WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.860 All right, we are the church. Have y'all figured that out by now? Amen. Amen. We've been talking 00:00:06.860 --> 00:00:11.580 about it for a few Sundays now. If you'd like to ever get caught up on the series we're doing 00:00:11.580 --> 00:00:18.080 in church, you can visit at FBC Henrietta on YouTube and see all of our sermon videos there. 00:00:18.699 --> 00:00:24.600 We are going to be in Luke chapter 10 today. Luke chapter 10, if you want to get a jump on it and 00:00:24.600 --> 00:00:31.580 start turning that direction. And later we'll head over to Revelations chapter 2. But today we're 00:00:31.580 --> 00:00:36.240 going to start in Luke chapter 10. We're talking about ecclesiology, big word that means the doctrine 00:00:36.240 --> 00:00:42.659 of the church. We get that term ecclesiology from the Bible word for church, which is ecclesia, 00:00:43.680 --> 00:00:49.859 meaning a called out assembly or gathering of people. And so we've nailed down a couple of 00:00:49.859 --> 00:00:57.780 statements that we want to weave into the very fabric of our church as a body of believers and 00:00:57.780 --> 00:01:04.159 Jesus followers. And here's a couple of statements that we've been talking about for the last several 00:01:04.159 --> 00:01:17.079 weeks. Make sure this is working here. I don't know if I did that or y'all did that. Here we go. 00:01:17.079 --> 00:01:24.060 All right, let's read it together. Ready? Statement number one, we don't just go to church. We are the 00:01:24.060 --> 00:01:30.819 church. Let's try it one more time. Ready? We don't just go to church. We are the church. That's right. 00:01:30.920 --> 00:01:38.060 Now we do go to church, right? Definitely. But we don't just go to church. We realize that we are 00:01:38.060 --> 00:01:46.519 as the people, the church. And then secondly, here we go. Ready? Begin. The church is not about me. 00:01:46.519 --> 00:01:52.199 Who's the church about y'all? It's about God. That's right. So the church is not about me. Those 00:01:52.199 --> 00:01:59.699 are two great statements to add into or weave into the fabric of our church. Let that become a part of 00:01:59.699 --> 00:02:07.679 who we are as a church, as a body of believers. We are the church. The church is not about us. Isn't 00:02:07.679 --> 00:02:13.699 that interesting? Even though we identify as the church, we understand that the church ultimately is 00:02:13.699 --> 00:02:19.719 not about us. We are the church, but the head of the church and everything that the church should 00:02:19.719 --> 00:02:27.280 revolve around and bring glory to is Jesus Christ. So that's where we are when we go to Luke chapter 10 00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:34.780 this morning. Luke chapter 10, beginning in verse 38. How many of you guys have heard the story of Mary 00:02:34.780 --> 00:02:43.360 and Martha before? Yes, very many of you. Well, we're going to tie it directly into our study of 00:02:43.360 --> 00:02:48.939 the church this morning. And so let's pick it up in verse 38. I'm reading from the Christian standard 00:02:48.939 --> 00:02:54.479 Bible should be very similar to what you have in front of you. Verse 38. While they were traveling, 00:02:55.520 --> 00:03:02.719 Jesus entered a village and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named 00:03:02.719 --> 00:03:10.000 Mary. Now these two women were the sisters of Lazarus and they were longtime friends probably 00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:17.879 of Jesus since they had all kind of grown up in this area of Nazareth. And he had known them for 00:03:17.879 --> 00:03:23.039 many, many years. He was close with this family. And so there's more to the story than just what we're 00:03:23.039 --> 00:03:29.599 reading here of Jesus entering these random people's home. These were old friends. And so she had a 00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:37.319 sister named Mary who also, watch this, sat at the Lord's feet, sat at Jesus' feet and was listening 00:03:37.319 --> 00:03:48.319 to what he said. Verse 40. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks. And she came up and asked, Lord, 00:03:48.879 --> 00:03:56.879 why don't you care that my sister has left me to serve alone? So tell her to give me a hand. 00:03:56.879 --> 00:03:59.579 Anybody ever been there before? 00:04:01.259 --> 00:04:07.280 Anybody ever said, seriously? I could use a hand here, but you're just all just going to leave me to do all of this? 00:04:08.099 --> 00:04:14.439 It's kind of the tone we get from Martha here. Verse 41. The Lord answered her, Martha, Martha. 00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:18.620 You are worried and upset about many things, 00:04:18.620 --> 00:04:31.620 but one thing is necessary. One thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice and it will not 00:04:31.620 --> 00:04:38.560 be taken away from her. I want to draw your attention to that statement highlighted here. 00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:46.439 One thing is necessary. Folks, our lives can be about all sorts of different things. 00:04:46.439 --> 00:04:53.319 We can get wrapped up and consumed with all kinds of things, even as church attenders, 00:04:54.199 --> 00:04:59.360 even as what people would call church people. Everybody ever been called a church person? 00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:07.740 It is so easy, even when you're trying to serve God through your local church, 00:05:07.740 --> 00:05:12.920 to get wrapped up and consumed with so many different things. 00:05:14.120 --> 00:05:21.460 And I think Jesus wanted to bring Martha's attention back to this truth. And I think He included it in the 00:05:21.460 --> 00:05:28.199 canon of Scripture because He wanted to bring our attention back to the truth that only one thing is 00:05:28.199 --> 00:05:35.159 necessary. Now that one thing will manifest itself in all kinds of ways in our individual walks with God. 00:05:36.039 --> 00:05:44.019 But one thing is necessary. Mary figured out what it was. Sitting at Jesus' feet, learning from Him. 00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:53.759 And that cannot be taken away. So today, we're looking at this idea that one thing in the life of our church, 00:05:53.759 --> 00:06:00.219 as believers and followers in Jesus, as we attend our church, as we try to serve our church, 00:06:00.219 --> 00:06:05.519 as we go out in our community, as we lead our families in all the facets of our day-to-day life, 00:06:05.800 --> 00:06:09.459 one thing is necessary. Let's pray together. 00:06:09.939 --> 00:06:15.219 Lord, we thank You that You are good. We thank You that You are great. That You're always right. 00:06:15.220 --> 00:06:26.620 Lord, we thank You that we can go to You. We can lean on You. We can lean into Your teachings. We can apply them directly. 00:06:27.900 --> 00:06:35.060 And we know that we will always find rest. We will always find help. We will always find grace and mercy. 00:06:35.200 --> 00:06:40.480 I ask that You would shower our hearts with grace this morning. Help us to understand 00:06:40.480 --> 00:06:45.840 the reading of Your Word and apply it directly to what You would have for us this morning. 00:06:46.259 --> 00:06:53.840 We know that no one walked in these doors in vain. We ask that Your Word, Your living, breathing Word, 00:06:54.780 --> 00:07:00.520 would apply directly to us, that we would not miss something that You have for us. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 00:07:00.520 --> 00:07:05.180 Amen. All right. So looking back here at verse 41 in Luke chapter 10, 00:07:05.180 --> 00:07:10.939 And the Lord answered, Martha, Martha, Martha. Now this is a term of endearment. All right. As you look 00:07:10.939 --> 00:07:17.960 through Scripture and you kind of study back around the times, that was a way of a term of endearment 00:07:17.960 --> 00:07:26.399 to someone. You'll sometimes read in Scripture where they said, Lord, Lord, someday when we all stand 00:07:26.399 --> 00:07:31.920 before Jesus, there will be some who called themselves Christians here on earth. There will be some who were 00:07:31.920 --> 00:07:38.140 faithful in church attendance and went on and kind of try to act like a Christian and pose like a 00:07:38.140 --> 00:07:44.680 Christian and say, yeah, I follow Jesus. And they'll stand before God someday and say, Lord, Lord, I did 00:07:44.680 --> 00:07:49.700 all these things in Your name. And God will look at them and say, I never knew You. Why? Why is that? 00:07:49.759 --> 00:07:55.600 Because those people never did the one thing, the one thing that was necessary. And that was putting 00:07:55.600 --> 00:08:01.000 their faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins. Becoming a child of God, a true child of God. 00:08:01.000 --> 00:08:07.819 And so as they try to use that term of endearment with God, He will actually reject them in that day. 00:08:07.819 --> 00:08:14.519 But we see Jesus using this term of endearment here with Martha. And so as He is correcting her, 00:08:14.800 --> 00:08:20.160 He's trying to do it in as gentle a way as possible. And that is how we should interact with one another. 00:08:20.759 --> 00:08:27.339 Sometimes in the life of a church, believers will have to go to one another and have to say things that 00:08:27.339 --> 00:08:33.899 maybe are kind of corrective in nature. They're, you know, admonishing behavior that shouldn't be 00:08:33.899 --> 00:08:38.059 this way and trying to encourage them and lead them toward behavior that would be different. 00:08:38.579 --> 00:08:44.079 Now, those are unique situations and you don't need to take that word from me this morning and go 00:08:44.079 --> 00:08:48.879 around and try to fix everybody and all their problems around you. That's not at all the takeaway 00:08:48.879 --> 00:08:56.820 from that. But when we do this, we should couch it in as gentle a terms as possible, use it 00:08:56.820 --> 00:09:04.299 compassionately and try to encourage one another in love as Jesus did. And so as He's teaching Martha 00:09:04.299 --> 00:09:10.899 a valuable lesson here, He says, Martha, Martha, immediately disarming her, putting her at rest, 00:09:11.519 --> 00:09:16.019 using that term of endearment. And then He says, you're worried, you're troubled, 00:09:16.019 --> 00:09:20.279 you're upset about all these different things. And I get it. I understand. 00:09:22.279 --> 00:09:26.899 But there's only really one thing that's necessary. He's simplifying it for her. 00:09:27.579 --> 00:09:34.579 And I think He wants to simplify it for us today. A mentor of mine always said this, 00:09:35.759 --> 00:09:44.659 said, ministry is not complicated, but it is difficult. It's not complicated, but it is difficult. 00:09:46.019 --> 00:09:54.399 salvation is not complicated, but it is difficult because you have to put your faith in someone 00:09:54.399 --> 00:10:02.059 that you can't see. You have to believe in what you read in the word of God. It's not complicated. 00:10:02.199 --> 00:10:07.480 Now, man-made religion really tries to complicate it, right? They'll come up with all these extra 00:10:07.480 --> 00:10:11.500 hoops you have to jump through and all these commandments you have to follow and all these 00:10:11.500 --> 00:10:16.740 kinds of things. When you, you know, walk in a variety of different churches across this country 00:10:16.740 --> 00:10:21.559 and around this world, as I've done and many of you have probably done, you'll see all these extra 00:10:21.559 --> 00:10:26.179 things that men have added on to the one way of salvation, which is putting your faith in Jesus. 00:10:27.220 --> 00:10:32.980 And sometimes I think that's a way of complicating it so it becomes easier to attain. Because if I can 00:10:32.980 --> 00:10:39.100 just do all these things, then I don't necessarily have to put my faith in Jesus, right? Because that's a lot 00:10:39.100 --> 00:10:47.460 harder to actually do. But Jesus says, no, the way of salvation is straight. It doesn't have all 00:10:47.460 --> 00:10:54.240 these curves, but it is narrow. Not a whole lot of people will be able to actually walk that road. 00:10:55.399 --> 00:10:59.840 And so I encourage you, every one of you this morning, I'm talking to people who are new faces 00:10:59.840 --> 00:11:04.580 in the room and I'm talking to people who are very, we're very used to seeing here in the room, 00:11:04.580 --> 00:11:10.840 every single one of us. You stand before us and we believe that you're a Jesus follower. We believe 00:11:10.840 --> 00:11:16.980 that you're a Christian by your own testimony. But when you stand before God someday, he'll know. 00:11:18.220 --> 00:11:25.120 He'll know. Make sure you're on that road. Make sure you genuinely put your faith in Jesus Christ 00:11:25.120 --> 00:11:31.900 because that's the only thing necessary for salvation. All right. And so one thing is necessary. And he said, 00:11:31.899 --> 00:11:38.039 Mary made that right choice. It was so easy for Martha to get distracted by all the other things 00:11:38.039 --> 00:11:43.459 that were good things. We're not talking about Martha going out and pursuing all the lusts of her flesh, 00:11:43.819 --> 00:11:49.299 going out and doing all kinds of wrong things and breaking all kinds of commandments. That's not what 00:11:49.299 --> 00:11:54.399 he was talking about. She was trying to be a good host. She was trying to take care of Jesus' physical 00:11:54.399 --> 00:11:59.879 needs. But let me tell you something, folks, the spiritual always trumps the physical for Jesus. 00:11:59.879 --> 00:12:11.000 Jesus. The heavenly always trumps the earthly for Jesus. Mary got it. And she wasn't lording it over 00:12:11.000 --> 00:12:15.740 her sister. She wasn't saying, why are you in there trying to do all that stuff when you should be 00:12:15.740 --> 00:12:19.120 sitting here with me at Jesus' feet? Well, that wasn't, that wouldn't be the right spirit, would it? 00:12:19.919 --> 00:12:26.320 But that's not what Mary was doing. Mary was just so focused on who she realized was her savior. 00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:35.280 And Martha missed it. And so Jesus is very gently trying to say, one thing is necessary. Mary figured 00:12:35.280 --> 00:12:40.840 that out. She made the right choice and it will not be taken away. So the takeaway that we have, 00:12:40.900 --> 00:12:47.940 it's in your bulletins this morning, don't let what is secondary become primary. That's another one of 00:12:47.940 --> 00:12:55.800 these statements that I pray will weave itself into the fabric of our church, become a part of the life 00:12:55.799 --> 00:13:03.919 of who we are, who we identify as followers of Jesus. Don't let what is secondary become primary. 00:13:04.039 --> 00:13:09.079 That's going to pop up in all kinds of ways in the life of our church. It's going to pop up in all 00:13:09.079 --> 00:13:17.620 kinds of ways in your life. Satan will try to distract you from the best with what is good. 00:13:18.039 --> 00:13:23.819 You understand the difference there? He'll take things that are good and get you so wrapped up in 00:13:23.820 --> 00:13:33.000 that, that you'll miss what is best. Jesus has only the best in mind for us. That doesn't necessarily 00:13:33.000 --> 00:13:38.480 mean that your bank account is going to look as best as it possibly could. It doesn't mean that every 00:13:38.480 --> 00:13:44.900 day is going to go as best as you think that it could go. But God knows what is best for his children 00:13:44.899 --> 00:13:54.879 and he will lead us toward that, that fulfillment in him and that unspeakable unmatched joy that we can 00:13:54.879 --> 00:14:02.220 only find in the person of Jesus when we seek him and follow him every day. That is what is best. But the 00:14:02.220 --> 00:14:12.399 secondary, what is less than the best, will distract us from the primary. You understand the difference there? 00:14:12.399 --> 00:14:19.699 So in the life of our church, when we're interacting with each other, when we're serving together, 00:14:20.579 --> 00:14:28.039 how many of you guys watch football? We're in Texas. Come on. I've seen people that aren't raising their 00:14:28.039 --> 00:14:35.279 hands at football games. Okay, come on now, y'all. Yeah. So y'all understand what it means to be drawn 00:14:35.279 --> 00:14:41.620 off sides. Had a football game? We're getting a little down under the surface here. All right, 00:14:41.659 --> 00:14:46.459 now we know who's really a football player. It's not. That's all right. When you're drawn off sides, 00:14:46.539 --> 00:14:51.199 right, before they blow the whistle, you got to stay on your side of the line. You see them lined up, 00:14:51.259 --> 00:14:55.659 the offense here, the defense here. You see the big old boys on the line lined up across from each 00:14:55.659 --> 00:15:00.039 other and they're getting ready to just, you know, slam into each other. And until, 00:15:00.039 --> 00:15:06.659 until they snap the ball and the play starts, they got to stay on their sides of the line. 00:15:07.379 --> 00:15:14.699 Well, sometimes that quarterback will say things that make the defense think the play is starting 00:15:14.699 --> 00:15:19.139 and they'll jump off sides. They'll jump to the other side and then the referee blows his whistle, 00:15:19.740 --> 00:15:23.759 throws the flag and they get a penalty. They get to move the ball up, right? 00:15:23.759 --> 00:15:32.559 It's so easy to let that kind of thing happen in our day-to-day lives. I used to have a boss that 00:15:32.559 --> 00:15:40.759 told me regularly, don't get drawn off sides. Don't let this little matter draw you off sides because 00:15:40.759 --> 00:15:48.419 guess what folks? People will continually try to draw you off sides. They will. Coworkers will draw 00:15:48.419 --> 00:15:56.779 you off sides. They're skilled at it. Children will draw you off sides. Children and parents will 00:15:56.779 --> 00:16:04.279 draw you off sides. Your brothers and sisters will draw you off sides. The devil will use whatever he 00:16:04.279 --> 00:16:14.299 can to get to you, to get under your skin, to draw you off sides. Those things are secondary. Don't let 00:16:14.299 --> 00:16:21.339 what is secondary become primary. Remember in those moments, now look, this is easier said than done, 00:16:21.399 --> 00:16:26.259 right? But that's why we need the power of the Holy Spirit to help us overcome our own fleshly 00:16:26.259 --> 00:16:33.979 tendencies. So don't let what is secondary become primary by the power of the Holy Spirit. Let's look 00:16:33.979 --> 00:16:40.620 at this. Number one, we see in this passage in Luke chapter 10, the wrong complaint. The wrong complaint. 00:16:40.620 --> 00:16:47.259 Martha had the wrong complaint. She got drawn off sides. She got drawn off sides by Mary listening 00:16:47.259 --> 00:16:54.360 to Jesus teaching. Now, if that can draw somebody off sides, anything can draw us off sides, right? 00:16:55.639 --> 00:17:00.779 We sit here in our seat of judgment thinking, Martha, what were you thinking? This is Jesus. 00:17:00.779 --> 00:17:12.259 I mean, let your sister listen to the master, right? What were you thinking? And yet we do a similar 00:17:12.259 --> 00:17:21.379 kind of thing with regularity. You and I get upset at people for the most meaningless of things. 00:17:21.380 --> 00:17:30.200 Sometimes it happens. And we come up with the wrong complaint, just like Martha did. Look back at Luke 00:17:30.200 --> 00:17:37.700 chapter 10. Martha was distracted by her many tasks. These are some of the things that will 00:17:37.700 --> 00:17:44.900 help draw you off sides. It is when you become distracted by your many tasks. There are many 00:17:44.900 --> 00:17:50.960 things going on in your life. There have to be. Somebody's got to cook the food, right? Somebody's got 00:17:50.960 --> 00:17:56.420 to pay the bills. Somebody's got to go to work. Somebody's got to keep up with the yard. Somebody's 00:17:56.420 --> 00:18:01.180 got to make sure the dog has food. Somebody's got to make sure the things get done that need to get 00:18:01.180 --> 00:18:06.180 done. Somebody's got to serve on the committee. Somebody's got to teach the classes. Somebody's got 00:18:06.180 --> 00:18:13.920 to do all the things or else nothing gets done, right? So those are the things often that distract us. 00:18:13.920 --> 00:18:27.539 Is it wrong to do acts of service for God? Of course not. No. But is it wrong to let those acts of 00:18:27.539 --> 00:18:35.140 service distract us from the very God we're serving? Yes. And that's easy to do. It's very easy to do. 00:18:35.580 --> 00:18:42.539 I've been around church ministry since I was born. My dad was a pastor. My older brother has been a 00:18:42.539 --> 00:18:51.579 pastor. Now I'm a pastor. We're a family of pastors and I've worked plenty of other jobs along the way. 00:18:51.700 --> 00:18:57.079 This is actually the first time that I've been a, what you'd call lead, lead pastor or senior pastor. 00:18:59.019 --> 00:19:04.599 So I've worked all kinds of other jobs along the way, but I've always stayed very close and sometimes 00:19:04.599 --> 00:19:14.359 worked for church churches. Um, and it's so easy with all that you're involved in doing for God 00:19:14.359 --> 00:19:17.759 to let those things distract you from God himself. 00:19:20.279 --> 00:19:27.579 Martha had Jesus Christ in her house and she was worried about what kind of dishes they were serving. 00:19:27.579 --> 00:19:33.379 She was worried about, you know, the cracker arrangement and et cetera, so to speak. 00:19:34.379 --> 00:19:40.159 It's like, Martha, worry about that stuff the next time you have guests over, but you got Jesus here 00:19:40.159 --> 00:19:46.319 right now. Just go sit and listen to him. Right. And that's what Jesus was trying to explain to her. 00:19:46.559 --> 00:19:52.119 So she had the wrong complaint. Now, sometimes there's the right complaint. Sometimes when things 00:19:52.119 --> 00:19:57.739 that are happening around us are actually preventing the gospel from getting out or actually keeping 00:19:57.739 --> 00:20:04.199 people from Jesus, yeah, then we need to make a complaint. But unless that's happening, y'all 99 00:20:04.199 --> 00:20:09.519 times out of a hundred, the complaints that seems so important in our mind in those moments, they 00:20:09.519 --> 00:20:14.299 probably don't even need to be voiced. We probably need to look at within our heart and say, is this 00:20:14.299 --> 00:20:21.199 a God thing? Is this a gospel issue? Is this something that is preventing people from hearing the gospel 00:20:21.200 --> 00:20:26.700 of Jesus? Or is this something that has just become big in my mind and I need to hand it over to God 00:20:26.700 --> 00:20:33.580 and refocus my attention on him? So that's the wrong complaint. But then secondly, we have the right 00:20:33.580 --> 00:20:41.420 choice. We have the right choice. Thankfully, in verse 39, the sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's 00:20:41.420 --> 00:20:47.279 feet and was listening to what he said, Jesus said, that is the one thing that is necessary. That's the 00:20:47.279 --> 00:20:54.359 one thing. Mary has made the right choice and it will not be taken away from her. I encourage you 00:20:54.359 --> 00:21:00.299 folks. I encourage you. Now, when we get a group of people together this side, this size, and I know 00:21:00.299 --> 00:21:06.660 we got some people out because Pioneer Union and all that, but so often every seat just about in this 00:21:06.660 --> 00:21:12.000 room is filled and you get a group of people together this size, you're going to have some 00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:20.420 complaints come up, right? It's natural. It's going to happen. But I pray that God leads us 00:21:20.420 --> 00:21:26.539 as a body of believers to get to the place where we're making more right choices than wrong complaints. 00:21:27.019 --> 00:21:34.339 Is that fair? We need to get to the place where we are making more right choices than wrong complaints. 00:21:35.079 --> 00:21:40.920 As I said before, there will come a time for right complaints, but those are few and far between. 00:21:40.920 --> 00:21:47.600 Mostly, it's our flesh that gets in the way. And what seems like the most important thing in our 00:21:47.600 --> 00:21:54.560 world is really distracting us from making the right choice, which is sitting at Jesus' feet. 00:21:54.880 --> 00:22:00.200 How much time do we spend on a day-to-day basis? And I'm preaching to myself as much as I'm preaching 00:22:00.200 --> 00:22:09.259 to you. How much time do we spend on a daily basis sitting at Jesus' feet? Jesus doesn't have to come 00:22:09.259 --> 00:22:20.019 visit our house. The Holy Spirit of God walks with us everywhere we go. God himself is present with us 00:22:20.019 --> 00:22:29.240 when we go to bed, when we wake and start our day, when we eat, when we fellowship, when we argue, 00:22:29.240 --> 00:22:38.180 when we strive with one another. But God is present with us every moment of every day. He's there. Why don't 00:22:38.180 --> 00:22:47.779 we carve out time to sit and listen to him, to dive into his book, read his instruction manual for our life? 00:22:47.779 --> 00:22:57.519 One thing is necessary. Mary made the right choice. May God help us to make the right choice. 00:22:57.960 --> 00:23:03.899 Now, the flip side of our takeaway. Don't let what is secondary become primary. The flip side here is 00:23:03.899 --> 00:23:10.279 don't let what is primary become secondary. You realize when we let what is secondary, 00:23:10.279 --> 00:23:16.819 secondary, when we let the least important things or the less important things become the most 00:23:16.819 --> 00:23:24.220 important, then guess what? It seems obvious, but we may not always see it this way. The most important 00:23:24.220 --> 00:23:31.899 things become less important. And that is equally wrong, possibly even more wrong. We're minimizing the 00:23:31.899 --> 00:23:39.619 gospel of Jesus. We're minimizing the person of Jesus. When we let what is less than the best 00:23:39.619 --> 00:23:46.019 become the most important thing in our world in that moment, then we have minimized God himself 00:23:46.019 --> 00:23:53.500 and the work that he called us to do, the message that he gave us to spread. Don't let what is primary 00:23:53.500 --> 00:23:57.339 become secondary. I told you we were going to go to Revelation, so let's do that now. 00:23:57.799 --> 00:24:03.459 Revelation chapter 2. You can keep a thumb in Luke 10 if you'd like to, but Revelation chapter 2. 00:24:04.959 --> 00:24:07.639 We'll read a few verses here, beginning in verse 1. 00:24:09.619 --> 00:24:15.299 The apostle John was writing by inspiration of God, as we talked about with the kids up here just a 00:24:15.299 --> 00:24:21.279 minute ago. He's writing by inspiration of God the letters to the seven churches. 00:24:23.279 --> 00:24:24.139 These were 00:24:24.139 --> 00:24:34.959 typified by seven lampstands, seven golden lampstands. It's kind of an analogy that God is using here in 00:24:34.960 --> 00:24:40.840 these letters to these churches of that day. So we can kind of stick ourselves in there as a church 00:24:40.840 --> 00:24:46.220 that God has allowed to organize on this earth to worship him and to carry out his mission. 00:24:47.140 --> 00:24:50.079 So in verse 1, write to the angel of the church in Ephesus. 00:24:50.640 --> 00:24:56.180 Thus says the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand and who walks among the seven golden 00:24:56.180 --> 00:25:01.840 lampstands. Remember that God is walking among our church. It's not just us apart from God trying to 00:25:01.839 --> 00:25:08.759 serve him. He's present here with us. Verse 2, I know your works, your labor, and your endurance. 00:25:09.019 --> 00:25:14.919 Let's personalize this, okay? God is telling us we can jump in with this church in Ephesus 00:25:14.919 --> 00:25:21.319 that was trying to serve God and do the best they could for him, and he's writing these encouraging 00:25:21.319 --> 00:25:27.359 words to them. So let's make this personal for us. I know your works, your labor, your endurance. 00:25:27.359 --> 00:25:32.899 Yes, this church has been around 140 something years. We've got some endurance here, okay? 00:25:33.859 --> 00:25:37.699 If you wanted to see our church laboring, do we labor as a church? You should have been out here 00:25:37.699 --> 00:25:41.539 with us yesterday handing out water bottles to the Pioneer Union crowd. That was so much fun. 00:25:41.919 --> 00:25:45.039 We got some pictures we're going to throw up on Facebook. I think Linda already has some. 00:25:45.779 --> 00:25:51.019 So he says, I know all this and that you cannot tolerate evil people. 00:25:51.019 --> 00:26:00.920 Can we tolerate evil people? Not so much, huh? It's hard. You have tested those who call themselves 00:26:00.920 --> 00:26:07.319 apostles and are not. That's good. False teachers should not be present in the church of Jesus Christ. 00:26:07.519 --> 00:26:14.039 And you have found them to be liars. These are all compliments from the Lord. I know that you have 00:26:14.039 --> 00:26:22.240 persevered and endured hardships for the sake of my name and have not grown weary. But wait a minute. 00:26:23.559 --> 00:26:31.819 I have this against you. You have abandoned the love you had at first. Look right there at the 00:26:31.819 --> 00:26:37.079 bottom of the screen. It should be in your Bible as well. You have abandoned the love you had at first. 00:26:37.079 --> 00:26:40.519 It might say, hey, you have left your first love. 00:26:43.919 --> 00:26:45.460 I'm going to interpret it this way. 00:26:47.159 --> 00:26:48.639 One thing was necessary. 00:26:50.579 --> 00:26:59.559 You've let what is secondary become primary. You've let what is less important become most important. 00:26:59.720 --> 00:27:06.019 You have abandoned the love you had at first. So pick it up in verse five. Remember then. 00:27:06.019 --> 00:27:13.420 Remember then how far you have fallen. You see that y'all? I didn't write that. 00:27:14.339 --> 00:27:21.420 God put that in the Bible. Remember how far you have fallen. This is a big deal to God because he 00:27:21.420 --> 00:27:28.160 knows how important it is. He knows how distracting it can be for a church that strives against each other 00:27:28.160 --> 00:27:32.460 because they left their first love, because they forgot the one thing that was necessary, 00:27:32.460 --> 00:27:38.299 because they let what is less important become most important. He said, you have fallen far. 00:27:39.240 --> 00:27:46.500 You've fallen far. So repent. Don't minimize it in your own mind. Oh, this isn't such a big deal. 00:27:46.740 --> 00:27:53.039 This is just who I am. Okay. You just need to understand that these things are important to me. Okay. 00:27:53.039 --> 00:28:00.659 That's great. But what's important to God? What's important to God? I'm glad you've got your hobby 00:28:00.659 --> 00:28:04.859 horse. I'm glad you've got the things that are most important to you. You can certainly pursue those 00:28:04.859 --> 00:28:09.659 things in your own life. But when it comes to the life of our church, keep your poison to yourself. 00:28:11.159 --> 00:28:17.619 Keep your poison to yourself because if it's not pursuing the person of Jesus Christ, 00:28:17.619 --> 00:28:26.019 it is poison. It will infect across the body of our believers and it will get us off course. And how 00:28:26.019 --> 00:28:32.119 many churches across our country have gotten off course and they've left their first love and they're 00:28:32.119 --> 00:28:37.259 no longer accomplishing the mission that God gave them to accomplish? Then shut the doors. 00:28:38.759 --> 00:28:42.599 Shut the doors and let somebody else come in and have your building who's going to keep it 00:28:42.599 --> 00:28:48.379 on track. Now, God help us not to let that happen to first Baptist Henrietta. 00:28:51.139 --> 00:28:56.480 We're going to stay on track, y'all. We're going to keep Jesus Christ as the focus. 00:28:59.899 --> 00:29:06.819 Repent and do the works you did at first. Otherwise, you think I'm being too harsh? 00:29:06.819 --> 00:29:15.000 Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. He will shut us down. 00:29:16.700 --> 00:29:21.899 God is in charge of this church. This church is not about us. You see how all these statements that 00:29:21.899 --> 00:29:27.159 we're trying to adopt work together and build on each other? The church is not about us. It's about 00:29:27.159 --> 00:29:33.419 God and God can come and shut us down whenever he wants to. He's in control of this thing. So let's 00:29:33.420 --> 00:29:40.320 remember how far we've fallen. Let's repent and go back and do the works we did at first. Go back to 00:29:40.320 --> 00:29:55.140 that love that we left so God does not remove our lampstand. Now, there we go. Oswald Chambers wrote one 00:29:55.140 --> 00:30:01.259 of the books that has been one of the most widely read and loved among Christian literature. It's called 00:30:01.259 --> 00:30:09.039 my utmost for his highest. And he said in there, the good is always the enemy of the best. I think 00:30:09.039 --> 00:30:16.160 that's directly applicable to our lesson today from Luke chapter 10. The good is always the enemy 00:30:16.160 --> 00:30:23.680 of the best. What Martha was doing was good, but it wasn't the best. Y'all, I want us to put our church 00:30:23.680 --> 00:30:29.879 under the magnifying glass. Put our personal roles in this church under the magnifying glass. 00:30:29.880 --> 00:30:37.080 Put how you are spending your personal time at home, how you are spending your family time. Put it under 00:30:37.080 --> 00:30:43.940 the magnifying glass and say, is it good or is it best? We only have so much energy. We only have so 00:30:43.940 --> 00:30:51.340 much time. Let's not waste it on what is good. Let's directly apply it to what is best. It's not 00:30:51.340 --> 00:30:59.320 complicated, but it is hard. It's pursuing Jesus. It's sitting at his feet. All right. One thing is 00:30:59.319 --> 00:31:05.220 necessary. Philippians chapter three. Paul kind of echoed this. You wondered if Paul might get in on 00:31:05.220 --> 00:31:10.200 this, this teaching in scripture. Uh, and he, in his letter to the church of Philippi, he says, 00:31:10.299 --> 00:31:16.759 I am single minded for getting the things that are behind and reaching out for the things that are 00:31:16.759 --> 00:31:24.779 ahead. Uh, with this goal in mind, I strive toward the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 00:31:24.779 --> 00:31:34.079 Paul couldn't be distracted by what was less than the best. And all kinds of people tried to 00:31:34.079 --> 00:31:39.920 in that early church. You think they were without strife and contention? No, we read it in the letters 00:31:39.920 --> 00:31:43.899 all throughout the new Testament. They were constantly going back and forth at each other. 00:31:43.899 --> 00:31:50.160 And Paul was having to go back and say, y'all join me, be single minded. Follow me as I follow Jesus. 00:31:50.160 --> 00:31:55.840 Don't let all this stuff sidetrack you because the devil is trying to use it. He's trying to use 00:31:55.840 --> 00:32:01.300 sometimes what is good to distract you from what is best. Do I find myself complaining about others 00:32:01.300 --> 00:32:07.540 or concentrating on Christ? Can we ask ourselves that question? Do I find myself complaining about 00:32:07.540 --> 00:32:16.820 others more than I'm concentrating on Christ? Let's get back to our takeaway. Don't let what is 00:32:16.819 --> 00:32:22.099 secondary become primary. You're going to hear me say that from time to time. Don't take it personally. 00:32:22.700 --> 00:32:29.460 I got to remind myself of that continually throughout each week and each month throughout the year 00:32:29.460 --> 00:32:35.659 in this moment with this issue that seems so important in our minds. Are we letting what is 00:32:35.660 --> 00:32:52.120 secondary become primary? So how do we apply this? I don't know exactly what's happening in your life. 00:32:52.120 --> 00:32:59.040 I don't know everything that is a big deal in your mind. Sometimes people come to me with concerns and 00:32:59.040 --> 00:33:02.560 I'm not saying that just because you've come to me with something means that you're in the wrong. 00:33:02.559 --> 00:33:08.339 That's not at all what I'm saying. But I'm saying we each need to put ourselves under the magnifying 00:33:08.339 --> 00:33:16.659 glass and say, God, is this about you or is this about me? Am I being Martha or am I being Mary? 00:33:17.679 --> 00:33:25.200 Am I complaining about somebody or am I concentrating on Jesus? Let's pray together. Lord, I ask that you 00:33:25.200 --> 00:33:31.919 would move in our hearts that every single person in here would let the Holy Spirit speak to them right now. 00:33:31.920 --> 00:33:40.940 If first you need to awaken them to their need for you as a Savior to repent of their sins 00:33:40.940 --> 00:33:49.820 and put their faith in Jesus to cleanse them from their sins, secure their home, eternal destiny in 00:33:49.820 --> 00:33:54.860 heaven and make you their child, then I pray that they would respond to the Holy Spirit with the answer 00:33:54.859 --> 00:34:03.799 of yes. And God, for those of us who have already done that, we know without a doubt that we stand 00:34:03.799 --> 00:34:11.279 before you as born again, children of God, redeemed by the blood of your Son.