Turn with me, if you would, to
John chapter 12. John chapter 12. Let's read the
first three verses. Then Jesus, six days before the
Passover, came to Bethany where Lazarus was, which had been dead,
whom he raised from the dead. There they made him a supper,
and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the
table with him. Then took Mary a pound of ointment
of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus and
wiped his feet with her hair, and the house was filled with
the odor of the ointment." Three things stood out to me
about that whole scene. That's a beautiful scene, isn't
it? Our Lord comes into a house, and it just told us who the family
members are of this house, and it told us what each one of them
did. And three things stood out to
me about this scene. Number one, the grace that was
there. The grace that was there. Oh,
there's so much grace there. Turn with me over to Luke chapter
10. Luke 10, look at 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. 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,
does 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 hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away
from her." The Lord, in grace, taught Martha that. One thing. One thing. He, in grace and in
mercy, taught Martha that. Now, she's still a busybody. She's still a busybody. She is
still a very hard worker. She is actively serving just
like we all should be. Every one of us. Our Lord said,
a man who is called into the ministry, and that's every single
one of us. This is not my ministry. It's not your ministry or your
ministry. This is our ministry. He's called
every one of us into His ministry, and our Lord said that whoever
He calls into His ministry must be given to hospitality. Absolutely
given to hospitality. And back in our text in John
12 verse 2 says, There they made Him a supper, and Martha served. But Lazarus was one of them that
sat at the table with him. Lazarus is sitting at the table
with our Lord. Martha is running around serving,
and Lazarus is just sitting right there at the table with him.
Lazarus was not crippled. He wasn't crippled. When our
Lord said, Lazarus, come forth, Lazarus came forth. And our Lord
said, you lose him and let him go. He wasn't crippled. But the end of verse 2 says,
Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. And
verse 3 says, Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard,
very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his
feet with her hair, and the house was filled with the odor of the
ointment. Mary was once again right at
His precious feet, sitting right there. Martha's running around,
getting dinner ready. And Mary is once more sitting
at His precious feet, and Martha doesn't seem to mind one bit.
She doesn't seem to mind one bit. She wouldn't take Lazarus away
from that table for anything. She wouldn't take Mary away from
His feet for anything. She's happy. She's content doing
what God has given her the ability to do. Serve others. Alright, then there's Mary. She has taken probably the most
expensive thing in that house. She went to the back, the place
where they were kind of hiding it. keeping it for safekeeping,
probably the thing that they had all of their money tied up
in. And she has taken it and poured
it all over the Lord Jesus Christ. And neither Martha nor Lazarus
said, what are you doing? You just poured it all. You mean you didn't save one
drop? You poured every drop? They didn't say that. They said, Amen. Amen. Great grace was in that house. That's the first thing we see
here. The second thing we see in this passage is the blessing
that was on that house. Grace was in it, and God's blessing
was on it. All three members of that house
loved the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, mind,
and spirit. The whole house. Isn't that a
blessing? Verse 2 says, there they made
him a supper. Think of the blessing. May the
Lord allow us to stop ourselves and our flesh and everything
in just for one moment in time. Think of the blessing of having
dinner with God. I say that with respect, with
fear, with reverence. You think of the blessing. You
think, that really happened. You think of the blessing of
sitting down and having dinner with God. We're going to get to do that. God was in that house. He was the most humble, the most
kind, the most gracious, the most thoughtful guest a sinner
could ever entertain. I know he was. I'm positive that
he complimented Martha on everything that she made and served. I'm
positive that in everything he gave thanks. I know he did. In
everything. Thank you so much, Martha. Thank
you. You're too kind. You're just
too kind. Thank you for everything you're
doing. The salad is delicious. It's delicious. I made a cake
for dessert too, Lord. Too much, Martha. It's just too
much. You're just too kind. You know how when you have people
over, dinner is great, but usually the conversation that takes place
after dinner, you know when the plates have been cleared and
maybe dessert is set out, everybody's having a little bit of coffee.
That sweet conversation, you think about believers you've
had over, think about the smiles. Think about all the laughing
that takes place. How blessed was the communion
and the fellowship of that house. How blessed. Turn with me to 1st Chronicles
13. 1st Chronicles 13. This is when David was bringing
the ark back to Israel. But they weren't bringing it
back with fear and reverence. And Uzzah, he didn't obey God,
he put his hand up on that ark to steady that ark, and God killed
him. Verse 12 says, And David was
afraid of God that day. saying, How shall I bring the
ark of God home to me? So David brought not the ark
home to himself to the city of David, but carried it aside into
the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. And the ark of God remained with
the family of Obed-Edom in his house three months, and the Lord
blessed the house." of Obed-Edom and all that he had. Isn't that
precious? The ark of God was brought into
that house and God blessed it. God blessed it. The ark is Christ. That ark is Christ. The ark of
God had come to Martha, Mary, and Lazarus' house, and oh, what
a blessed house it was. A blessed house. Did you know that can happen
to our house? It sure can. That can happen to our house.
Our Lord said, where two or three are gathered together in My name,
There am I in the midst of them. Let's bring the gospel into our
homes. Let's bring the gospel into our
homes. Let's bring believers into our
homes who want to sit around the table and talk about the
Lord Jesus Christ. I have such fond memories as
a child of listening to my parents talk with other precious believers
about Christ. Living room, table, wherever
it was. Let's give our children the blessing
of hearing adults talk about who Christ is, what He did, and
where He is now. Turn with me over to Exodus chapter
12. Exodus chapter 12 verse 21 says, Then Moses called for all the
elders of Israel and said unto them, Draw out and take you a
lamb according to your families and kill the Passover. And you
shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that
is in the basin. and strike the lintel and the
two-side post with the blood that is in the basin, and none
of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning."
What he's saying is you get in Christ and you stay there until
the morning comes. It's all nighttime right now.
Morning's coming. One of these days, the trumpet
shall resound and morning will be here. Get in Christ and don't
go out of that door until the morning comes. Verse 23 says,
ìFor the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians, and when
He seeth the blood upon the lentil, and on the two side post, the
Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer
to come in unto your houses to smite you. And you shall observe
this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons forever.
And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which
the Lord will give you, according as he hath promised, that you
shall keep this service. And it shall come to pass, when
your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? That you shall say, It is the
Lord's sacrifice. It is the sacrifice of the Lord's
Passover. who passed over the houses of
the children of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians and
delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head
and worshipped." When your children ask, why do you do this? We've
got to go to church again. Why? What are you all talking about? About a year ago, on a Sunday
night, I asked the question, Did Christ die for everybody? In the Sunday night message I
asked, did Christ die for everybody? And one of our little girls who
sits about right over there went. She's heard something. She knows something. She knows
more than the Pope knows. It may not have borne fruit yet,
and I don't know if the Lord will ever make it bear fruit,
but a seed has been planted. You know that? But our Lord said, when your
children ask, what are you talking about? What's all this about?
You tell them, because of our bondage to sin, death came through
the land. But Christ was made a substitute
for us. Christ died for our sins. He died instead of us. He was a sacrifice for us. That's
why we're always talking about Him. Always talking about Him. He died so we could go free. Oh, I hope God saves our children.
I have two. Kingsport Sovereign Grace has
about 10. There are children in this congregation. There are
children, children. We thank Him. We're thanking
Him. That's what we're doing here
this morning. Why are we here this morning? Thank you. Thank you. We worship Him. We give all the
glory and the honor to the Savior of sinners. Lord, bless our house. Bless our house. Turn with me
to Acts chapter 16. Acts chapter 16 verse 14 says, And a certain woman named Lydia,
a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped
God, heard us, whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended
unto the things which were spoken of Paul. And when she was baptized,
and her household, She besought us saying, if you have judged
me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide
there. And she constrained us. The Lord
used that woman to start a whole church. Come into my house. Come into my house. She said,
I want this gospel and I want believers of this gospel to literally
come into my house. Look at verse 25, And at midnight
Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God, and the prisoners
heard them. And suddenly there was a great
earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and
immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bands
were loosed. And the keeper of the prison,
awaking out of his sleep and seeing the prison doors open,
he drew out his sword and would have killed himself, supposing
that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice,
saying, Do thyself no harm, for we are all here. Then he called
for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down
before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and said, Sirs, what
must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Why does our Lord in mercy keep
saying that to us? What hope He gives us in the
house. That gives me encouragement to
keep preaching the gospel and the house. Verse 32, and they
spake unto him the word of the Lord and to all that were in
his house. And he took them the same hour
of the night, and washed their stripes, and was baptized he
and all his straightway. And when he had brought them
into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing
in God with all his house." He brought them into his house,
and God saved his whole house. Over in Acts chapter 11, the
Lord sent a vision to Peter, and this is what Acts 11 verse
11 says. Behold, immediately there were
three men already come unto the house where I was, sent from
Caesarea unto me, and the Spirit made me go with them, nothing
doubting. Moreover, these six brethren accompanied me, and
we entered into the man's house, and he showed us how he had seen
an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send
men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter, who shall
tell thee words." He's going to preach the gospel to you.
He's going to say the words. He's going to tell you words
whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved. Are you saying
that if I will invite a preacher over for dinner, God will save
my house? No. No. No. What I'm saying and what this
Word right here is saying is there's no possible way that
a sinner can be saved unless that sinner hears the preaching
of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. There's no way. So let's bring
our house to the Gospel and let's bring the Gospel to our house.
It's their only hope. God came to the house of Martha,
Mary, and Lazarus. And grace flowed through that
house, and God's blessing was on their souls. And go with me
back over to John chapter 12. The title of this message is,
A House Where God Dwells. A House Where God Dwells. Here's
the third thing we can see in this passage of scripture.
It's the individual house. that we all have, this individual
house, not these four walls and roof, this house right here. What takes place inside each
individual house where God dwells? Peter said, you also as lively
stones are built up a spiritual house. You are a spiritual house.
Paul wrote, ye are the temple of the living God. As God hath
said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and will be their
God, and they shall be my people. Right here we see three characteristics
of a house where God dwells. Verse one says, then Jesus, six
days before the Passover, came to Bethany, where Lazarus was,
which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. There they
made him a supper, and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of
them that sat at the table with him. Then took Mary a pound of
ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus,
and wiped his feet with her hair, and the house was filled with
the odor of the ointment. Martha served, Lazarus sat, and
Mary poured. You know what we see right here?
Faith, hope, and love. Faith in Christ, hope in Christ,
and love to Christ. Faith, true faith, sits down. That's what it does. It sits
down. Somebody starts coming to the
church and the first thing they want to do is go to work. And
those who have been here a while say, what? You just sit down.
I have a lot of questions. Well, sit down. They'll all be
answered. Just faith sits down. Men and women, they try to spiritually
go to work, living right and doing right, working on a building,
working on a house for their Lord, encompassing land and sea,
and they have no idea that every bit of that is making them a
two-fold child of hell. Over in Matthew 7, our Lord said,
not everyone that says, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven. They're going to say, but we preached and we cast out
evil spirits and we did all these wonderful things. He said, I
never knew you. He said in the same chapter, straight is the
gate, narrow is the way, and few there be that find it. Very
few. But if they find it, If He reveals
it to them, if God causes them to enter into that one gate,
then they'll sit down and they'll rest. They'll just rest. They will realize the work is
over. It's all over. It's all been
accomplished. It's finished. Lazarus sat down
at the table with his Lord. That's faith. It says, Mary poured
all that she had on the Lord Jesus Christ. Hope means expected
anticipation. Expected anticipation. Hope does not mean there is a
50-50 chance and I hope it works out. It means there is no doubt in
my mind. Pour it all. Pour it all. By God's grace, all of my eggs
are in one basket. God put every one of them there. They're all in one basket, poured
all. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame. Don't tell me how good I am and
that's going to get me to heaven. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock
I stand. All other ground is sinking sand."
Mary poured it all. Faith, hope, and it says Martha
served. Love. Love. We don't work for salvation. But that doesn't mean we don't
work. There's a real motivation of
love inside every believer for the Lord Jesus Christ. And that
love has a desire to do after it rests. As soon as it rests,
it's time to do. We don't do to find favor, we
do because we have found favor. And that loving heart of service
that's inside every believer is a heart for God and it's a
heart for God's people. It is a heart for God's people. You are the most tangible thing
I have to my God. That's why I hug everybody. A believer just cannot do enough.
And the reason is because God has blessed his house. God dwells
there. And that's another reason why
I hug you. God dwells there. God has blessed his house. And
he just wants to spend the rest of eternity. I know what every
one of us wants. We don't want money. We need
money. And sometimes his flesh does want some things, but we
don't want that. One thing have we desired. Right? We want to dwell in the house
of the Lord, the house where God dwells, the blessed house. And we just want to say, thank
you, Lord, for saving our souls. Thank you for making us whole.
Thank you for giving to us this great salvation, so rich, so
free, so free. Thank you. All right, Brother
Mike, thank you.