1 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:05,960 Welcome to the Liberty Baptist Sermon Archives. 2 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:09,040 The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty Baptist 3 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:13,040 Church in Easton, MA. You can find out more about us 4 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:17,280 or contact us at my libertybaptist.org or just look 5 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:19,760 us up on Facebook. And now we hope that this 6 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:22,040 message from God's Word will be a blessing to you. 7 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:28,000 Luke chapter 10 we're going to our message tonight is going to 8 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:32,200 come from 5 verses coming from Luke chapter 10. 9 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:38,040 The text tonight will be verses 38 through 42 and as you're 10 00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:41,240 finding that I just want to commend you for gathering 11 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:44,920 together of course in the middle of your busy week, you've put 12 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:47,840 other things intentionally aside to be here tonight. 13 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:52,960 I know it's it's a good habit of the majority of us, but don't 14 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:55,280 take it for granted that you certainly are busy, busy 15 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:56,960 schedules. Maybe you've come right from 16 00:00:56,960 --> 00:01:00,280 work, but you've you've chosen to be here tonight and it says a 17 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:03,760 lot about how you feel about the Lord and how you feel about his 18 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:06,680 church. And I just I'm thankful that 19 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:10,440 you're here and I know the Lord wants to bless as we continue 20 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:13,000 tonight in looking at the word of God. 21 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:20,080 So Luke chapter 10, our text 30, verses 38 through 42, it's a 22 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:23,040 familiar passage of Scripture. And maybe you're gazing down at 23 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:26,120 the verses right now and you're looking at these verses and 24 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:28,360 they're already very familiar to you. 25 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:32,680 And as I've said before, when we consider a familiar passage of 26 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:36,600 Scripture, we want to not have in the forefront of our minds. 27 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:39,360 So I know what this this passage is talking about. 28 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:43,000 I know what it says. And so unfortunately I came 29 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:45,360 tonight, but I got to hear something I already know. 30 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:48,720 And so I'm going to tune out. I want to encourage you to be 31 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:51,760 continue to be open to what the Lord would have to say to you 32 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:56,040 through our passage tonight. And so in our passage we are 33 00:01:56,040 --> 00:02:01,400 presented with the two, with two sisters that who are known for 34 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:05,200 their love and commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ, that being 35 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:07,880 Mary and Martha. I think when you hear those 36 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:10,880 names, if you're familiar with the word of God, you when you 37 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:14,920 hear the names Mary and Martha, you probably think of 2 ladies 38 00:02:14,920 --> 00:02:18,680 who were part really of that early church and they were known 39 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:22,440 for their love and commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ and to the 40 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:24,920 cause of Christ. And of course, there are some of 41 00:02:24,920 --> 00:02:29,120 us here tonight who are not as familiar with Mary and Martha. 42 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:32,240 Some of these things tonight will be new to you, and they 43 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:36,640 will be profitable for you in your your Christian life as we 44 00:02:36,920 --> 00:02:39,400 hear God's Word and take in these truths tonight. 45 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:44,840 But though these two ladies, Mary and Martha, undoubtingly 46 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:51,600 love the Lord, we will see that even faithful servants need 47 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:57,240 gracious reminders about the most important areas of the 48 00:02:57,240 --> 00:03:00,840 Christian life. And that in fact, that's the 49 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:04,360 reason why we do come to God's Word and why we do gather as a 50 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:06,680 church. One reason is because we need 51 00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:11,360 reminding of the truths of God's Word and how they apply to our 52 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:14,920 lives. And so if we were to consider 53 00:03:14,920 --> 00:03:19,080 the the whole of Luke chapter 10, we'd see a lot of 54 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:22,840 information, we'd see a, we'd see a few things that need to be 55 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:25,240 important to us in the Christian life. 56 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:29,320 And so we'd see a couple other areas that are essential to the 57 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:32,440 Christian life. And so earlier in Luke chapter 58 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:37,680 10, we would see that Jesus was commissioning the 70 to go 59 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:42,240 deliver the gospel of Jesus Christ around Israel and around 60 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:45,560 Jerusalem. And so we would see from that 61 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:50,040 passage of Scripture, we'd be reminded that we are ambassadors 62 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:53,880 for Christ. We are representatives of Jesus 63 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:58,560 and then as we would further read into Luke 10, we would see 64 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:03,200 in read of Jesus telling the parable of the Good Samaritan. 65 00:04:03,560 --> 00:04:06,400 So these are all in the same passage of Scripture where Jesus 66 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:11,560 is commissioning the 70, where there is a man who's been robbed 67 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:16,079 and beaten on the road and the one person who walked by him and 68 00:04:16,079 --> 00:04:20,079 took care of him and loved on him was the man from Samaria. 69 00:04:20,079 --> 00:04:23,560 And we would see from that account that we are to be loving 70 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:26,360 neighbors. We are to be caring neighbors 71 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:29,680 out there in the community. But in our chunk of verses 72 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:38,680 tonight, verses 38 through 42 will discover that Christ places 73 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:42,360 more significance on an area of the Christian life. 74 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:46,000 So we see that we are ambassadors for Christ, but then 75 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:49,040 we also see that we are to be caring and loving neighbors. 76 00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:54,360 But in just these these 5 or 6 short verses tonight, we'll see 77 00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:58,840 that this is actually one of the most important aspects of the 78 00:04:58,840 --> 00:05:02,120 Christian life. And that is the matter of our 79 00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:08,000 personal relationship with Christ, our personal worship of 80 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:11,040 the Lord Jesus. In fact, without our own 81 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:14,800 personal walk with the Lord Jesus Christ, the rest of the 82 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:19,960 Christian life is going to be difficult to live out unless our 83 00:05:19,960 --> 00:05:25,400 heart is in tune and in love with and in submission to the 84 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:27,640 Lord Jesus. So we have a lot of 85 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:29,960 responsibilities in the Christian life, do we not? 86 00:05:31,240 --> 00:05:37,080 That is why we therefore need a gracious reminder quite often 87 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:42,000 from the Lord. So let me ask you this just a 88 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:46,120 question to get you thinking along these lines tonight as we 89 00:05:46,120 --> 00:05:51,040 jump into our passage. Why did Christ come into your 90 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:56,800 life to save you? Why did Christ save your soul? 91 00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:01,640 You say, Well, it was to forgive me of my sin, and to make me 92 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:05,520 free from sin, and to Take Me Home to heaven when I die. 93 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:09,640 Well, I ask you this is that the only reason for which Christ has 94 00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:12,360 saved you, saved you? Why has he forgiven you? 95 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:14,960 Why has he cleansed you from your sin? 96 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:19,320 Why has he removed the consequences of sin from your 97 00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:23,480 soul? Why did Christ enter into your 98 00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:28,480 life and save your soul? You might be thinking, Dan, 99 00:06:28,480 --> 00:06:30,000 you're talking to the choir tonight. 100 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:35,000 I, I think we know why Christ save us, saved our souls. 101 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:39,080 Well, if Mary and Martha are also in the choir, they're 102 00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:42,600 singing soprano. There's some things that they 103 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:47,000 know as well, but some things that Christ observes that they 104 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:50,280 needed to be graciously reminded of. 105 00:06:50,280 --> 00:06:54,440 And so the title of our message tonight is a gracious reminder 106 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:59,720 to faithful servants, A gracious reminder to faithful servants. 107 00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:04,200 So let's look here tonight at verse 38 through verse 32 of 108 00:07:04,200 --> 00:07:11,640 Luke chapter 10. God's Word says in verse 38 Now 109 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:16,680 it came to pass as they went, this is Jesus and his disciples 110 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:21,680 as they went, that he entered into a certain village, and a 111 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:25,880 certain woman named Martha received him into her house. 112 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:32,480 And she had a sister called Mary which also sat at Jesus feet and 113 00:07:32,480 --> 00:07:37,320 heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about 114 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:41,920 much serving. She was busy, very occupied with 115 00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:46,440 much serving, and came to him and said, Lord, dost thou not 116 00:07:46,440 --> 00:07:50,680 care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? 117 00:07:51,320 --> 00:07:54,200 Bid her therefore that she helped me. 118 00:07:56,520 --> 00:07:59,080 Martha a little fired up here, a little aggravated. 119 00:08:00,960 --> 00:08:07,480 Verse 41 and Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, 120 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:13,160 thou art careful and troubled about many things. 121 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:16,600 There's a lot on your heart. There's a lot on your mind 122 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:19,720 there. There's a lot causing you to be 123 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:26,320 overwhelmed with anxiety. But verse 42, he continues to 124 00:08:26,320 --> 00:08:31,880 say to her, one thing is needful, and Mary hath chosen 125 00:08:31,880 --> 00:08:37,640 that good part which shall not be taken away from her. 126 00:08:39,039 --> 00:08:42,280 So if you're taking notes tonight, I want us to see, to 127 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:49,120 begin, that Jesus entered the home of a family who were known 128 00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:54,440 for their love for him. If you were to walk around this 129 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:57,800 area of Bethany, which is the small town in which Mary and 130 00:08:57,800 --> 00:09:01,400 Martha lived, and you heard the name Mary and Martha and you 131 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:04,520 heard the name Lazarus, you would probably automatically 132 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:08,320 associate them with Christ and his disciples, with the Kingdom 133 00:09:08,320 --> 00:09:11,160 of God and the work of God in the earth. 134 00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:15,800 And so this is the home of which Jesus enters, that he enters, 135 00:09:15,800 --> 00:09:20,360 the home of a family that were known, had a reputation and had 136 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:23,320 a testimony of their love for Christ. 137 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:27,920 So this was the home of Martha, whose sister and brother were 138 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:30,960 Mary and Lazarus. And so I want us to consider 139 00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:34,760 these two ladies tonight in their response to Christ 140 00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:38,800 entering into their home. And so let's consider Martha for 141 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:40,400 a moment. So Martha. 142 00:09:40,920 --> 00:09:44,400 Martha has been known for being a worker for Jesus. 143 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:48,240 As we consider her throughout the Gospels, we typically see 144 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:52,400 her as being occupied. We see her being busy with much 145 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:55,640 serving. She it was no problem for her to 146 00:09:55,640 --> 00:09:59,960 get hard work done. It was Martha's love for Jesus 147 00:09:59,960 --> 00:10:03,840 that perhaps drove her to so much serving. 148 00:10:04,320 --> 00:10:08,200 She was perhaps very hospitable. She really had no problem 149 00:10:08,200 --> 00:10:12,160 hosting people in her home. Probably she was considered an 150 00:10:12,160 --> 00:10:16,080 exceptional cook of her day. She gave attention to some of 151 00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:19,240 these details when it come came to hospitality. 152 00:10:19,640 --> 00:10:23,760 No doubt she knew how to make her house a home in that it was 153 00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:27,840 presentable and it was welcoming, especially when Jesus 154 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:30,720 Christ was going to stop in. Imagine that. 155 00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:33,720 Imagine getting word that the Messiah was going to come visit 156 00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:38,240 you in your home. Martha likely was the type of 157 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:42,040 person who didn't feel satisfied with herself unless she was 158 00:10:42,040 --> 00:10:46,480 convinced that she worked really hard at whatever she set her 159 00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:50,480 hands to do. It seems as if though that she 160 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:52,360 was certainly the person to go to. 161 00:10:52,360 --> 00:10:58,000 If you needed to be assured that something was going to get done, 162 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:02,440 you could put your trust in Martha that she was going to not 163 00:11:02,440 --> 00:11:06,720 displease you with her effort. It would then be safe to assume 164 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:12,800 that Martha found it very easy to say yes to other people when 165 00:11:12,800 --> 00:11:17,520 they needed someone to make sure something in her skill set got 166 00:11:17,520 --> 00:11:20,320 done. They could count on on Martha. 167 00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:24,000 People probably knew that if they left the task up to her, it 168 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:27,360 would certainly get done. She was committed. 169 00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:31,440 Martha was dependable. She had a good testimony for the 170 00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:34,000 Lord in this regard. She was committed, she was 171 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:37,600 dependable, and she was no doubt hard working. 172 00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:42,880 So that's Martha. But her sister Mary on the other 173 00:11:42,880 --> 00:11:47,800 hand, is known throughout the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and 174 00:11:47,800 --> 00:11:53,920 John for worshipping, being found worshipping at the feet of 175 00:11:53,920 --> 00:11:57,360 Jesus. If we were to consider Mary in 176 00:11:57,360 --> 00:12:01,800 John Chapter 11 and verse 32, the Bible says there that she's 177 00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:05,480 found with a broken heart over the death of their brother 178 00:12:05,480 --> 00:12:12,080 Lazarus crying at Jesus feet. In the next chapter, John 12 179 00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:15,680 verse three, if we were to take a look at that, just after the 180 00:12:15,680 --> 00:12:19,800 resurrection of her brother Lazarus, she is found anointing 181 00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:23,920 the feet of Jesus with her precious ointment and with her 182 00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:26,440 hair. And so in one chapter she's 183 00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:29,320 broken hearted and she's cast it. 184 00:12:29,320 --> 00:12:33,400 She's cast herself at the feet of Jesus and just a couple days 185 00:12:33,400 --> 00:12:37,320 later she is worshipping and thanking Jesus for his 186 00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:40,240 faithfulness. And then of course, tonight in 187 00:12:40,240 --> 00:12:45,560 Luke chapter 10 in our text, she's found sitting in her 188 00:12:45,560 --> 00:12:51,480 sister's home with Jesus and his disciples at his feet, sitting 189 00:12:51,680 --> 00:12:56,280 at the feet of Jesus. So nonetheless, both Martha and 190 00:12:56,280 --> 00:13:01,720 Mary were unashamed, unashamedly associated with Jesus Christ. 191 00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:07,240 And no one who reads the Gospels can doubt their mutual love for 192 00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:10,080 Christ. Nobody who knew Martha and Mary 193 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:14,640 doubted that they loved God, that they loved Jesus, that they 194 00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:18,280 loved what He was doing and what He came to do, and that they 195 00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:22,080 were unashamed of associating themselves with Him. 196 00:13:24,600 --> 00:13:27,800 So consider some of these sisters similarities. 197 00:13:27,800 --> 00:13:29,720 So we saw some of their their contrast. 198 00:13:29,720 --> 00:13:33,440 One found it very easy to get to work and get busy and be 199 00:13:33,440 --> 00:13:36,000 consumed with that. And the other it was very easy 200 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:40,560 for her to maybe put time aside and to spend time with the Lord 201 00:13:40,560 --> 00:13:42,480 and meditating on the things of God. 202 00:13:42,720 --> 00:13:47,280 But both sisters loved Jesus, and they believed Him to be the 203 00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:52,440 Son of God, and they also both did what they could to lift Him 204 00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:55,960 up in their generation. They followed him, they exalted 205 00:13:55,960 --> 00:14:00,120 him, they spoke about Him, they committed their lives to Him and 206 00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:06,560 His 'cause they are set before us in Scripture as wonderful 207 00:14:06,560 --> 00:14:11,160 examples of servants who were committed to the Lord. 208 00:14:13,040 --> 00:14:20,480 But the passage before us gives a contrast in the response of 209 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:26,400 both ladies while Jesus was present in their home, present 210 00:14:26,400 --> 00:14:30,040 in their their their current situation, present in their 211 00:14:30,040 --> 00:14:34,680 life, if you will. We see here, as we have just 212 00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:39,680 read, that Mary joined the disciples and sat down to listen 213 00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:43,160 to Jesus. We saw that while Martha 214 00:14:43,160 --> 00:14:47,640 continued working around her home in order to accommodate 215 00:14:47,680 --> 00:14:52,080 Jesus and the disciples, and as we hear this tonight, Mary sat 216 00:14:52,080 --> 00:14:55,960 at Jesus feet. Martha accommodated Jesus and 217 00:14:55,960 --> 00:14:59,440 the disciples. We would say from the from off 218 00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:01,840 the cuff that both sound pretty good. 219 00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:05,240 There's in and out themselves. There's nothing wrong with 220 00:15:05,240 --> 00:15:07,680 either of those two things being busy. 221 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:13,720 Being at work and sitting with the Lord and his disciples both 222 00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:16,480 sound good. One was sitting and listening to 223 00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:21,680 Jesus, the other was busy. But considering why Jesus was at 224 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:26,240 their home in the 1st place will help us decide if it was if what 225 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:29,800 these ladies were both up to was good in their context. 226 00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:33,080 And so at the beginning of the message tonight, I asked the 227 00:15:33,080 --> 00:15:39,040 question, why did Christ die for your sin and forgive you of your 228 00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:43,240 sin when you called on him in faith and, and bring you back 229 00:15:43,240 --> 00:15:45,080 into a relationship with the Lord? 230 00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:50,440 And so we have to ask the same question about why Jesus came 231 00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:53,960 into their home and literally stepped in their their life that 232 00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:56,240 day. And we could really come to find 233 00:15:56,240 --> 00:15:58,600 the same answer to both of these questions. 234 00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:02,720 So considering why Jesus was at their home in the 1st place is 235 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:06,520 going to help us here tonight. There are a lot of things in 236 00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:12,280 life that are good in and of themselves, right? 237 00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:15,840 There are a lot of things that can be deemed good or bad 238 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:18,680 depending on their current context. 239 00:16:18,680 --> 00:16:22,040 Like some of you, some of you might think that you know it's 240 00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:25,920 OK to eat ice cream three times a day, right? 241 00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:29,000 There's nothing wrong with ice cream, but there might be 242 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:33,600 something wrong with that diet. We would all agree, and we're 243 00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:36,880 looking forward to forward to this in a couple of hours, that 244 00:16:36,880 --> 00:16:39,080 there's nothing wrong with sleeping. 245 00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:42,480 But there's something wrong with sleeping on the job, right? 246 00:16:42,800 --> 00:16:46,680 So in and of itself, there is nothing wrong with Martha's hard 247 00:16:46,680 --> 00:16:48,600 work. And certainly there's nothing 248 00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:53,240 wrong with Mary sitting with Jesus and listening to him speak 249 00:16:53,240 --> 00:16:55,880 and give his words. So in order to help us 250 00:16:55,880 --> 00:17:00,560 understand if both ladies were doing what was right in the 251 00:17:00,560 --> 00:17:03,720 moment, let me ask you a question again. 252 00:17:03,720 --> 00:17:08,720 Why did Jesus come to visit these two ladies? 253 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:12,119 What was his agenda? What was on his radar? 254 00:17:12,119 --> 00:17:15,839 What was his point in entering into their home? 255 00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:19,720 And so we see, first of all, that Jesus entered the home of a 256 00:17:19,720 --> 00:17:23,119 family that was known for their love for him. 257 00:17:23,520 --> 00:17:28,680 But we see secondly tonight that Jesus visited these ladies so 258 00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:33,960 that he can minister to their spiritual needs, so that he can 259 00:17:33,960 --> 00:17:36,440 minister to their spiritual needs. 260 00:17:37,120 --> 00:17:40,400 And so we see here in verses 30 and 39 again it says now it came 261 00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:43,360 to pass as they went that he entered into a certain village 262 00:17:43,360 --> 00:17:47,440 and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house and 263 00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:50,800 she had a sister called Mary which also sat at Jesus feet and 264 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:55,120 she heard His word. And so Jesus intended purpose in 265 00:17:55,120 --> 00:17:59,720 coming to the home of Martha and Mary was to be with those He 266 00:17:59,720 --> 00:18:02,960 loved. He simply wanted to be with 267 00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:05,440 them. And so this passage does not 268 00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:09,920 give us any evidence that Jesus came into their home expressing 269 00:18:10,240 --> 00:18:15,480 any personal need for food, or for drink, or even for leisure. 270 00:18:15,760 --> 00:18:19,000 Certainly it seems that Martha more than likely had that 271 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:22,640 prepared for him and the disciples, and probably offered 272 00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:25,480 it to him. But her passage does not show us 273 00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:28,160 that he was. He was needy and He was looking 274 00:18:28,160 --> 00:18:30,960 for her to do anything extra for Him. 275 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:35,520 In fact, and it seems to be the character of the Lord Jesus. 276 00:18:35,880 --> 00:18:39,160 This seems to be the character of the Lord Jesus as He walked 277 00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:42,320 this earth. For example, He says in Matthew 278 00:18:42,320 --> 00:18:47,200 20, verse 28, even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered 279 00:18:47,200 --> 00:18:53,200 unto, to be served, but for He himself to minister, to do the 280 00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:56,560 ministering, to do the blessing, to do the serving. 281 00:18:57,360 --> 00:19:01,080 So this can all work together. Tonight Church to indicate to us 282 00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:05,600 that Jesus came to their home that day, not to 'cause these 283 00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:10,040 ladies to run around the house for Him, but instead so that He 284 00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:14,480 could relieve them for a little while from all of their labor 285 00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:20,120 and all of their cares. So I want us to consider now 286 00:19:20,120 --> 00:19:24,720 Mary's response to Jesus presence in their home. 287 00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:30,240 So we understand from the offset here that Mary's tendency and 288 00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:34,560 what was easy for her was to cast herself at the feet of the 289 00:19:34,560 --> 00:19:38,120 Lord Jesus Christ. So let's consider her response 290 00:19:38,120 --> 00:19:43,240 to him being in her home. The Bible tells us right here 291 00:19:43,240 --> 00:19:49,320 that Mary responded to Jesus presence by sitting down at his 292 00:19:49,320 --> 00:19:55,680 feet with the other disciples. Notice the words in verse 39. 293 00:19:55,800 --> 00:20:01,720 She sat at Jesus feet. They these words here in the 294 00:20:01,720 --> 00:20:05,960 description of her action, they indicate to us a couple things. 295 00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:10,120 She sat at Jesus feet. In those other two verses from 296 00:20:10,120 --> 00:20:15,040 the Gospels, it says there something regarding the feet of 297 00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:19,920 Jesus in relation to Mary. And so we see here in verse 39 298 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:25,040 of this passage tonight. That Mary consciously dismissed 299 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:30,600 herself from whatever she was doing prior to Jesus coming to 300 00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:35,120 place herself in a position which signified that she was at 301 00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:38,680 rest. She wasn't going to do anything. 302 00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:42,400 She was going to sit there. She was going to take her time. 303 00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:45,720 She was going to focus. She was going to be at ease. 304 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:48,680 She was going to rest in the presence of Jesus. 305 00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:55,080 Mary was not only resting physically and maybe mentally, 306 00:20:55,080 --> 00:20:58,720 but she was focused in on something else. 307 00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:04,000 He's her seated position signified something about her 308 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:06,000 mindset. Let me say that again. 309 00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:09,600 Her seated position said something about her mindset. 310 00:21:10,160 --> 00:21:16,840 For example, in Acts chapter 22 in verse 3 the Bible says this 311 00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:20,920 regarding Saul who would become the apostle Paul. 312 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:25,840 Acts 22 and verse 3 it says. It says that we are told that 313 00:21:25,840 --> 00:21:31,120 before he became the apostle Paul, that he, Saul, sat at the 314 00:21:31,120 --> 00:21:35,640 feet of of Gamaliel. And so Acts 22, verse 3 says 315 00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:39,840 Paul says this of himself. I am verily a man which am a 316 00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:44,960 Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Silesia, yet brought up in the 317 00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:51,120 city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the 318 00:21:51,120 --> 00:21:55,000 perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward 319 00:21:55,000 --> 00:22:01,000 God, as you all are this day. What was Paul doing at the feet 320 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:03,440 of Gamaliel? Well, as we look at this man 321 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:07,240 Gamaliel, we understand that Gamaliel was highly educated. 322 00:22:07,240 --> 00:22:09,840 In fact, Gamaliel was an educator. 323 00:22:10,120 --> 00:22:15,240 Paul learned so much about the law in the Old Testament from 324 00:22:15,240 --> 00:22:19,560 this man Gamaliel. And Paul says to us in Acts 22 325 00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:23,000 three that he sat at the feet of Gamaliel. 326 00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:29,640 And So what Paul was doing at his feet was he was learning, he 327 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:34,680 was being taught, he was being educated by this man. 328 00:22:35,080 --> 00:22:38,240 Gamaliel. Sitting at one's feet is 329 00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:42,840 historically known as the ancient posture, which signified 330 00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:47,640 that a person was learning or being educated by the other. 331 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:53,160 It was a place of submission. It was a place of humility. 332 00:22:53,560 --> 00:22:57,040 It was a place in which where you would sit perhaps on the 333 00:22:57,040 --> 00:23:00,560 floor, and perhaps your teacher was sitting in a chair. 334 00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:04,120 And it just showed that they were a little bit more elevated 335 00:23:04,120 --> 00:23:08,120 than you were and that they were going to teach you, that they 336 00:23:08,120 --> 00:23:11,920 were going to educate you, and they were going to influence 337 00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:16,480 your thinking, influence your heart, and influence your life. 338 00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:21,200 So again, sitting at one's feet or sitting on the floor by 339 00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:26,680 somebody, it was a sign of 1's humility before the one they 340 00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:30,760 were sitting. So here we find in the same time 341 00:23:30,760 --> 00:23:36,560 period, Mary sitting at the feet of someone, but not just 342 00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:41,400 anybody, not a man like Gamaliel, not a man like 343 00:23:41,440 --> 00:23:46,680 Nicodemus, but the word of God himself, the Messiah, the 344 00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:51,560 Christ, her Savior, her Lord Jesus the Christ. 345 00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:57,560 Therefore, she intentionally forsook whatever it was that she 346 00:23:57,560 --> 00:24:01,000 was doing, and she humbled herself in such a way that 347 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:05,920 expressed that she was a disciple learning from the words 348 00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:09,080 of Jesus. I believe there is some liberty 349 00:24:09,080 --> 00:24:13,920 we can take to speculate what it was Mary was hearing and 350 00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:17,320 receiving from Jesus. What do you think maybe Christ 351 00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:19,320 was saying in her home at this time? 352 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:24,440 Perhaps Jesus was teaching Mary what what it is that disciples 353 00:24:24,440 --> 00:24:28,720 are supposed to do to live a maybe he was teaching her how to 354 00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:33,080 live a life that points people to salvation, to live a life of 355 00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:36,480 faith in God, to live a life of loving other people. 356 00:24:36,800 --> 00:24:41,000 Perhaps he was teaching her the importance and the the power of 357 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:44,440 of prayer of our communication with the Lord. 358 00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:47,160 Perhaps. Maybe he was taught he was 359 00:24:47,160 --> 00:24:51,840 talking about how he had just commissioned the 70 to go preach 360 00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:57,040 the gospel in different cities. I think it's safe to say that 361 00:24:57,120 --> 00:25:02,560 Jesus told Mary that he loved her, that he would provide for 362 00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:06,840 her so long as she followed him and she was faithful to seek 363 00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:11,360 first the will of God. Maybe Jesus was teaching her the 364 00:25:11,360 --> 00:25:16,560 importance of being a godly lady in their society, teaching her 365 00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:21,360 that she has value, teaching her that she was important to God. 366 00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:25,960 Who knows? The point is, Mary responded to 367 00:25:26,040 --> 00:25:31,040 Jesus being in her home by spending time in His presence. 368 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:35,320 That's really all that matters tonight is that she forsook 369 00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:38,760 everything that was happening right there in her life to show 370 00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:43,440 that she loved the Lord and wanted Him to influence her 371 00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:46,760 life. There's also no doubt in my mind 372 00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:51,960 that her spirit was refreshed as she sat with the Word of God 373 00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:57,960 Himself. But where was her sister Martha? 374 00:25:59,040 --> 00:26:02,080 Where was Martha? Notice the beginning of verse 375 00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:07,800 40. But Martha was cumbered about 376 00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:12,360 much serving. She was cumbered about much 377 00:26:12,360 --> 00:26:15,840 serving. The Bible uses the word cumbered 378 00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:19,480 here at the beginning of verse 40, which carries the idea that 379 00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:24,480 she was obstructed or or busy or disrupted with with something. 380 00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:29,080 She was, she was held back. She was, she was distracted from 381 00:26:29,360 --> 00:26:32,120 perhaps where her focus really was supposed to be. 382 00:26:32,600 --> 00:26:37,840 So in this context, Martha was busy with serving, a lot of 383 00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:39,880 serving. Perhaps she was just finding 384 00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:42,400 things to do. Perhaps once somebody finished 385 00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:45,440 a, a, a plate of food, she would take that and get rid of it. 386 00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:48,760 Once a crumb was dropped, she would sweep that or she would 387 00:26:48,760 --> 00:26:50,360 find something to straighten out. 388 00:26:50,360 --> 00:26:53,000 She was, the Bible teaches us that she was cumber. 389 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:56,160 She was busy about much serving. She was obstructed. 390 00:26:56,160 --> 00:26:58,720 So in this context, she was serving a lot. 391 00:26:58,720 --> 00:27:03,040 She had kept herself so entirely busy around her home that she 392 00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:07,880 didn't think to say no to those things so she could say yes to 393 00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:11,280 spending time with Jesus. I mean, we're talking about 394 00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:15,120 Jesus here. This isn't just Joe Schmo, 395 00:27:15,280 --> 00:27:19,120 forgive me Joe, but Joe Schmo, that was his, his Jewish last 396 00:27:19,120 --> 00:27:22,560 name, Joe Schmo. This wasn't just Joe Schmo 397 00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:25,600 walking through the door, this was Jesus. 398 00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:30,160 And she continued to busy herself, what with what she was 399 00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:34,600 doing before they arrived. The Bible tells us essentially 400 00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:38,560 with the word cumbered that she was consumed. 401 00:27:38,560 --> 00:27:41,840 She was consumed with whatever she was busy with. 402 00:27:43,320 --> 00:27:48,440 But no, no one doubts still, even tonight that Martha, she 403 00:27:48,440 --> 00:27:51,760 loved Jesus too. She loved Christ too. 404 00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:57,640 In fact, she was probably doing what she was doing because she 405 00:27:57,640 --> 00:28:01,520 thought that that was was best in the moment, because she 406 00:28:01,520 --> 00:28:04,800 thought perhaps that would please Jesus. 407 00:28:07,360 --> 00:28:11,080 She wasn't doing anything that was sinful in and of itself. 408 00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:16,320 There's nothing sinful about working when it's done in its 409 00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:22,840 proper place and time. And so verse 40 tells us that 410 00:28:22,840 --> 00:28:24,480 she was cumbered about much serving. 411 00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:29,320 And so she in verse 40, she now walks into the area of her home 412 00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:34,720 where Jesus is sitting and his disciples are sitting and Mary 413 00:28:34,880 --> 00:28:37,600 her sister is sitting. So verse 40 again it says, but 414 00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:40,960 Martha was cumbered about much serving and, and came to him and 415 00:28:40,960 --> 00:28:45,200 said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to 416 00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:49,840 serve alone, to serve the 13 of you alone? 417 00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:53,280 Did her therefore that she helped me? 418 00:28:54,640 --> 00:28:59,720 And here we find a gracious reminder from Jesus to a 419 00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:05,040 faithful servant. And he says to us tonight, verse 420 00:29:05,040 --> 00:29:11,720 41 And Jesus answered and said unto her graciously, Martha, 421 00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:15,840 Martha, he's he's getting her attention because we know she's 422 00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:19,360 like this, right hair pulled out. 423 00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:22,920 You know, I guess I'll stop there. 424 00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:31,760 So he says, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about 425 00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:36,480 many things. You're anxious, but one thing is 426 00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:41,800 needful and and Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not 427 00:29:41,800 --> 00:29:49,080 be taken away from her. He says Martha's busyness was 428 00:29:49,080 --> 00:29:53,080 wrong for two primary reasons. Work in and of itself. 429 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:55,480 Busyness in and of itself is not wrong. 430 00:29:55,880 --> 00:29:59,080 We've all come from a busy day and it was appropriate and right 431 00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:02,240 for us to be busy about our lives and we could preach a 432 00:30:02,240 --> 00:30:05,640 message on that. But but her busyness on this 433 00:30:05,640 --> 00:30:09,480 day, at this hour and this moment was wrong for two primary 434 00:30:09,480 --> 00:30:12,640 reasons. First of all, her busyness was 435 00:30:12,640 --> 00:30:17,960 wrong at the time because Jesus came into her home not to be 436 00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:23,560 ministered unto, but that He would minister to her and to 437 00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:26,440 Mary. It was time for Martha to put 438 00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:30,720 things aside for a couple of hours and to come and and seat 439 00:30:30,720 --> 00:30:34,320 herself next to her sister Mary and the rest of the church that 440 00:30:34,320 --> 00:30:37,040 was there in the Lord Jesus Christ. 441 00:30:37,040 --> 00:30:40,040 When Jesus entered into the home, it was time for both 442 00:30:40,200 --> 00:30:45,240 Martha and Mary to say no to everything else, and to say yes 443 00:30:45,240 --> 00:30:50,080 to the very Word of God himself. Martha's responsibility was to 444 00:30:50,080 --> 00:30:53,840 say yes to sitting at Jesus feet. 445 00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:57,240 And so it was. Her busyness was wrong at this 446 00:30:57,240 --> 00:31:01,840 hour, on this day, because it was it was out of place for her. 447 00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:06,400 But secondly, her busyness, her neglect to sit with Jesus LED 448 00:31:06,400 --> 00:31:13,120 her to a reaction of the flesh, to a reaction of the flesh flesh 449 00:31:13,120 --> 00:31:16,880 when she saw Mary, as we saw at the in the middle of verse 40, 450 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:22,120 when she saw Mary sitting with Jesus, she technically reacted 451 00:31:22,400 --> 00:31:27,080 selfishly. She was frustrated that Mary 452 00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:31,880 wasn't helping her. She wanted Jesus, who had all 453 00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:37,720 authority, to tell Mary to leave his feet and go get busy 454 00:31:37,720 --> 00:31:41,800 serving. But how did Jesus actually 455 00:31:41,800 --> 00:31:45,040 respond to Martha and all of her attitude? 456 00:31:46,200 --> 00:31:51,680 Right graciously, He responded graciously. 457 00:31:52,560 --> 00:31:56,440 Here's the message tonight. Jesus graciously reminded a 458 00:31:56,480 --> 00:32:04,400 faithful yet burdened an anxious woman of God, an anxious 459 00:32:04,400 --> 00:32:08,280 servant, that time spent at his feet was the most important 460 00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:10,840 thing she could do at that moment. 461 00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:16,440 And he teaches us tonight that the most important aspect of the 462 00:32:16,440 --> 00:32:20,760 Christian life is your relationship with the Lord. 463 00:32:23,160 --> 00:32:26,240 Jesus came to relieve her of the burden. 464 00:32:26,480 --> 00:32:30,480 That's why he came into your life to relieve you of the 465 00:32:30,480 --> 00:32:34,360 burden of sin. But then, even on a daily basis, 466 00:32:34,360 --> 00:32:39,440 He wants to relieve you for a moment of some of the realities 467 00:32:40,080 --> 00:32:44,960 of life and get you saturated in His loving, gracious, and 468 00:32:44,960 --> 00:32:48,880 merciful presence and His fondness of you. 469 00:32:50,840 --> 00:32:55,960 Mary recognized her own need, and she made the best choice at 470 00:32:55,960 --> 00:33:00,400 this hour. Christ stepped into our lives to 471 00:33:00,400 --> 00:33:05,440 relieve us of our burdens, that we might have fellowship with 472 00:33:05,440 --> 00:33:08,440 Him and thus serve Him as a result. 473 00:33:08,840 --> 00:33:11,960 And that's the gospel. Why did Christ come into your 474 00:33:11,960 --> 00:33:14,440 life? Why did you call on Christ to 475 00:33:14,440 --> 00:33:16,800 save you on the day in which you were saved? 476 00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:19,960 Because remember this tonight, there was a time in your life 477 00:33:19,960 --> 00:33:23,520 where you were convinced and convicted that your sins 478 00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:27,560 separated you from God, that your sin was between you and 479 00:33:27,560 --> 00:33:31,440 having a relationship with God. And finally, by the grace of 480 00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:34,320 God, by the teaching and the preaching of the gospel, the 481 00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:38,080 Holy Spirit drew you in, helped you to realize what was 482 00:33:38,080 --> 00:33:40,920 separating you from a relationship with God. 483 00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:44,760 And upon your conviction and upon your faith in the Lord 484 00:33:44,760 --> 00:33:50,360 Jesus Christ, he removed sin out from between you and him, and he 485 00:33:50,360 --> 00:33:53,400 brought you back into a relationship with him. 486 00:33:53,600 --> 00:33:55,720 This is the essence of the gospel. 487 00:33:55,920 --> 00:33:58,600 And so Jesus did not forgive you of your sin. 488 00:33:58,680 --> 00:34:01,800 Listen tonight, just to take you to heaven. 489 00:34:02,040 --> 00:34:05,000 And that's often what we preach is get saved to go to heaven. 490 00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:08,600 Get saved to go to heaven. No, no, no, no, we get saved to 491 00:34:08,600 --> 00:34:12,880 be restored into a relationship with God, and heaven will be 492 00:34:12,880 --> 00:34:16,760 indeed in our future. But He stepped into your life to 493 00:34:16,760 --> 00:34:21,360 restore a relationship with Him. He wants to fellowship with you. 494 00:34:21,679 --> 00:34:26,840 When God created man, He created us primarily that we might know 495 00:34:26,840 --> 00:34:32,719 Him and joy Him and love Him and glorify Him forever. 496 00:34:33,000 --> 00:34:37,400 And in our sin, our sin hindered that from taking place. 497 00:34:37,880 --> 00:34:42,199 And so Christ did not step into your life to make you a busy 498 00:34:42,199 --> 00:34:45,040 person. He stepped into your life so 499 00:34:45,040 --> 00:34:48,199 that you could be saturated with Him. 500 00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:53,440 And the fact is tonight that as we walk with God, we will want 501 00:34:53,440 --> 00:34:56,000 to get up and serve Him at some point. 502 00:34:56,159 --> 00:34:58,640 But the cart doesn't come before the horse. 503 00:34:58,800 --> 00:35:03,200 We are to fall in love with Him primarily, and then we will want 504 00:35:03,200 --> 00:35:05,800 to serve Him. If we are just serving and 505 00:35:05,800 --> 00:35:09,640 serving and we are busy and busy, we're going to get burned 506 00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:13,400 out and we might not be very interested in having a daily 507 00:35:13,400 --> 00:35:15,960 walk with the Lord. In fact, that can cause us to 508 00:35:15,960 --> 00:35:21,240 forget why Jesus stepped into our house, why Jesus stepped 509 00:35:21,240 --> 00:35:25,640 into our home to have a relationship with you and with 510 00:35:25,640 --> 00:35:28,960 me. This is the gospel. 511 00:35:29,640 --> 00:35:32,400 Christ wanted them to live in light of the gospel. 512 00:35:32,600 --> 00:35:34,440 And what was the gospel at this moment? 513 00:35:34,840 --> 00:35:37,160 Him. It's always him. 514 00:35:37,880 --> 00:35:41,960 It's always the Lord Jesus. When we allow ourselves to to 515 00:35:41,960 --> 00:35:46,880 minister more for Christ than we allow Christ to minister to us, 516 00:35:47,920 --> 00:35:54,840 our ministering can become empty, vain, heartless. 517 00:35:56,000 --> 00:36:01,840 We can become and act in ways that are off balance and out of 518 00:36:01,840 --> 00:36:04,360 place. Allow me to phrase it. 519 00:36:04,360 --> 00:36:08,960 To phrase it this way, when we allow ourselves to become too 520 00:36:08,960 --> 00:36:14,160 busy with daily life to spend quiet time alone with God in His 521 00:36:14,160 --> 00:36:19,080 word and prayer, we are missing out on the primary reason Christ 522 00:36:19,080 --> 00:36:21,360 came into our lives in the 1st place. 523 00:36:22,080 --> 00:36:26,240 And that reason was so we could have a relationship with Him. 524 00:36:26,440 --> 00:36:28,480 I asked this question a few moments ago. 525 00:36:28,480 --> 00:36:33,360 Why did Christ forgive your sin and remove the consequences of 526 00:36:33,360 --> 00:36:38,200 sin so that you can have a relationship with your Creator 527 00:36:38,680 --> 00:36:41,160 through Jesus Christ? Isn't that an amazing truth? 528 00:36:42,600 --> 00:36:50,200 God, the high and holy God wants to be with us, the likes of us. 529 00:36:51,040 --> 00:36:54,520 It really is and truly is Amazing Grace. 530 00:36:54,520 --> 00:36:57,200 Remember now, Martha loved Jesus. 531 00:36:57,640 --> 00:37:01,080 She wasn't rejecting him. She she wasn't bitter toward 532 00:37:01,080 --> 00:37:03,320 Jesus. She wasn't trying to ignore 533 00:37:03,480 --> 00:37:05,920 Jesus. She simply allowed herself to 534 00:37:05,920 --> 00:37:10,680 become too busy. I would say that's the case with 535 00:37:10,880 --> 00:37:15,560 all of us at times. The Bible says that once Christ 536 00:37:15,560 --> 00:37:18,800 stepped into your life at the moment of salvation, the love of 537 00:37:18,800 --> 00:37:20,800 God was shed abroad in your heart. 538 00:37:21,080 --> 00:37:24,800 You had a love for God that you never had prior to salvation. 539 00:37:25,120 --> 00:37:27,600 And when he stepped into your life, you loved him. 540 00:37:28,360 --> 00:37:31,440 And when he stepped into your life, you loved His church, you 541 00:37:31,440 --> 00:37:34,960 loved Christians, you loved the word of God, you loved the 542 00:37:34,960 --> 00:37:38,320 presence of God. And so that was who Martha was. 543 00:37:38,320 --> 00:37:45,400 She certainly loved God. I wonder though, can we be 544 00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:49,720 guilty of telling ourselves when we're busy and busy and busy? 545 00:37:50,440 --> 00:37:57,120 Well, God knows my heart. He knows to justify not taking 546 00:37:57,480 --> 00:38:02,360 personal time at His feet. Yes, there are times where where 547 00:38:02,360 --> 00:38:05,240 where God, God always knows. And there are times where God 548 00:38:05,240 --> 00:38:09,520 does understand certain circumstances, but as a regular 549 00:38:09,520 --> 00:38:15,200 habit to not take time at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. 550 00:38:16,360 --> 00:38:18,320 So know this. Thirdly, tonight that there is 551 00:38:18,320 --> 00:38:22,480 nothing more important in your day than personal time with 552 00:38:22,600 --> 00:38:26,880 Jesus. But what distracts us from 553 00:38:26,880 --> 00:38:29,280 spending time with the Lord on a daily basis? 554 00:38:30,400 --> 00:38:33,440 What are the ways? Maybe we might act like Martha? 555 00:38:38,360 --> 00:38:44,480 I want to say this tonight, that business busyness in the work of 556 00:38:44,480 --> 00:38:47,840 the Lord does not equal godliness. 557 00:38:48,360 --> 00:38:52,640 Busyness being overwhelmed in the work of the Lord does not 558 00:38:52,640 --> 00:38:56,360 equal godliness. We could have our ministry, we 559 00:38:56,360 --> 00:38:59,440 could have our vocation, we could have our career. 560 00:38:59,600 --> 00:39:04,400 These are all good things and we might come to the place where we 561 00:39:04,400 --> 00:39:09,200 are content with serving work must be must get done and and 562 00:39:09,200 --> 00:39:13,040 God and God knows this, but these things are not to replace 563 00:39:13,360 --> 00:39:17,800 our time in his presence in the word and in prayer. 564 00:39:18,720 --> 00:39:24,600 Perhaps it's it's family, it's different priorities in your 565 00:39:24,600 --> 00:39:28,360 life, it's different habits, it's it's different routines. 566 00:39:29,240 --> 00:39:32,200 And as we look at these verses tonight, we consider this 567 00:39:32,200 --> 00:39:36,240 passage. We can very easily apply this to 568 00:39:36,240 --> 00:39:40,160 church life. You've chosen to be here tonight 569 00:39:40,840 --> 00:39:42,920 when you're here. I mean, you've made a decision 570 00:39:42,920 --> 00:39:44,040 to be here every time you're here. 571 00:39:44,040 --> 00:39:48,680 Obviously, I don't think anybody is here against their will, but 572 00:39:48,680 --> 00:39:50,760 this even comes into play with church life. 573 00:39:51,000 --> 00:39:54,320 What you have done tonight, even right here in the middle of your 574 00:39:54,320 --> 00:39:58,200 busy week, is you have put certain things aside. 575 00:39:59,040 --> 00:40:02,640 You have put your life on pause, the rest of your life on pause. 576 00:40:03,160 --> 00:40:05,520 Although you might have things to do even as soon as you get 577 00:40:05,520 --> 00:40:10,800 home tonight and you've come and you have sat at the feet of the 578 00:40:10,800 --> 00:40:14,400 Word of God, and I commend you for that. 579 00:40:15,480 --> 00:40:20,160 Every time you're here, you're choosing that you want to be 580 00:40:20,160 --> 00:40:23,160 influenced by the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. 581 00:40:23,360 --> 00:40:26,240 This has to do with your personal walk with God, and also 582 00:40:26,240 --> 00:40:28,840 has to do with your corporate walk with God. 583 00:40:30,160 --> 00:40:34,680 Is it too much to make the Lord's Day entirely devoted to 584 00:40:34,680 --> 00:40:37,320 Him? On Sundays, where we take one 585 00:40:37,320 --> 00:40:42,160 day a week and we put the rest of our life on pause, and when 586 00:40:42,160 --> 00:40:46,120 the church gathers in the morning, we gather. 587 00:40:46,520 --> 00:40:50,200 When the church gathers in the evening, we gather. 588 00:40:50,400 --> 00:40:53,720 Why? Because Jesus is here because 589 00:40:53,720 --> 00:40:57,240 it's time to sit at his feet. When we put other things on 590 00:40:57,240 --> 00:41:02,040 pause, we are showing that the presence of Christ is important. 591 00:41:02,480 --> 00:41:04,840 One of the greatest things my parents ever did for me, and 592 00:41:04,840 --> 00:41:08,360 I'll never forget it. When I was probably 14 years 593 00:41:08,360 --> 00:41:13,080 old, 1314 years old, I wanted to join the Police Explorers. 594 00:41:13,280 --> 00:41:16,640 OK, as I was pulled between preaching and policing. 595 00:41:16,720 --> 00:41:20,080 Sometimes they're the same preaching and policing. 596 00:41:20,080 --> 00:41:23,160 I I thought that's probably the direction I would have gone if 597 00:41:23,160 --> 00:41:25,920 the Lord didn't call me to preach was law enforcement. 598 00:41:26,520 --> 00:41:29,160 And so I, I wanted to get involved in the club, right? 599 00:41:29,160 --> 00:41:33,640 I want to get my feet wet and stand there at at fall festivals 600 00:41:33,640 --> 00:41:36,040 and paint people's faces and tell people where to park with 601 00:41:36,040 --> 00:41:41,280 combat boots on with my oversized polo shirt tucked in, 602 00:41:41,280 --> 00:41:44,920 right, Yes, Sir, right. But the thing was, and we were, 603 00:41:44,920 --> 00:41:47,440 we were my grew up in a Christian home. 604 00:41:48,280 --> 00:41:51,120 The thing was about the police explorers was that they had 605 00:41:51,120 --> 00:41:55,240 their primary meeting on Wednesday evenings, Wednesday 606 00:41:55,240 --> 00:41:58,320 nights. And before I committed myself to 607 00:41:58,360 --> 00:42:03,800 that, my, I had a father and I still do who evaluated the 608 00:42:03,800 --> 00:42:07,360 situation. And he said, Dan, that's going 609 00:42:07,360 --> 00:42:10,920 to take the place of your time in the church. 610 00:42:12,360 --> 00:42:15,480 I believe you can do this. And it was hard. 611 00:42:15,480 --> 00:42:18,480 It was just like, man, you sure? You sure we can't squeeze it in 612 00:42:18,480 --> 00:42:21,440 somehow and maybe show up to church a little late. 613 00:42:21,440 --> 00:42:28,680 And we said no. And so he helped me recognize 614 00:42:28,680 --> 00:42:34,160 that I needed to prioritize the feet of Jesus being where God is 615 00:42:34,160 --> 00:42:36,200 at work, being where God wants me to be. 616 00:42:36,440 --> 00:42:41,360 And here's the thing, we, we, we just take maybe 20% of our week 617 00:42:42,000 --> 00:42:45,080 and we congregate as a church and we assemble as a church to 618 00:42:45,600 --> 00:42:48,120 be in the fellowship, to be in the word and to be equipped to 619 00:42:48,120 --> 00:42:50,600 fulfill the Great Commission or even to actually fulfill the 620 00:42:50,600 --> 00:42:53,000 Great Commission. But this is true even in our 621 00:42:53,000 --> 00:42:56,600 personal lives. We get into a routine, maybe in 622 00:42:56,600 --> 00:43:00,400 our in the home and before we know it it's been a couple weeks 623 00:43:00,400 --> 00:43:04,560 since we have gone and spent time with the Lord in the Bible 624 00:43:04,920 --> 00:43:07,440 and in the place of worship and prayer. 625 00:43:09,560 --> 00:43:12,920 Perhaps you're over committing to favors and responsibilities. 626 00:43:13,200 --> 00:43:16,400 You're serving and helping other other people and that is good. 627 00:43:16,400 --> 00:43:19,720 But some people become so busy serving others that they have no 628 00:43:19,720 --> 00:43:24,840 time to sit with Jesus. Maybe it's entertainment, and 629 00:43:24,840 --> 00:43:29,400 entertainment can be a blessing at times, but we are all guilty 630 00:43:29,400 --> 00:43:32,520 of prioritizing entertainment over time at the feet of the 631 00:43:32,520 --> 00:43:37,520 only one who can satisfy our most deepest desires. 632 00:43:38,360 --> 00:43:41,360 And I'll say this too, maybe about your routine, that it is 633 00:43:41,360 --> 00:43:45,880 true that health can become a factor that makes you to have to 634 00:43:45,880 --> 00:43:49,960 rework what time with Jesus looks like for you. 635 00:43:49,960 --> 00:43:53,400 No one's saying tonight that you need to meet with the Lord first 636 00:43:53,400 --> 00:43:55,640 thing in the morning and you need to spend an hour of God 637 00:43:55,640 --> 00:43:57,800 with God. And you have to keep a journal 638 00:43:57,800 --> 00:44:00,520 and you need to report it to the pastor, and you need to prove 639 00:44:00,800 --> 00:44:02,800 that you're spending time with the Lord Jesus Christ. 640 00:44:03,000 --> 00:44:05,640 And it needs to be this time, this room at this hour. 641 00:44:05,880 --> 00:44:08,280 That's not what we're saying. What we're saying is though, 642 00:44:08,280 --> 00:44:11,040 there comes a time every day where you need to put your life 643 00:44:11,040 --> 00:44:13,920 on pause and say it's God and I time. 644 00:44:14,600 --> 00:44:18,160 That's why he saved you first and foremost, to have a 645 00:44:18,160 --> 00:44:20,680 relationship with you. Think of the gospel. 646 00:44:21,360 --> 00:44:24,760 Christ stepped into our lives so we could be together. 647 00:44:25,880 --> 00:44:30,160 We need to be deliberate and intentional about our daily walk 648 00:44:30,160 --> 00:44:32,760 with God, or else other things are going to get in the way. 649 00:44:32,760 --> 00:44:35,600 You say, Brother Dan, I'm not really sure what to do. 650 00:44:35,600 --> 00:44:38,520 I'm not 100% sure what you're talking about. 651 00:44:38,920 --> 00:44:41,920 A personal daily relationship with God like in the Bible. 652 00:44:42,200 --> 00:44:45,280 And where do I start? Well, that's what we're here 653 00:44:45,280 --> 00:44:48,280 for. You come and you ask, and we'll 654 00:44:48,280 --> 00:44:52,040 disciple you and teach you how to get involved in God's Word, 655 00:44:52,520 --> 00:44:56,360 teach you how to pray, teach you to get how to get deeply rooted 656 00:44:56,720 --> 00:44:58,960 in your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 657 00:44:59,440 --> 00:45:03,000 Having a time and place where we daily come into His presence is 658 00:45:03,000 --> 00:45:05,280 helpful. Worshipping Him, reading His 659 00:45:05,280 --> 00:45:09,880 Word, listening to His Spirit is why He saved us. 660 00:45:11,120 --> 00:45:13,800 Thank you for listening to the sermon from the pulpit of 661 00:45:13,800 --> 00:45:16,720 Liberty Baptist Church. If this message was a blessing 662 00:45:16,720 --> 00:45:20,200 to you, or if there's any way we can serve you, please let us 663 00:45:20,200 --> 00:45:24,800 know by contacting us at info@mylibertybaptist.org. 664 00:45:25,080 --> 00:45:29,600 Or you can visit us this Sunday at 800 Washington St. in Easton, 665 00:45:29,600 --> 00:45:32,440 MA. May the Lord bless you as you 666 00:45:32,440 --> 00:45:33,640 grow in His Word.