Grad Sermon Olford Inst 2003 — E.A. Johnston

It's good to see you here, and we look forward to this session. The Word of God is going to be opened and proclaimed. I'm thankful for our brother Ernest Johnston, who's going to be preaching this afternoon at this hour.

And we look forward to that. We're going to be just singing a chorus together, and you need to stand. We all need to stand, especially Charles. Let's stand. And 335 in the Brown Book, if you need it. Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face.

Things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. Let's just sing that together.

Turn your time together.

Amen. Please be seated. I meet another man to this penitentiary, and we were led to this room where 50 convicts were. And then the guard left and left us in there alone with the convicts. I was preaching out of Psalm 40.

I was literally in the armpit of this prison preaching on the pit, the ivory clay. And I can tell you, I looked at those rapists and thieves and murderers, and I must confess to you, I was as nervous with that group then as I am with this group today.

Martha and Mary in Luke 10

But, well, let's get down to business. Our text can be found today in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 10. We'll be in verses 38 through 42. It's a familiar story about two familiar sisters, Martha and Mary.

We have busy, bossy Martha, and quiet, reflective Mary. Someone once asked the great divine Augustine whom he would have preferred, Martha or Mary. And the great theologian pondered that question and then commented, I'd sooner have Martha before dinner and Mary after.

Well, we're going to study these two sisters today. But first, allow me to pray, if you'll bow your heads. Lord God, in my quiet time along with you this morning before dawn, as I was reading David Brainerd, my eyes fell upon the sentence that Brainerd had written, and my eyes were glued to it, and Brainerd had written, My soul was grievous for the congregation that they had come to hear a dead dog like me preach.

And that's how I feel right now, Lord. I'm completely helpless without you, Father. I've heard these men preach, these men with experience, these men with scholarly approach, Father, with much gifting.

And I'm a layman getting ready to preach to preachers, Father, and I can't do it alone, but you can do it through me. And I pray right now, Lord God, that you clothe me with your Holy Spirit and anoint me for your purpose.

I pray, Lord, that your word will be a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces. And I pray, Lord, that your Holy Spirit will attend the reading of your word for the glory of your people, for the good of your people, and the glory of your name, Jesus.

Amen. These two sisters have a message for us today. We're going to see four things in the text, some interesting facets to this familiar story of Martha and Mary. I'd like to bring out the fact that we'll see Martha in his face compared to Mary at his feet, and Martha concerned about many things, and Mary concerned about one thing.

The title of my message is One Thing Needful. That's why I wanted to sing that hymn, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, Because He Truly Is, One Thing Needful. Our text from verses 38 through 42, I'll read in the King James Version.

I'll read that now. Now it came to pass, as they went, that's Jesus and the Twelve, that he entered into a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word.

But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things, but one thing is needful, and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

This is the word of the Lord. I recall listening to a tape message of Vance Havner commenting on this text, and Vance Havner said that in America, when he grew up, he grew up in the farmlands and the rural communities, and as we became a more industrialized nation, people moved out of the rural areas into the cities, became busier and busier and busier with the hustle and bustle of modern day life.

And he said that if Jesus went to the home of Martha and Mary today, they wouldn't be home, right? They'd probably be at the mall, or maybe they'd be at a Starbucks sipping a latte. But if they were home, more than likely they'd have the TV on so loud they wouldn't turn it down long enough to hear them.

Isn't that true? Well, let's look at the first thing on our agenda. That's in verse 40. And the text reads,. But Martha was comforted about much serving, and came to him and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone?

Bid her therefore that she help me. So the first thing I want us to see is Martha in his face. Martha questions him. She says, dost thou not care? In essence, she questions God. Don't you care? Now, granted, the subject matter of her request was trite and not a matter of grave importance in the scheme of things.

It was about Mary not being in the kitchen to continue to help her. But she still questions him. Let me ask you, have you ever questioned God? Have you ever said, Lord, you see me in this trial here. Don't you care?

Don't you hear my prayers, Lord? Why have you allowed this thing to happen to me, Lord? Have you ever questioned him? Well, in the book of Isaiah, we find, Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou?

That's in chapter 45, verse 9. But still, Martha questions him. Next, Martha bosses him. Bid her, therefore, that she help me. I recall the disciples did this a time or two. Peter rebuked Jesus for wanting to go to Jerusalem.

And Jesus replied, Get behind me, Satan. Jesus told his disciples, I and the Father are one. So in essence, you can imagine the nerve of Martha bossing the creator of the universe around, bossing divinity around.

Well, if that wasn't bad enough, she was disrespectful to Jesus because Martha interrupted him. I was reading some word studies in the Greek text by Kenneth Weiss. Let me read it to you because it has much force in the Greek language.

And he wrote,. And she had a sister called Mary, who also, having seated herself beside the Lord's feet, was listening to his word. But Martha was going around in circles, over-occupied with preparing the meal.

And bursting in upon Jesus, she assumed a stance over him and said, Lord, is it not a concern to you that my sister has let me down to preparing the meal alone? Speak, therefore, to her at once, that she take hold and do her part with me.

You can just picture Martha bursting into that little room with her apron on her, her hands on her hips, her face all red with anger. Not a real pretty sight, I'm sure. So Martha is behaving in a rude and obnoxious manner here, interrupting Jesus while he's speaking, and I'm sure it was on a topic in light of eternity that had much emphasis to it.

And then she questions him as if he's ignorant and then orders him around. In short, she's in his face. Now, if you've known difficult people before, perhaps they've gotten you upset. Maybe they're hard to get along with.

And look at Jesus here. He's allowing mere mortals to question him, to tell him what to do. In fact, mortals even laughed him to scorn. And Luke, at the end of chapter 8, when he finally found Jairus' daughter dead, he said, Weep not, she's not dead, she sleepeth.

And the text says they laughed him to scorn. They literally held their sides and fell over laughing, mocking him, laughing him to scorn. The long-suffering and forbearance of God is remarkable, isn't it?

Well, she chews him out, but you know what? Let me tell you something. In the Gospel of John, over in chapter 11, verse 5, there's a tender scene at Bethany. You know what that scene is? The text reads,.

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. He loved her. Despite all her faults, he loved her. You know what? Despite all my faults, he loves me. Despite all your faults, he loves you. Amazing love.

Amazing love. We should love like that. So we see Martha in his face, interrupting him, questioning him, bossing him. Well, now let's compare and contrast the sister Mary. We've seen Martha in his face.

Mary at Jesus' Feet

Let's look at Mary at his feet. That's in verse 39. Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word. You see, Mary sits beside him. Mary wanted to be near Jesus. This is the same Mary that in a little while is going to anoint him with oil and wipe his feet with her hair in worship.

She wanted to be taught by her master. She sat at his feet. Our chief aim in life should be to sit at the feet of Jesus. Jesus declared to the world what he had learned from the Father. We should do the same.

As Christians, that's our duty. Let me say this. If more Christians sat at his feet, less Christians would fall on their face. We should sit every day at his feet in the quiet time. It's something we should do every day.

Let me give you an example. I came off a week of spiritual highs. Every day I felt like I was on top of Mount Sinai in the presence of God. I felt like I was in that cliff to the rock with God walking by me and allowing me to see his backside.

You know those experiences, those spiritual highs. But what comes after the spiritual high, right? You can't stay on top of the mountain forever, right? Well, at the end of the week, I was very fatigued.

16-, 17-hour days, very fatigued. I normally get up at 4 .45 in the morning to have my quiet time. And that Friday morning, I was rushed. I rushed my quiet time. I rushed to my office at work. And I was in the flesh all day.

I fell in my walk. I fell in my walk. I'll say that. Well, as I was driving home, I was praying. And I said, Lord, why did that happen? Why did I fail so miserably today after being in your presence so strongly throughout the week?

How did that happen, Lord? And it was as if he spoke to me. You know how he speaks to you in a quiet place in your heart and no one else speaks to you in a quiet place there? He spoke to me, and he said so clearly.

He said, you cannot face today, let alone this hour, on yesterday's experience of me. You must seek and meet me every day. Then a text came to me in the Old Testament so vividly. I thought about the Israelites and the manna and how God ordered them not to store up the manna because what happened when they stored up the manna?

It got worms in it, didn't it? And that voice came to me again. And that voice told me, unless you seek me afresh every day, your Christian walk will have worms in it. Worms in it. And that's a problem with a lot of preaching today.

It's got worms in it. Well, we must sit at his feet, stay in his Word each day. We cannot rely on past experiences of God. We must feed ourselves every day in God's Word. I'm reminded of a story a friend told me for a time.

He was a park ranger in Yellowstone National Forest, and there was a mystery that occurred during that year. They found many bears dead, and they knew not why these bears had died. There were no puncture wounds in them.

No one had killed them. It was a mystery. Until finally someone figured out that the bears had starved to death. They had literally died of starvation. You know what happened? Those bears had become so reliant on the tourists feeding them, they forgot how to feed themselves.

Do you get my application? We must feed on his Word daily. Well, notice also this about Mary and how opposite she is to her sister Martha. Mary listened to him, the text says, and heard his Word, the Word of God spoken by the God of the Word.

How marvelous. Can you imagine the thrill that you would have had sitting there, looking at him, listening to him, touching him? Well, let's look at the two women in contrast. We see Martha busy, bossy, and hungry.

She wants the meal to be served and served quickly. The meal is the main thing with her. Mary, on the other hand, is reserved, attentive, sensitive, hungry for the Word of God. Jesus is the main thing with her.

She listened to him. What a difference. Notice that Martha is worried about many things. Verse 41 says, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things. You know, it's easy to sympathize with Martha here.

She had to cook a meal for 15 people. The text says that they went. That means Jesus and the Twelve and Martha and Mary. Lazarus is not mentioned in the text, so we must assume he wasn't there that day.

So she had a large meal to prepare, so there is some sympathy there that she might be concerned about doing a good job preparing that meal. But I've studied this through different commentators, and really what really seems to be the case, she had plenty of time to prepare that meal because Jesus had a habit before he would enter a village, he would send messengers ahead of him announcing his arrival.

And it's very possible that Martha had invited Jesus to come to the little home in Bethany well in advance of that day. So she had plenty of time for she and Mary and possibly even Lazarus if they could get him to catch him to do some work to prepare this meal.

So she was over-occupied with the wrong things. So notice, she's burdened with care. Is that how it is with us sometimes? Do we get trouble that burdens us down, presses us down like a great weight that we can't see what is in front of us?

Do we get so troubled and worried that we forget that God's in our midst, that he's here, that he wants to speak to us, that he desires to meet with us? Do we get so busy in the morning going off to our office or to our study that we don't spend enough time with him and we break his heart because he's there waiting for us to spend time with us and we're too busy for him doing his business?

Notice also that Martha is focused on many things. The text says about many things. The sad thing is what poor Martha was troubled about was no big deal. It's small potatoes literally. She was so focused on these many unimportant things that she missed the main thing, Jesus.

She was so tied up in knots and activity that she neglected to be still and know that I am God. You see, we do this in our prayer time or with our ministries. We stay too busy. Let me give you an example.

My dear brother Quentin is here in the back row giving me support today in prayer. Quentin and I have a mutual friend who's attending Mid-America Seminary. Quentin shared with me a few weeks ago, he talked to this dear brother.

This dear brother is busy in class and out of class, holding down a job, trying to make ends meet. My brother Quentin said, well, how's work come along? He said, oh, fine, fine. He said, how's class come along?

Oh, fine, fine. Then my dear brother asked him, how's your devotional time? How's your time with the Lord? Silence. Speechless. He said, finally, not too good there. You see what I mean? He's going to seminary to learn how to be a pastor and he doesn't even have time to pray.

When he graduates, his schedule's not going to change. He'll be more busier then than he is now. You all know that. If he doesn't make time now to be with the Lord, he's going to fall on his face if he doesn't make that a priority.

He's like Martha, focused on too many things. He's forgetting the main thing, Jesus. We must take time to pray. I am reminded about an oil painting that hangs in a Spanish gallery. In that little scene is a farmer.

He's just removed his straw hat. He's laid down his farm implements and he's assumed the position of prayer. In the distance of that painting, if you look closely, there's a little village in the background with a church steeple and a bell tower.

Evidently, the bell has rung, calling the little community to a time of prayer. Everyone's laid down their farm implements, set down their work, and they're praying. He's doing that. But if you look more closely at that painting, over to the right is a form of an angel.

That angel has picked up his plow and has gotten that team of mule going. It seems like that angel is getting ready to make a new furrow in the ground. The caption of that oil painting is three words.

Three words. You know what they are? No time lost. Do you get it? When we pray, all of heaven is enlisted on our behalf. We get more done in prayer than we do out of prayer. No time lost. Sometimes we get it all confused like Martha did.

We're occupied with many things, some of them very useful, some of them very meaningful. But brethren, we're missing the main thing. The average pastor, I've been told, by Dr. Olford, spends 10 minutes a day in prayer.

If that's true, what does the average Christian spend? One minute? It's shameful. God have mercy on us. Well, Mary knew what was better. Mary knew the joy of an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.

The One Thing Needful

And that brings us to some final thoughts on this text. You see, this text has special significance to me. Very significant. It's touched my heart in a very deep, deep way. Let me share it with you. I was reading the life of George Whitefield, the two wonderful volumes written by Arnold Dallimore.

I don't know if you've ever read them. If you haven't, I highly, highly recommend them. Give you some background on it. I'll just read this to you. In one of the volumes, what caught my attention was a little photo.

And here's the background on that photo. George Whitefield, in 1765, visited the township of South Hold. He lodged one night at a house owned by a wealthy man by the name of Mr. Thomas Fanning, who possessed an abundance of the good things of this life, yet seemed to be destitute of heavenly things.

In the morning, George Whitefield arose. And before he left the room, he took a little diamond out of his pocket, and he wrote with a diamond on the pane of glass these important words for Mr. Fanning.

In these words, he wrote, One thing is needful. That was the photo in the book. Well, I read it. It didn't make a lasting impression on me at the time until God brought it together in another incident.

I was sitting in the sanctuary at Bellevue, my church, flipping through my Bible, and the Spirit of God made me stop on our verse of today, verse 42. One thing is needful. Those words leapt off that page.

It was as if God took a spotlight and was shining it on that text, and my heart leapt for joy. I finally made a connection with what George Whitefield had written on that pane of glass. You see, I had realized a new truth.

I was sitting in the sanctuary, worrying about some bills, some financial matters. I wasn't paying attention to Dr. Rogers. I know you've never done that when you sit in a sanctuary before, but I was preoccupied with many things.

I wasn't focused on my pastor, but he, the Holy Spirit, broke my heart and showed me I was consumed with many things like Martha, and he opened up that text in a new way. Isn't it great when that happens, when it opens up a text in a new way?

Well, I realized as I sat there that all my efforts in life, all my activities, were useless if they were not centered around one needful thing, Jesus. You see, my many things were crowding out the main thing.

I began to study some companion verses that bring this truth home, to hide it in my heart so I'd never forget it. I looked up Luke 18, 22, the story of the rich young ruler. In verse 22, Jesus answers the rich young ruler with these words, Yet lackest thou one thing, sell all that thou hast.

I saw this truth again. The rich young ruler lacked one thing, one thing needful. I looked up Mark 8, verse 36, and read, For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?

I went to the Psalms. I read Psalm 27, verse 4. One thing have I desired of the Lord that I will seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.

Again, one thing have I desired. Even David knew this truth. He had a heart after God. He knew well the one thing needful. Again, I turned to the Psalms, this time Psalm 73, verse 25. Whom have I in heaven but thee?

And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. Again, one thing is needful. It's a theme that runs through the Bible like a golden thread. Moses knew it. Abraham knew it. Jacob learned it. Paul sought.

Peter eventually realized it. Have you? Have you, brother? Do you realize this truth in your life? I don't care if you're a new Christian or a professional Christian. Do you know this truth? Let me share something very personal with you.

I was blessed to my heart, Dr. Ofert, at the Christian Life Convention. That was the first time I had ever come to a Christian Life Convention. And Roger Wilmore was preaching that night. And Roger Wilmore doesn't know this, but I got a blessing that night that's going to last me forever.

Roger Wilmore was telling about, in a very eloquent way, the story of F .B. Meyer and how F .B. Meyer had listened to C .T. Stutt talk about giving it all to Jesus and not holding anything back. It's a well-known story.

You've heard it a dozen times. You've probably preached it several times. I had heard it many, many times before Roger Wilmore preached it that night. In fact, in my study at my home, on my desk, is a framed picture of F .B. Meyer.

F .B. Meyer is very important to me. I treasure his life of holiness and what that stood for. But something happened to me that night. Roger Wilmore was preaching on lordship. And Roger Wilmore said something, though I had probably heard it before.

I'm not a new Christian. I was saved in Chicago in a Plymouth Brethren church in 1968. That's a long time ago. I've been a Christian for a while. But Roger Wilmore said something that evening. He said, you know, F .B. Meyer, when you give everything to the Lord, it doesn't necessarily have to be a moral issue or a sin issue.

It can be a good thing. That's just not the wrong thing. And then came to my mind Leonard Ravenhill. I remember Leonard Ravenhill telling a story that he had a dear Christian friend who was wealthy. And every time Leonard Ravenhill got with this dear Christian man, all this man wanted to talk about was Jesus.

Every time Leonard Ravenhill got with this man, this man made him so thirsty for Christ, he was salt. It made him thirsty to long in the presence of Jesus. Well, one day, this man took up stamp collecting.

And he collected stamps. And he collected and collected and collected. And he told Leonard Ravenhill, he said, brother, you want to come over and see my British Colonials? I just paid $50 ,000 for them.

$50 ,000 for some stamps. Can you imagine that? And Leonard Ravenhill said, you know, after a while, this dear brother didn't want to talk about Jesus anymore. He just wanted to talk about stamps. See, sometimes a good thing can become a bad thing.

That was with me at one time in my life with a game of golf. Golf was not necessarily a bad thing. But I was getting to where I was playing golf five times a week. If I could take back the years that I spent wasted on a golf course unnecessarily and put that time on my knees and in my Bible, brethren, I would do that right now.

But I can't take that back right now. But the point happened here with Roger Wilmore. When he said that, the Holy Spirit convicted me. The Holy Spirit said, I want you to go down front. Tonight's Lordship Night, where people are going to go down front and commit their lives to complete Lordship.

And I thought, well, I've already done that, Lord. You know, I don't have any sin issues or moral issues. I don't need to do that. I'm fine. You know, you're using me. You got me here at the Old Friends, too.

You used me in other ministries. I don't need to go down there and do that. That's for, you know, some of these other people here. And the Holy Spirit pounded on my heart that if I didn't go down front and surrender this one thing, I was through.

Through. You know what that one thing was? It was my attitude. I had a negative and critical attitude. I came down here and surrendered that. And I can tell you right now, I have liberty. Liberty. I'm free.

He has all of me. All of me. And he'll have all of me here and all of me for all eternity. Because of Roger Wilmore, that night, here, with that story I'd heard a dozen times on F .D. Meyer. The Holy Spirit showed me the one thing needful.

He said, there's still one thing you haven't given me. Go do it. Go give it. And I did. And I'm glad I did. There are some men that I know and have noticed that have a life verse. A verse of the Bible that means more to them than others.

Life Verses and Complete Lordship

J. Sidlow Baxter had a life verse. He would sign books that he autographed with Philippians 3 .10. I have many books by Sidlow Baxter with his signature in there with Philippians 3 .10. That I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death.

That's not a real good impersonation of Sid, but that's about as good as I can do. J. Sidlow Baxter lived that verse. He knew Jesus. He knew Jesus. When you heard him preach, you saw there was a man that just came out of the presence of God.

He knew him. Dr. Stephen Alford has a life verse. We all know what it is. When he signs a book, what does he put near his name? Galatians 2 .20. Right? It's his life verse. In fact, he's written an entire book on its subject.

Not I but Christ. If you haven't read it, shame on you. Go get a copy and read it. Memorize it. Stephen Alford lives that verse better than anyone I have known. Well, I now have a life verse. You know what my life verse is?

Luke 10 .42. One thing is needful. I will live this verse out in the course of my life however God chooses to use me. I'll flesh that out. In all I say, in all I do, by the enabling of the power of the Holy Spirit, I pray here today that you too will go to the book and get your life verse.

It's here. If you don't have it, it's waiting for you. Lastly, we see Mary is concerned about one thing. Verse 42. Mary hath chosen that good part. Mary knew the best thing. Mary sat at the feet of Jesus and she heard him.

Do you do this? Do you sit at his feet? Do you sit at his feet and listen to him? I hope so. If you don't, make time to do it. Take time to do it. Mary chose the good part. Jesus, if we neglect this aspect of our Christian walk, we will suffer loss.

Also, Mary was focused on the main thing. Mary was well aware that the only thing that was needful in her life was Jesus. She realized the magnificent truth that Jesus was all she needed. She found out who she was in Jesus.

My wife, three years ago, found out who she was in Jesus. It's transformed her life. Have you found out who you are in Jesus? Mary had her priorities in the right place. She had chosen the good part. You know what?

Trusting Jesus in Suffering

There's some hope in this verse and I'll close with this. There's some hope in this text. I got some devastating news this week. Very crushing news. My wife got a bad report from the doctor. She has an incurable disease.

Her mother died of this disease this year at the age of 60. Now my wife has it. It seems possibly that she's lacking an enzyme in her body. It's genetic. It makes you an invalid eventually. You literally suffocate to death.

It's horrible. We got that news this week. What do you do when you get news like that? I'll tell you what you do. You stand on this and you lean on him. That's what you do. One thing needful. One thing needful.

Well, let me ask you a question. Are you a Martha or are you a Mary? You guys may be thinking, well, where's he going with that? You know what I mean. Are you a Martha or are you a Mary? Well, today we saw Martha in his face and Mary at his feet.

We saw Martha occupied about many things and Mary occupied with one thing. Let me close this in prayer. Oh, Lord, what a privilege, dear blessed King, to handle your word and to speak your word by your Holy Spirit, Lord God, to your people, Lord God.

I pray, Lord, that this message is a transforming message, Lord. I pray that there's a dear brother here or a dear sister here, Lord, who still has something, one compartment in their life that they haven't fully given to you, Jesus, in total lordship, that they give that to you now, Lord, that they settle it this week.

And it doesn't have to be a bad thing, as I learned, like a moral issue or a sin issue. It could be your pride, brother. It could be your attitude. It could be a good thing that maybe is keeping you from the main thing, something that's taking up too much of your time.

You should be spending more time at the feet of Jesus. I pray right now that the Holy Spirit will speak to your heart and that you will surrender all, all to him in total lordship because if he's not Lord of all, he's not Lord at all.

And I pray this in Jesus Christ's name, amen.

Thank you, Ernest, for unburdening your heart on what I know to be a very important issue in your life. I've had the privilege of knowing Ernest for quite a time, as he made very plain in his opening remarks.

He is not an ordained minister or a preacher per se, but I suggest to you right now that he said one of the most important things, or we, we need to hear. He is a writer, though, and he referred to Sidnall Baxter a few moments ago.

I have good news for those of you who have known this amazing man who lived right up into his nineties, that the biography that Ernest Johnson has written on his life has now been accepted and will be published.

Amen. And to me, that is a contribution to the ministry of an extremely interesting and talented man. I don't know any man who combines so many gifts. How many hymns has he written?