Brethren, let's open to Luke
chapter 10. Luke chapter 10. Seventy-one years ago, God sent
His preacher. to a preacher. God sent His called representative,
His ambassador, one He ordained to speak to a person whose occupation
wasn't their calling. The Lord didn't put them there.
Their occupation, their job, happened to be a preacher. And
the Holy Spirit revealed Christ in that man. He made him a fisher
of men. What some job he had to preach,
He made him a fisher of men. But he didn't save that whole
church. So this preacher went to tell them what the Lord had
done for them. Tell them the truth about the
God of the Bible. And they didn't want nothing
to do with it. It wasn't the election that bothered them.
It's that the Lordship of Christ bothered them. It wasn't that
a sovereign God bothered them. Providence bothered them. It
was the Lord Jesus Christ. His Lordship that bothered them. And so one Sunday morning, they
were having a men's meeting. And this preacher that the Lord
did a work in, he got up in that men's meeting and he read Romans
chapter 9 without comment. And somebody said, knock it off.
And he kept reading. And they said, why are you reading
that? We're tired of the selection stuff. And he said, I'm not commenting.
I'm just reading the scriptures. And that settled the matter for
them. There was no fight that needed to take place. There were
no arguments to be had. The Lord settled it through the
reading of His Word. Because they heard. He spoke
to them. Saver of death unto death for
most of those folks, but they heard. He spoke to them through
His Word. If you've got something in your mind this morning, put
it away. Hear the Word of God. Let's hear
what He has to say. If you're worried about what
needs to happen, we've got a lot of stuff going on today. I've
got a lot of stuff going on this week, this month. It's got a long checklist. Put
it away. Put it out of your mind and hear the Word of God. Hear
what He has to say. Luke 10, verse 38. Now it came to pass as they went,
Jesus Christ and His disciples, that He entered into a certain
village and a certain woman named Martha received Him into her
house. And she had a sister called Mary. which also sat at Jesus' feet,
and heard His word. But Martha was cumbered about
much serving, and came to Him, and said, Lord, dost Thou not
care, dost Thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve
alone? Bid her therefore that she helps
me. I'm working my fingers to the bone. Don't you care? Don't
you know any better? Don't you care? Make this my
sister. Make my sister help me." And
Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, there are
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. The Lord's taught
me something in this passage. I was working hard. I was laboring.
I've been getting distracted. He said, we've got a lot going
on this month. Our calendar's pretty full and
I'm thankful. We're going to receive some people into our
home this month. I was taken away from my work,
worried about those things, and I wasn't happy about it. And
I took my complaint to the Lord. I complained to the Lord about
it. I wanted some help. I wanted to handle these issues. I wanted to get a game plan.
I wanted to get my checklist down. And I wanted to get back
at it. I wanted to get back to what was put in my hand. And
my God addressed it. He addressed it. He gave me instruction. I wouldn't call it a rebuke.
It felt like a rebuke. But He gave me some instruction.
And my mind and my heart were turned to the one thing needful. Well, if he'd do it for me this
morning. If I could turn to that one thing,
I pray I can tell you about it. What he's showing me. And I pray
that you'll hear it. I pray each one of us will hear
it. Martha and Mary, they both get
a bad rap, don't they? Martha, oh, she works too hard. She's got a lot of stuff going
on. She don't set it to the feet
of Christ. She's cumbered about, out working her Fingers to the
bone. And some people wrongly say that
Martha wasn't saved. We'll get to that in a little
bit. Mary got a bad rap too, didn't she? She was lazy. Christ
came to her whenever Lazarus died. Martha heard He was coming
and she ran to Christ. Mary stayed in the house. And
then Martha had to go tell her secretly, Christ is here and
He's asking for you." And then she went to Him. She'd be reminded
again. She heard the same thing Martha
heard. In fact, she's lazy. Oh, she does lay around people's
feet all day, don't she? We'll see that ain't the case too.
Both these sisters are very special people. They're very special. Look here in verse 38. Now it
came to pass as they went that they entered into a certain village
And a certain woman named Martha received Him into her house. This is in the town of Bethany.
Our Lord visited here several times. He stayed with them several
times. He knew them well, didn't He?
Lazarus, Martha, and Mary stayed in their home. He was loved there. He was known there in the people
of this home. And there was a certain woman
in this village, in this home, named Martha. It wasn't just
any old person. Martha was a common name in the
Jewish nation at that time. This wasn't just any old Martha.
This was a certain Martha, a certain woman. What made her so different
than any other Martha? Who made her different than any
other Martha? Who maketh thee to differ? Who
makes you certain? a certain person. She received
these brethren into her home, didn't she? She received the
Lord Jesus Christ. That just hurts my heart. People
should worry about the Pope coming over for dinner. God Almighty
came into her house. She got cooking dinner. We're told that we may entertain
angels unaware. That happens. Sometimes we're
responsible for caring for or serving one of the Lord's people,
and we don't know who they are. We don't know it's the Lord's
people. She was aware. That whole household was aware
who was sitting there, who came into their home. Now, He loves
her. He loved Martha, and He entered
her home. He came to her, and He went into
her home, and she loved Him. Because He loved her, she loved
Him and she invited Him into her home. She received Him. Willingly,
gladly, took Him in. What a picture of limited atonement
and irresistible grace. That's eating a chicken and an
egg. Something comes first. God loved her first. He put her
in Christ first. And when the Holy Spirit did
a work in her heart, she loved Him. And she loved those disciples
that were tagged along with Him. She took them into her home.
She received them. And you know, just as a side
note, it's such a blessing to have brethren into your home.
You all have had a lot of experience with this. Over the years, you've
had a lot of folks come and go and you do a good job of it.
That's a blessing, isn't it? Have you ever had one of your
brothers or sisters come stay with you and not be blessed by
it? There not be a word said that
warms your heart. There not be a story told that
makes you smile, that stays with you. It's a blessing to have
those people come to us. It's a blessing. But this here,
this was a loved family. This was a house of faith. A
house of faith. And I'm going to tell you as
plainly as I can tell you, this is rare. Lazarus, Martha, and
Mary. Three siblings. Same family. And all of them were believers.
All of them loved the Lord Jesus Christ. That's a rare thing. This is special. This is rare. It's not a common family, it's
a certain family. How can I say that with confidence?
How can I tell you that with confidence? That Martha was a
member of the Church of God. She wasn't just a scaffolding
that was used to build His church. She was His. She was a member
of that body. She's a member of your body.
How do I know that? Turn over to John chapter 11. John 11, verse 1. Now a certain man was sick, named
Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. It was that Mary which anointed
the Lord with ointment and wiped His feet with her hair. whose
brother Lazarus was sick. This is the same folks, these
people we're talking about. Therefore his sisters sent unto
him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. Did the Lord love Lazarus? He
said he did. It's written down, isn't it?
That's plain. We know that Christ loved Lazarus.
When Jesus had heard that, He said, This sickness is not unto
death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be
glorified thereby. He was sick. We all know this
story, don't we? Lazarus got sick. They sent word.
Lazarus died. This flesh that he was in was
no more. They buried him and he stunk.
Christ waited. He waited because it was right.
It was good. He's going to show us something.
What's He doing? I don't have to know. He's going
to teach us something. Why is He doing it? For His glory. For the glory of the Lord, isn't
He? And He did. Now next here is a verse by itself. This is
written in a book. Catch this. Verse 5. Now Jesus loved Martha and her
sister and Lazarus. You think Martha was a child
of God? The Lord Jesus Christ loved her.
And he loved Mary. The one that did a lot of sitting
on his feet. And he loved Lazarus. The man that was dead. What a
good picture of us. All believers are different.
Ain't no one of us the same. We got different backgrounds.
We got different ideas about how to do stuff. Whole lot of
differences, ain't there? We have one thing in common.
The only thing needful, we have that in common. About anything
else could be a source of division, could be something to divide
over. We're all different. But the love of God is what makes
us together. That's what binds us together in one body. But
for these certain women, these certain sisters, and this certain
man, Lazarus, their brother, that Christ loves, their name
is written in this book. It's written in the Holy Scriptures,
isn't it? The proof of His love towards them is written in this
book. The reason they called on Him is because He loved them
and their names were written in the Lamb's Book of Life. You
who believe on Christ, you who know Him, you who have received
Him and love Him because He first loved you, your name is written
in the Lamb's Book of Life. Do you know what says that? Jesus loved Mike Smith. The Lord
God Almighty loved Matt. There's a comma. There's a whole
lot of commas in that sentence, isn't there? The whole book's
worth. Certain women, certain men are loved of God, loved by
Him, and they call on Him. They call to Him. Now back in
our text. Verse 39. Luke 10, 39. And she had a sister
called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His Word. Does that say also? Does the
Jewish Bible say also? She also sat at Jesus' feet. Martha had sat at Christ's feet
also, hadn't she? When He had visited in the past,
she had sat at His feet. She had heard Him also, hadn't
she? If she wasn't then, what's that speaking about? A true child
of God. That born-again nature in her.
That new creation in her. That incorruptible seed. It sits
at the feet of the Lord. Always. That new man in me doesn't
fail because it's of Him. It's always at His feet. That's
why He said, I'm with you always. He's always with me. Lord's with
us. Where are we at when He's with
us? We're at His feet. Our right man is, our true nature is, one
given of Him. And they heard His word. This
wasn't just listening to the sound of His words. My dad used
to ask me that. He'd kind of switch it up. He'd
say, I know you heard me, but did you listen to me? And then
the next time he'd say, I know you listened to me, but did you
hear me? I'm still kind of confused on that. But they heard His Word. They didn't just listen. It wasn't
just noise coming in one ear and out the other and then they
can kind of write some stuff down and tell you the gist of
what He said after. They heard Him. They didn't hear
a doctrine. They heard a man. They didn't
hear a theology, some system of something to do or what we
ought to be doing. They heard a man. Christ Jesus
the Lord spoke to them. They sat at His feet and they
heard Him. You know, my instinct is, well,
if that happened to me, I'd never do nothing wrong. I'd be sitting
where I'm supposed to sit. I'd be working where I'm supposed
to work. No, I wouldn't. No, I wouldn't. I know better, don't
I? You know better, too. Now, here in verse 40, Martha's
service, her ministry, is what was given in her hand to do.
It goes from something that I get to do I'm allowed to do this. Would
you want to go make a ham sandwich for the Lord? Would you want
to put a pot of beans together for His disciples? You get to
do that. Just dwell on that for a week.
Oh, that'd be something, wouldn't it? I sure went from something
she gets to do to something I've got to do. I've got to wash these
dishes. Them dishes need washed. They
do need washed, don't they? Does it need to happen right
now? Not to burden it. To burden caused strife. It went
from a blessing to serve the Lord and His people, a privilege,
a blessing, to a burden. Look here, verse 40. But Martha
was cumbered about much serving. She came to Him and said, Lord,
dost Thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone?
Did her, therefore, She helped me. She was cumbered about much
serving. This wasn't one or two little
things she had to do. That's a job, isn't it? Think of that
setting. Here's all the Lord's disciples
with Him. And the Lord's, they're with Him. In your home. And your
family. Lazarus was there. Mary's got
to eat, don't she? Start racking up some numbers.
Little tiny house. That's a whole lot of biscuits
to be made. There's a lot to do. And there's
going to be a lot of dishes when they get done. A lot of sweeping
up the crumbs, ain't there? A lot of bread to bake, a lot
of water to draw, for everybody to have something to drink. And
Martha was a servant. She had much serving to do. What
a blessing. What a blessing it is to be a
servant. If the Lord gives us something in our hand to do,
it's a gift. A gift to serve His people, to
the furtherance of this gospel and to serve our Lord. It's a
blessing. But many times we look to the
work put in our hands more than we look to the one that put it
in our hands. That starts becoming the main goal. That's the objective.
We're not looking at the one that we're serving, we're looking
at our service. And you know what happens when
we do that? We get selfish and we start looking at others. Mary
ought to be helping me. I'm doing this all by myself.
That's what Jonah did. I wrote an article in a bulletin
today. I encourage you to read it. Jonah went and got to the
east side of Nineveh, and he sat and he looked into the city,
watching his brethren. I'm going to see what's going
to happen. He should have been facing the other way. There's a whole city full
of sinners. What do you think they're going
to do? They're worshipping the cross that saves sinners. He
should have been guarding them. He should have been a watchman,
watching out for the wolf to come and let them celebrate,
let them rejoice in the Lord. Let me take this from you. No,
he's sitting there critiquing them, wasn't he? Look at what
they ought to be doing. I did this. I had personal experience
with this. The Lord let me cut his grass for two years. I had to ride in a lawnmower.
I went and got me a real nice weed eater. I bought a trailer
to haul this stuff over there to cut grass. And I did a good
job. He put it in my hand to do it. I was going to do it.
And I enjoyed it. I liked it. I threw my headphones
in, listened to a message, cut grass. Lord, let me cut his grass. And you know, that wasn't for
me to do anymore. I was holding tight to that.
It wasn't for me to do anymore. There's lists come out. Who's
going to cut grass? Well, what if I can't cut it
this week? I got something going on. Well, I don't need trouble
whoever made the list. I'll just call us who's next. Hey, you
want to switch? Now you start saying, oh, I can't make it that
week. Well, what's going on? Oh, my dad's sick. Then he gets
talking. Start sharing stuff, don't you?
I didn't see that. I hadn't experienced it. I hadn't
lived it. And I got mad. That hurt my feelings. And I thought, well, this is
mine to do. I'm going to clean a little tighter. That was painful. Lord prided my fingers off that.
That's silly, isn't it? That's silly. That's what Martha's
doing. What a privilege she has here. Martha, a certain woman, she
started off on the right foot here. She had a good plan, but
poor execution, as we used to say. She didn't say, Mary, get
in here. That would have been easy, wouldn't
it? That was probably our older sister.
She could have ran out the corner and said, hey, come help me.
She took her concern to the Lord. He will handle it. If you take
your concern to the Lord, take your complaint, complain to the
Lord, He's going to handle it. Now, He may handle it in a way
we think is good. He may handle it in a way we
think is rebuking and hurtful and harmful. But He's going to
handle it right. In love, He's going to teach
His children. Take your burdens to the Lord. Just the good burdens? There ain't many good burdens,
are there? Just the bad ones? Oh, there's some good burdens.
There ain't many. Take them to the Lord and leave them there.
Leave them. He went. She took her concern
to the Lord. And you know, we should thank
the Lord for Martha's. We need Martha's. We need them. We have responsibilities in this
world. There's parents, we have spouses, we have children. We're
members of this society. We have jobs in this society.
And things must get done. If you're a child of God, if
you've got any bills, pay your bills. If you're a child of God,
pay your bills. If you're His and you have children,
look after your children. Train them up in the ways they
should go. Look after them. Raise them. Protect them. If
you're a child of God and you have a spouse, love your spouse
as Christ loved the church. Be kind to them. Love them. If
you've got a business, run your business. If you're a child of God, support
the gospel of Christ by whatever means you are given to do it.
But there's one thing important to you. One thing needful. All these other things, it's
given to us. It's in our hand. The very thing that's given to
us for us to serve and care for our brethren and serve our Lord,
that's the most dangerous thing in the earth for your soul. Did you know that? and four children right there.
The Lord put them in my hand to take care of them, raise them,
look after them, protect them. That's the first thing that will
come between me and the Lord. We don't look at those things,
do we? Dangerous. Dangerous. A man who doesn't forsake mother,
father, sister, and follow me, he's none of mine. But we're to honor our mother
and father, aren't we? Honor our sister. and take your eyes
from the feet of Christ and turn them to yourselves." I turned
to my hands instead of looking at him, the one that gave me
my hands. But she asked in a very telling way. She said, Lord,
dost thou not care? I think that's her new nature or
her old nature speaking, assuming that the Lord didn't care for
one that he spilled his blood for, one he came to this earth
and died for. Do you ever say something, and
as it comes out of your mouth, you go, oh. You ask a question,
and you go, never mind. I know the answer. How many times
have I said, Lord, don't you care? Storm's coming. Bills are due. Children's sick.
Cotton's down a quarter pound, whatever it is. What are we going
to do, Lord, don't you care? He does. Instead of finding great
joy in the ability to serve, it was a burden. And sometimes
we can cling to what we're given to do and it becomes so important
to us, we cling too tight. So it says there in verse 40,
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. Any of those things
that cumber me about, that cumber you about, if they restrain us
from sitting at Christ's feet, there's a problem. There's a
problem. But if you are a certain woman
or you're a certain man, listen to me, Christ will deal with
it. Did Mary butt in? Mary didn't
say a word, did she? Was that just the three people
in that house? No, all them disciples were in there. That's a man that's
got some knowledge too, doesn't he? They got some weight. I'd
listen to them if they talked to me. Didn't say a word. Mary
didn't say nothing, the disciples didn't say nothing. Christ will
correct His child by speaking the needed word, what they need
to their heart. If we're at Christ's feet, we'll
pay our bills, we'll look after our families, our businesses,
our work, and we'll support the gospel. It will happen. We will
do those things, but he'll speak the needed word to our heart
to bring us to his feet. We also think everybody will
be doing what we do, huh? Does that happen to you? Every
time I'm working at the house, I think everybody in that house
ought to be out there working. And in the evenings, wrongfully,
I sit down to rest. And I think, Kimberly, I'll be
sitting next to me. I'm resting. You ought to be resting, too.
She had things to do, don't she? I'd starve to death. Our Lord didn't validate Martha's
complaint. She said, Lord, don't you care?
Don't you care? Mary ought to be helping me.
Now, if he said, Mary, get up and go help her, what'd he just
do? He validated her complaint. Should Mary have been up helping
her? Probably. They'd knock that work out faster if both of them
sat down, couldn't they? He didn't validate that complaint.
He didn't give credence to her. He didn't bow to her, did he?
He did care. That wouldn't be caring. He did
care. It says in verse 41, And Jesus answered and said unto
her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many
things. Can you imagine the Lord calling
your name twice? Kevin, Kevin. That's tender. Boy, that's firm.
He didn't say our name once, he said it twice. Martha, Martha.
Thou art careful and troubled about many things, but one thing
is needful. Those things are going to get
done. There's responsibilities, but one thing's needful. We don't
know the difference between wanting and needing. One thing's needful,
and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken
from her." He's saying you can serve at any time. You can eat
at any time. You'll make it 24 hours. You'll
be alright. You can wash the dishes any time, but you can't
always sit at the feet of the Lord. Do we know that? Is His feet important to you?
Is His feet precious to you? Our minds, they just bounce all
over. They go from one thought to another so fast. But one thing,
one thing's needful. That's simple, isn't it? That's
the simplicity of the gospel. What's needful? What do I have
to know? Christ. The one thing needful. If it
was two or three things, could you imagine? I can't keep my
mind on one thing. How am I going to keep it on
two or three? But it's simple, one thing, the simplicity of
Christ. One thing here in our text, I looked this up and I
just thought it was precious. The Greek word is heis, H-E-I-S,
which I didn't have my glasses on and it looked like he is.
It's the first thing I thought of,
but the Greek definition of heis, one thing, is one abundant man. That's not a thing, that's a
man. One abundant man is needful. I hope we can see that. Turn over to James chapter 1. James chapter 1 verse 19. Wherefore, my beloved brethren,
let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath,
for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
Wherefore, lay apart all filthiness and superfluidity of naughtiness."
That's the abundance of naughtiness, the abundance of talking. wrath,
anger, and receive with meekness the engrafted word which is able
to save your souls. What's the engrafted word that
can save our souls? Receive that one abundant man,
that one needful man. Put everything else away. Don't
worry about it. Put to Him. But be ye doers of
the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. We
don't just hear of Him. There will be a reaction to His
action. We have a responsibility in light
of His ability. The Lord will do that. We'll
be doers of His Word. Mary, she was a hearer, weren't
she? That's what would pick on her
so bad. She didn't do nothing. All she did was sit there and
listen to the Lord. It's a good place to be. We will be doers. I can't drive that point home
enough. If you're the Lord, you'll serve Him. He said, you will
follow Me, and I believe that means we're going to follow Him.
We ain't going to sit on the couch like Mary did. She went
out and ran to Him, didn't she? Turn to Matthew 26 and we'll
see it. We'll see how Mary was a doer. She heard this word of
correction of this teaching too. She didn't say anything, but
she was in the presence of the Lord when He spoke to Martha. Matthew 26. Verse 6, Now when Jesus was in
Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, there came unto him
a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and
poured it on his head as he sat at meat. That's Mary. That's when she anointed the
Lord before His burial. The same one that cleansed His
feet with her hair. But when His disciples saw it,
They had indignation, saying, what purpose is this waste? For
this ointment might have been sold for much and given to the
poor. This service that he put in her
hand, we could have done a whole lot better. We'd have done a
lot more good with this, wouldn't we? When Jesus understood, he
said unto them, why trouble ye the woman? For she hath wrought
a good work upon me. For ye have the poor always with
you. But me, ye have not always."
We always have the poor with us. There are sinners all around
us that we could serve, isn't there? You've got Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday morning. What do we have Wednesday evening?
We might have the feet of Christ here to speak to us, to give
us a word. And you've got Thursday, Friday,
Saturday. You've got poor all around you.
Look out the window. Drive down the street. Go wherever
you normally go. Pourers all around you. You got them to take
care of. Tell them the truth about Christ too. What happened
Sunday morning? We just might have the feet of
Christ with us. We just might get a word from Him. That's when
we can be selfish. Look to Him. I need that. I need
to look to Him. Verse 12, For in that she had
poured this ointment on my body, she did do it for my burial.
She knew him. She knew what he had to suffer.
Verily I say unto you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached
in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath
done, be told for a memorial of her. Does that mean we're
supposed to praise Mary and pray to Mary? No, it doesn't mean
that. What's this story of Mary? She was given something to do.
She served the Lord with everything in her. She'd come to Him. She'd come to His feet. She'd
come to the one abundant man that was needful. And she worshipped
Him with everything that was in her ability. She's sitting
there getting picked on by the disciples. Judas is the one that
spoke up first, and then the rest of them fell in. She kissed
His feet. Well, so many people give lip
service to the Lord, don't they? Where'd Judas kiss Him? He kissed
Him. He made Him eye to eye, didn't
he? Here's a story that needs to be told. We don't need to
meet him eye to eye. We need to be humble. We need to be brought
to his feet. Look to him alone. Martha was rebuked by the Lord
and turn over John 12. We'll close. Mary heard this. The Lord taught
her. Martha was taught too. Let's see if I was in John. Hold
on. John 12. There in verse 1. Then Jesus, six days before the
Passover, came to Bethany where Lazarus was, which he had been
dead, whom he raised from the dead. Same place, same family.
Certain family. Verse 2. There they made him
a supper, and Martha served. But Lazarus
was one of them that sat at the table with Him. And Mary, she
sat there too with her woman, didn't she? What happened? Didn't the Lord already address
this? Ain't this asked and answered? Didn't He fix it? The spirit
changed. Her attitude changed. Now Mary
and Lazarus, those disciples of Christ, are still sitting
at that table. She's still serving them, but she did it happily.
She happily served them. What a privilege it was. It was
a burden. Now it's a blessing again. I pray we can happily
serve the poor. Serve those that are needy sinners. Need to have the gospel preached
to them. Those that Christ has saved, that He'll call out through
the preaching of His gospel. I hope we can serve them. But
when He's near, when He's near to us, that we can come to His
feet. and put away all carnal things."
You know, carnal is not necessarily an evil term. It doesn't always
have bad connotations to it in the Scripture. It just means
worldly. The plowing of the evil is wicked. Well, the righteous
have to plow too, don't they? We've still got to eat. We're
still physically in this earth. If we could put those things
away, whatever it is, even good things to bad, and look to Him,
come to His feet and hear a word from Him also, He told Mary,
or Martha, he said, Mary hath chosen that good part this morning,
which shall not be taken away from her. Come to Him. If He draws you to Him, He will
not be taken away from you. I'm sure He is. You'll be happy.
You'll be satisfied. You won't be ashamed. Amen. Let's
pray together.