Seeking once again the Lord's
help to grant me the words and ability to speak to you this
morning, I'd like to direct your attention to the chapter that
we read together, Luke chapter 10, and the text you'll find
in verses 41 and 42. And Jesus said unto her, Martha,
Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things. but
one thing is needful and Mary hath chosen that good part which
shall not be taken away from her. I know recently we looked at the
account of the Good Samaritan and how the Lord Jesus Christ
used that account to portray the way in which someone might
love their neighbor and how there were those of the religious elite
the priests and the Levites who passed by on the other side despising
the one who was been beaten up and robbed yet there was the
Samaritan who drew near and helped this man and provided for his
needs. And as the account finishes the
Lord Jesus then goes on his way having dealt with that person,
the lawyer, he moves on his journey. And this sums up really the ministry
of the Lord Jesus Christ. was always journeying, he was
always on his way going from place to place preaching and
speaking the the kingdom of God. In the beginning of the chapter
he sends forth those 70 who he appointed to go before him and
to proclaim the coming of the kingdom of God. They were to
go into every city and place before the Lord Jesus Christ
would go there. If you remember John the Baptist
he was the forerunner of the Lord Jesus Christ that he came
before to pave the way, to make people ready for the coming of
the Lord Jesus and he illustration is in that account of how the
kings in the olden days and even in our own day would send messengers
out before they would arrive and to fix the roads and to make
sure everything was tidy, to make sure people were aware that
the king was going to come. And so John the Baptist was the
forerunner of the Lord Jesus. He made the way for the coming
of the King of Kings. Jesus also sent out these 70
to make people aware, to prepare themselves to receive the news
of the kingdom of God and so he made the way and he sent those
people to places that he was going to come. And that then,
as I've said, summed up his ministry. He went from place to place,
dealing with different people, experiencing life in the city,
life in the village, life in the rural areas, life on the
coast, and interacting and intermingling with all sorts of people. but he himself had nowhere to
lay his head. If you turn over to chapter 9
there were those who wanted to follow the Lord Jesus Christ
and he warns them that it's not going to be easy, it's not going
to be as good as you think that it's going to be. Are you aware
that I don't have anywhere to live? In Matthew 9, 57 and it came to pass that as they
went in the way a certain man said unto him Lord I will follow
thee whithersoever thou goest and Jesus said unto him foxes
have holes and birds of the air have nests but the son of man
has nowhere to lay his head. Those of you who are at the Bible
study will remember that Christ always has existed, but he put
on flesh to enable him to be the sacrifice for sinners, to
enable him to die upon the cross and to live under the law of
God. From glory to nowhere to lay his head. All of us have somewhere, even
Elsie and I have a place to lay our heads. Yet Christ lived solely
off the goodwill of others. As he went out into the ministry
after he was baptised, went into the desert and he was ministered
to by those people around about him. They provided for his needs. He had no place that he could
say this is my house, this is where I live. He went from place
to place ministering the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, teaching
the people and they provided for his needs. In chapter 8 We read of these ladies who followed
the Lord Jesus. They loved him and they wanted
to serve him. And it came to pass afterward
that he went throughout every city and village preaching and
showing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God and the twelve
were with him. And certain women which had been
healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of
whom went seven devils, and Joanna the wife of Cusa, Herod's steward,
and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of
their substance. And so as the Lord Jesus Christ
went from place to place with his apostles there were those
women who followed them and out of love to the Lord Jesus and
to that desire for the advancement of the kingdom they served the
Lord Jesus, they ministered to the Lord Jesus of their substance,
they provided food, they provided clothing, they provided places
for him to eat and stay and so we have in the chapter that we
have read together, Mary and Martha and Lazarus, they provided
a place for the Lord Jesus Christ to come and to eat and to fellowship with them. And so that was the life of the
Lord Jesus moving from place to place living off the benefit
and goodwill of those people around about him. And he comes
to the house of Mary and Martha. Now I did think that maybe Martha
had listened to the story of the Good Samaritan. As she was
often with the Lord Jesus maybe she had listened to what he was
saying and she thought to herself I must practice what I have heard. And so she brings the Lord Jesus
back to her house and she begins to serve him with vigour. The scripture tells us that she
was cumbered about much serving. She was taken up with serving. She had taken maybe the parable
of the Good Samaritan to its fullest and she wanted to serve
the Lord Jesus Christ and she forgets about sitting at his
feet and she wants to serve him and provide the things that she
thinks that are needful and good for him. And the scripture tells
us that that is a right attitude to have. Christians are meant
to serve. Christians are meant to love
our neighbours as ourselves. Christians are meant to care
for the needs of others. In the book of Hebrews it tells
us there. In chapter 13 verses 1 and 2 it
says, let brotherly love continue and be not forgetful or don't
forget to entertain strangers. thereby some have entertained
angels unawares. And so the walk of a Christian,
the lifestyle of a Christian is to be that of hospitality
and provision and in doing so we don't really know who we are
going to entertain. It says we may even entertain
angels and we don't even realize. If you remember the 70 who the
Lord sent out. They were to go out and they
were to preach but they were to live off the resources of
others. They were to go into people's
houses and they were to stay there and they were to minister
the word of God in that city and they were to give what was
given to them and not to go from house to house and in the same
house remain eating and drinking such things as they give you
and so those were provided for by the church by the people that
they ministered to and that is the reason why we could say Martha
is filled with a desire to provide the physical needs of the Lord
Jesus Christ. In Matthew 25 also Jesus tells
us there of the end of time In Matthew 25 it tells us there
that there were those who Jesus would cast on the left hand and
those on the right hand. And on the right hand he would
say, come ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world. For I was unhungered
and you gave me meat. I was thirsty and you gave me
drink. I was a stranger and you took
me in naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me.
I was in prison and you came unto me. Then shall the righteous
answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungered, and fed
thee, or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger,
and took thee in, or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we
sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the king shall
answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye
have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye
have done it unto me. And so that is something that
is seen by the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who provide and those who
help, those who are in need or those who are on the journey,
we could say it's seen. Remember the Apostle Paul is
told, you are persecuting me. When the church is persecuted,
it is a direct attack upon the Lord Jesus Christ. But also when
the church is provided for, when the needs of the saints are met,
it is a direct gift to the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, you have
done it unto me that you are hungry and gave me meat, thirsty,
drink, naked and clothed me in all of those things, even those
who are sick. those who are sick and you visit
them. They are believers in the Lord
Jesus Christ. You go and comfort them. Christ
says you have visited me. It is a personal visitation. And that would be true, wouldn't
it? Because it's the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. If there
is a saint that is sick, a saint that is downcast, that saint
is part of the body of the Lord Jesus Christ and so when another
member of the body visits that person, that is as doing it unto
the Lord Jesus Christ. And so Martha literally was taking
care of the needs of the Lord Jesus Christ but something was
wrong. She was cumbered, taken up with
much serving and not only was she cumbered about much serving,
she was overburdened, overloaded herself with much serving. She
accuses other, her sister, of not helping her and she accuses
Christ of not doing anything to prompt her sister to help
her. Martha was cumbered about much
serving and came to him and said Lord does thou not care that
my sister has left me to serve alone bid her therefore that
she help me and although she was helping and seeking to provide
diligently as a good hostess for the Lord Jesus Christ her
attitude was wrong and I can almost imagine in my mind her
getting worked up she's there whatever she's doing making bread
or cleaning the dishes or getting water and she's looking at her
sister And she's getting crosser and crosser and crosser. Here's
me labouring away and my sister is just there sitting there doing
nothing and she's getting flustered and cross. And in the end it
bursts out and she speaks to the Lord Jesus Christ about the
behaviour of her sister. And she says to Jesus, don't
you care? And we know that there is no
more compassionate person than the
Lord Jesus Christ. And I thought that there are
only two, I think, two occasions when Jesus is accused of not
caring. In Mark chapter four, when his
apostles are on the boat, in verse 38, he was in the hinder part of
the ship asleep on a pillow and they awake him and say unto him
master carest thou not that we perish? Martha says do you not care? the apostle to say, do you not
care? Do you not care that we are going
to die? Martha says, do you not care?
I'm laboring here all by myself and my sister is here doing nothing,
just sitting at your feet listening to your words and she's riled
up, she's angry and she accuses Jesus of not caring. Christ always cares for his sheep. There is no time when he loses
sight of their needs, there is no time when he stops caring
for them and therefore to accuse him of not caring is completely
wrong. Sometimes we do get angry up
to the situations that we are placed into. Sometimes we do
look at other people and think that we're doing everything and
they're doing nothing and we get riled up and we get cross
about the situation that we're in and we look to God and we
say, well, why is it like this? Why are these things happening
like they are? But Jesus tells her, Martha,
Martha, You are careful and troubled about many things but there is
only one thing that is needful. He tenderly rebukes her. There's the hymn, the children's
hymn, Jesus, tender shepherd, hear me bless a little lamb tonight. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
the tender shepherd of his people. And he turns to her when he could
have rebuked her harshly and told her not to be so rude. How
dare you speak to me in such a manner? But he speaks to her,
Martha, Martha, my dear Martha. You think of the Apostle Peter. in Luke 22. And the Lord said
to him, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has desired to have you
that he may sieve you of wheat. But I have prayed for thee that
thy faith fail not. And when thou art converted,
strengthen the brethren. the tenderness of the Lord Jesus
Christ in the rebuke and the encouragement of his people is
evident in the way that he speaks to them. Sometimes when we get
cross we say things that we don't mean, we lose control of any
restraint that we might have. we get angry like Martha and
she probably said what she said and then regretted it profusely
afterwards but Jesus rebukes her with a tender word, Martha,
Martha. We know that the scripture tells
us that Jesus knows the names of his sheep. that he is acquainted
intimately with them. He knows their names and he remembers
that they are dust. And then he exposes her error,
her sin. He warns Simon, Simon, Satan
has desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat. He
warns Simon Peter. but he gently rebukes Martha. You are careful and troubled
about many things. Martha was cumbered about much
serving. She was distracted. The word
means distracted or over occupied or just we would say you are
too busy. She was too busy with serving. she was careful or overloaded
and troubled about many things. And those many things kept her
from the one thing. It seems to my mind to be laid
out like that. You are careful and troubled
about many things but one thing is needful. Those other things
have their place and they are right but there is only one thing
that is needful and Jesus is that one thing needful. Her, you can say, misjudgment
of the situation and her words to the Lord Jesus Christ were
wrong. You see some things are wrong
because of the context that they are in and her behavior outside
of this context would have been right. She was serving. She was being a hostess. She
was doing what the Bible tells her to do. She was looking after
the Lord Jesus Christ. She was looking after people
and providing the needs and being a good example of Christ in the
home. But the context was wrong. The Lord Jesus Christ was there
in the home. and she should have been sitting
at his feet feeding her off his word like her sister. And Jesus says, Mary has chosen
that good part. One thing is needful and Mary
has chosen that good part. I know we don't like the word
chosen This is not speaking about that she has chosen salvation. Mary was already a believer in
the Lord Jesus. She was already a disciple of
the Lord Jesus Christ and so it's not speaking about that
she had chosen salvation It tells us in verse 38, and it came to
pass as they went and they entered into a certain village and a
certain woman named Martha received him into her home, her house. And she had a sister called Mary,
which also sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word. We know that
a disciple sits at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. A disciple
is one who listens to the teaching, the one who wants to become like
the one that they are sitting under the authority of. And so Mary was already a disciple
of the Lord Jesus. She was already a follower of
the Lord Jesus Christ and so it's not speaking about her salvation. We know that salvation of itself
is not a choice that we make but it's the product of the work
of God's Spirit in us. As I was thinking about this,
to those people who are outside, non-believers or just fellow
friends, They might see it as a choice. They might see that
you have changed and they might believe that you have chosen
to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. My grandfather used to tell me
a story of him when he was at work. He was a wild boy, he said. And the stories of him would
testify of that. But God changed him and he was
born again and the effect of that change was seen in the workplace. He was asked to steal some screws
and he told the man, I won't even take one. And the man said
to him, you need to get that girl, which was my grandma, and
push her into the canal. They thought that the change
that had taken place in his life was due to him going out with
my grandma and they put it two and two together and they got
it completely wrong that she was the cause of his change and
sometimes the world may say that we have chosen to follow the
Lord Jesus Christ but we know that the choice to follow Christ
comes from a desire within that causes us to choose the Lord
Jesus. And so Martha and Mary or Mary
chose to sit at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ and if you
think of a seed as it is planted into the ground the roots go
downwards and then the shoot comes upwards. And so sometimes
there is that or there is that underground work that takes place
and then it is then that the shoot is seen. And so the underground
work is the work of the Holy Spirit which affects the will
and the will is then enabled to choose the Lord Jesus Christ
and that is the shoot that comes forth. That is what is seen by
those people around about us. The root there, the work of the
Spirit and the shoot is the evidence of that work in our lives. It's the hymn that on the outset
or the front of it would not seem right. The hymn that says,
I have decided to follow Jesus. The world behind me, the cross
before me. That hymn if you know it. As
you read that hymn you may think, well, there's no depth to this. No one chooses to follow the
Lord Jesus Christ. But if you understand the reason
why that hymn was wrote, you will see that the person that
wrote it was someone who was truly worked
on by the Spirit of God. He was a man who was about to
be executed and they killed his family and as he was before the the
chief of the village. This is when he wrote the song
like a poem. They killed his son, they killed
his wife and then they killed him and he said I've decided
to follow Jesus. Now if that was just a decision
of the mind he would have run away, he would have left Christ
but because it was the true work of God in the heart, true faith
He was able to pass through much trouble and to pay the ultimate
sacrifice, his martyrdom and the martyrdom of his wife and
his child. And so people may come to us
and they may say, I've decided to follow Jesus. The theology
behind the choice is that God gives someone the ability to
choose. And when God gives someone the
ability to choose Christ and to turn from sin, that is a lasting
choice. It can never be turned back.
And so Mary chose to sit at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. She was a believer already. Now
in the life of a believer, there are choices that we make. We
don't just float along on our way to heaven carried along as
it were without blind and just going without guidance. There
are choices that we make in life. Martha chose to busy herself
with serving. Mary chose to sit at the feet
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The choices that we make can
either stunt our spiritual growth or they can encourage our spiritual
growth. Martha's choice stunted her spiritual
growth because it stopped her from sitting at the feet of the
Lord Jesus Christ Martha, Martha thou art careful about and troubled
about many things but Jesus says there's only one thing that is
needful and in our lives we can make choices that affect our
spiritual growth right down to where we go who we see, what
we say, what we listen to, what we watch, the people we interact
with, the time we spend in the word of God. And these things can stunt our
spiritual growth as the roots go downwards and that little
shoot comes upward. The way that the choices that
we make can stunt that growth or it can edify and encourage
that growth. Jesus says in Matthew 11 and
verse 29, it says, Come unto me all ye that labour and are
heavy laden, I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and
learn of me. For I am meek and lowly in heart
and you shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and
my burden is light. He says learn of me. Learn about
me. And if we are going to grow in
spiritual things it would be not worth our while busying ourselves
with physical things that can have no benefit to our never
dying souls but to set ourselves at the feet of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Learn of me. We are told, aren't we? we are saved
by the grace of God we become servants of the Lord Jesus Christ
and so Martha as I've said she was right in a sense to serve
but she got the context wrong she got her order her life in
the wrong order she put service above her spiritual need Today we live in a world, don't
we, that is constantly pushing us with physical things. And
as we have said before, that the church is dwindling and then
they reduce the amount of services that they have and they neglect
the spiritual things of life. about much serving, too much
of the life and not enough of the spiritual food, not enough
of the sitting at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ and learning
of him. We are saved to serve him but you must be fed yourself in order
to feed others. A starving man cannot offer food
to starving people he must first have enough for himself before
he can provide for the needs of other people and so we ourselves
if we are going to have any good in this world we cannot be starved
spiritually We must be full and learned of Christ sitting at
the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ to enable us to feed others also. Jesus was in their house. Martha was busy. Mary was sitting
at his feet learning of him. Now Jesus might be in your house. And you might be content that
he's just in your house. Jesus might be in your life.
And you might be content that he's just in your life. You might
be happy that you're just a Christian. you're not willing to learn,
you're not willing to know more about him, you're not willing
to grow in the things of God, you're just happy staying as
a babe in the Lord Jesus, having the milk and not the full meat
of the word. Martha wanted to serve but Mary wanted
to feed from the Lord Jesus Christ and this is the blessed place,
the most blessed place to be. To be fed by the Word of God
then to enable us to feed others also. It's no good just having
Christ in your life if you're not going to sit at his feet
and learn of him, to be taught by him. sitting at the feet was
that a submission to his word and not a rejection but a submission
of his word under his word. Mary has chosen that good part
in Psalms it says the Lord is my portion Mary chose to sit
at the feet of Christ and she is declaring that Christ is her
portion and she fed from his word, his eternal word that could
not be taken away from her. Jesus said to his disciples,
I have food to eat that you don't know of. Mary was concerned about
the physical needs of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus was concerned
about the spiritual needs of his people. And so it is a great
blessing to be gently rebuked by the Lord Jesus. Martha, Martha. you are careful and you are taken
up with so many things those things they are troubling you
and they're distracting you from the spiritual things that are
most important those things the scripture says can take care
of themselves the worries of tomorrow can take care of themselves
but the spiritual things they need to be dealt with today because
Christ says there is only one thing that is truly needful and
that is to be found sitting at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ
learning of him. And so may the Lord then grant
us that great wisdom in making the right choices. Those who
are outside of Christ I'm not going to tell you that you should
choose Christ today but I am. you can't of your own power but
may the spirit of God work in you that you might choose Christ
and sit at his feet and not be so distracted by the things of
the world may you set things in the right order and us as
believers may we be granted that right ability to make the right
choices in our life not to be obsessed with busyness and serving
but first to have our own soul satisfied and fed and then we
can go on to serve and deal with the needs of others. So may the
Lord grant us that great wisdom to be able to do such a thing
and to find the one thing that is needful that cannot be taken
away from us. May the Lord add his blessing.
Amen. Our final hymn this morning is
from Gadsby's, hymn number 723. Seven, two, three. Come, ye sinners,
poor and wretched, weak and wounded, sick and sore. Jesus, ready,
stands to save you, full of pity, joined with power. He is able,
he is willing, doubt no more. Hymn 723, tune 691. Come ye sickness, poor and wretched,
weak and wounded, sick and sore. Jesus readily stands to save
you, full of pity, joined with power. He is able, he is able,
he is well-endowed above. Let the conscience make you linger,
know of fitness, only dream. Oh, the faithfulness he requireth
is to fill your need of things. This he gives you, this he gives
you, tis the Spirit's rising rain. A knee-weary, heavy laden, Lost
and ruined by the fall. If you tarry till you're better,
You will never come at all. Not the righteous, not the righteous,
sinners Jesus came to condemn. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank
Thee again for Thy Word that Thou hast given to us and we
thank Thee for that Gospel invitation to come, ye sinners poor and
wretched. And we pray, Lord, that faith
may be granted to lay hold of the Lord Jesus Christ, that they
may look and live, help us to order our lives in accordance
with thy holy word, help us to set things in order, enable us
to make the right choices in life and to be fed spiritually
at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ and to be willing to learn
from him and to order our lives according to his will and do
bless each and every one we pray. We ask that we may be dismissed
with thy blessing and we pray brought back here this evening
to worship thee once again. Now may the grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father with the fellowship
and the communion of the Holy Spirit to be with us each now
and forevermore. Amen.