Give your all to Jesus

We would like to greet everyone, also those who are tuned in on Live streaming and on Radio Khwezi. It is our prayer that this time may be a time with the Lord. As we are starting to celebrate the Passover time, we realise that people know about Christmas and know Easter, but many do not know the true meaning of these religious holidays. It is a time that is extremely important in our Christian history. We may not forget it nor should we make it something of little importance. God didn’t hold back anything from us, and we should be able to experience the life He planned for His children in its fullness if we can just grasp it.

Let us open God’s word to the gospel of John 12 from verse 1-6 and 24-26. Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. 2 There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. 3 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.4 But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, 5 “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 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. 24 Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. 25 He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor. 

In this portion that we have read, (I would recommend that you read it again, so that the Lord will reveal more mysteries to you), Jesus’s time was drawing near, as we read, that it was six days before the Passover. As the Lord Jesus was relating this to His disciples it seems like they heard and accepted it, yet they did not understand. He told them that the Son of man was to die and be raised again on the third day. They heard it, but they did not grasp it. Jesus was telling them over and over that He was to be raised on the third day, but they did not really understand it.

Something they did not grasp fully either was not long ago the Lord had raised Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus was in the tomb, he had been dead for a few days, should be smelling, so there was no hope for him. Jesus who believed His heavenly Father who had sent Him, asked His heavenly Father to reveal Himself. A miracle happened, and Lazarus was raised up. This is the wonder of the gospel of our Lord Jesus, that which is unthinkable for man, is possible for God.

Among us there is possibly one that has no more hope, and says well, spiritually I have a terrible stench on me, how can I change? You remember what you have done and believe that whoever sees you, only thinks of what your past was like and nobody wants to have anything to do with you. So you have no hope for yourself.

Lazarus was raised from the dead; he was a testimony for all to see. And those who heard these wonderful tidings wanted to go themselves and see this man who had been raised from the dead and came out the tomb. Many Jews were touched by this story, that they committed their lives to the Lord Jesus.  However the High Priest and the religious leadership with the scribes were very unhappy about this which had happened. They were scheming and looking for a way to get rid of this Lazarus because so many were drawn to follow Jesus.

The Lord Jesus came to Bethany where this miracle had happened in this family, to Martha, Mary and Lazarus. They were gathered around the table to enjoy a meal together, possibly their last one before the cross. Something happened in Mary’s heart, we do not know what it was, but while the people were reclining at the table, she came and she anointed Jesus’ feet with this expensive oil. She did not just put drops of spikenard, but she poured it on his feet, in each one of the gospels it says it in a different way, but you can see that she anointed his feet with it. She poured a pound of this precious perfume on His feet.

What did it have to do with anyone what Mary did with her own possession? But you will always find people who do not mind their own business, but are critical of all the things that others do. The one with such a polluted mind was Judas in this story. And even now that is what the human mind tells us. What a waste. Things shouldn’t be done like this, but like that. Oh the sins of Christians, pointing fingers and poking each other! Finding fault and complaining about each other. ‘It should be sold and the money be given to the poor,’ they say.

The Bible tells us that Judas didn’t say this because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief. The root of Judas’s sin was his stealing from the money bag. And the Lord Jesus made it clear to those at the table, to let her do what she wanted to do as she understood His time was very short before the end.  ‘You will have the poor and the needy with you for a long time. But I do not have much time, allow her to anoint me for that which is to follow’. And after she had done this, an amazing fragrance filled the whole room. Maybe that is where things went wrong. The loving deed of using pure nard to anoint His feet was not a secret anymore because of the fragrance that filled the house.

Brethren, what has the Lord Jesus done for you  and what will you do for Him in return? Mary gave all that she had. What are you prepared to do for Him? He does not want many things; He just wants your heart. Only your heart. At Golgotha He gave His whole body so that heaven and earth could see that He did not withhold anything so that you can be saved. The time was short, the Lord Jesus understood He must be quick because He needed to get to Jerusalem. And He was telling His disciples we need to get to Jerusalem so that I can fulfill the plan that God has given Me. If you remember Peter trying to stop the Lord Jesus, saying  ‘you cannot go to Jerusalem, we cannot let evil befall you while we are with You’. And we remember the Lord Jesus’ response, ‘get behind me Satan because you are stopping this plan that had been prepared by God. You do not understand, you do not see what is to happen’. As we said in the beginning, there are those who see but do not understand.

God’s plan needs to be accomplished in and through us, wherever the Lord sends us we must understand that His plan must be fulfilled. Let us not be held back from fulfilling our part. May this beautiful fragrance fill our beings to push us towards our goal. The fragrance is the likeness of the Holy Spirit which we need to drive us forward.

A car needs oil so that you can reach the destination. There is no way that you will get to your destination without oil, you can try to just push the car but you won’t get far. Spiritually it is like that as well. The Holy Spirit is the oil and if that red light comes on in your car, don’t continue, first fix what you need to make right before you continue. Then the ride will be beautiful, a wonderful fragrance. God’s word tells us that we are a lovely fragrance to the believes and unbelievers alike.

A wonderful fragrance arose from that love which came from Mary’s heart and everyone knew where it came from. Judas, you do not complain because money is being wasted, you complain because you are a thief and you have so much against Jesus. His job was to be in charge of the bag of money, so that the money would be there if the group needed anything. It was not his job to go into people’s houses and start complaining and finding fault with what they do.

Jesus was in a hurry, He needed to get to Jerusalem so that the plan could be fulfilled. That which had been written about Him needed to be accomplished. When the people realised that Jesus was going to celebrate the Passover a great crowd followed Him. This big crowd troubled the priests, how would they be able to start what they had been planning? Chaos would erupt if they did it now. And that is why they wanted to go to Bethany so that they could kill Lazarus because he was the one that was drawing the people. Now there was no way to stop this anymore.

But the Lord Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem, the Passover was coming. And within all this darkness and chaos He continued to fulfill that for which He had been sent to earth for. And there He saw this great crowd shouting; ‘Hosanna to the Lord, the Son of David’, and they were going to celebrate. They treated Him like a King. With all His deeds that He had done He was worthy of being a King. However, there were those who were upset by this jubilation, but He was worthy of being there because no one else could fulfill this commission.

Entering Jerusalem sitting on a donkey’s colt, one which had never been ridden before and the crowds were following Him. And as we are seated listening, let us take note that most of this crowd changed a few days later, shouting ‘Crucify Him! Crucify Him’! Now they were shouting ‘Hosanna’, but tomorrow they would shout ‘crucify, crucify’ Him, how? Brethren, are we like that, shouting one thing today and the opposite tomorrow? But all this happened to fulfill that which God had sent Him for. Jesus entered into Jerusalem as One who conquered. This is the Lord we serve who entered into Jerusalem with Hosannas, who was then led to Golgotha where He would be crucified in the sight of everyone, to die for our sins.

Jesus came with a plan so that people can learn to overcome and be victorious over their sin. If we meet with Him, we receive that power that we can say no to any temptation. I don’t know, is it evident in your life that the Son of Man has arrived?

For us to bear fruit, we have to die first. A seed has to die before it can grow. Do you know that death, and once you grow, are you bursting with fruit for people to pick? If there is no fruit, what sin are you harbouring that is causing this plant, which is you, to be stunted?Maybe you are troubled by grudges, maybe by hatred. Maybe you refuse to be helped by others, and that is what holds you back. You wife look so pious and good in church, but you are cold and unloving at home. Husband, you look upright and kind among the brethren, but your poor family at home knows someone completely different. Those things need to be sorted out and brought to the cross, that a change can happen.

The Lord’s word tells us whoever loses his life in this world, will gain it. Whoever clings to his life and rights, will lose it. The one who loves his life, who wants to withhold things from the Lord, will not succeed. However for the one who gives it all to the Lord Jesus, blessings will flow. I encourage you to say and do it, Lord I give everything to you.

In the ancient Germanic tribes, when they received the gospel, even the soldiers who loved to fight were encouraged to repent and be baptised. However, when they were baptised, they went under the water, but kept their hands which held the swords above the water as they realised that they were still going to fight in wars. Have you kept your hand from being baptised because you still want to fight or steal or do wicked things with your hand? Remember, the Lord’s word promised that if we give Him everything, we will lack nothing. Is it worth losing God’s blessing on your life?  May the Lord help us, may He be gracious to us. We need to all commit ourselves, everything.

Baba Dube

Lazarus was dead, in a tomb, and Jesus raised him from death. We also were dead in sin and God took us out of the tomb. That is the crux of the matter in a few words. If you have not been taken out of that tomb, Jesus can still take you out of the tomb of sin. We can testify, I can testify that I was dead in the tomb of sin and Jesus took me out. It is obvious if you are not dead to some things in your life. You need a miracle to change you. Confess those sins that are red as scarlet and they can be washed whiter than snow. These days someone said that Peter also betrayed the Lord like Judas did. I said, no, he denied the Lord, but he repented.

On the resurrection morning we find Mary, out of whom seven demons had been cast, at the grave. The Lord revealed Himself to her and then told her to tell the disciples that He had risen from the dead. From a human point of view one could say that it was not proper that a former demon possessed person should bring those good tidings to the disciples. In the same way we could say, well Peter should not have preached, because he had denied the Lord. We maybe say that we can’t listen to sermons preached by a certain person, because of the life he had lived before. Woe to us if we hold grudges against people because of what they had done before and yet they were forgiven and  God’s anointing is on that person.

If we look at Jesus who helped people on the Sabbath, He cured people’s sicknesses and forgave their sins. This infuriated the religious leadership which was then instrumental in agitating the crowds to call for Jesus’ crucifixion, all because of jealousy, because he was so popular. He had done miracles like raising the dead, He made the lame walk, He healed people and that’s where the jealousy started.

The founder of this Mission often said that one receives things or positions through being spiritually alive and healthy. As we read in God’s Word that God does not look at the outside, but He looks inside, at the heart, whether it has been washed by the blood of the lamb. In John 17 we read His prayer for His children, and He is still interceding, that they, and us, may be one.

If Mary had known that this child she was to give birth to was to be crucified, I don’t know if she would have agreed. The angel said to her; He will be born and He will save His people from their sins, now that is joyful news, and even I would have been happy. Here she is standing at the cross and sees how her son is mistreated, she started to understand and at that time she recognised Him as her Lord and King.

It’s so amazing that, no matter how deep you are in your sin, you can be saved and made completely new. What a wonderful hope that is for each one of us. If you feel you’re too deep in your wickedness or have no hope for grace or mercy, come, How amazing that these mysteries are revealed to the foolish, and they are hidden from the clever people. Come!

Prayer