Mary Of Bethany | Pr Ronson

You're listening to a message to go from Acts Church.

We hope this message will light up your day.

Now we're going to enter into God's Word.

If you have your Bible, you can turn to Mark

Mark 14 · chapter mention

chapter 14. We're going to read verses 3 to 9.

Mark Fu Ying. If you're there, say yes.

All right, let's go. Mark chapter 14, verse 3. And

Mark 14:3

being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper,

as he sat at the table, a woman came having

an alabaster flask of very costly oil or spikenard. Then

she broke the flask and poured it on his head.

But there were some who were indignant among themselves and said,

why was this fragrant oil wasted? For it might have

been sold for more than 300 denarii and given to

the poor. And they criticized her sharply.

They were angry at the woman.

Verse 6, what this woman has done will also be

told as a memorial to her. So the story of

Mary of Bethany was very special.

And up to today, I'm preaching about her.

Because Jesus says that wherever this gospel is preached in

the whole world, what this woman has done will also

be told as a memorial to her.

You know, God remembers a lot of people in the Bible.

And as far as I know, 那是我知道的呢?

There are probably only two people in the Bible that

God says He will remember even up to today.

只有两个人呢, 神来去特别强调说会一直要去纪念他。 One of them was Mary. 其中一个就是玛利亚。 Second was David.

第二个就是大卫。 Because David was known after God's own heart. So

when you look at this situation, Mary brought a very

costly oil of spikenard. She broke it. and anointed Jesus.

And the scripture says that it cost 300 denarii. I

guess the value must have been a lot. For the

crowd to criticize her. Say, oh, why waste it? But

I've given the money to the poor. So I did

a little bit of reading. 我就读了更深一点读。 How much does 300

denarii will cost?

这个30两的银钱到底是什么意味呢?

If you remember another parable which was found in Matthew 20,

if you want to look at the scripture, 如果你来去看马太福音20节的这个比喻呢? But

it was a parable where the master goes out to

the field, 就是这个主人就去到了别的地方, and asks people to come to work.

Scripture says that when the end of the day comes,

the master pays each one one denarius. So in other words,

the wages for one day is one denarius. So if

it is 300 denarii, It will basically mean 300 days

of wages. Now many of you, I mean the eight

of you who are graduating, you'll receive your first salary

very soon. Amen. I don't know how much teachers are

paid as a fresh grad. But I'll make an assumption

of 2005. Is that low or not? Okay, let's slow

it down for the sake of calculation. 2000. So imagine

it to be your one year wages.

The alabaster jar will cost one year of your wages.

So if you earn 2000, 2,000 a month. 如果你2, 000块一个月。 You

bring to the feet of Jesus 24,000. 这个24, 000的, 这个24, 000的这个油瓶, 你就放在耶稣的前面。 If

you earn 5,000 a month.

如果你一个月赚5, 000块。 You bring to the feet of Jesus.

$ 60, 000. I know what perfume will cost $ 60, 000, but you

get it.

You get the value of it. And you know why

the crowd the scripture says they criticized her sharply.

When you look at the life of Mary of Bethany,

to me, she was a true worshiper. Because in Luke 10.39,

it says that.

When Jesus entered their house, Mary also sat at the

feet of Jesus and heard His word. And we know

that Martha was busy serving. Easy doing work.

So the first point I want to establish for us

today is, Mary was a true worshipper. She knew how

to sit at the feet of Jesus. And this morning,

the Holy Spirit is asking us to come back to

that place where we know how to sit at the

feet of Jesus.

I don't want Ex Nilai or our life to be

a place where we are very busy with activity.

Even if we are busy, I hope it will be

for a very good reason. But never forget the time

when we sit at the feet of Jesus. Because until

and unless you sit at the feet of Jesus, That's

when you truly receive. Because when you.

Sit at the feet of Jesus, you gaze at His beauty,

you gaze at His glory.

Point two for today is that worship can look foolish.

Giving your best to God can look foolish. Because that's

what the crowd did. They would have think how foolish

was Mary to break such an expensive oil where she

could have sold it.

And gave to the poor. But Jesus knew the heart

and intent of all these false religious teachers.

They never cared for the poor in the first place.

They were trying to rob Mary of her expression of worship.

If you want to please God, 如果你要来去蒙神约纳。 You don't really

have to care a lot about what people would say

about your keeping to the Lord. 你其实不用那么的在意来去在意别人关于你。 The religious teacher

obviously was blinded by their unbelief.

首先呢, 这些教师们呢, 他们已经被他们的不信而被蒙蔽了.

They felt Jesus is of lesser worth than the oil.

Almost along the.

Line that don't give your one year wage, probably give

your one day wage.

Today I asked you, what worth would you give to Jesus? 你会来去给予神什么样的一个价值的评价?

Would it be a worth that the crowd is saying this?

Or would it be a worth where out of your

own personal encounter of sitting at the feet of Jesus,

you ascribe to Him more? 是关于到别人如何来去定义耶稣的价值吗? 还是你自己在你能够坐在耶稣脚前的这个所领受的来去完全的给予呢?

Worship can look foolish. 所以这个敬拜可以看起来是很无知的。 You know, when David brought

back the ark, Scripture says that while he was king,

he danced undignifiedly. He probably danced with joy. He expresses

his joy. That was his worship. But scripture says that

his first wife, Micah, Saul's daughter, despised David.

Because David, by his role, by his whatever, shouldn't have

done that.

But you know what? You don't have to care about

what the crowd says. Because everything that true worshipper will

do for God is doing it only for the audience

of one. X is not a crowd-pleasing church. X is

a Christ-pleasing church. So worship can look foolish. Sometimes we

talk to people across X number of years of ministry.

We say young people are here to study. Don't ask

them so much. They're here to study. Which is good.

Don't ask them to do so much.

Sometimes exam time, young people will say, I can't come

to church.

But I've examined the following way. I can't serve.

When their friends find out, for example, you tell your friend,

I'm coming to church.

Then your friend say, don't be silly. To most people,

very hard, you know.

Sorry?

Tomorrow's paper very hard. 明天这个考试是很难。 You know the lecturer?

你知道那个教授吗? Mr. Ronson. Mr. Ronson. He used to give us tips,

you know. 他会给我们这个框架的, 考试的框架。 This time, jelat.

这次呢, 完蛋。 He didn't give us any tips. 不要给任何的框架。 He tell

us tomorrow's paper is going to be very difficult.

他就告诉我们说明天很难。 Huh? You still go church ah? Huh? 你还要去教会? You

don't want to study ah? 你不要读书吗? Why you so foolish? 为什么你那么蠢?

Or rather be foolish in God's eyes. 我宁愿在神的面前是因为他而无知。 We can

be foolish like how David danced.

The world will look at it as very foolish. 好像大卫来去为神而来去跳舞的时候,

这个世界可以看到我也是很无知的一个人。 I remember many years ago when I wanted to

buy my first insurance. 我记得很多年前我要来去买我第一个的保险。 all good insurance agents must

know your cash flow first. Whether you can afford the

premium or not. If you buy insurance without your agent

doing your cash flow, whether you can afford or cannot afford,

please run away from the agent. So I have to declare, okay,

this month, X amount come in, and X amount will

go out. 那我就和他说了, OK, 我这个月会有多少的钱进来, 然后会怎样多少的钱出去。 I have to declare my tithe, I

have to declare my offering. 然后就给他看了我每个月会给我的十一奉献, 还有我每个月会给的这个奉献。 And he looked at me.

他就看着我。 I'm not boasting, OK, but he looked at me.

他就看着我。 Say, huh, why do you give so much?

他就说, huh, 为什么你要给那么多?

Your church don't need your money.

你的教会不用你的钱的啦。 It's like very foolish, you know. I felt like

very foolish.

就我自己本身就感觉到好像我很愚蠢。 It's like 10% goes to God. 就10 % 给了神。

Plus plus, the offering goes to God. 还有加加哦, 因为你还有要给别的奉献。 In the

eyes of the world, 在这个世界的观点呢, Why so foolish? Why give

a lot? 哇, 那么的愚蠢, 你给那么多干嘛? Give lah, ten cent. 给十仙就好。 One ringgit.

给一块就好。 Two ringgit. 两块就好。 I don't remind ex-ni lai. 我要来去邀请ex-ni

lai呢。 God is not a beggar. 要告诉你神他不是一个乞丐。 And when we give,

we don't give. We give through the church, but we

don't give to the church. 我们给的时候, 我们奉献的时候呢, 我们不是来去给于教会, 而是我们来去给于神。 We give

to God. 我们是给于神的。 So let me ask you. 让我问你。 What

worth would you give to Jesus? 你会给耶稣什么样的价值评价? This is not

a tithe and offering message for you. But it's something

for you to consider even your time. We have seen

time and time again when exam seasons come, when even

when people are tested, they are no longer found even

in church or let alone sitting at the feet of Jesus.

Many of you will be parents one day. 我们这里很多可能有一天会是父母。 And

it's very common. 很正常。 I heard this from pastor also.

我是从牧者那里听过的。 Especially during exam time. 特别是在考试时期。 Parents will come and

tell their kids. 父母就说, 可孩子们说。 Exam is coming. 要考试了。 You don't

serve in church. 不要服侍了。 Don't. 不要。 Go tuition. 去补习。 Go study.

去读书。 Don't serve in church. 不要再服侍了。 And I heard this

many years ago. And then Pastor says that the parents

will one day come back. And say, Pastor, I don't

know what happened to my children. They are working now.

But they are no longer in church. Can you pray?

Of course we will pray. 你能不能够为他们祈祷? 那当然我们会为他们祈祷。 But we knew

where it went wrong. 可是我们都知道这个事情是如何开始败坏的。 Because at one point where

the child was on fire for God, 因为在某一个时候那个孩子为神火热的时候, where the

child wanted to give God their serving, that breaking of

the alabaster jar, 当这个孩子想要来去把自己的服饰来去献上给神, 把这个玉瓶罐来去打破的时候, parents say no.

In other words, it also means exam is bigger than

your God.

Something else is replaceable. And God is replaceable.

Even in my line of work, I've been also hearing

even pastor's children You know that you can grow up

in church. It doesn't mean you are growing up in Christ.

There is a difference. 你要知道如果你在教会里面成长, 也不代表你在基督里成长。 You can be regular in church,

doesn't mean you have a relationship with Christ. 你可以常常来到教会, 可是不代表你和基督有个人的关系。 So

it's not about church attendance, guys. 所以重点不是在于你有没有来教会。 It's about sitting

at the feet of Jesus, cultivating that devotion time, and

gaze at Him, receiving from Him. So I feel that

whether you're a parent or a spiritual parent, we should

not be too quick to pour cold water over them.

a parent or a spiritual parent, we should.

Not be too quick to pour cold water over the

fire of our young people.

Because the crowd wanted Mary to not break the alabaster. 因为这些群众的教师们, 他们都不要玛利亚来去把这个玉瓶破碎。

But it is at the breaking where the fragrance came

out like a sweet-smelling sacrifice to God. 可是在这个玉瓶被打破的时候, 那个香气就充满出来成为一个新香剂。 So

even the people you fellowship.

With, 所以你和这些一起团契的人, 你的朋友, If you tell them that you want

to go for a mission trip, you want to do.

This, you want to do that. 如果你和你的朋友说我要来去宣教团队, 要来去做不同的东西。 Anyone which

questions your ability to give God, knowing that you are

giving your best, when they question it, 当你能够来去给神你的最好的时候, 可是不同的人还在质疑你的时候。 I'll

suggest you to keep them at an arm's length. You

can still fellowship with them. But not every day. Because

one day you will be like them. One day your

fire will be You want to grow your fire in God.

You want to live a life where constantly you know

you want to give God your best. You fellowship with

people who are on fire. You fellowship with people who

talk about God all the time. You don't fellowship with

people who gossip all the time. Because gossip will douse

that fire. You don't fellowship a lot with people who doubt.

So whenever we look at people who once used to

be on fire, now they are doubting. First question, any

kind leader will ask. Who have you been fellowshipping with? 你最近和谁一起?

Is the fellowship edifying to you?

这个团契有没有在鼓励你呢?

Is the fellowship fueling your fire, the right kind of fire?

这个团契有没有继续在对的火那里来帮助你燃烧? Or is the fellowship quenching your fire? 又或者是这个团契是来去熄灭你的火的? Mary

was bold, Mary was courageous. She didn't let the crowd

detect her worship.

So the crowd should not detect how we worship God. Third,

worship is a place for the broken. As I mentioned,

the broken jar releases the fragrance of fume. David too

was a very broken man. David was caught in the

scene of adultery and murder. David showed true, genuine, sincere, godly,

sorrowful repentance before God. And he penned this in Psalm 51,

Psalms 51:17

verse 17. He says that the sacrifice of God are

a broken spirit. A broken and a contrite heart. This,

O God, you will not despise. 整首要的祭就是忧伤的灵。 神啊, 忧伤痛悔的心, 你必不轻看。 So yesterday

the Holy Spirit revealed to me. 昨天的圣灵就向我展现。 There are many

broken people in our midst. 在我们这里当中有很多破碎的心。 And that our brokenness

can be translated to worship before God if we come

to Him knowing how to sit at His feet. You know,

in my life experience, I don't know how to explain

to you this. But some of you may resonate with this.

The broken people are Sometimes the most generous people. 那些破碎的人很多时候是最慷慨的人。

I don't know the science behind this. 我不知道后面的科学逻辑是什么。 But in

my life encounter.

I've seen the broken people being the most generous.

可是在我的生命里面, 我看到很多次了, 最慷慨的人很多时候都是最破碎的人。 So I was in this prophetic conference. 我就在一个特会。

In Penang. It was many years ago before COVID. I

like being in prophetic conference. Because I felt it was

a place where I can sit down and receive. And

ask God what is the next direction. So in the

second last day of the conference, an old auntie was

sitting next to me.

有一个很老的一个妇女就坐在我旁边。 And she will come with a walker like a.

Yeah, like a walker. 她就带着一个拐杖来到。 She doesn't seem well-to-do. 她看起来不是一个很有钱的人。

Just by her clothing. 就看她的穿着。 I know. 就看得出。 Alright. Then

she asked me this question. 她就问了我这个问题。 Are you coming tomorrow? 她就问我, 你明天来吗? Okay.

At the second last day, I was having sore throat.

I was having running nose. I didn't intend to come

the last day. I intend to rest. And when she

asked me, I said, oh, I'm not sure. I'll see how.

Then she said this. Father God asked me to pass

to you something tomorrow. It's like, okay. 我就说, 哦, 好。 I didn't

give much thought. 我就也没有想那么多。 Next morning, the last day. 最后一天呢?

I came. 就来了。 Then, three and a half, she saw me.

她就看到了我。 She brought a red plastic bag. 她就拿了一个红色的纸袋。 You know, like,

you go to market, those plastic bags.

Got yellow, green, red. 就是那种平常那种塑料袋。 One big bag, she brought.

她就拿了一袋来。 Say, Father God asked me to pass this to you.

他就说天父让我来去把这个交给你。 When I took the bag, 我就拿了这个塑料袋的时候, It was quite heavy.

就感觉很重。 Then I hold around, 我就在那边摸, I noticed there's a

lot of coins. 就看到了很多的零钱。 Like a lot, a lot of coins.

真的是很多很多的零钱。 Okay, I know these days you all just give

me QR, give me QR, then you all transfer.

我们这里就是叫二维码, 二维码。 There was a lot of coin.

I felt very humble. But yet it reminded me. In

the Bible, God will always use the widow. God will

always use the poor to provide. For His people. So

you can be small. You can be poor. But God

can use you. Because you know how to sit at

the feet of Jesus. So after the conference, I packed everything.

I need to take an afternoon flight back to Subang.

I came back. Guess what was the first thing I did. Guess. Sleep. No,

I open up my bag or open up the plastic

bag to see what is it that this lady has

gifted me. 70 ringgit worth of coins. This is like

only 50 cents. And 20 cents. So I stacked them up. Count, count, count.

It's like, wow, I got 70 ringgit. Coins. I felt

really bad. Because I felt that maybe this auntie needed

more than me.

I felt that maybe this auntie needed more than me.

Because I'm not despising her giving.

But I felt for RM70.

I have it in my pocket. I may not require it.

But for her, 70 ringgit maybe can fit her a

month or two weeks. And it's in coins. She probably

would have saved it. Today, if I ask you, do

you all still have your piggy bank coins? 你还有没有那个储蓄的这个铺满呢? You

still have the Dutch lady tin can where you put

your coins.

有没有那个小小的铺满来去放你的零钱? Or the Van Houten chocolate. You know, you're the tin.

Different generation. For this lady, the number of coins she had. 可是呢, 给予这个妇女呢, 她所有的这个零钱的数额。

Or 70 ringgit. 是70令吉。 So I find that the poor

are usually the most generous.

所以我每次发现的那些贫穷都是最慷慨的。 I don't know how to explain this.

我不知道怎样来向你解释。 The broken in the spirit often can be the

most generous in their words also. 那些在灵里面破碎的可能在这个话语里面是最慷慨的。 Somehow they are

more empathic.

Somehow they are more kind. I want to encourage us

if you are in a place where you are broken.

It may sound like an oxymoron to say this. But

you are in a very good place. 你处在一个非常好的这个地方。 You are

in a very good place when you are broken and

you are found in Christ. 当你来去在破碎的这个情况底下, 在神面前来去被寻见的时候呢, 那是一个非常好的状态。 In the Beatitudes,

Matthew chapter 5 verse 3 say, Blessed are the poor

Matthew 5:3

in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

在这个八福里面呢, 有说到呢, 那些在破碎的灵里面呢, 是有福的, 因为呢, 他们能够在神的面前里面得着。 There's something powerful when we give out

of that posture of brokenness.

And when David penned in the psalm we read earlier,

If you really put yourself in David's shoe, and I

would ask you this question, do you think David had

teared when he penned this down? I believe he would

have cried his eyeballs out in tears. Say, God, I'm

so sorry. For not just I have sinned against you,

I have done very wrong things. And that tear became

that offer to God. Nothing beats giving God your tears

more than your words.

你来去以你的泪水来去献上给神呢, 是比你的话语更伟大。 Because there are days you and I know when

we go to God, when we sit at His feet,

there's really nothing we can express except through our tears.

很多时候呢, 我们来坐在神的面前的时候呢, 我们真的不能够来去向祂表达什么除了我们的眼泪。 And God remembers every tear. 神祂记得每一个眼泪。 So extreme comes up. 对, extreme可以上前来。

The question I have for us this afternoon is, What

worth do you give to Jesus? What worth will you

give to Jesus despite your brokenness? Is he worth your

every clap? Is He worth your every cheer? Is He

worth your every giving? Is Jesus still number one in

your life? We hope you've been blessed by this message.

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God bless.