they knew that the Jewish rulers had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, they were to come that they could seize him. And then we're gonna start in chapter 12 verse one. Then six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, who had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. There they made him a supper and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with him.

16:52 Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who would betray him said, why was this fragrant oil not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief and had the money box and he used to take what was put in it. But Jesus said, let her alone.

17:32 She has kept this for the day of my burial. For the poor you have with you always, but me you do not have always. Now a great many of the Jews knew that he was there, and they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they also might see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him, many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus. Now, as we look at this account, it says then six days before the Passover.

18:14 And Verdi, the six days before the Passover was the time of his triumphal entry into Jerusalem that we'll be looking at in a few minutes. But this supper in Bethany, as Matthew and Mark tell us, was two days before the Passover or really on Wednesday. And this meal took place in Simon The Leper's house. And we find here that Lazarus is there and he's at the table reclining with those that were eating. Martha is busy serving and this time she's happy.

18:59 In Luke chapter 10, she was complaining but here she's happy. And Mary in her devotion to the Lord makes this tremendous sacrifice. So Lazarus is a picture of fellowship and communion. Martha is a picture of service. And Mary is a picture of worship.

19:23 And all three of these are necessary in the Christian's life. But this oil spikenard, and it was in the alabaster flags. Because alabaster was a material that would hold the fragrance of the ointment. This ointment was a special costly ointment. It not only was fragrant, but the fragrance they tell us would last for several days.

20:05 And it was so costly that as Judas tells us, why wasn't it sold for three hundred denarii? A denarius was a man's wages for a day. In those days, they worked six days a week. So 300 denarii, a year's wages. Let the impact of that soak in.

20:39 What Mary was using to anoint the Lord, a year's wages for a working man. You know, we were singing those words, we're the whole realm of nature mind. It's not even close. But love, so amazing, so divine, demands my life, my all. You know, we sing that and I have to admit every time I sing that verse, it convicts me.

21:31 May it convict each one of us. The whole realm of nature, no. That we're an offering far too small. But here's Mary giving her offering of a year's wages. And she anoints the Lord's feet.

21:55 Now, in Matthew and Mark, it tells us that she anoints his head and she did both. He speaks there in Matthew and Mark that she has anointed my body from the head to the feet. That oil that was so free flowing and fragrant flows down the body of the Lord and she unbinds her hair, stoops at his feet and dries the oil into his feet with her hair. It tells us that the fragrance filled the house, but the fragrance filled more than the house. It filled Mary's hair and the fragrance of that sacrifice.

23:45 She was saving it for the Lord, for his burial. As Caiaphas had prophesied, the one man should die for the people. Mary prophesies, my Lord is going to die. She had been at his feet repeatedly listening to his teaching. His own disciples that had heard him say repeatedly that he was going to Jerusalem to be betrayed and condemned and to be crucified.

24:34 They were too busy occupied with who's going to be the greatest? Can I be at your right hand and on your left? They were more occupied with their own position. Mary was occupied with my Lord and what he is going to do. We've looked at the generosity of her gift, a year's wages, but we think of the timeliness of her gift.

25:11 You know, if Mary had said, well I know I'm going to use this after the Lord's death to embalm him, to anoint him, she would have been too late. The other ladies that went to the tomb on the resurrection morning with their spices for the Lord, they were too late. They missed it. Mary had the timeliness of her sacrifice and her worship that she alone was the one that was able to give this anointing before the Lord's death. And this is our...

26:00 The commendation of her gift. You know as Judas just says, why? Why this waste? How can it be a waste if it's used for the Lord? But all he was thinking about is, I missed my cut.

26:26 I didn't get a chance to skim my share of the 300 denarius. I missed my chance. Not that he was concerned about the Lord and his worth, all he was concerned about was his pockets and how he was going to spend that money. But you know, the Lord just says, let her alone. Matthew and Mark said, she has done a good work.

28:02 Not just in money, but in time. What is too expensive? What am I going to try to keep for myself? You know, was looking at the verse on the Choice Cleaning Calendar that's coming up next month, July, I think it's eleventh. The poem at the bottom said, give of your best to the master.

28:39 Give him first place in your heart. Give him first place in your service. Consecrate every part. Give him first place, give up the best. But the other question the teaching leader asked, what has it cost me to worship Jesus?

29:15 What has it cost me? You know, David said, as the angel was coming through and destroying so many of the nation because of his sin of numbering the army. And then finally, the angel was coming over the city of Jerusalem and the Lord said, It is enough. And he stayed the hand of the destroying angel. And David said, I want to buy your oxen and the instruments of wood to make a sacrifice.

30:02 And around and said, take them. David said, I will not take of yours for the Lord nor offer burnt offerings that have cost me nothing. Worship is the privilege and responsibility of every believer. But there's a cost to it. There's a cost in time spent in the word of God.

30:38 And Sunday morning for the worship meeting, the ladies offer their worship silently. But the question we as men have to face, Have we prepared in time to worship? I was struck with the choice gleaning's calendar for today. And on the bottom it said, on the Lord's day, it is our immense privilege to remember him, the Lord Jesus in his death, in the way he appointed. How are you and I exercised in his presence?

31:30 I just want to leave that, but Hebrews thirteen fifteen. Therefore by him that has continually offered the sacrifice of praise to God. That is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name. The third point we want to focus on for just a minute, do not delay what we can do today. Tomorrow or next week, maybe too late.

32:48 But he was determined to get it back and John just does not mention it. But Matthew and Mark said, after he missed getting his share, And it says, then, then Judas Iscaria, one of the 12, went to the chief priests and said, what are you willing to give me if I deliver him to you? What will you give me? So they count out 30 pieces of silver. One tenth of the value that Mary's ointment had cost.

33:37 What will you give me? I'll take whatever you give me. 30 pieces of silver, sealed. You know, valuation of the Lord was so low after spending those three or three and a half years with the Lord in his public ministry. And there's a poem, The 30 Pieces of Silver.

34:05 30 pieces of silver, just the price of a slave. But it's worse than that. Because Exodus 21 tells us it was the price of a dead slave that had been gored by an ox. It was a price of one that was of no value, worthless, couldn't even serve, the lowest of value. Judah says that's the man I've traveled with for three plus years.

34:50 But in the next couple verses, find the the crowds were coming to see Lazarus. They're coming to see the Lord and they're coming to see Lazarus. And the council says, we got to revise our plan. We not only have to kill Jesus, we have to kill Lazarus because he's drawing the crowds to the Lord as well. And we'll just finish up with from verse 12, John 12 and verse 12.

35:22 The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees, went out to meet him and cried out, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel. Then Jesus, when he had found a young donkey, sat on it as it is written, Fear not, daughter of Zion, behold, your king is coming sitting on a donkey's coat. His disciples did not understand these things at first. But when Jesus was glorified, then remembered these things were written about him and that he had done these things, they had done these things to him. Therefore, the people who were with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead bore witness.

36:16 For this reason, the people also met him because they had heard that he has done this sign. The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, you see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after him. This great multitude of some 3,000,000 people, When they heard that Jesus was coming, they went out and they see him riding upon the colt of a donkey, a young animal that had never been ridden before and it's in perfect submission to its creator. And they said he's a king and he's coming in peace because a king rode upon a donkey in peace but he rode upon a horse in war.

37:31 And so they cry out, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the king, our king of Israel. A quotation from Psalm 118. Then they said, he's coming. He's coming this miracle king that can raise the dead, that can feed multitudes of thousands with a couple five loaves and two small fish. He's coming.

38:08 He's coming to redeem us, to release us from bondage. He's coming to rule. We won't have to worry about Rome. Here comes our king, Hosanna, which means save now. Save now.

38:30 And as they see him coming, they throw their coats in the road, they cut down palm branches, they're shouting. The whole scene is a scene that the pharisees are really worked up about. The whole city is going after this man. We have lost control of this nation. What can we do?

39:05 The whole world has gone after him. Now that was an exaggeration, but that's how they felt. The whole world, the whole city has truly gone after this one. And you know, the sad fact is, this was six days before the Lord was crucified. And this multitude of people crying out, blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord, the king of Israel.

40:37 You know, that's the fact that so many in the world today, when they hear about a choice that has to be made? Are they willing to commit? Are they willing to say this is the one that gave his all for me? The one that Mary gave so much for with her ointment. She poured out her ointment on the Lord.

41:13 She said, He's worthy of it all. I wish I could give him more, but he's getting all that I have. You know, I have to tell you that in preparing this message, it's been very, very convicting to my own life. What am I holding back? You know, Jacob referred to that in a couple weeks ago when he was speaking.

41:50 He said, you know, there are some things that I'm wondering what the Lord really wants to require from me. He wants us to be able to be willing to give it all. He's not gonna require us to give it all, but we should be willing to give whatever he requires. There are some that have gone out in the Lord's work, like the Eichenhaus in The Philippines, the Hilton's down at Mountaintop, Ray, Christian. They're giving their life in service for the Lord.

42:36 And I realize so many of you are, we're all going to be involved there. Most of all of us will be involved with BBS in two weeks. And it's a wonderful work to think of these young lives. Some of them have trusted the savior already. There's others that will be coming that are so much in an impressionable year.

43:02 May we be as an assembly. How much are we willing? We're willing to spend not only the time to teach, to help with the crafts, with the snacks, with the games. Are we willing to spend the time to pray that the Lord might truly come in and bless in salvation? Shall we pray?

44:09 Help us to reflect upon this. Help us to reflect upon what we spend in time for you, both in service and in worship. For we ask it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.