Mary and Martha

[0:00] It certainly is a troubling time, isn't it? What's going on in the world of late? Missiles firing, warships circling, lots of threats and alarm here and there.

[0:22] ! The Prince of Peace. And one day the government shall be on his shoulders and his kingdom will never end, it's everlasting. And I was talking with someone of late, having some exchanges with someone of late who really places Jesus as just a man.

[0:41] But the Bible says he is the King of Kings. He is the Lord of Lords. He is beyond compare. This is no mere man. This is God in the flesh. God come down to intervene in human history.

[0:55] His story. History. His story. It's Christ from Genesis to Revelation. From Alpha to Omega. The beginning and the end. The same yesterday, today and forever. The King. And his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. He is the everlasting King.

[1:14] And we know the Bible speaks of who that everlasting King is. L-O-R-D. In capitals in the Old Testament. Jehovah, Lord, the Almighty God, come down as man. God manifest in the flesh.

[1:31] 1 Timothy 3.16. And what a joy it is to know him. And whatever happens on this planet is kind of immaterial. Because we know we have an everlasting King. And an everlasting kingdom. And his kingdom will never end.

[1:46] And he will renew the earth and the heavens. And we'll have a new heaven and a new earth. And wherein we'll dwell righteousness. Not our righteousness, but his righteousness granted to us by faith.

[1:58] What a blessing. Let's go to the Word of God. Luke 10. If you've got your Bibles. Luke 10. Luke 10. And we'll just cover some themes here around two sisters.

[2:12] A story of two sisters. Mary and Martha. Luke 10.

[2:23] We can learn much from Mary and Martha. Luke 10. Welcome to visitors, especially today. God bless you. And I hope you feel very much welcome here today.

[2:39] Luke 10 from verse 38. Let's just concentrate on the Word of God now. And lay aside all things that would distract us from these truths of Scripture.

[2:53] Luke 10 from verse 38. If you don't have a Bible, you can read behind me here the verses that we'll cover from Luke 10.

[3:06] The Gospel of Luke. Luke 10. And Luke says this. He says, Now it came to pass as they went that he, the Lord Jesus, entered into a certain village.

[3:18] 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.

[3:32] 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?

[3:47] Bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things.

[4:03] But one thing is needful, and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

[4:14] Here is a story of two sisters.

[4:25] A story of two sisters. They both loved Jesus. Mary and Martha both loved Jesus.

[4:36] They were both believers, Mary and Martha. Let me introduce them to you now. Martha. Martha. Martha, it says, was cumbered or distracted with much serving.

[4:53] She was cumbered. When you've got an encumbrance, you're loaded up with something. She was loaded up with all these distractions with much serving, it says. She was careful, in other words, full of cares.

[5:05] She was troubled. She was complaining as well. She was busy and bothered. Now, we see the good thing about Martha.

[5:16] Martha, we read that a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. She received him into her house. That's very much a good thing about Martha.

[5:29] And she was doing a lot of serving, which was a good thing, too. With Martha, though, everything had to be just so, in its place. Everything, you could picture it, that everything just had its perfect place.

[5:45] Everything had to be spick and span. You could imagine she was trying so hard, trying really hard. And she was cumbered about with much serving.

[5:56] She was getting overwhelmed. It's like she was just trying too hard. And she asked the Lord to call Mary to come and help her.

[6:07] She was going to extremes, getting over-anxious and worried. And our Lord says this. He says, Martha, Martha. Lucky tenderly, earnestly calls her name.

[6:21] And he gently corrects busy Martha. And our Lord says, Mary has chosen. Mary has chosen. There's something to choose here.

[6:34] That's Martha. Now, secondly, Mary. Mary, in contrast of scurrying and worrying, Mary is sitting. Sitting at the Saviour's feet.

[6:46] Hearing his word. Feeding on his word. Mary treasures the word of God. She wants to spend time communing with her Lord.

[6:57] And Mary shows her faith. As she's sitting there listening at his feet. Do we spend time at Jesus' feet?

[7:09] Spend time with our Lord, like Mary. In devotion. In love. It's been said our devotions show our devotion. To have those times, those special times.

[7:21] That special place of prayer, of study, of time with the Lord. Here's some things we can learn here. Here's three things we can learn from Mary and Martha.

[7:33] And these are things that you can do. I can do. Number one. Give Jesus your home. Give Jesus your home. A certain woman named Martha received him into her house.

[7:45] Give the Lord Jesus your home. Your home. Your family. Martha received him into her house. Mary and Martha invited Jesus into their home.

[7:57] Particularly Martha is mentioned. Martha is spoken of here. And he was glad to be with them. The Lord Jesus wants people whose hearts are ready to welcome him.

[8:10] Amen. He wants people to welcome him into their home. Do we want the Lord Jesus to come and to be with us? To be in our home? With our family?

[8:22] Is that what we would want? I trust that it is. To be with us. To be with us all the time. Not as a visitor, but as resident.

[8:36] As part of the family. The head of the home. Truly. Isn't it? Our Lord Jesus. And how can we realize that?

[8:48] That the Lord Jesus would be the head of our house. The head of our home. Let's include him. In our everyday. Let's have grace. At meal times.

[8:59] Let's have time. In the Bible. And prayer. You can pray for your family. Jesus wants to come to your place. Today. Tonight.

[9:10] And forever. Doesn't he? He wants to come. And Martha received him. Into her home. In the Bible.

[9:21] We see in Luke 19. Another account. Of a man called Zacchaeus. From verse 5. It says. As our Lord was traveling. There was a great crowd.

[9:33] And Zacchaeus was a man of short stature. And he ran and climbed a tree. So he could get a view. Of Jesus. And verse 5 of Luke 19.

[9:45] It says. The Lord Jesus looked up. And saw him. And said unto him. Zacchaeus. Make haste. And come down. For today.

[9:56] I must abide. At thy house. And he made haste. And came down. And received him joyfully. You know. Jesus. Invited himself.

[10:07] Over. To Zacchaeus' place. And. People saw it. They murmured. And said. That he was gone. To be a guest. With a man.

[10:18] That is a sinner. Jesus. Gone to be. With this man. Who is a sinner. And verse 8.

[10:29] We see. Zacchaeus said. Lord. The half of my goods. I give to the poor. If I have taken anything. From any man. By false accusation. I restore him. Fourfold. He returned.

[10:40] That which he had. Dishonestly taken. And Jesus said unto him. This day. Is salvation. Come to this house. For as much. As he also is. A son of Abraham.

[10:51] For the son of man. Is come. To seek. And to save. That which was lost. Jesus invited himself. To Zacchaeus' place. Jesus. Went to his house.

[11:03] To his home. And then Jesus says. Salvation. Is come. To. This house. When Jesus comes in. Salvation happens.

[11:14] Amen. And we see that. Martha gave Jesus. Her home. Number one. So give Jesus. Your home. Make it your commitment. I want Jesus. The Lord Jesus.

[11:25] To be the Lord of my home. Of my family. God helping. Me. I will make that happen. As the Christian. In my household. Number two.

[11:37] Give Jesus. Your time. Give the Lord Jesus. Your time. Now Martha was a hard worker. Here she was. Scurrying around. Worrying. Fussing. Stressing.

[11:48] Perhaps. Burdened. Cumbered. With a load of. Burdensome work. To do. Things to get done. Working hard.

[12:00] That's a good. Character trait. To work hard. But Martha was put out. When she saw Mary. Over there. Sitting at Jesus's feet. She's just sitting down.

[12:12] She's not. Helping me. And the Lord Jesus. Pointed out to Martha. That Mary. Was actually doing something. That was important. One of the most important.

[12:23] Things we can do. Is to have time. With the Lord Jesus. Isn't it? It's one of the most important. Things that we can do. Is to have time. With Jesus. And that's what.

[12:35] Mary did. And we can all become so busy. And forget. To take time for God. It's almost like. As life gets. Longer.

[12:46] We just get busier. And busier. There's more and more to do. Isn't it? It's not like. You kind of. Wind down. For retirement. You just find more to do.

[12:59] That's how it seems. For me. And. Our time. Gets so. Demanded of. And stretched. That we don't. Put that time aside. Do we?

[13:10] That we ought to. And Martha. Made that mistake. Of getting over busy. And crowding out. That time. She could have been. And ought to have been. Listening to the Lord Jesus's word.

[13:21] And talking with him. It's important to study the Bible. And to pray. These are fundamentals. Really. Of life. The fundamentals. Isn't it? That.

[13:32] You know. Some of the. Learnings we've had. As a younger person. I know. I was involved with. A program that. That really. Narrowed it down. To the basic things.

[13:43] Of being a Christian. You know. Once you're saved. Read the Bible. Pray. Witness. It. It falls down to simple things. Really.

[13:54] Doesn't it? These are the simple things. And yet. How we miss that. Often. Martha made that mistake. And it's important to study the Bible.

[14:05] And to pray. Give Jesus your. House. Your home. Give Jesus your time. And thirdly. Give Jesus your very best. Jesus your best.

[14:17] As John records in John 12. Verse 3. As he recounts the same. Encounter. Of Jesus. With Martha and Mary.

[14:28] In John 12. Verse 3. He puts more detail here. That Mary. Took very costly ointment. And anointed the feet of Jesus. And wiped his head.

[14:39] Sorry. Wiped his feet. With her hair. And the house was filled. With the odor of the ointment. It was six days before the Passover.

[14:51] Just. Days before the cross. And Jesus came back to Bethany here. It was his last visit. To their home. And they made him a meal. And Mary came.

[15:03] She carried in her hand. A vase of fragrant ointment. It was very costly. Very costly ointment. Could have been. Months and months.

[15:15] In value. Of salary. It was. It was. An awesome. Sacrifice. That she. Was. Pouring that out. Upon him. That which is very precious to her.

[15:29] And she poured it. On his feet. It was her way of showing. How much. She loved him. How much. She loved her Lord. Mary. Gave her best. She made a sacrifice.

[15:41] And sometimes. It will cost you. To become. A Christian. It will cost you. Being a Christian. You know. You'll. You'll get scorned. And mocked.

[15:52] Those of you. Who are bold enough. To be. Public. With your faith. You know. I've seen some of your posts. On Facebook. Some of you.

[16:03] You're afraid. To stand up for Christ. And I can imagine that. You get. Some ribbing for that. You get some people. Who don't know the Lord. Have a go at you for that. Maybe.

[16:14] Drop you. For that. Because you're not afraid. To stand up for your Saviour. And Lord. To confess him before men. And. This is what.

[16:26] Mary demonstrates. The sacrifice. It was very costly for her. She took it. And poured it. At. His feet. Upon his feet. And she wiped his feet.

[16:38] With her hair. The house was filled. With the sweet. Fragrance. The fragrance. Of. Of her worship. She wiped his feet. With her hair. And the house was filled.

[16:49] With the odour. Of the ointment. Mary gave. Of her best. And. The best. For her. For her. She took it. And poured it. The best.

[17:00] Will we make that same. Choice. That same. Stand. Do we give him our best. Or just.

[17:11] The kind of. What we can squeeze in. The leftovers. As it were. The. The scraps. Of our life. The little. Where we find a little moment. Or two.

[17:22] Or we just have. That. Commitment to meetings. The best. When we can. Fit them in. But nothing much else.

[17:33] Or will we give him our best. Our all. Isn't he worthy of that. The best thing. Let us give to Jesus. Let us give our best to him.

[17:46] Nothing is too good for him. And he deserves our very best. And what is the best thing. That we can give. To the Lord Jesus. Our heart.

[17:57] Our heart. Give your life to him. To live right. To live a pure. Life. God helping you. To dedicate your heart.

[18:08] To pleasing him. To pleasing him. So give Jesus. Your home. Give Jesus. Your time. And give Jesus. Your best. Your best. Your best. Don't hold back.

[18:19] Give him your all. And we see. The Lord Jesus. Commence. Mary. In this. Pivotal verse here. Luke 10. 42. When Jesus comes to their house. And he says.

[18:30] The Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus. Comes to their house. Martha's fussing.

[18:42] Running around. Running ragged. Saying. Lord. Bid her to come help me. I'm doing everything here. And Jesus says. Actually.

[18:53] Mary's chosen. What's right. He says to her. One thing is needful. One. Thing. Is needful.

[19:04] And Mary. Hath chosen that. Good part. heart, which shall not be taken away from her. One thing is needful. As a preacher of old said, and he captured it really well in this short little saying, he said about this one thing that is needful, he says this, this and nothing less, this and nothing more.

[19:28] One thing. One thing is needful, the care of our soul. The care of our soul. The salvation of the soul. This one thing is needful.

[19:39] It's necessary, it's essential that we come and bow as Mary shows for us here. And it says Mary has chosen the good part.

[19:53] Now this word where it says the good part, it's got the sense of like a portion of a meal. If you have a smogger's board laid out on a big table, a big banqueting table, Mary's chosen the very best.

[20:08] The very best part. The best portion of the meal. The best dish on the table. It's like we know some people and they go to these all you can eat restaurants.

[20:19] And they just guts out on the lobster. I guess the lobster's more valuable than the rest of it. They just go for the best part, as it were.

[20:33] The best portion. And this is the picture here. The Mary has chosen the very best. The very important portion that is in this meal.

[20:44] The best dish that's on the table. She's chosen that one thing that is needful. And our Lord Jesus says to us, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

[20:56] And all these things, all the rest of things of your realm, of that which you truly need. All of these things shall be added unto you. It's getting that priority, that one thing that is needful.

[21:09] In comparison, other things are worthless, really. We can get so distracted, can't we? I know life gets busy and we all have many forces pushing and pulling us here and there, trying to take our time and energy.

[21:26] And the Lord says, labor not for the meat, the food that perisheth, but for that which endureth unto life eternal. In other words, don't eat up all your time in life making a living, but labor, put your energy and service into that which is enduring unto life eternal.

[21:55] And this should be our priority, shouldn't it? Brothers and sisters, and I know for me, I need to try to keep those priorities constantly in view.

[22:06] Because it's easy to get distracted and comforted like Martha. And sitting at Jesus' feet should be our priority.

[22:17] It's what is needful. Yet this is sometimes what we neglect the most. Now who was it that sat at people's feet? Disciples sat at the feet of their teachers.

[22:28] Martha was being a disciple. The word disciple, it means a learner. She wanted to learn of him. He says, learn of me. And he wants us to learn of him today, doesn't he?

[22:40] To know him, to learn of him. Not just to know about him, but to know him. And that's what a disciple does. We can become disciples of all sorts of things.

[22:53] We can be learners of all sorts of things. We might learn the skill of soccer. And become very proficient at playing soccer. You know, that's perhaps a useful skill.

[23:06] We could learn a trade. And become a mechanic, or a nurse, or an accountant. You know, you could become all kinds of professions and skills.

[23:18] And that's good learning and useful. You could become a teacher in the teaching institutions of the world. And there's many things we could learn.

[23:30] But the Lord Jesus says, learn of me. Learn of me. That must be our first and foremost lesson of life.

[23:41] The school we should enter is the school of Christ. And to be learners of him. He's the great subject and teacher.

[23:52] The great lesson of life is to know him. Him to know is life eternal. And let's be such a disciple. Yet it is often the one thing we do not find time to do.

[24:03] Is to learn of Jesus. You know, you're here this morning to learn of him. To hear the preaching and teaching and read. And hear the word read and given.

[24:16] And received. You're here to receive the word. And let's make that a habit. Not neglect that. It's our desperate need.

[24:27] It's to learn of him. Everything else is less important. I'm not saying it's not important. But it's less important. It all pales into that less important category.

[24:41] Compared to this. That good part which Mary has chosen. The one thing that is needful. Everything else needs to revolve around our Lord. And giving him our best.

[24:53] So just pulling it all together now. And making it personal now. What about you? What about me? What are we doing? And we can ask ourselves.

[25:08] Even when we do good things. When we do good things for our Lord. Let's not neglect that communion with him. Like Mary had. And I need to work harder at this.

[25:22] Because sometimes our service can take the place of our love for the Lord. And that's a real trap. It's like we can get preoccupied with ministry. As Martha.

[25:34] And not be preoccupied with the master. Like Mary. Let's get preoccupied with the master. Such that. We'll choose that one thing that is needful.

[25:47] And Mary chose to be with Jesus over serving Jesus. And if you really get it down to the nub of it here. She wanted to be with him.

[25:59] And it's only as we are being with Jesus. That we'll get the resources to serve him. Otherwise we can run out of his empowerment.

[26:10] When we're doing it in our own strength. Now there's a time I feel overwhelmed. Just getting sermon read. Just preparing. And I need to spend more time with him.

[26:24] So I can give you the best. And yet it's very easy to get stretched. And I feel. Well I don't always deliver the very best that I could.

[26:37] I need to spend more time with him. And Mary chose to be with Jesus. That was her. One thing. That he commended her.

[26:48] That is needful. And we can get so active. And doing good things. That we forget what matters. Our spiritual life. Our walk with God. Our communion with him.

[26:59] Our closeness. Our relationship with our Lord. This is what matters isn't it? We all can get busy. And life just. Seems. Like a. A rat race at times.

[27:10] Doesn't it? We're just constantly. Tawn. And. And pulling here and there. Doing so many things. And. You know sometimes jobs can get stressful.

[27:20] And. You know. The burdens. The responsibilities of life. The bills to pay. You've got family to provide for. What does our Lord count as need for?

[27:32] You know. Young people. You've got a whole life ahead of you. Career choices. You've got. Decisions to make. How. What trade or. Profession. What occupation.

[27:42] Are you going to. Prepare for? Will you make decisions. About. Such things. Such. That you'll think.

[27:52] What would the Lord want me to do? If it be. Like some worldly profession. That I. Want to master some. Learning some trade. Some.

[28:04] Career that I want to prepare for. Is it one. That. Gives that. Opportunity. For me to. Be a witness.

[28:15] That opportunity. For me to use my. Knowledge and. Capacity. My abilities. To. Be a. A testimony. For Christ. Maybe even.

[28:27] Skills. Such that might be in demand. On the mission field. That I can prepare. Even for that. These are very big choices. To consider. What does God want me to do?

[28:39] And. What do we care about? How do we invest. That most precious resource. Our time. It is the most precious resource. Isn't it? And I think.

[28:49] When I'm. Speaking. I should keep it short. Because I don't want to. Waste your time. Because your time. Is so precious. It's. You've only got these minutes.

[28:59] You're never going to see them again. How can we. Make the most of our time. Martha was caring about things. They seem like necessary. And important things.

[29:10] And lives can get busy. There's many demands on our time. Sometimes. We've got. Work that. Demands our time on a Sunday.

[29:21] And stops us from fellowshipping. Sometimes that cannot. Be avoided. But sometimes it can. When it can. Let's. Let's make that choice. What is needful.

[29:33] What is the good thing. And choose that. When there's many things. Crowding on us. Things to do. Important things. Let's not forget. That one thing. That is needful.

[29:44] What does our Lord count. As needful. What we truly need to have. Does our heart. Have a longing. To commune with him. To know our Lord more. To know him more dearly.

[29:54] To follow him more. Surely. To hear his word. And I know. There's. Numbers who. Love to. Recite the scripture. To memorize it.

[30:05] To hide it in their heart. What a joy that is. In those moments. When you don't have. The tangible pages to turn. That you've got the words within. Hidden in your heart.

[30:16] Like a treasure. Do you long. For the word of God. Do we choose the one thing. That is needful. The Lord Jesus says. The one thing needful.

[30:27] Is to attend to his word. His word. Become a student. Of the word. Now this. This is a lifetime. College. In these pages.

[30:38] Isn't it? This is a textbook. That. That is. A textbook for the school of life. And you'll never. Comprehend. The extent of it.

[30:49] It's. It's. Beyond. Grasping. You know. There's many mysteries still. And many. Debts.

[30:59] Of. Treasure. That you'll never. Fully. Uncover. So this book. Is. The textbook for life. And. To attend to his words.

[31:12] Of infinitely. More value. Than any other thing. That we could. Have been doing. So. In wrapping up. A big question. To put to you now.

[31:22] Are we. Like Mary. Or Martha. Mary chose. That which was spiritual. And eternal. Martha was still a believer. She was just. Perhaps a little. Cumbered about.

[31:35] She. She just got. Tied up. With things. That she was doing. Rather than. Sitting at Jesus's feet. And hearing his word. Our Lord says.

[31:47] Mary has chosen. That good part. Which shall not. Be taken away from her. There's something eternal here. This is forever. If you sit at my feet. He says. If you learn my word.

[31:59] That which you gather. And gain. The blessings. The joy. The. Gladness. That you'll know. And find. Will never be taken away from you.

[32:10] It's eternal. In duration. So. Will we be preoccupied. With ministry. Or with the master. When we get. Our relationship.

[32:21] With the master right. The ministry will happen. Let's get. Our focus on the save. Rather than getting caught up.

[32:32] With things to do. Yet. Finally to take that sabbath. That time. To be with the save. It's a big trap. Isn't it? Now sometimes.

[32:43] You get the. The best sermon inspiration. From just lying down. And having a bit of a sleep. Just. Just. Thinking about God. And just thinking.

[32:53] I don't mean to say. Just ignore the scriptures. And have a little. Have a dreams and visions. But. You always get that. You can sort of tune in. What's God leading me to talk about?

[33:05] What does God want? His people to know. How can I put this over? On God's behalf. In Christ's stead. Such that I'm communicating life. And truth to you.

[33:15] That is. Vital for you. That's essential for you. That. Sometimes I get. That leading more. From just resting. And just trusting.

[33:27] Than. Scurrying around. And worrying. And. Trying to get too frantic. So. Martha was doing. For the Lord. Yet not spending time. With the Lord. Do we want to spend time.

[33:39] With the Lord. To develop our relationship. With him. It's the one thing. That is needful. Brother. Sister. Get this. The one thing. That is needful. Serving is important.

[33:51] Not neglecting that. We need a few more. Martha's in this church. But let's be like Mary too. Amen. Let's. Do that one thing.

[34:03] That is needful. It's been truly said. We need Martha's hands. And Mary's heart. We're not saying. Just. Don't do anything. But.

[34:14] Spend time at his feet. Hearing his word. And then he'll send you. To do what he wants you to do. Let's not make the mistake. Of being so busy. Doing things. That the one thing.

[34:25] Needful. Is not done. Let's pray. Lord. We thank you. That your word. Is life to us. It's a challenge. And we see.

[34:35] Even just the. The human side. Of Mary and Martha. Lord. I know I can see. A lot of myself. In Martha. And. I'd like to be.

[34:46] More like Mary. Lord. Help us. Each one. To. Find and do. That one thing. That is needful. To choose that best part. The good part. That shall not be taken away from us.

[34:57] It's something eternal. It's precious. That relationship. With you. That closeness. To you. Lord. Draw us closer. To you. We pray. In Jesus name.

[35:08] Amen.