OceanSide church of Christ

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Bible Study - Giving God Your Best

 

Mike Wencel

 

 


John 12:13  - Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had 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.  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.

 

Spikenard (Nelson): A costly oil derived from the dried roots and stems of the nard, an herb of Asia. This oil was used as a liquid or made into an ointment. Solomon praised the fragrance of spikenard in the Song of Songs (1:12; 4:13-14).  Spikenard was imported from India in alabaster boxes. These were stored and used only for special occasions. When household guests arrived, they were usually anointed with this oil.

(Smith): The costliness of Mary's offering, (300 pence = $45), may best be seen from the fact that a penny, (denarius, 15 to 17 cents), was, in those days, the day-wages of a laborer. In our day (1863), this would equal at least $300 or $400). In 2022 this would be worth about $6,800 - $9,128 ($1 in 1863 is worth $22.82 today)


Anoint (Nelson): to authorize, or set apart, a person for a particular work or service. The anointed person belonged to God in a special sense. Jesus the Messiah is described as “anointed.” This description is found in the psalms of the Old Testament that prophesy the coming of Christ and in the preaching of the apostle Peter in the Book of Acts. The word “Messiah” comes from the Hebrew word mâshiyach meaning “anointed, a consecrated person”, The word “Christ” comes from the Greek word Christos which is also defined as “anointed”.


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Matthew 27:57  Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus.  This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him.  When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed. 

 

u Nelsons Bible Dictionary says this about tombs: TOMB — an elaborate burial place for the dead. In Palestine ordinary people were buried in shallow graves covered by stones or a stone slab. People of importance and wealth were placed in tombs.


u This fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 53:9  And they made His grave with the wicked—But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth. 


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Leviticus 3:6  If his offering as a sacrifice of a peace offering to the Lord is of the flock, whether male or female, he shall offer it without blemish.  

 

u Isn’t it interesting that God followed his own law which he gave to Moses and the people, when He offered his own sacrifice to be the atonement for the sins of the world -  the spotless, perfect, Son of God without spot or blemish (without sin). No other sacrifice would have sufficed. --- 1 Peter 1:18-19 - knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. 


u God gave us His best – Jesus Christ – should we not do likewise with God? 

 

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2nd Samuel 24:18–25 And Gad came that day to David and said to him, "Go up, erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite." [19] So David, according to the word of Gad, went up as the Lord commanded.  [20]  Now Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming toward him. So Araunah went out and bowed before the king with his face to the ground. [21]  Then Araunah said, "Why has my lord the king come to his servant?" And David said, "To buy the threshing floor from you, to build an altar to the Lord, that the plague may be withdrawn from the people." [22] Now Araunah said to David, "Let my lord the king take and offer up whatever seems good to him. Look, here are oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing implements and the yokes of the oxen for wood. [23]  All these, O king, Araunah has given to the king." And Araunah said to the king, "May the Lord your God accept you." [24]  Then the king said to Araunah, "No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. [25]  And David built there an altar to the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord heeded the prayers for the land, and the plague was withdrawn from Israel. 

 

u One definition of sacrifice is: to suffer loss of, give up, renounce, injure, or destroy especially for an ideal, belief, or end. (Merriam-Webster).


u For a sacrifice to be a true sacrifice, we must voluntarily lose something in the giving of it.

 


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1st Kings 3:2-4  Meanwhile the people sacrificed at the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the Lord until those days. And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places.  Now the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place: Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 

 

u Barnes says “A sacrifice of a thousand victims was an act of royal magnificence suited to the greatness of Solomon. If the offerings in this case were “whole burnt offerings,” and were all offered upon the altar of Moses, the sacrifice must have lasted several days.”


u Guzik Commentary: People sacrificed at the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the Lord: At this time, altars were allowed in Israel at various high places, as long as those altars were unto the Lord and not corrupted by idolatry (as commanded in Deu_16:21). When the temple was built, sacrifice was then centralized at the temple.


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Luke 21:1-4  And He (Jesus) looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. So He said, "Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had."

 

u Barnes: We may remark that few practice self-denial for the purpose of charity. Most give of their abundance - that is, what they can spare without feeling it, and many feel that this is the same as throwing it away.  Among all the thousands who give, how few deny themselves of one comfort, even the least, that they may advance the kingdom of Christ!


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Acts 6:8-9  And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.

 

u In Acts 7 Stephen gives a lengthy sermon to the people and when he was finished the bible says:

 

Acts 7:54  When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.  Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, as he was calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. 


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Genesis 22:2 -  Then God said, "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you." . …. Genesis 22:10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. 

 

u Sacrificing your son whom you dearly love, would be a huge sacrifice, but Abraham was willing to do it because God commanded it. This is a beautiful foreshadowing of God sacrificing His only son to be the propitiation for our sins.


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Paul summarizes the application of everything we have been talking about in one sentence:

 

Colossians 3:23-24 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. 

 

u Gill says: “Do it heartily” means  not by mere force and necessity, grudgingly, and with murmurings, but from  the heart, and with good will, having a true, real, and hearty affection for their master, having their good and  interest at heart, and a delight in their service;


 

Application – How can we give our best to God?

 

 

  1. Give our best (most alert and attentive) time to the study of God’s word.
  2. Be at all church services - for your own edification and for the worship of and thanksgiving to God (this requires a sacrifice of your time, and perhaps a talk with your boss). Set a goal of 100% attendance.
  3. Be cheerful and friendly to your brothers and sisters and to visitors.
  4. Give an offering each Sunday that costs us something – perhaps forgo a few restaurant meals and give that money to the church instead. Or forgo the purchase of a luxury item and give it to God instead.
  5. Pray heartily (not trivially, or unenthusiastically, or doubtfully) to the Lord.
  6. Sacrifice our time to serve the Lord’s church in some capacity – ¢ teach a class, ¢ help decorate or prepare for a fellowship meal,  ¢ greet visitors, ¢ call an absent member each week, ¢ come to spring or fall work days, ¢ volunteer for VBS, ¢ help with the clothing giveaway ¢ volunteer your services for maintenance projects around the building ¢ etc. etc. etc.   
  7. Come to church early and take time to connect with one or more members on a personal level.
  8. Put forth extra effort in our jobs using our God-given talents to the fullest. Don’t be satisfied with 90% or even 100% - go the extra mile and strive for 110%.
  9. Do an act of kindness every day (even if it’s a small one)
  10. Look for opportunities to be a servant to others every day
  11. Take the gospel to anyone you can think of (may require coming out of our comfort zone)
  12.  Be respectful  to God in the way you dress for church
  13. Respect God by being on time for church. Most people would not think of being habitually late to work (for fear of termination) yet they seem to have no problem being habitually late for the worship of God. 
  14. Be an encourager to your church family.
  15. Think of your own ways to put forth your best efforts for the Lord, and don’t be satisfied with giving the minimum – be a maximum kind of person in your service to he Lord.

 

«CONCLUSION: God gave his Son – the PERFECT sacrifice – to us. Shouldn’t we likewise offer our very best to Him?