I suppose if you have some knowledge of what goes on when there is a lawsuit of any kind going on you’ve heard the term, “settle out of court.” If you are the person who was wronged in some way it means you will be satisfied with what your lawyer has gotten the party that did you wrong to give to you in an effort to make up the worth of your losses.
On the other hand if you were the party in the wrong, at fault, to “settle out of court” would mean you are not taking the risk of what the judge or jury, maybe even both of them will decide what the other parties losses were worth and that you’d have to pay them as restitution.
The beloved Apostle John that is recorded as the one who leaned of the chest of Jesus says this about Jesus being our lawyer.
1 John 2:1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
Many times in the bible when it speaks of what goes on around the throne of God it seems to relate to a courtroom setting. We enter “His courts” with praise. We will all someday stand before “the Judge” of the living and the dead. Satan is referred to as the “accuser” of the brethren.
We are very blessed a “My Church” Faith Cathedral in New Iberia Louisiana to have Bishop Drew as our leader. On more than one occasion he has mentioned that the message he intended to preach was postponed because the Holy Spirit had brought something else to his understanding that we needed to hear. Fresh and relevant manna from God’s throne of Grace.
This is the link to watch Bishop Drew’s message he preached today May 19, 2019 on Facebook. It’s a very good one that will feed a Christian in every stage of maturity they may be in. His title of it is “Measured” but “Settle Out of Court” would have fit as will. The message starts at 6:23 into the video. The image and sound is out of sync at the beginning but gets better further into the video.
We had a wonderful presence of God and the Holy Spirit during the worship and praise before Bishop Drew preached. We had some very bad storms move through our area this morning and attendance was really down to about 1/3 or less of normal. Sometimes “less” can be more. I believe those who didn’t look at the weather but really desired to be in attendance and build up the “manifest corporate anointing” of our congregation made the difference.
It’s kind of like when God told Gideon that he had too many troops to go to battle. He had 22,000 but the first cut dropped that to 10,000. The second cut dropped them to 300 men, a number God could work with. God wanted to make sure Israel got NO Glory in the victory. They’d have to admit that God ALONE had won the Victory for them. You can read that HERE
Five times during worship service I felt lead to write down a note to myself of something I felt the Lord was impressing on me. I didn’t want to forget the thought so I’d jot it down. As we sang the last worship song the last one was this, “when I was wallowing in my vomit you saved me.” I had 2 Peter 2:22 in mind.
When the last worship song was over I opened my eyes when I heard someone speaking in tongues. It was Pastor Wanda who had stepped up onto the platform to give a word of utterance from God, in English she then said, “When you were at your lowest I rescued you.”
It is possible to know, God wants you to know that you are hearing His voice. He will do things that confirm He is active in your life in little and big ways,
Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
I don’t want to preach Bishop Drew’s message because I hope you listen to it but one of the points he made is that it’s as we express our love of Jesus in a tangible way that it is “real.” The example scripture he spoke of was the woman who cried enough tears to wash the feet of Jesus with enough water that she dried His feet with her hair. Then she anointed His feet with the expensive spikenard ointment. There are 3 biblical accounts painting somewhat of the same picture. In many ways they are the same and yet different. The third is the one Bishop Drew spoke of.
First, John’s account says,
John 12:2-4 NKJV 1 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. 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?”
Second, Mark’s account says,
Mark 14:3-4 NKJV 1 After two days it was the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. 3 And 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 of spikenard. Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head.
4 But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, “Why was this fragrant oil wasted? 5 For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.”
Third, Luke’s account that Bishop Drew used,
Luke 7:36-50 36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, so Jesus went into the Pharisee’s house and sat at the table. 37 A sinful woman in the town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house. So she brought an alabaster jar of perfume 38 and stood behind Jesus at his feet, crying. She began to wash his feet with her tears, and she dried them with her hair, kissing them many times and rubbing them with the perfume. 39 When the Pharisee who asked Jesus to come to his house saw this, he thought to himself, “If Jesus were a prophet, he would know that the woman touching him is a sinner!”
40 Jesus said to the Pharisee, “Simon, I have something to say to you.”
Simon said, “Teacher, tell me.”
41 Jesus said, “Two people owed money to the same banker. One owed five hundred coins and the other owed fifty. 42 They had no money to pay what they owed, but the banker told both of them they did not have to pay him. Which person will love the banker more?”
43 Simon, the Pharisee, answered, “I think it would be the one who owed him the most money.”
Jesus said to Simon, “You are right.” 44 Then Jesus turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? When I came into your house, you gave me no water for my feet, but she washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss of greeting, but she has been kissing my feet since I came in. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she poured perfume on my feet. 47 I tell you that her many sins are forgiven, so she showed great love. But the person who is forgiven only a little will love only a little.”
48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 The people sitting at the table began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
50 Jesus said to the woman, “Because you believed, you are saved from your sins. Go in peace.”
All three accounts are similar in many ways but different in some.
John says 6 days before passover, Mark says 2 days, Luke says nothing.
The woman’s name – John says Mary, Mark says a woman, Luke says a sinful woman.
The Location – John and Mark say Bethany, Luke is silent
- John says “Martha served” (verse 2) but mentions Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son. Why is Martha serving? Is it her house? It’s thought Mary Martha and Lazarus are orphans. Was Simon their uncle that they lived with? Remember the other time Martha complained that Mary wasn’t helping in the kitchen and Jesus said “Martha, Martha”
- Mark says the house of Simon the leper.
- Luke says One of the Pharisees …the Pharisee’s house,
The Worth of the Spikenard. A denarii is equal to 1 days pay. The flask, alabaster box or spikenard was worth almost a years salary.
- John says 300 denarii,
- Marks says over 300 denarii,
- Luke says “she showed great love”
Could all three accounts be the same, maybe not because of the 6 day – 2 day difference.
Could these three accounts be of the woman Mary of Bethany/Mary Magdalene. It would have only taken a change of address for the name change. All four canonical gospels of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) noted Mary Magdalene’s presence at Jesus’s Crucifixion, but only the Gospel of Luke discussed her role in Jesus’s life and ministry, listing her among “some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities” (Luke 8:1–3).
According to Luke, after Jesus cast out seven demons from her, Mary became part of a group of women who traveled with him and his 12 disciples/apostles, “proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God.” Magdalene is not a surname, but identified the place Mary came from: Magdala, a city in Galilee, located in the northernmost region of ancient Palestine (now northern Israel).
After Jesus’s crucifixion—which she witnessed along with several other women from the foot of the cross—and after all his male disciples had fled, Mary Magdalene also played a key role in the story of the Resurrection. According to the gospels, she visited Jesus’s tomb on Easter Sunday, either alone (according to the Gospel of John) or with other women, and found the tomb empty.
“The women are the ones who go and tell the disciples,” Cargill points out. “They are the ones that discovered that he had risen, and that’s significant.”
In the Gospel of John, Jesus actually appears to Mary Magdalene alone after his Resurrection, and instructs her to tell his disciples of his return (John 20:1-13).
Many people are most surprised to learn that nowhere in the Bible is Mary Magdalene described as a prostitute. Her reputation as a reformed prostitute has no explicit biblical support, but it does have church support. Pope Gregory I (d. 604) gave legs to this misinterpretation by delivering a sermon that equated both Mary of Bethany and the anonymous hair-washing sinner woman (Luke 7:36-50) with Mary Magdalene. This portrait also absorbed the story of the unnamed woman caught in adultery (John 7:53-8:11), the combination making the popular image of Mary Magdalene quite different from the biblical depictions. Being possessed by seven demonic spirits must have caused her to exhibit some type of sinful behavior but we are never told what.
Mary was probably a common name for a woman in biblical times as it is today but Jesus elevated this Mary even above Mary, his own biological mother. Selah, “Think about it,” He appeared to her first after His resurrection and before it Jesus said this about her,
Mark 14 6 But Jesus said, “Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for Me. 7 For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always. 8 She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial. 9 Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”
Just What Did She Do? She BROKE THE ALABASTER BOX!!! She sold out to Jesus, giving her all. By breaking the box, flask, jar, whatever you want to call it she said with her actions, “It’s ALL Your Jesus.” As valuable and precious the fragrant oil was she held nothing back for herself. After Jesus set Mary Magdalene free of those 7 demons she clung to Jesus. Jesus said, “She HAS DONE WHAT She Could.” She followed Him everywhere even after what she thought was His death. Even facing death, she didn’t let go of Him.
If you ever realize what Jesus has done for you, you won’t let go of Him either. If you ever truly realize what Jesus has done for you it will change your life. You won’t be the same. People who used to know you will notice the change. Think about it, if the Holy Spirit of God begins living in you, teaching you, leading you, can you NOT Change? Settle this in your heart with Father God and Jesus on this side of eternity. Settle Out Of Court NOW, make Him your Lord, your Savior, your Advocate in that order NOW and you won’t face Him as Judge,
2 Timothy 4:1-5 NKJV Preach the Word
I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: 2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. 5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
In The Word 