Learning the Love of Christ at His Feet

I'm going to bring you a message
that I believe is from the Lord, and I believe it's especially
needful in this day of great religious and church activities. Now, this is a message that was
a special blessing to me personally, and I'm praying that the Spirit
of God will make it a special blessing to you. If you want
to follow in your Bibles, you open them first of all to the
book of Luke, chapter 10, verse 38 through 41. Just hold the
book of Luke, chapter 10, verse 38 there in your hand, and let
me make a few comments as I introduce the message. Now the title of
the message is this, Learning the Love of Christ at the Feet
of Christ. Learning the Love of Christ at
the Feet of Christ. Now there was a little family
down in Bethany a brother, two sisters, their names Mary, Martha,
and Lazarus. And the scripture tells us in
John 11, 5 that Jesus loved Martha and her sister Mary and Lazarus. The Lord Jesus loved this little
family. He was often in their home. In
Luke chapter 10, verse 38, the scripture you have open there,
Luke 10, 38, this is what we read. This is our text. Now,
it came to pass as they went, Christ and his disciples, that
he entered into a certain village, a village called Bethany, and
a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary,
now watch this, which also sat at Jesus' feet and heard his
word. Now according to the scriptures,
this is where you usually found Mary. sitting at the feet of
the Lord Jesus Christ. This is where she usually was,
sitting at his feet, down on the floor, feeding on his presence,
worshiping him, adoring him, and hearing his word. That's
where you found Mary most of the time. Let me show you that.
First, in John 11, verse 1, it says, Now a certain man was sick,
whose name was Lazarus, of the town of Bethany, that is, the
town of Mary, and her sister Martha. Look at verse 2, John
11. It was that Mary which anointed
the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with the hair of her
head. Now, the only way she could have
wiped his feet with the hair of her head is to be on the floor
sitting at his feet, and she just covered them with precious,
expensive, costly, the scripture says, ointment, and wiped his
feet with the hair of her head. John 11, 32, listen to this.
When Mary was come where Jesus was, this was after Lazarus had
died. She fell down at his feet. And
she said, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have
died. Where was she? At his feet. John
12, verse 3, it repeats it again. Then Mary took a pound of costly
ointment and anointed his feet and dried them with the hair
of her head. Mary was usually found at the
feet of our Lord. Now, for what it's worth to you,
Judas The betrayer kissed the cheek of the Lord. Mary kissed
his feet. In Luke 10, verse 40, and I go
back to the text again, our Lord had come into this little home.
He and his disciples, as they went, came to a certain village
by the name of Bethany, and this woman Martha, whom Christ loved,
her sister Mary and Lazareth, invited him into her home. And
Christ, our Lord, went into the home, and he was sitting down,
and here was Mary at his feet. And Martha was back busy, the
scripture says, working, serving the Lord. Now listen to it, verse
40. And let's see if God will teach us something here. Now
Martha was cumbered about. Overoccupied is the word. She
was cumbered about, much serving. She was so busy serving the Lord. Mary sat at his feet. And Martha
came to the Lord Jesus, and the scripture says she was upset,
troubled. And she said, Lord, don't you
care, don't you care that my sister has left me to do all
the work and to serve alone? You tell her to get up and come
and help me. And our Lord answered. Now this
will be good for you and me. Our Lord answered and said, Martha,
Martha. He repeated her name twice, like
he said, verily, verily, I say unto you, except a man be born
again. This is so important. Martha,
Martha, you are over-occupied and anxious and troubled. Read
your amplified version on this. You're troubled and you're anxious
about many things. There is one need and only one,
and Mary hath chosen that good part to sit at my feet and to
learn of me, and this she'll never lose. Doesn't this strike
you as a true picture of religion today? It strikes me that way. It's a picture of today's religion,
over-occupied. Just like Martha, running around
here and there, yonder busy, oh we're so busy, we're so organized.
We're serving the Lord in so many activities and so many ways,
we're really too busy and too occupied and too noisy and too
troubled and too anxious to just sit at his feet and worship him. You know, you've got a lot of
activities. How long has it been since you've just worshipped
the Lord? You've got a lot of things you're doing to serve
the Lord. How long has it been since you've just worshipped
Him and praised His name and sat at His feet? One old man
was heard to pray in Spurgeon's church during the prayer meeting,
and this is what he said, O Lord, give me Mary's place, give me
Mary's place, that I might have the one thing needful. That's
what Christ said, Martha, you're so busy. But Mary has chosen
the one good part, and it won't ever be taken away from her.
This she'll never lose. It seems that the efforts of
preachers today, and churches today, is to get people busy.
Get them busy in religion. Get them busy in the kingdom
of God. Get them busy serving the Lord. It looks like they're
taking all of the strain and effort and power and organizational
ability and promotion and entertainment to get people busy, busy serving
the Lord, while God is saying, be still and know that I am God. Isn't that right? And we're so
busy, we're so troubled, we're so anxious, we're so cumbered
about with care, we're rushing here and there serving the Lord,
and the Scripture is saying all this time, wait upon the Lord.
Be of good courage. He'll strengthen your heart.
Wait, I say, on the Lord. We're so busy and our Lord's
saying to us, come unto me and I'll give you rest. People work
six days a week in the factories and then go to church on Sunday
and they wear themselves out serving the Lord. They don't
worship and praise and pray and seek his face and sit at his
feet and learn of him. We're just like Martha. Martha,
Martha. You're so troubled. You're so
anxious. You're so busy. Mary had chosen
the good part. I'm not saying that Martha didn't
love Christ. I'm not saying that Martha didn't
have good intentions. I'm not saying that Martha wasn't
sincere. I'm just saying what the Lord
said. You're too troubled and you're too anxious and you're
too cumbered about with care. Mary's chosen the good part.
Now you're going to lose that. She'll never lose this. The hymn
writer said this, sitting at the feet of Jesus, what words
I hear him say. Happy place, so near, so precious,
may it find me there each day. Sitting at the feet of Jesus,
where can mortal be more blessed? There I lay my sins and sorrows,
and there my weary soul finds rest. Sitting at the feet of
Jesus, there I love to weep and to pray, while I from His fullness
gather grace and comfort and strength every day. Yes, Martha
loved the Lord. Yes, Martha knew the love of
Christ, but not like Mary. Not like Mary. Every time you
read in the Word of God about Mary, you read about love, compassion,
a personal living relationship with Christ that brought her
to his feet. You just keep reading that four
or five times in the scripture. This is Mary who sat at his feet. This is Mary who anointed his
feet. This is Mary who kissed his feet.
Mary learned the love of Christ at his feet. And that's where
you get the best view of his love. Now, some things you get
a better view of it the higher you get. You want to get a good
look at New River Gorge up here in West Virginia, you just get
up on top of Hawk's Nest or Golly Mountain and you can, the more
higher you get, the more you can see. But either if you want
to learn the love of Christ, if you want to learn the mercy
of God, if you want to learn the grace of God, you learn that.
Not the higher you get, the lower you get. You don't learn it from
the uppermost seats in the synagogue, you learn it from the dust of
humility. Now, my friends, I want to point
out about five things, and I want us to learn together. We're seeking
the Lord together. We're not trying to prove anything.
We're not rattling the chains of denominationalism, and we're
not stressing and plucking on the strings of prophetical prophecies,
we're just trying to preach a little Christology. We want you to know
Christ. Oh, that I may win Christ and
be found in him, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection,
that I might learn his love. Oh, God, give me Mary's place. That's what I want. I hope that's
what you want. Well, the first thing is this.
We have learned the love of Christ doctrinally. Now, my friend,
don't underestimate learning the love of Christ doctrinally.
Don't make fun of doctrine. Paul said to Timothy, till I
come, you give attention to reading and to doctrine and to exhortation. If a man would know the purpose
of God in Christ Jesus, he's going to have to learn it from
the Word of God. Don't neglect the book. Open God's Word. Study to show yourself approved
unto God, a workman that needeth not be ashamed. If you want to
learn God's covenant mercies and God's redeeming grace and
God's atoning sacrifice in Christ, and the work of the Holy Spirit,
and how you ought to behave yourself in the Church of God. You want
to learn these things, go to the book. Go to God's Word. Learn
the love of Christ doctrinally. It's necessary to know that His
love is eternal. He said, I've drawn you with
an everlasting love, an eternal love. For God so loved the world. Christ didn't come in order to
get God in the notion to love sinners. He came because God
did love sinners. God's love is an everlasting
love. God loved us in Christ before the world began. That's
what Scripture says. We were chosen in Christ before
the world began. That's right. That's what God's
Word declares. His love is an eternal love.
It pleased God to make you his people. It pleased God that in
Christ should all fullness dwell. It pleased God to bruise him.
It pleased God to reveal his Son in you. It pleased God to
bring you to salvation. Before the day star knew its
place, or planets went their round, the saints in bonds of
sovereign grace were one in Jesus Christ found." It's necessary
to learn God's love doctrinally. It's an everlasting love. And
something else, it's a love that'll never end. That's right. Where'd
you find that? Our preacher from the Word of
God. Who shall separate us from the love of God? Shall tribulation,
or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril,
or sword? No sir, I'm persuaded that nothing
and separate me from the love of God which is in Christ my
Lord. Having loved his own, he loved them to the end. It's an
everlasting love both ways, the gifts and calling of God without
change. Herein is love, not that we love
God, but that he loved us and gave his Son to be a sacrifice
for our sins. This is where we start. This
is where a man's got to begin. God doesn't save you without
your mind. Salvation is a heart faith, I know that, but not without
the mind. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. You can't believe in someone you don't know, someone
of whom you haven't heard. So the first place we come is
to this place. We learn the love of Christ doctrinally. We learn who loves, and how he
loves, and why he loves, and when he loves. It's an everlasting
love. It's in Christ. That's where God's love is. It's
in Christ. All right? Then secondly, we not only learn
his love doctrinally, but we learn it personally. Now I want
you to listen to me a moment. This is not something, to learn
the love of Christ, is not something that comes quickly. It's not
something that comes easily. To know that the Lord Jesus Christ
loves me, to know in your heart that he loves you, to know that
he redeemed you by his death on the cross, now that doesn't
come quickly, and that doesn't come easily. Charles Wesley put
it like this, can it be? Can it be that I should gain
an interest in the Savior's name? Died he for me, who shed his
blood for me, who him to death pursued? Is it possible that
he loves me? Is it possible that he died for
me? Is it possible that God has redeemed me? Do you know that? You know it doctrinally, you
read it in the scripture, God so loved the world. God's plenteous
in mercy. We know some things from the
scripture. We know we're sinners. All that's sinning comes short
of God's glory. You know that. All we like sheep have gone astray.
If a man says he has no sin, he's a liar, and the truth's
not in him. If he says he has not sin, he's making God a liar,
because God said all that's sinning. We know we're sinners, and we
know that God's plenteous in mercy. We know that. And we know
that Christ came into this world. You take out your calendar. You
got a calendar in your pocket? That calendar will tell you a
man called Jesus Christ came into this world. What year is
this? 1977. 1977 is what? A.D. In the year of our Lord. Time is measured on your calendar
by His coming into the world. B.C., before Christ, A.D., and,
oh, Dominic, in the year of our Lord. You know He came into this
world, and you know He died on the cross, and you know He was
buried and rose again. They might take you to the so-called holy
land and show you a hole in the ground, but they can't show you
the Lord. He's not here. He's risen. And we know that
we want to be among these people. We want to. And there's some
things we've done. Like the publican, we've stood
with bowed heads and smote upon our breasts and cried, God, be
merciful to me, a sinner. Have you ever done that? God,
be merciful to me, a sinner. Lord, save me or I perish. Like
the thief, Lord, I'm getting what I deserve. But when you
come into your kingdom, will you remember me?" We know those
things. We've learned those things from
the Scripture. But wait a minute. The day will come when God's
Spirit will bear witness with your spirit. And as I say, it
won't come quickly and it won't come easily. And I hear preachers
tell rank sinners, agnostics, skeptics, come down this aisle
and accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. Now, I can understand
a man saying, come down this isle and bow to the claims of
Christ. I can understand a preacher saying, come down this isle and
bow to the kingship of Jesus Christ. I can understand a preacher
saying, come down this isle and bow to the sovereign rights of
Jesus Christ, to do with you as he will. But to come down
here the first time I hear the gospel, the first time I hear
of my sin, and accept him as my personal Savior? I might accept him as the Savior
of sinners. I might accept him as the only
atonement and the only sacrifice, but I'll tell you this, it takes
the Holy Spirit to reveal to a man's heart that Christ loves
him and Christ died for him. And that doesn't come easily
and that doesn't come quickly, but one day it will come if you're
his own. You'll be able to say, the Lord
is mine, I am his and he is mine. You'll be able to read the Song
of Solomon and understand what it's all about, my beloved. Paul
understood it. He said, I know whom I have believed.
I'm persuaded that he's able to keep that which I've committed
to him against that day. You'll learn his love personally.
You'll learn it first doctrinally from the Word of God. And as
you bow to the sovereign claims of Christ, and as you seek the
Lord with all your heart, one of these days he'll speak peace
to your heart. And you won't find peace down
at the front of the church, and you won't find peace in the baptismal
pool, and you won't find peace in the roll book of the church,
and you won't find peace teaching a Sunday school class, and you
won't find it preaching. You'll find peace when the Holy
Spirit speaks peace to your heart. My peace I give unto you. That's right. You come to me,
Christ said, I'll give you rest. In his own time, you'll learn
his love personally, but you'll learn it at his feet. You're
not going to learn it in your busy activities and all you're
cumbered about with care and your anxiety and trouble. You're
not going to learn it reading a book. You're going to learn
it reading his word as his Spirit speaks peace to your heart. We
then learn his love practically. Now I want you to listen. You
can't teach a man to swim in this television studio. No way. No way. You can tell
him all about how deep the water is and how to make the strokes
and kick his feet, and he can't learn to swim in this studio.
And out there you can't teach a man to farm in a schoolroom.
He's got to learn it behind a plow. That's the only place he'll learn
how to farm. And the only place a man learns how to swim is in
a lake. And you can't teach a man to mine on top of the ground.
You've got to take him down where the seam's about 25 or 36 inches
and teach him on his belly how to dig coal. That's where you'll
learn to mine. And great soldiers aren't made
at West Point. They're made in the smell and
the heat and the smoke of battle. That's where soldiers are made.
And I'll tell you this. The love of Christ is not learned
from the creed or from the catechism. and not from books, the love
of Christ is learned at his feet as we personally draw on that
love and partake of that love and experience that love in our
own lives and our... You don't believe anything until
you experience it. Now, you can talk about what
you read, what you memorized, what you learned, what you found
out in school, but you don't believe anything until you experience
it. How do you know his love, that he loves you, great sinner?
Well, you answer, from sinking sand he lifted me. With tender
hand he lifted me. From shades of night to planes
of light, O praise his name, he lifted me. That's how I know
his love. He, I know what I was, and I
know what he did for me, and I know what I am now. I'm not
what I ought to be, and I'm not what I'm going to be, but thank
God I'm not what I used to be, and he did it all. How do you
know his love, dear brother? Huh? Well, Preacher, I'll tell
you how I know it. I've walked with Him through
great sorrow. I've walked with Him through
great suffering. I've been on my back, distressed,
sick, now unto death, and He never left me. He walked with
me and talked with me along life's narrow ways. Oh, the joy we shared
as we tarried there, none other can ever know. Oh, Preacher,
I learned it. I learned it practically. I learned
it by experience. I learned it at His feet. Where'd
you learn his love, dear sister? I lost my dear child, and he
was my comfort. I lost my dear husband right
when I needed him most, and he's been my help, he's been my hope,
and he's been a husband to me. I've learned his love. I've learned
it by experience. How do you know his love, dear
fellow laborer? Well, through the deepest valley,
he never left me alone. Through the hardest trial, he
never left me. Through the greatest persecution,
He stood by my side through all things. He's been my refuge and
my great reward, and He's met my every need. Preacher, I've
proved His love many times over, over and over again. The soul
that owned Jesus, I know, the soul that owned Jesus hath leaned
for repose. He will not desert to its foes.
That soul, though all hail, endeavors to shape. He'll never, no never,
no never forsake. That's where you learn His love.
I know you learn it from your doctrine. You've got to learn
it there first. That's wherever babe in Christ learns it. But
then he's got to learn it not only doctrinally, but he's got
to learn it personally. The Holy Spirit's got to come
one day and reveal to him who Christ is. To him. And bring
about a vital living union where that man's willing to give his
life for Christ's sake. And then as we walk with him
through the years, we learn his love practically experimentally. And then fourthly, we learn his
love by contemplation. Now, my friends, when you read
the apostles, you don't find them arguing with people about
the doctrine of the atonement, do you? They believe something
about the atonement, but they didn't argue it, they just preached
it. But they preached the effectual death of Christ, the effectual
work of Christ. They preached that Jesus Christ
was the only They hold a name under heaven, given among men,
whereby we must be saved. They didn't argue about a doctrine,
they preached the person. There's a difference. And you
listen to preaching. Preaching, if it's true preaching,
is the preaching of a person. Paul said, I'm determined to
know nothing among you save Jesus Christ. Not the doctrine of Christ,
but the person of Christ. And then you don't find the disciples
arguing about the resurrection, they preached it. But they walked
with a living Lord. You didn't hear them arguing
about the resurrection, arguing about the second coming, no sir.
They looked far and walked with a living Lord. He's coming back. He's coming back. These doctrines,
these doctrines, I love them, but they are the throne upon
which he sits. We don't worship the throne,
we worship the person, the king. These doctrines are but the garments
he wears. And I'm not going to spend my
time continually talking about the throne and continually folding
and refolding these garments. No, sir, I want Mary's place
at His feet, looking into the face of Him whom I love and seeing
Him look at me and knowing He loves me. My Jesus, I love Thee. I know Thou art mine. For Thee
all the follies of sin I resign. I love Thee in life, I love Thee
in death. I love Thee as long as You give me breath. And then
last of all, and I want you to, I want you to stay with me now.
We've got to learn His love sympathetically. Now there are very few people
who have come to this sweet paradise here. I don't claim to be here.
I sure would like to. I'd like to live here. And here's
what I mean. Now go with me outside Jerusalem,
up there on a hill. And you and I standing up there
on that hill, we're looking down at that city. that city that
crucified the Lord of Glory, and a voice says, this city is
going to be besieged by the Romans, Titus, the emperor. It's going
to burn this city to the ground, and plow up the ground, and sew
it with salt, and blood will flow through the streets of that
city. And you and I are prone to say,
well, they're certainly getting what they deserve. Didn't they
hate Christ? Didn't they take Him outside
their city walls to keep from dishallowing their Sabbath day
and nail him to an awful cross and laugh at him while he died,
maybe they ought to die. But wait a minute, a man sitting
behind us and we hear his voice as he weeps over that city and
he cries, O Jerusalem, how oft would I have gathered you unto
myself! As a hen doth gather her brood, you would not. Who
is that? That's the Lord of glory. I'd like to learn something about
that kind of love, wouldn't you? And then you stand outside the
city walls of Jerusalem, you see a man on that cross. They've
nailed, brutally lacerated his back, and pressed a crown of
thorns on his head, and spit in his face, and plucked out
his beard, and drove nails in his hands, and hung him up there
between heaven and earth, thirsting and dying, and laughing at him,
and crying, if you're the son of God, come down, we'll believe
you. Let's see if God will have you now. You say you're God's
son, let's see if He'll own you. We say these people One of these
days God will send him to hell, vengeance is mine, and say to
the Lord, I will repay, and it will be a good day when that
bunch of soldiers have to bow to him. Wait a minute, let's
let him speak. Father, forgive them, they know
not what to do. Paul prayed for the Pharisees
who persecuted and hated him. He said, I could wish myself
a curse from Christ for these men. My brethren, according to
the flesh, Moses said one day, Lord, if you're going to destroy
Israel, just blot me out of the book you've written. That's the
love of Christ learned sympathetically. When we can pray for our enemies
and bless them that persecute you and despitefully use you
and feed even your enemy when he hungers, you've learned the
love of Christ sympathetically. It doesn't come easy. I hope
you'll join us next week. If you'd like to have this message,
Learning the Love of Christ at the Feet of Christ, you write
to me. It's on cassette tape. We'll try to get it to you. The
address will be given to you by the announcer. Until next
week, God bless you, everyone.

Learning the Love of Christ at His Feet

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Learning the Love of Christ at His Feet

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