How to Give God Your Best Part 2

Pastor Mike will be speaking on How to Give God Your Best Part 2. He will be in John 12:1-11

And did you know that you can do the right thing for the wrong reason and that when you do it for the wrong reason, it’s not an excellent gift and sacrifice unto God. If your motivation was purely about you, then I want you to know that you’re off track with Jesus Christ.

Hello this is Pastor Mike Sanders and we’re back at it again and it’s so good to have you and thank you so much for being a part of today’s broadcast. Last week we were learning about how to give God your best.

We’re going to continue that series. We already learned some basic principles on how to do that, but let’s continue because there’s a lot of things that need to align together in our hearts so that we can always give God our best.

So that’s our goal today. So I want you to get your Bible and let’s get to John chapter 12. We’re going to be studying verses 1 through 11. Now, before we get into our study, I do want to remind you that we’re on Facebook.

Yes, you can type in Hope Worth Having and we’ll pop up. I want you to like our page and we’re always putting material out there. We’re always putting resources out there. It’s a great opportunity to keep up with what’s going on.

We live stream through our Facebook page and so you can keep up with every service that’s going on and you can continue to feel that you are a part of this family called Hope Worth Having and you can be blessed and encouraged as you continue to strive to keep God first in your life.

That’s what’s most important. So now let’s get right into our study in John chapter 12, How to Give God Your Best. Because he is of royalty, but I want you to also note that anointing was for the burial of the body.

It was for the burial of the body. And so Mary was in a real way. She was teaching about what was to come for Jesus and that he would die on the cross. that this king would give his life for his people.

This king would come and die for you and me that we might have eternal life in Jesus Christ. And so Mary anoints Jesus as an act of worship to him. And what she did was a spontaneous act of worship. It was a reaction of her love to Jesus Christ.

And she presented that to him. It was the climax of her love knowing that he was king, that he had raised Lazarus from the dead, knowing he had all authority and all power, but yet in the same time in her conflicted mind and heart, she knew that he was gonna die.

She had heard him teach that he would die on the cross. And so in this climactic moment, This majestic moment, she pours ointment upon Christ and shows love to him. Why is this so profound? First, in Jesus’ day, women never publicly ate with other men.

And so for Mary to do this and to be there publicly, she was willing to overcome all the cultural barriers. We see as well that women would never let their hair down in public. This culturally was looked down upon and yet Mary did just that and she took her hair and she wiped the feet of Jesus.

What she recognized was that she was lower than a servant for servants would wash the feet, but she took the feet of Jesus and took her hair and she wiped his feet saying that I’m lower than a servant and this is my king and he is going to die on the cross and I am preparing him for his burial.

So the question is, if that ointment was your ointment and it cost you a year’s salary, would you empty it out for your savior? Because see, we take the tangible things in life and all of a sudden they become more important to us than our relationship with Jesus, our walk with God and our worship with God.

And I ask you, would you be willing to give your very life for Christ? What would you sacrifice for Christ in your worship to him? What would you give up for Christ? What would you walk away so that Christ could be exalted in your life?

What steps of humility would you take in your heart and in your life? What tangible steps? Would you take in your life to say that he is the king and I am nothing but a servant? What would you set aside?

because Mary she was criticized and as we learned they complained and Mary was willing to put up with all that for one purpose to exalt and worship Jesus Christ. I Want to say to you church Be careful of the excuses you use of why you do not worship God People say I can’t come to church I can’t read my Bible today and they have a ton of reasons and they tell me all these things and in my mind You know what?

I want to say be careful that God doesn’t take those away from you be careful That he doesn’t take those things away from you when you put other things before God or other people Before God be careful we must understand that Abraham offered up his son as a test of his faith he offered up his son and he said to the father that he just believed that somehow god would raise his son that he believed that somehow god would provide and he offered up his son the thing that was dearest to him the hope that he had the the one thing that he was waiting on god for the thing that he wanted more than anything in his life he put it on the altar for god he said here it is and the angel grabbed his hand and said the lord knows now that you’re true and you’re sincere and i’m asking you what would you sacrifice for christ what would you give up the one thing that you want the most your career your salary your family your friends the one thing that you want the most what are you willing to say god i refuse to allow those things to dominate my life and to control my life and i offer them up to you because you’re more important than anything and anyone in my life number three be a watchful christian look at verse four be a watchful christian then sayeth one of his disciples judas iscariot simon’s son which should betray him why was not this ointment sold for 300 pence and given to the poor this he said not that he cared for the poor but because he was a thief and had the bag and bear what was put therein meaning he was the treasurer of this ministry the treasurer of jesus’s ministry the guy that was in charge of the finances the guy that made sure the budget worked the guy that made sure that the fundraising was there the guy that made sure that the bills were paid it was judas it was judas and when he watched Mary take that ointment,

and to anoint Jesus Christ with it, all he could think about was the money. All he could think about is how that money needed to be in that bank account, if you will. Unfortunately, Judas’ motives were motives of his own pockets, because the Bible says he was a thief.

And here’s what it means, is that he was an embezzler, is that Jesus took money. He took money that people gave for the ministry, and he used it for his own purposes. He used it for his own self, what he wanted.

He was a thief, the Bible says. And Jesus is the most tragic human who ever lived. And the reason that I make such a bold statement like this is this, that no one ever, No one has ever sat under better teaching than Judas.

No one has ever been around such amazing ministry like Judas. No one saw the expression of love and compassion like Judas. No one saw the miracle like Judas. And yet, his spiritual life, a wreck, a wreck, a wreck.

And so I want to encourage you to be a watchful Christian. And there are two particular areas that line up with our text this morning, that I want you to be careful and be watchful about. I want you to be alert too, because that’s what the word watchful means, to be alert.

Write these down. Number one, be alert to your salvation. Be alert to your salvation. I first say to you that none of us are promised tomorrow. None of us are promised tomorrow. Just Saturday when I receive a phone call from a family in Virginia, Winchester.

And they watch us on television, and they have family up in this area, and there’s been a tragic death, tragic death, sad death. And they’re like, pastor, can you help them out? Can you help them out?

I can’t help but be reminded we just don’t know what the future holds. Why I say to you this morning, be alert to your salvation is because the most important thing in your life is that you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

And if you get nothing out of this sermon, and it’s a dud, pastor. He didn’t bring us a game. I want you to know, at least walk away, making sure that you know Jesus Christ. Be alert to your salvation.

You say, pastor, I’ve been saved. I grew up in the church. I went to Christian school, and here I am, pastor. I’m doing my thing. I want to remind you that just like you that Judas was exposed to some of the greatest ever ministry messages and yet his heart was far from God and so I give you the admonition of the Apostle Paul second Corinthians 13 5 examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith test yourselves and I am so fearful for many Christians because they think here’s the test this is what they think the test is I raised my hand in Bible school I walked an aisle during children’s church and they think that is the test and that they have passed the test I prayed a prayer and that is the test and therefore I am a believer and I’m here to tell you there’s nothing in the Bible that says that’s the test nothing you know what the test is the fruit of your life the fruit of your heart.

If you don’t know the test, then you need to spend time in 1 John, chapter one, two, and three, because over and over again, John keeps challenging us, and he keeps saying that if you say you love God, but you don’t obey him, there’s something wrong with your faith.

And so what I’m trying to say is that there are manifestations. We may not all bear the same amount of fruit, but if you’re truly a believer, you should bear some kind of fruit that you are a Christian.

And that’s why Paul was not afraid to say test it. He was not afraid to say examine your faith. Let me tell you the mistakes that parents make. First of all, they don’t understand their role of parenting.

They think their job is to be their best buddy to their kid. Hey, buddy. And I appreciate all that, and I know it makes everybody feel good. He’s my buddy. And I wanna tell you something. I wanna tell you something.

He has a heart that needs to be born again. She has a heart that needs to get saved. And by being your kids as friends, you are gonna raise up a monster. And they will grow up without consequences in their life, and they will make bad choices in their life, and they will make bad decisions in their life.

Why? Because there are no consequences in life, as far as they’re concerned. So I’m just telling you, that’s the first mistake. We don’t know our role, and we don’t know that, first of all, we’re called to be missionaries to our children, and we’re called to be disciplers to our children.

Moms and dads, you’re gonna give an account, not on the response of your kids, but whether you reached out to them and evangelized them and discipled them, and that you showed them the pathway. Here’s the mistake parents make, is that they say, well, Johnny, he prayed a prayer.

That’s good. I’m done. Got that covered. Hope he does well. All right? And so they check out when the Bible… The Bible says you’re supposed to be intentional and initiate training and to raise up your children.

You’re actually supposed to be involved. You’re actually supposed to show up. And you know, I was talking to a young person just the other day and I said, have you ever been baptized? And he said, no, I didn’t know I was supposed to be.

And I was like, your parents never taught you that? You see, here’s what parents do. It’s the church’s job. It’s the church’s job. It’s the church’s job. No, we come in and compliment. Where are you parents?

Quit checking out and start checking in and be a part of these kids’ lives, amen? I know you’re struggling, but in part of being the life of your children’s lives is this, that you are helping them examine their spiritual life and their faith.

And there are many times that my kids and I sat across the table at Wendy’s, at McDonald’s, whatever place they wanted to go to. And you know what dad was concerned about? I didn’t care how many shots they made.

I didn’t care how many soccer balls they kicked. I did not care what their point level was on the Xbox. But what I did care about is what proof is there that you’re saved. You start telling me, how do you know you’re a Christian?

And you don’t like it’s the worst thing to have to be the son and daughter of a pastor because I’m just drilling Bible verses on him? And I’m like, that don’t measure up. You went to Christian school and you think you’re a Christian?

Are you kidding me? That doesn’t measure up. And what I’m saying is that some of you are so afraid that your children might have not the assurance of their salvation so you don’t ever talk to them about examining their faith.

And you know what, they grow up and they’re nothing but religious pagans. And you’re shocked when they turn away from God. And I’m not trying to be difficult. I’m just trying to help you understand that parents, we must help our kids be watchful.

We ourselves, what evidence is there in my life? I am alert to my salvation. I am paying attention to make sure that I am manifesting fruit for God and that my heart, it’s not just physical fruit, but it’s spiritual fruit, it’s my heart for God.

Is there any desire for Jesus Christ? Is there any love for God? Is there any love for his people? If those things are absent, can I tell you that you have not passed from death unto life? You’re still in that same state.

You just know the religious words. Be alert to your salvation. Number two, be alert to your priorities, church. Judas, the treasurer for Jesus and his disciples was concerned not about Christ being exalted, not about spiritual things, but material things, right?

He was interested in the money. Proverbs 11, 28, he who trusts and riches will fall. I talked to parents. and they’re worried that their kids are gonna get the right job. They want them to go to the right school.

If you say, what if God wanted them to be a preacher? What if God wanted them to be a missionary? What if God wanted them to sell out and serve him? We can’t have that, because they gotta graduate from Penn State.

I’m here to tell you, friends, if you are driven by materialism, that’s what you’ll reap, materialism. And some people believe in their life, their priorities are materialism. They believe they’ll be happier.

They believe they’ll be more important. They believe they’ll be more secure with materialistic stuff. And they think, boy, my value is connected to all the valuables that I have. Their self -esteem is rooted in the car they’re driving.

Their self -worth is connected to whatever the amount of money they make in their career. And I’m just telling you, again, that is a huge mistake and that we must be alert to our priorities. What is dominating our thoughts?

Are we like Judas that we’re more concerned about the money than we are about the spiritual things in people’s lives and our Savior being exalted and being honored? Number four, be a witnessing Christian.

Verse nine through 11, would you follow with me? Now after Jesus said, you’re gonna always have the poor. He said, you don’t always have me. Verse nine, he says, the Bible says, much people of the Jews there for knew that he was there and they came not for Jesus’ sake only but that they might see Lazarus, also whom he had raised from the dead.

This was so impactful, look at verse 10, that the chief priests, the religious leaders consulted and they said, we gotta put Lazarus to death. Lazarus’ life was so impactful. He was making such a difference for the cause of Christ that the religious people said, we gotta get rid of this guy.

We have to kill him. We have to put him to death. And think about this scenario. It’s the Passover, we’re getting gearing up for it. Pilgrims are coming from everywhere. There’s everybody all over Jerusalem.

They’re hearing about Lazarus, they’re hearing about how he was raised from the dead. And when Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead, the result was that many people believed in Jesus Christ. Why? Because of Lazarus.

Because Lazarus was a witness. Because Lazarus was a changed life. Because Lazarus was a new man. Because Lazarus at one time was spiritually dead and now he’s speaking. spiritually alive. And you’re no different, is that Christ has raised you spiritually.

You were dead. You were dead spiritually. We were all dead spiritually, but Christ has raised us and given us new life, my friends. And so what are we to do with this new life? What are we to do with it?

What did Lazarus do? He became a witness. He became a witness. Can you imagine the stories that were told? Can you imagine how Lazarus articulated how he came out of that tomb? How he was all wrapped up in all this garb of trying to prepare his body for death?

Can you imagine what Lazarus said? Jesus said, Loose him, take those garments off. Praise you. How did we become a witnessing Christian? I want you to write these three words down. Number one, pray. Did you know that evangelism always begins with prayer?

Somebody prayed for you, it might have been your parents, it might have been your grandparents, it may have been a pastor, it may have been somebody, a friend, who prayed for your salvation. I so appreciate the prayer cards that are turned in every week, and so many of you are praying for people to be saved.

You’re praying for people to get their lives right with God. And I just love to join together with you in prayer because that’s where evangelism begins. It begins in prayer. How can I be a witnessing Christian?

Pray, number two, prepare. How about that, prepare. Prepare to be a witness for Christ. You are blessed to be in a church family where you have so many opportunities. We have evangelism training twice a year where you can sign up and you can learn how to evangelize and articulate the gospel in a simplistic but organized way to help people understand their need for salvation and who is the answer of that salvation?

It is Jesus Christ. And you could take Open Bible Institute. You can take our Next Step classes and our Missions class. You can take class after class. There are so many books that are written, and I am constantly reading books on evangelism.

Why? Because I want to stay sharp for God. I want to stay at it. I want to keep learning how I can be a better witness for Jesus Christ. You know, you probably heard the story, but D .L. Moody was out there witnessing for God.

He had forgotten that he had made a commitment that he would witness one person a day in his life. And he was in Chicago and he had forgotten to do it. It was a busy day and he was laying in bed and he remembered his commitment and he got up in Chicago and he went out there and he was telling people about Christ.

And this woman came up to him. She started complaining, criticizing. I don’t like the way that you. you witness for God, and he said, well, ma ‘am, how do you do it? She said, I don’t do it. He said, well, I like my way of doing it better than your way of not doing it, amen?

And that’s what I’m trying to say, church. You get down on people because you don’t like the way they witness. Well, tell me a better way. You got something else to bring to the table to help us to witness for Christ, then I’m all in.

Because we all don’t witness the same way, and I’m okay with that. But I’m just saying, don’t be looking down. Don’t stand on the sidelines and get down on the guy who’s out there trying to tackle somebody, and get them to heaven, and try to share Christ with them.

I want to encourage you to prepare. I want to encourage you to find opportunities that you can learn how to share Christ, and you can do that through this local church. You can do that through so many other ministries, but learn how to share Christ.

And then number three, present. You see, it’s kind of like swimming. Just get out there and do it. Just get out there and do it. You know, I think about when I became a Christian, how many times I failed.

Man, I wanted to witness. I didn’t know how to do it, but I just knew I was supposed to, and my pastor would take me and I’d watch him, and I would watch him how to do it, and we would visit, and then I went off to Bible college, and I was just all fired up for Jesus Christ, and the most dangerous person in America is a Bible college student with one year of Bible training.

Buddy, I came back home, and I was knocking on doors, and I was telling everybody, because the Bible college I went to, you had to report how many people you witnessed to every week. You had to report what you did for ministry that week, and what church you were involved in, and so a group of us guys, we would just go up and down the streets, and we would knock on every door, and we would witness,

and we would pass out tracks, and you say, I don’t like that way. Well, you didn’t do it your way. That’s fine, but at least do it. But what I’m saying is, this not doing it is not of God. This not doing it.

What I’m trying to tell you is, when’s the last time you witnessed? When’s the last time you got in a spiritual conversation with someone, and you talked about Christ, and you talked about the gospel, and you talked about their sinfulness, and their need of a savior.

When’s the last time? When’s the last time you invited somebody to church? When’s the last time that you got involved in helping spread the gospel of Jesus Christ? See, it’s not enough. Hear me? Not enough to just put an offering in the plate.

You gotta get involved. You got to get involved. And all of us need to, and there’s nobody. It doesn’t matter who you are. You haven’t been a Christian long enough. If you’re not out there, I make my step.

Bill and I, we just went out, and we did some visits together, didn’t we, brother? And we go out there, and we reach people, we talk to people, and we’re going out there. It doesn’t matter who you are.

You’re not above witnessing for Christ. and arrived in your Christianity that you’re beyond telling people about Jesus. You see, I’m just telling you that my salvation started from an invitation and the rest is history.

And I’m just wondering whose life you’re gonna change. Who else is gonna believe on Jesus because of you? Who else? I heard the story about a US Senator of many years ago. His father was a godly Christian man.

His father was visiting in Washington DC and his son, the Senator, was having an open house for the ambassador of Belgium. He was from Belgium. He was an ambassador to the US, very prestigious man. The son was a little tense because he knew his dad.

And he knew that his dad was a faithful witness for the Lord and he was afraid. that his father would say something to the ambassador about Jesus. And he tried to tell his dad not to do that, that this was not the time nor the place, but sure enough, his dad did it.

His dad went to the open house in a simple and humble and kind way. He went up to the ambassador, he walked right up to him from Belgium, and he embarrassed his son. He told him about his soul, told him about Jesus.

He told him about how he needed Jesus. The senator was so embarrassed. It wasn’t long after that, his dad died. Some flowers were sent to the funeral service. They were sent from the ambassador of Belgium to the senator, and this is what the card said on the flowers.

And I quote, in memory, in memory of the only man in America who ever spoke to me about my soul, end of quote. And I’m saying to you, church, that there are folks all over Chambersburg, and they are waiting for somebody to speak to them about their soul.

And one of the greatest gifts you can give to God is to be like Lazarus, be a witnessing Christian. Well, if you haven’t figured it out by now, I don’t know how to give God your best. We have been studying these wonderful principles together, and if you take it all together and you put it together like a puzzle, it’ll be able to see a beautiful picture in your Christian life as you strive to put Jesus Christ number one in your life.

Now, so many times as Christians, we kind of just do things half -hazard. We’re very mediocre, not very passionate about our faith, but God wants more, and God is calling us to be fully surrendered to him.

I want to encourage you today, in your response to the word of God today, that you surrender your heart. Fully to Jesus Christ that you just be open and honest with him be transparent Just be clear with God and say Lord.

Here’s where I’m at. I need to step up my game I want to be that Christian that’s always given their best for you So I hope that you’ll make that decision now you make a decision for Christ you respond to the gospel Let us know about it go to hope worth having calm hit the contact button Send us an email and let us know how God is at work always feel free to write us always feel free to reach out to us You can write us at 600 Miller Street,

Chambersburg, Pennsylvania 17201 or you can call us at seven one seven two six four three two six six And of course you can continue to use the website all these are wonderful ways. I love to hear from our listeners I love to hear how God is working It is such an encouragement to me and a blessing and I want to thank those who stand with us who support us and help us As we continue to make sure that we broadcast the gospel of Jesus Christ to every person This is Pastor Mike Sanders reminding you that in Christ,

there is hope worth having.