Let's take our Bibles once again.
Turn with me to the book of Luke. Book of Luke chapter 10. Luke chapter 10. I'd like to look at verses 38
through 42. Very familiar passage of scripture.
The one that providentially was brought to cross my heart. Luke
10 verse 38, now it came to pass as they went that he entered
into a certain village and a certain woman named Martha received him
into her house. She had a sister called Mary,
which also sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word. Martha was
cumbered about much serving and came to him and said, Lord, dost
thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone?
Bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said
unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful. and troubled about
many things. But one thing is needful, and
Mary has chosen that good part. It shall not be taken away from
her. Our passage starts today, begins
with two people, two sisters, that the Lord Jesus loved. Turn to John 11. John 11, 5. Here the Spirit of God was pleased
to set forth the Lord's attitude toward this family. John 11, 5. It says, Now Jesus
loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. They had a brother named
Lazarus. Now, we know that with the declaration
that he loved her. And why does the Lord set his
love on any creature of dust? Because he wanted to. There's
no other explanation. We know that since it's declared
that he loved her right now, he's always loved her. Jeremiah
31.3 declares, yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. The Lord loves, he's always loved. He'll always love. There'll be,
there's no change with him. I change not. Therefore, you
sons of Jacob. The scripture declares, and concerning
the Lord's love in drawing. Deuteronomy 4, 37 says, And because
he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them
and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of
Egypt. So loving his people, Loving
those that he's chosen to set his affection on. Not because
he looked and saw anything good in them. There's none good. But
that the Lord would love, love a people of his choosing. What
a marvelous declaration of God's grace, compassion. And loving them, In time, he's
going to cross their path. It's going to happen. What are we commanded to do? What do we do? What did the Lord
tell his disciples to do? Here it is. I'm going to sum
up the whole thing. Here it is right here. All of it. Go into all
the world and preach the gospel to every Christian. He that believeth baptized, confesseth
Christ, shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. The scripture declares, now it
came to pass. What came to pass? God's eternal
purpose. It came to pass as as they went
according to the father's will this this is this is the will
of my father which has sent me that of all that he's given me
i should lose nothing to raise it up the last day that's that's
the will of the lord that's god it came to pass that as he entered
into a certain village a certain woman i love that word sir that just
just It just has such a distinctiveness. A certain village and a certain
woman named Martha received Him into her house. Oh, the marvel
of the Lord coming to a certain town to meet a certain people. Distinguishing grace. That's
what that says. Oh, how about me? I think about
you that know it. The Lord came to a certain town
in Louisiana, Lomori, Lomori, Louisiana. Who ever heard of Lomori, Louisiana?
Nowhere. It's a certain town, a certain
man. And God came in grace and mercy
to cross his path with the gospel. And here the scripture says that
the marvel of this came to a certain village, a certain woman named
Martha received him, received him into her house. Now, look here in Luke 10, look
at verse 8 and 9 about she received him into her house. That's very
significant. Luke 10, 8 and 9, whatsoever
city you enter and they receive you, such things as are set before
you, and heal the sick that are there, and say unto them, the
kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. You realize the blessing of the
Lord? If God Almighty blesses a home
and the gospel is received, I, one, maybe all, that is received,
you say unto them, the kingdom of God is coming to you. Verse 39, she had a sister called
Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. Now here we find Martha's sister,
a certain woman that the Lord loved. Sister Mary that the Lord
loved. And Mary, she sat at the feet
of the Lord Jesus and listen to what he was saying. I just
want to hear what you have to say. Here's Mary in a very humble
posture. I just want to sit right here
and listen to you talk. My soul is needy. That's why
she was there. There was one that desired to
listen. There was one that desired to
learn from him who is the prophet, the prophet of God. I wonder how many times I've
told people, invited people to come and just tell them, look,
all I'm asking you to do is just come see it. Just come see it. By the grace of God, I'll prepare
a message from the Lord. By God's grace, I'm going to
be there to preach. I want to preach the gospel of
God's grace. I want to exalt a person. I want
to exalt the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. The one that the
Father spoke from heaven and said, this is my beloved Son,
whom I'm well pleased. You hear Him. You hear what He has to
say. All I'm asking you to do is come sit. That's all I'm asking
you to do. You don't have to do anything.
I'm not going to ask you to do anything. Just come sit. And this woman sat at the feet
of the Lord Jesus Christ to hear what he had to say. And as the
Lord was pleased to teach there in that house, let us be also
swift to hear. Slow to speak, slow to wrath,
ready to receive. Ask him, ask him. Let me encourage
all of us to do something. Before we get here, if you've
not asked him before, if I've not asked him before, ask him
right now. Lord, speak to me. Lord, teach
me something. Lord, say something to my soul.
Say something to my heart. You know my need. I don't even
know what I need. Here this woman was sitting there
ready to receive, resigned to His guidance. Oh, the blessing
of His teaching. That which has ever been the
will of the Father to send the beloved Son, the Prophet, His
and speak. You know, I'm sure all of us can
say this. Boy, I tell you, wouldn't it
have been wonderful to sit at the feet of the Lord and just
hear Him speak. We're doing that right now. Still
speaking. Where two or three have gathered
together, I'm in the midst of you. My sheep hear my voice. talking about us hearing the
voice of the Lord. He promised that we would. Second Corinthians 520, the Apostle
Paul declared this, now then we are ambassadors for Christ. What does an ambassador do? He
goes wherever he's sent and he says what he's told to say. That's what he does. He's mouthpiece. for those that
sent Him. Then we are ambassadors for Christ.
As though God did beseech you by us, Paul said. We pray you
in Christ's stead be you reconciled to God. So as the Lord speaks,
hold your place right there in Luke. Turn to John 10. John 10. Now the Lord, I say this repeatedly
and it's because the Lord said it. John 10, 1 to 3, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into
the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same as a
thief and a robber, but he that entereth in by the door is the
shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth, and
the sheep hear his voice. And he calleth his own sheep
by name, and leadeth them out. So here's the wonderful truth. God's gonna speak to his people.
And he's going to speak through a preacher according to these
scriptures. This is what God has to say.
This is what God said right here. If it's not right here, the Lord
wasn't pleased to say it. Everything that Almighty God
is going to say to his people, he's going to say through these
scriptures, through the mouth of a preacher, please God by
the foolishness of preaching. to save them, to believe them. Here is the Lord himself has
come and he's teaching. And Mary's sitting there, she's
listening. She's sat at his feet, hearing
his word. And the scripture says, verse
40, but Martha was cumbered about much serving, came to him and
said, Does thou not care that my sister has left me to serve
alone? Bid her therefore that she help me. Now, the Lord declared that Martha,
who was serving, and there was nothing wrong. There's nothing
wrong with serving. There's nothing wrong with being
of service. I'm so thankful. These ladies
that's over there, right now, preparing a meal for us. What
a blessing, you know. There's nothing wrong with that,
but the Lord declared that she was, she was cumbered. She was distracted. She was drawn
away. She was cumbered about much serving,
and she, she was too busy. She was too busy to hear what
the Lord had to say, therefore she was too busy to distract
him. And we're taught some things
through this. We're taught, first of all, with
her being cumbered. Martha was cumbered about much
serving. And when we become cumbered,
though there's nothing wrong, again, with serving. We have
to be careful that we're not distracted from that which is
first. When we're cumbered about much
serving, doing stuff that we think is important and needful,
we're forgetful of God's promise. We're forgetful. Lord, dost thou
not care? That's what she said. She was
cumbered about much serving, came to him and said, Lord, Thou
not care? Does he not care? 1 Peter 5,
7, Casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you. He cares. The cares of this world. Let
me just go ahead and just confess my guiltiness. When the cares of this world
health issues, money issues, family issues, press upon it,
casting your cares, your worries, your anxieties, fears upon Christ. Why? He cares for you. He cares
for you. I can't carry the burden. I just,
I'm like you. I got, I got stuff. that weighs on me heavily. Heavily. You do too. You do too. Casting
your care, your worries. Lord, help me. Lord, help me. Martha was cumbered about much
serving. Said, Lord, dost thou not care? He cares. He cares. He cares
for his people. How affectionately he cares for
his people. He's everlastingly loved them,
came into this world to live for them, die for them, put away
their guilt, bear their burdens, bear their sins, His own body,
made them His own, hung before God Almighty, the law, made sin. We might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. Lord, do you care? Do you care? He loves his people, loves them
to the end. Oh, what distractions, hindrances. Drag us down. Lord, do you care? Secondly, when we're cumbered
about much serving. Again, nothing wrong with it.
Just be careful. Be careful. Seek ye first. Don't
let anything cause you to be distracted from
the hearing of the gospel. This is the most important thing
we can do. This is what Mary was doing.
She was sitting at his feet, just listening to him. Whatever
he has to say is what's needful to be said, believe me. You don't
have to worry about pick and choosing. Someone Brother Henry
Mahan told somebody one time, he said, I'll tell you what to
do. He said, if you have some questions about things concerning
the scriptures, just sit. Just sit and listen. He said,
Lord will take care of it. He'll answer it for you. Just
sit there. Just listen. What was Mary doing? She was
sitting at his feet to hear his word. That's what she was doing. Lord, dost thou not care? And
we've come, when we're cumbered, we become self-centered. This
is what she said, Lord, does thou not care that my sister
has left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help
me. Here's Mary sitting at the feet of the Lord, listening to
what she has to say. Martha's running around, I know
she's wanting to set Beautiful table she's wanting to do. She
wants everything to be just right, nothing to be burnt, nothing
undercooked. She's getting all of it squared
away. I can just imagine her keep looking out there and there's
Mary just sitting out there at the feet of the Lord. Here's Martha. The more she does,
the more anxious she gets, the more cumbered she gets, the more
upset she gets, distracted, distracted, distracted. become so self-centered, no doubt. Telling what she was doing, I'm
sure had merit, but it wasn't the priority. It wasn't that
which was needful. Martha's efforts, though honorable,
they were temporal. And his words, eternal. What else is more important than
hearing what he's got to say? There's a point, one point being
made in this passage right here. Many areas, but here's the point. One thing needful. We'll look
at it in just a second. I don't want to get ahead of
myself. You mark this day when the hearing of God's word plays
second fiddle to anything else. Self. Self is exalted. Self is exalted. You bid my sister to come help
me. or I'm having some problems here. And we're prone to forget our
place whenever we become cumbered. Remember when they were out of
wine at the wedding of Canaan, Galilee, and the mother of the
Lord, the scripture says, the mother of Jesus said unto him,
they have no wine, Jesus saith unto her, woman, with with respect
this doesn't. What have I to do to the what,
what do we have in common is what he said. Mine hour, that
is his hour to act was not yet come his mother sayeth unto the
stewards whatsoever. He said, do you do it? Do it? Do it? Failure to consistently
hear his word causes us to focus on our problems, forget our place,
exalt ourself, and to be distracted from Him who rules over all.
He's ordering all things according to His will, according to His
purpose. Oh, I tell you, when we're providentially seeing ourselves
in dire straits, wait on the Lord. Wait on the Lord. Shall
the thing formed Say to him that formed it, why hast thou made
me thus? And Jesus, verse 41, answered and said unto her, Martha,
Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things. You're anxious and you're disturbed
about many, many things. Oh, the tenderness of our Lord
to remind Martha of her and our frailties. I need this. Marvin, all these things that's
going on around you, all of these problems that you're
seeing, all these things that you think you can take care of, best thing in the world you can
do is just stop. Cast them on the Lord. I said,
Lord, help me. Martha, you're careful and troubled
about many things. Oh, I'll tell you how Martha,
her struggles resemble, set forth that struggle between the flesh
and the spirit. Martha, like all of us, she gonna
learn a hard lesson, hard lesson. That flesh is ever restless,
uneasy, always concerned with everything except. What does it put last? What does
flesh put last? I don't want to hear what he
has to say. That's what the flesh is going to do. Never satisfied
with anything but itself. Apostle Paul said concerning
himself, I go to this passage so many times, I need it. Romans
7, 22, 23, for I delight in the law of God. That precious law
that was fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ declared in the
gospel. Paul said, I delight in the law
of God. I love the law of God. I love the declarations of His
law. It's right. The law is good, good. I delight
in the law of God after the inward man, but I see another law in
my members, warring against the law of my mind, bringing me into
captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members. The Lord
told her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled
about many things, but one thing's needful. One thing's needful. You know that order. arrest us,
right there. One thing is needful. And Mary had chosen that good
part, which shall not be taken away from her. One thing was
needful. What? Hearing Him. One thing's needful. Him. Everything else Everything is. Tell me, tell me about him who
came into this world to seek and to save that which was lost. Tell me, tell me about him who
came to save this center that was ruined in the fall. Tell
me about him. Tell me about Him that came to
save me that couldn't do anything about it in me. Tell me about
Him again that redeemed me by His own precious blood. Tell
me one more time. Tell me about that. Tell me again
how the Spirit of God comes in regenerating grace, affectionate,
calls His people. It moves the heart of stone,
gives them a heart of flesh. Tell me that. One thing's needful. One thing. While we're traveling
through this veil of tears, this world, let us ever be mindful.
This is it. This is it. This is it. The world and its false religion,
they've got, they've got everything, everything. What do we got? The Word of God. Word of God, the Word of the
Lord, that's the one thing that is needful and the enjoyment
of God's people, His presence, that one good part. Mary's chosen
that good part. And listen to this, it's not
gonna be taken away from her. Aren't you glad? David said,
Lord, take not the Holy Spirit from me. I'm not deserving of
the least of your mercies. Lord, I see something in myself
and I'm ashamed. I'm asking you. I'm asking you
to forgive me. This woman was made willing in
the day of God's power to sit at his feet. And she was there
to receive from the Lord. This is my beloved son. You hear
him. You hear him. Lord, thank you for raising up
your word. Haiti, West Virginia. Kept it
here by the grace of God. And we're still here. We're still
here. May the Lord bless his word into
our heart. God's sake, the Lord's sake, our good.