All right, turn if you will to
Luke's Gospel, chapter 10. Luke chapter 10. We read a moment
ago in this psalm, David saying, in verse 5 I think it was, of
Psalm 27, one thing have I desired of the Lord. I want to speak
to you this morning about that one thing, one thing, from Luke
chapter 10. I noticed last night, that Pat
and Terry is rather late, but this is the seventh message I'm
bringing to you as your pastor, since you asked me to be pastor
the seventh time. As you know, seven in the Bible
is the number of perfection. This sermon won't be perfect,
because that number refers to Jesus Christ himself. This sermon
won't be perfect. The six before it weren't perfect.
Not by a long shot. And no message that I'll ever
preach here, if it be the 700 or 7,000, will ever be perfect. But the subject Lord, the person
of whom I'll attempt to speak, he's perfect. He's perfect. Seven, the perfection of God
Himself. All ever fresh. And may He be
pleased to be fresh to us again this hour. We'd like to begin
reading at verse one. I'm going to skip around and
then come down, or rather in the chapter, read several verses,
then come down. to our text. Luke chapter 10,
look at verse 1. We read, After these things the
Lord appointed other seventy also. Now these are in addition
to the twelve. Their names are not given. They're
not mentioned again. But our Lord appointed other
seventy also and sent them two and two before his face into
every city and place whither himself would come. And he gives
them the same instructions that he gave the Twelve when he sent
them out, but these are in addition to the Twelve. And he sent them
out into every city and place whither he himself would come. He was going to those places
that he was sending them ahead. Oh, what an honor for them. What
a responsibility as well. Jump down to verse 17. They've
gone out. They've done what he instructed.
Preached, healed the sick. Oh, and they return. And look
how they return in verse 17. And the 70 returned again with
joy, saying, Oh, they're happy. They're rejoicing. Because Lord,
even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. Not like these hucksters today
that claim that. No, no. This was true. The devils were subject unto
them because Christ sent them. Oh, the devils are subject unto
us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld
Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you
power, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions,
and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any
means hurt you. So imagine that. Did you hear
that? Verse 20, notwithstanding in
this rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you, but rather
rejoice because your names are written in heaven. How can we
know our names are written in heaven? Well, Christ knows. He's the one wrote them there.
It's His book. But how can you and I know? Oh,
if we believe on Him, as they did. If we believe on Christ,
He speaks to you. He speaks to me. Your name's
written in heaven. Make that the grounds of your
rejoicing. Oh, make that the chief reason
why you rejoice. Your names are written in heaven. The old hymn writer said, God
speaking, speaking of Christ, thou art my first elect, God
said, and then chose us in Christ our head. Oh, the Lamb's book
of life, verse 21. In that hour, Jesus rejoiced. Oh, He led them in rejoicing,
rejoicing over their names being written in heaven. The Great
Shepherd rejoices with and over His sheep. In that hour, Jesus
rejoiced in Spirit and said, I thank Thee, O Father. Lord
of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the
wise and the prudent, and has revealed them unto babes." Imagine
that, even so far. Oh, here's an example of bowing
to the will of God as He always did. Even so, Father, here's
an example of giving glory to whom glory is due. Even so, Father,
for so it seemed good in Thy sight. And if it's good in God's
sight, give us grace that it be good in our sight. Verse 22. All things are delivered to me
of my Father. All things? Yeah. Good, good. And no man knoweth
who the Son is but the Father, and who the Father is but the
Son, and He to whom the Son will reveal Him. Now look at verse
23. And He turned him unto His disciples
and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things
that you see. For I tell you, that many prophets
and kings have desired to see those things which you see and
have not seen them, and to hear those things which you hear and
have not heard them." Now, I want us to look down at verse 38.
Begin at verse 38. Here we have one example. of such distinguishing grace
that our Lord just spoke about. Distinguishing grace. God didn't
do for everybody what He did for these. You're blessed, you're
IC. Many desire to see those things,
but God wasn't pleased to reveal it to them. Oh, an example of
such distinguishing grace, such blessedness. Verse 38, Now it
came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village,
a certain village, and a certain woman. This was no haphazard
encounter. Everything our Lord does, He
does on purpose. 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 that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her, therefore,
that she helped me. Martha didn't receive the answer
that she thought she would. Verse 41, And Jesus answered
and said unto her, Martha, Martha. And I'm sure our Lord didn't
speak harshly, critically, but tenderly and gently. Martha,
let me show you a better way. Martha, Martha, thou art careful
and troubled about many things. But one thing, one thing is needful. necessary. And Mary has chosen
that good part which shall not be taken away from her. Shall
not be taken away from her. She won't let go. And he won't
let go. Thank God for that. Christ is
in the home of Martha. In verse 58 of chapter 9, in
response to a man who said he would follow him wherever he
went, our Lord responded this way, Foxes have holes, and the
birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath nowhere
to lay his head. Very few places on earth was
our Lord ever welcome. Was it? Very few places, Lonnie. Very few. Very few homes he was
invited to. Very few places where he could
just be at ease. Very few places where he was
welcome. Very few. This is one of the
few. One of the very few. Or he would
go out into a mountain. be along with God. Often he went
to that little spot, the Garden of Gethsemane. Oh, but as far
as people welcoming him into their homes, like you've done
me, open your homes and your hearts to me. Oh, very few places
in the Son of Man find that. He was in this world. The world
was made by Him, and the world didn't know Him. He came into
His own, His own people, Lord, His own nation. And His own received
Him not. Oh, but Martha opens the door. He comes to that little town
Bethany. Bethany, at the foot of the Mount
of Olives, and he comes to a certain house, a certain woman. Martha, I believe, was probably
the oldest. And then there was Mary, her
sister, and there was Lazarus, the brother. Bethany, oh, a place
that our Lord was welcome. Welcome there. Come in. Come in. Oh, they didn't consider
that they were honoring him. He was honoring them. Oh, that
he would condescend to visit any home. Oh, that he would condescend
to visit us, to come to where we are, to open our heart and
to come in. Oh, as old Bunyan said, come
and welcome Jesus Christ. Oh, what a privilege given only
to a comparatively few. Turn, if you will, to John's
Gospel, Chapter 7. I'm sorry, chapter 11. John chapter
11. Just to follow this thought for
a moment or two. John chapter 11, verse 1. Now a certain man was sick named
Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary, and her sister Martha. Verse 5 of chapter 11. Look at this. Now Jesus loved
Martha. and her sister, and Lazarus. He loved them. He loved them. Oh my! And they loved Him. They
loved Him because He first loved them. Oh, but He loved them with
an everlasting love. Look down, if you will, at verse
11. These things said he, and after
that he saith unto them," that is his disciples, "'Our friend
Lazarus sleepeth, but I go that I may awake him out of sleep.'"
Our friend. Lazarus is my friend. Oh, our elder brother is our
friend. The captain of our salvation,
Louis, is our friend. We have a free in-law that sticketh
closer than a brother. I've got four brothers. I called my oldest brother on
the way down here yesterday. His, my sister-in-law, his wife
Donna answered. I said, this is the brother you
wished you to marry. And she just laughed, of course.
But, oh. But Christ said, He's my friend. Lazarus is my friend. And Christ
is our friend. Oh, what a friend. What a friend
we have in Jesus. And He comes to the house of
His friends, Martha and Mary and their brother Lazarus. Oh,
what a privilege. What an honor. He's with the family now. He
speaks these words to his family, his friends. The Word made flesh. The eternal Word of God was made
flesh. John said, and tabernacled amongst
us dwelt God Almighty in the flesh. Martha, Martha, this is
all of God you'll ever see. Think about that. God in the
flesh. Martha, that one who's come to
your house is God in the flesh. Friend, yes. Savior, yes. Substitute, yes. God, yes. But he's all of God that you'll
ever see. Think about that. No man had
seen God at any time. The only begotten Son who was
in the bosom of the Father, He had revealed Him. And what was
true then? That day in the house of Bethany
is true now, and it'll always be true. I've heard foolish men
talk about when believers get to heaven, they're going to see
three gods. They'll see one God in the face
of Jesus Christ. Oh, Martha, what a privilege. What a privilege. And what did
Martha do? Look again, if you will, at verse
39 of Luke 10. And she had a sister called Mary,
which also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. But Martha
was comfortable, 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. Oh, Mary. Can you picture Mary? We see
Mary at the feet of Christ on other occasions, this being the
first recorded in Scripture. Oh, but now she sits at His feet.
Can't you just picture that? She's sitting at the feet of
Christ. He's speaking. He's teaching. Oh, He always spoke those things
and did those things that pleased the Father. The Son of Man was
on a mission, but He comes to this little house and this little
town. Oh, this was rare, rare for Him
to make such a visit. And Mary said, I'm not going
to miss a word. She sits down at his feet. Can
you picture her looking up at him, listening, listening? She didn't pay any attention
to what Mary was doing. Pots and pans was rattling. Mary
didn't even notice because she was giving him the bread of life,
her undivided attention. You know why? He deserves it. Doesn't he? He deserves, he deserves
our undivided. Oh God, give me grace to give
you not my leftovers, but my best. My best is poor enough,
but God don't. What did David say? I'm not going
to offer unto God that which costs me nothing. Oh, there sits
Mary. And then there's Martha. Hmm.
She became cumbered. The word is distracted. She became
distracted with much serving. Mary heard his word. Never a
man spake like this man. And faith cometh by hearing.
Lord, increase our faith. Faith cometh by hearing. Oh,
the importance of hearing the word. I spent a few days with
my mother week before last. She was telling me about my aunt,
her sister, and wanting her to go with her to a church. And
Mom told me what went on there. I said, Mom, I wouldn't get out
of bed for it. I just wouldn't get out of bed for that. Just
keep listening to these CDs and tapes and the things we're sending
you. I wouldn't get out of bed. Oh,
what a privilege, though. What a privilege to hear him
speak. What a privilege to hear about
Him. Oh, what a privilege to hear
the glorious gospel of the blessed God, because the gospel, the
gospel concerns Him. The gospel's about Him. All about Him. The entire book's
about Him. Oh, I came in last night, and
I think even this morning, and I'm ashamed of myself. I told
Terry, because I got in two or three hours later than usual.
I've been kind of dragging. I've told them I made two trips
in a row, two Sundays in a row before, but three? That's tough. That's tough. Oh, but then I thought, my soul.
My soul jealousy. I get to come here and be with
my family. I get to come here and preach
the glorious gospel of God. What's 400 miles? What's 4,000
miles? To have the privilege and the
honor to do that. God forgive me for even making
mention of it. Oh, look, if you will, again,
back in John chapter 11. Here we see in Luke 10, Mary
setting at our Lord's feet. Here in John chapter 11, we see
her fall at His feet. It's such a familiar passage
and you know it. Lazarus has died. Martha comes
out. If you'd have been here, he wouldn't
have died. Oh, and then Mary comes out. Martha goes back and says, Mary,
Mary, let's look at verse 31. Then the Jews then, the Jews
then, which were with her in the house and comforted her,
when they saw Mary that she rose up hastily and went out, followed
her saying, she goeth unto the grave the week with her. Cause
Mary has come back from meeting with Christ and said, Mary, the
master is come and calleth for thee. Verse 32, then when Mary
was come where Jesus was and saw him, looky here, here she
goes again. She fell down at his feet. She
fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou had been
here, my brother had not died. In Luke 10, we saw her sitting
at his feet, listening to his words, catching every word. Here, she falls at his feet in
sweet submission. Now look, if you will, in chapter
12. Oh, first there was communion, Luke 10, setting at His feet. Then there was submission, falling
at His feet, not my will but Thine be done. Oh, and those
two things lead to this wonderful display of devotion. She now anoints His feet. Lazarus has risen from the grave. He's heard the voice of he who
is the life, and he's come forth. Verse 1 of John 12, Then Jesus,
six days before the Passover, came to Bethany. He comes back
again. Where Lazarus, which had been
dead, whom he raised from the dead, he's not dead anymore,
there they made him a supper. Martha served. But Lazarus was
one of them that sat at the table with him. Oh, look at that. Last time I saw him, he was shuffling
out of a tomb with grave cloths. And now here he is with his feet
under the table, eating with the king, the king of glory. Isn't that something, boy? Oh,
bless God. We feast on Christ. We sit at
the table, too, though. Oh, you had he quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sin. Verse 3, Then took Mary a pound of ointment
of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus. Oh,
can you picture that? She was listening before said
he deserves my undivided attention. Even when her heart was breaking
and aching and in utter confusion why he didn't come when he first
got the message, Lazarus was sick. She understands now, but
she didn't in John 11. Oh, but still she falls at his
feet and sweeps the mission. Oh, but now she comes. She comes with a heart full of
devotion. It's just I've got to do something
for him. He's done everything for me. Mary thought I owe him everything.
Everything. Everything I had. Everything
I am. Every hope. Every promise. Mary thought, I'm not my own. I'm going to be bought with a
price. She understood that. Disciples did. She understood
that. And she thought, I can't do too
much. Then took Mary a pound of ointment,
a smitener, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus. and
wiped his feet with her hair. And she wasn't embarrassed. Oh, she didn't feel like that
was beneath her. Oh, what an honor. And look,
the house was filled with the odor of the ointment. And the
house was filled with the odor of her devotion. And the Son
of God smelled that sweet Savior of true worship and a heart full
of thankfulness. Oh, what a privilege. Then saith one of the disciples,
Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him, why
was this ointment sold? Why was not rather this ointment
sold for 300 pence and given to the poor? Then he said, not
this, he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he
was a thief and had the bag and barrel was put therein. Another
place we're told all the disciples joined in with the same thing.
Verse 7, then said Jesus, let her alone, let her alone. Against
the day of my burying have she kept this. She's been saving
this. She knows something you don't
know. She understands something you don't. She's been at my feet
before. She's heard something. She's
learned something that you haven't. Peter hadn't yet. None of them
had yet. Oh, but this poor redeemed sinner,
this friend of Jesus, this one whom Jesus loved, she had. Let her alone. Martha said, make her help me,
leave her alone. Against the day of my burial
had she kept this, for the poor always ye have with you, but
me ye have not always. Oh, devotion, because there was
communion, submission, now devotion. And brothers and sisters in Christ,
He deserves all three, does He not? Love so amazing, I sing
that, it's easy to sing. God help me to do it. Love so
amazing, so divine, deserves my life, my soul, my all. When I surveyed the wondrous
cross, on which the Prince of Glory died, my riches gained
I count but lost, and poor contempt on all my pride. Were the whole
realm of nature mine? Carlos, that's a present far
too small. Love so amazing, so divine, deserves
my life, my soul, my all. God give me grace to give it
to me. Martha in her service for Christ
becomes frustrated and worried and upset and irritable. Why? Because she did it without devotion
first. Martha did a good thing, but
she neglected the best thing, the good part. Communion first. She seems to have forgotten who
and only thought about what. Why am I doing what I'm doing?
Why the much serving, Martha, when less would have served just
as good? Oh, Mary heard his word. Heard his word. Martha said,
oh, I've got the feeding. I've got to fix something. Get
this bread in the oven. But Mary looked up and said,
no, I think I'll listen to the bread of life. I think I'll feast
my soul upon the bread of life. Martha became distracted from
him. So many distractions, aren't
there? Oh, the devil. The devil says,
psst, psst, come here. Turn aside. Look at this. Look at this. This is important. This is deep. This is deep. A lot of people don't know this.
Come on, come on. Oh, there's a secret Bible code,
you know, been discovered. Come here. Turn aside. Turn aside.
Take a look at this. They found Noah's Ark over there
on Mount... Hey, come on. Let's look at this. Let's look. Look at that. If I look at that,
I won't be looking at Christ crucified. Why do I not want
to look at anything but Him? Simeon said, I'm ready to die.
Why? I've seen your salvation. There's nothing else left to
see. Oh, what a sight. What a sight. Oh, but sometimes
We're not careful, we find ourselves running on empty. I remember
years ago, might have been the first time that I drove from
West Virginia down to Cape Girardeau, Missouri. That's a long haul,
long haul. And my pastor who was in, had
already, you know, moved to, was in Danville, had been there
for a while, first met him in West Virginia. But anyway, he
told me, he said, Larry, when you get on that Western Kentucky
Parkway, he told me plain, plane. He said, uh, when you get on
there, he said, make sure you've got a tank of gas. He said, cause
that's a lonely stretch of the road. The exits are far and in
between. All right, I'll take care of
it. Okay. I'm cruising along in that old car, you know, wonder
how much further I got to go. And then I looked at my gas handle
and, uh, I thought, well, I'll be an exit pretty soon, and there
wasn't. And in a minute, and old Don's words just echoed
in my ear, Larry, make sure you fill up before you get on that
parkway. running on empty. It doesn't work, does it? Doesn't
work. God said at the feet of Christ,
the same grace that called us out of darkness, that same one
that first spoke peace to my heart, that same one must replenish
me, must renew me, must revive me, or help me not to attempt
to run on empty. He told his disciples, I think
the passage is, I don't recall, but I think where it is, but
it said there were so many people coming and going, they didn't
have time to eat. And he said, come into a desert place and
let us rest a while. Oh, Martha, you're troubled about
many things, many things, so many necessary, important things. Oh, but when the many things
that are important, Oh, yeah. Must not neglect them. We have
responsibilities. But when the many things crowd
out the one thing, ah, there's the problem. So many distractions. When I was in high school, the
night I graduated, a lot of my friends had already got in a
big U-Haul, rented one, of 20 or 30 hillbillies from West Virginia,
and went up to a place called Wildwood, New Jersey. They wanted
me to go that night, but I was graduating. So it's a wonder
I didn't go anyway. But I graduated, and the next
week, I got on a bus. I think it took two days. We
got up to Wildwood, New Jersey. Older guys that had been there
summers before said, Larry, you'll have the time of your life. We'll
get jobs on the boardwalk. You know, we'll get there, man.
You never had such a time. It's going to be something. I'd
like to starve to death. I was there two weeks, like the
start of the day. But I did got there. They claimed
I got there too late. The only job I could get was
a little stand in the arcade, people throwing darts at balloons,
you know. And the guy that was teaching
me said, now, when they come by, say, break a back and try your
luck. Don't walk by. Give it a try. But everybody
in there was trying to get everybody at the same time. No, don't go
over there. Come over here. No, look here. Look there. Look at this. Look
at that. Bring your money here. Oh, and this world does the same
thing, doesn't it? The devil does the same thing.
Look at this. Stop. It won't hurt. Pause. Take a look at this. Don't you
do it. Don't you believe it. Don't take
your eyes off Jesus Christ. You remember what happened to
Peter, don't you? When he took his eyes off Christ, he began
to sing, oh no, don't look, don't look. The rich, young ruler said
to Christ, what do I like in? He said, one thing thou likest,
the most important thing, the only one that can save your soul,
you like that. All brothers and sisters in Christ,
You've seen Him. You've seen Him. Blessed are
your eyes for they've seen all. God, draw back the curtain of
memory now and then. Show me where you brought me
from and where I could have been. God, help me, help me to stay
at the feet, to fall at the feet, to anoint the feet of that One,
the only One who loved me and gave Himself for me, the only
Mediator, the only Savior, the only Substitute. I owe everything
to Him. Paul is in prison in Philippians. You'd never know it if he didn't
tell us in that epistle. He's in prison when he wrote
Philippians, I should have said. Oh, but he says, I'm full of
joy. He says, I know how to abound. In whatever state I am, I've
learned to be content. Don't worry about me. Oh, I want
to win Christ. I want to be found in Christ.
I want to know Christ. Paul, don't you ever get enough
of Christ? Better shut your mouth, Paul
said. I'm determined to know nothing but Jesus Christ and
Him crucified. Oh, he loved Mary, Martha, and
Lazarus. They're my friends, he told the
disciples. I know it was people these guys
on TV, they claim worship and devotion is just getting up and
running and making a big hoopla, rattling the pots and the pans.
I don't think so. I don't think so, do you? When
God is pleased to manifest himself to my heart, I just melt. Running around, look at this. Oh no, no, no. Oh no, that's
the opposite. No, he must increase and I must
decrease. I remember years and years ago,
I thought I was the only one awake at the house, my children
and all. Well, my son's not even been
born. My daughter Misty's the oldest.
She's just a baby. But I was sitting in the dark
and God was pleased to come meet
with me. Just thinking about His goodness
and His grace. Just crying. And I hear something,
I look down, and there she is, Misty. And she's crying too. I said,
Misty, what's the matter, honey? I thought she'd had a bad dream.
She said, well, Daddy, what's the matter with you? And I said,
well, honey, I'm happy. I'm happy. I'm crying because
I'm happy. And she put her arms around my
neck and said, me too, Daddy. I'm crying because I'm happy.
She didn't know. She didn't understand. She's
just a baby. Now she's 38 years old. And she still don't know. And
she still don't understand. Oh, I pray that God would be
pleased to rebuild himself to her. Let me close. Let me wrap
this up. John said concerning the one
that he was the forerunner of. Oh, he that hath the bride is
the bridegroom. Fellas, my job's done. Follow him. Behold the Lamb of
God. You don't need me anymore. The
one I've been telling you is going to come, he has come. Follow him. Behold the Lamb."
And one of those last two disciples that heard John speak that way
followed Christ. It was Andrew, Simon's brother. And the Lord turned and said,
Whom seek ye? Who, not what. Whom seek ye? Master, where dwellest
thou? And he said, come and sit. Come and see. That's what we're
doing. Oh, we're going to see. We see
when He's pleased to reveal Himself to us in worship. Oh, but we're
going to go and see Him as He is. And John went on to say,
He that had the Son had life. Listen. He that had the Son Not
he that crosses his T's and dots his I's the same way everybody
else does, but he that had the sun. Not he that understands
five points, no, but he that had the sun. Not he that has
logically concluded what you can do, if you got half sense. Arminianism, free willism, that
can't be so. Oh, yeah, doctors of grace, five
points, election, yeah, I see it right here. Oh, that's not
it. That's not it. He that had the sun. Have life. We see all those things in the
Son. They find their beauty, those
sweet truths, in the Son. But He's the embodiment of them
all. And we can have a head knowledge
of those things and still not know the Son. He that hath the
Son, John said, have life. Oh, and if you have the Son,
you have life. The same life that He has. Isn't that something? But John
didn't stop there, did he? He said that he that have not
the Son have not life. What does he have, John? The
wrath of God abides on him. Is that the case with some of
you? If you sit here this very moment and you don't know Christ,
It's not that you're in some sort of limbo. It's not that
you're neutral. And it's certainly not in some
purgatorial state. No, not now or ever. No, if you
don't have this son, if you don't know Christ, God's wrath is abiding
on you like a heavy cloud over your head. And it may fall at
any time, and the only reason it hasn't is because of His mighty
hand that's restrained it. But as far as you're concerned,
there's every reason He should let it fall. There's no reason
in you that He should restrain the fall of the sword of His
justice. Oh, every day you refuse to bow
to His Son, you increase the weight of that cloud, the cloud
of God's wrath over you. Oh, kiss the Son, lest He be
angry, and you perish from the way when His wrath is kindled
for just a moment. He that hath the Son hath life,
and I've got to close, but I can't leave you with that. Let me tell
you, unbelievers, He delights to show mercy. When Christ said,
Come unto Me, all ye that labor and have elated, He meant it. He meant it. and ye shall find
rest unto your souls." God bless you, brothers and sisters. Thank
you for your attention.