The Gospel of Luke (#44) Martha and Mary 11/12/2023

First Baptist Church Leominster

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Today's New Testament reading is 1st John chapter 3. Pastor Jason will read, then pray for us.

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1st John 3. 1st

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John 3. See what kind of love the

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Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God, and so we are.

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The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Beloved, we are

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God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared. But we know that when

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He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is.

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And everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies himself as he is pure. Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness.

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Sin is lawlessness. You know that He appeared in order to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin.

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No one who abides in Him keeps on sinning. No one who keeps on sinning has either seen

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Him or known Him. Little children, let no one deceive you.

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Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as He is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning.

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The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in Him, and He cannot keep on sinning, because He has been born of God.

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By this it is evident who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

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For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother.

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And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.

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We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death.

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Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

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By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

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But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does

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God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth.

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By this we shall know that we are of the truth, and reassure our heart before him. For whenever our heart condemns us,

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God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God, and whatever we ask, we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what he pleases.

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And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his son,

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Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he has commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him.

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And by this we know that he abides in us, by the spirit whom he has given us. Let's pray.

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Our Father, this is a heavy passage of Scripture. Lord, we are called to love as you have loved.

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And Lord, we confess that we don't often love in this way. Our love is often conditional, it is often selfish, it's self -serving.

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Lord, we confess these things to you. We thank you that Jesus Christ upheld the law, that Jesus Christ loved perfectly.

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And Lord, we pray that we would strive to follow in his footsteps. We pray,

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Lord, that we would love in word, I mean in deed and in truth, not in word.

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We just pray, Lord, that we would be authentic and sincere in our love for others, but especially,

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Lord, in our love for you. And so we pray that you would help us in all these things. We thank you for the spirit, that the spirit bears witness that we belong to you, that the spirit convicts, the spirit empowers.

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We pray, Lord, that we would walk by the spirit. And Lord, help us now as we continue to worship through the sermon.

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We just pray that we would hear these words, and the spirit would take them from our ear to our heart, and that we would be changed.

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We pray for Pastor Lars, that you'd give him clarity of thought and voice, and that you would bless the preaching of your word.

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Thank you, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, let's turn in our

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Bibles to the end of Luke chapter 10. We're going to give our attention to not many verses today, and that's why we have fewer pages today in your notes than we normally have, which is kind of unusual.

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And that's even after I included some several long passages from Spurgeon, but there are not many verses here.

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But I think there's a good message for us. We'll give attention to verses 38 through 42 of Luke chapter 10.

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Here we read of two sisters and family conflict that emerged in their home, even when their good friend

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Jesus was their guest. You know the kind of situation

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Martha faced. It can happen on occasions like Thanksgiving Day coming up, when mom is laboring in the kitchen, dad and kids are not sitting at the feet of Jesus, but rather sitting in front of the television watching the football game, or some other kind of thing.

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Difficulty, conflict can arise. This is actually one of my favorite little accounts in the

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Gospel of Luke, because it's so reflective of common experience. And it is illustrative of the kind of day -to -day situations that get us upset needlessly.

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That we bring upon ourselves, that perhaps could be so easily avoided if we follow the simple directives of God's work.

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And so we read of Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus while her sister Martha was busy in the kitchen.

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Jesus commends Mary greatly while gently reproving

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Martha. And so we see in these few verses the importance to be sitting with Jesus in communion before serving him and others.

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And so here is Luke 10 verses 38 through 42. Now it happened as they went that they entered a certain village and a certain woman named

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Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called

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Mary who also sat at Jesus's feet and heard his word.

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But Martha was distracted with much serving and she approached him and said,

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Lord do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.

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And Jesus answered and said to her, Martha, Martha you are worried and troubled about many things.

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But one thing is needed and Mary has chosen that good part which will not be taken away from her.

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And there the episode concludes. Now Luke opens this little episode with reference to our

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Lord's journey to Jerusalem where he would suffer and die and be raised on the third day.

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And so Luke records in verse 38a, now it happened as they went. The English Standard Version fills out this statement a bit more by saying, now as they went on their way.

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And so while journeying to Jerusalem, he entered a certain village and a certain woman named Martha welcomed him into her house.

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What's rather puzzling about this episode at this point in the story is we know the location of the house of Martha and Mary.

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Mary, Martha, and her brother Lazarus were good friends of Jesus. They lived in Bethany.

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And Bethany was a small town just two miles east of Jerusalem. Back in Luke 9 51,

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Jesus left Galilee with his disciples to travel to Jerusalem where he would suffer and die. And it's not until actually

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Luke 19 28 that they finally arrive at Jerusalem and we have that event of Palm Sunday.

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Well, here all these chapters before Luke chapter 19, we see Jesus in Bethany, two miles from Jerusalem.

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So you see a little bit of the geography issue here. And I think what this reveals, of course, is that although we're reading in Luke's gospel the narrative of our

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Lord's final journey to Jerusalem, really Jesus and his disciples were traveling about a bit on their way to Jerusalem, perhaps ministering there in northern and eastern regions of Judea before they finally entered the city on Palm Sunday itself.

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And so here we read of Jesus and his disciples just two miles from Jerusalem. Nine chapters between now and Luke chapter 19, they're traveling about and ministering in this region.

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We read that Martha invited Jesus into their home on this occasion. They had been friends for some time, close friends, perhaps because Martha had invited

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Jesus. It reveals that Martha was the matriarch of the family, perhaps the oldest of the three with Mary being a younger sister.

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It's interesting that Luke does not mention their brother Lazarus here in Luke 10.

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Of course, John did so in his gospel. In fact, Martha, Mary, Lazarus are referenced quite a bit in John's gospel.

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And so in identifying these siblings, John listed Martha first, again suggesting that she was probably the oldest of the three.

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And then John identified Mary, her sister, and then their brother Lazarus.

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And we read in John 11 5, now Jesus loved Mary and her sister and Lazarus. And of course, it was

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Lazarus that Jesus raised from the dead. Now, Martha should be greatly commended for having

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Jesus and his disciples come into her house to dine. And Matthew Henry wrote of this.

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He gave the context. Note our Lord Jesus when he was here upon earth was so poor that he was necessitated to be beholden to his friends for his subsistence.

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Though he was Zion's king, he had no house of his own either in Jerusalem or near it. There were some who were

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Christ's particular friends whom he loved more than his other friends. And then he visited most frequently.

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He loved this family and often invited himself to them. Of course, here in Luke, it says

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Martha invited him. Christ visits are the tokens of his love. There were those who kindly received

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Christ into their houses when he was here upon earth. It's called Martha's house for probably she was a widow and was the housekeeper.

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Perhaps that's true. Speculation. Though it was expensive to entertain

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Christ, for he did not come alone, but brought his disciples with him. Yet she would not regard the cost of it.

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How can we spend what we have better than in Christ's service? Nay, though at this time it was grown dangerous to entertain him, especially so near Jerusalem.

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Yet she cared not what hazard she ran for his namesake. And though there were many that rejected him and would not entertain him, yet there was one that would bid him welcome.

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Though Christ is everywhere spoken against, yet there is a remnant to whom he is dear who are dear to him.

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And that would be you and me, of course, in Christ as well.

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Well, while while Martha was serving, perhaps preparing a meal for Jesus and those disciples with him, we read that Mary was sitting at Jesus's feet, listening to him, listening to the word of God.

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He was teaching the gathering, the word of God, and we read in verse 40, however, but Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached him and said,

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Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore, tell her to help me.

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But the Lord did not do so, but rather he gently reproved

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Martha. Jesus answered, said to her, Martha, Martha, you're worried and troubled about many things.

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Jesus then told Martha that Mary was doing what was best, the one needful thing. Jesus said to Martha, but one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.

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Now, the posture of Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus is that of a disciple of Jesus, and we should recognize that.

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We read elsewhere that the apostle Paul had grown up as a disciple of the Jewish rabbi Gamaliel, and Paul is described as having sat at the feet of Gamaliel, the

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Jewish rabbi. We read in Acts of Paul describing his own upbringing, saying, I am a

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Jew born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, Jerusalem, educated at the feet of Gamaliel.

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According to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day.

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So, whereas Paul had been a disciple of Gamaliel, Mary is set forth as a disciple of Jesus Christ, sitting at his feet, listening and learning as he taught his people.

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And so, one commentator wrote, the way Martha is mentioned seems to give her the role of hostess.

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It is Mary, however, who takes the place of a disciple by sitting at the feet of the teacher, and then this comment was made.

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It is unusual for a woman in first century Judaism to be accepted by a teacher as a disciple, but Jesus accepted

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Mary as his disciple. Our Lord commended

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Mary to her sister, Martha, for Mary had the right priority on this occasion. She was communing with her friend, but who also was her master,

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Jesus the Lord. Now, in addressing these two sisters, we do not mean to single out

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Martha for censure, and her sister Mary as the only virtuous of the two, for both were good and godly women.

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But clearly, our Lord commended Mary while censuring Martha in this instance, on this occasion.

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And I appreciated the words of Charles Spurgeon, who gave a sermon on this passage, from which

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I'm greatly indebted. And he set forth the noble quality of these two sisters together before he first began to hit on Martha.

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And so here are his words. This short narrative, I suppose, might be paraphrased something after this fashion.

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Martha and Mary were two most excellent sisters, both converted, both lovers of Jesus, both loved by Jesus.

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For we are expressly told that he loved Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, John chapter 11.

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They were both women of a choice spirit. Our Savior's selection of their house as a frequent resort proved that they were an unusually gracious family.

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They are persons representative of different forms of excellence, and I think altogether wrong to treat

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Martha as some have done, as if she had no love for good things and was nothing better than a mere worldling.

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It was not so. Martha was a most estimable and earnest woman, a true believer and an ardent follower of Jesus, whose joy it was to entertain

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Jesus at the house of which she was the mistress. And when our

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Lord made his appearance on this occasion at Bethany, the first thought of Martha was, here is our most noble guest.

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We must prepare for him a sumptuous entertainment. Perhaps she marked our

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Savior's weariness or saw some traces of that exhaustion which made him look so much older than he was, and she therefore set to work with the utmost diligence to prepare a feast for him.

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She was careful about many things, and as she went on with her preparations, fresh matters occurred to ruffle her mind and she became worried.

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And being somewhat vexed that her sister took matters so coolly, she begged the master to upbraid her.

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Now Mary had looked upon the occasion from another point of view. As soon as she saw

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Jesus come into the house, she thought, what a privilege have I now to listen eagerly to such a teacher and to treasure up his precious words.

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He is the Son of God. I will worship, I will adore, and every word he utters shall be stored in my memory.

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She forgot the needs both of the master and his followers for her faith saw the inner glory which dwelt within him.

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She was so overpowered with reverence and so wrapped in devout wonder that she became oblivious to all outward things.

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She had no faults to find with Martha for being so busy. She did not even think of Martha.

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She was altogether taken up with her Lord and with those gracious words which he was speaking.

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She had no will either to censure or to praise or to think even of herself.

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Everything was gone from her but her Lord and the word which he was uttering.

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See then, Martha was serving Christ, but so was Mary. Martha meant to honor

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Christ, so did Mary. They both agreed in their design, but they differed in the way of carrying it out.

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And while Martha's service is not censured, only her accumbered comes under the censure, and I think that's an important point.

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Yet Mary is expressly commended as having chosen the good part, and therefore we do

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Martha no injustice if we show wherein she came short, wherein Mary exceeded.

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I think that was a good word of balance because I have read some comments that did seem to censure

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Martha a bit too severely. Well, what is the major lesson?

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If we can just stand back and look at this episode, what is the major lesson of this passage? Well, we see that sitting at the feet of Jesus is preferable and must precede serving

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Jesus. Martha failed in this.

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Sitting before serving should be a principle that all disciples of Jesus Christ should take to heart.

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We must first enhance our devotion for Christ before we show forth our service for Christ.

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So let's consider what it is to be sitting at the feet of Jesus before serving, looking to Mary as having chosen the better part.

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And then we'll consider Martha as to what happens when we fail to sit at Jesus's feet, but nevertheless attempt to serve without first sitting at the feet of Jesus.

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There's some good lessons for us here. And so let's first consider sitting before serving.

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We read that Mary was sitting. Martha was serving. Martha was anxious.

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Mary was not. Jesus affirmed what Mary was doing and in doing so gently rebuked

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Martha. But one thing is needed and Mary has chosen the good part. Martha should have been sitting also, but she would serve first.

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She thought that was most needful. After all, if she did not get things done, who would?

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The problem is this, if we Christians neglect communion with our Lord, listening to him from his word, speaking to him through our prayers, the least little thing will become a cause of anxiety and distress to us.

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Martha brought this upon herself. And when that occurs, everything begins to break down.

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Thinking and living rightly flows forth from our closeness and communion with our Savior. So let's first consider

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Mary and what it is to be sitting at the feet of Jesus. Sitting at Jesus's feet implies humility of Mary before Jesus.

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She recognized that she was in need of instruction in the ways of God and the way in which God would have her live.

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She did not possess a self -confident and self -sufficient spirit that characterizes many with unteachable spirits.

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Mary knew that she was in need of instruction. She wasn't resistant, but rather compliant, ready to hear, ready to be taught, ready to be corrected by the words of Jesus.

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And this is the attitude that should characterize every true disciple of Jesus Christ. When we're converted, we become as little children.

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We're to be very inquisitive and teachable. Jesus himself taught that this was so, as Matthew recorded.

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At that time, the disciples came to Jesus saying, who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child to him, set him in the midst of them and said, assuredly,

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I say to you, unless you're converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

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And therefore, whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

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Whoever receives one little child like this in my name receives me. Mary is one of the greatest in the kingdom.

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She is sitting at Jesus's feet, implying her humility before Jesus. But sitting at Jesus's feet also implies an eagerness to learn the word of God.

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Matthew Henry wrote, our sitting at Christ's feet when we hear his word signifies a readiness to receive it, a submission, an entire resignation of ourselves to the guidance of it.

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We must either sit at Christ's feet or be made his footstool. That's a wonderful comparison and contrast.

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But if we sit with him at his feet now, we shall sit with him on his throne shortly.

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Amen. But further, Mary sitting at Jesus's feet implies submission to him.

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This is the posture of one who is humble and submissive to Jesus in his teaching. But Mary is not only teachable, she's compliant.

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She's ready to obey whatever the Lord commands her to believe or do. We should be like young Samuel, who was counseled by the elder

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Eli when he first heard the voice of God. We read in first Samuel 3 .10,

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now the Lord came and stood and called out his other time, Samuel, Samuel. And Samuel answered, speak for your servant hears.

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He's ready to be taught and he's ready to obey. And so may we always not only be humble before the

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Lord, but may we also be submissive to the word of God taught to us. We are to be eager to be taught, always ready to be corrected of errant thinking and errant behaving.

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But further, of course, sitting at Jesus's feet implies faith in Jesus. Obviously, Mary believed implicitly and wholly what

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Jesus was teaching her, along with all those others that were sitting there listening to him.

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She had confidence in him, that she would learn rightly from him. She was not like some who sit and critically assess and judge the word of God beforehand to determine whether or not she chose to believe and follow his teaching.

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Mary sat believing what Jesus was teaching her. She would not just accept, but she would embrace completely whatever she heard, as we should with respect to the word of God.

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And of course, Mary sitting at Jesus's feet reveals her great love of Jesus. She loved her sister.

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She loved her brother, but she loved Jesus supremely. Jesus said that this was an essential trait of his disciples.

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In other words, you cannot be a Christian unless you love Christ more than all other loves, even more love than you love yourself.

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And that's the sticker. If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, he's expressing in those terms for a point, of course, to emphasize the importance of this matter.

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Wife and children, brother and sister, yes, his own life also. That's the most difficult one, of course.

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He cannot be my disciple. In other words, you cannot be a Christian unless you love

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Jesus supremely above all other loves. That doesn't diminish your love for others.

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In fact, loving Jesus supremely, of course, will enhance your love of others. It always works out that way.

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And so he was speaking in superlative terms to arrest the attention and stress the importance of loving him supremely above all other loves in this world.

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Jesus Christ holds first place in the heart of his disciples. And so what

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Luke was suggesting by Mary's posture at his feet was this was true of her.

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She loved Jesus. And once again, Spurgeon wrote, she would not be sitting there at ease and happy in mind if she had not loved him.

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There was a charm in the very tone of his words to her. She knew how he had loved her, and therefore every syllable was music to her soul.

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She looked up again and again, I doubt not, into that dear face and caught more fully the meaning of his words as she read his countenance ever bright with holy sympathy.

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Amen, Spurgeon. And so Mary is set forth here really as the ideal disciple with regard to her humble, teachable, submissive, and compliant spirit.

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May we all emulate the posture and attitude of Mary. May we always be found sitting at the feet of Jesus.

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And then we can serve him acceptably. But now let's consider

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Martha and what happens when we serve without sitting. What happens when we attempt to serve or live as a

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Christian without sitting at the feet of Jesus? Well, we read of our

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Lord's rebuke and correction of Martha. Again, verse 41 records, Jesus answered and said to her,

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Martha, Martha, you're worried and troubled about many things. That's the Christian who is not in regular communion with the

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Lord. If you're not faithful in your quiet time, your daily devotions, I suspect you're worried and troubled about many things.

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One results in the other. So due to Martha's failure to commune with the

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Lord, Jesus sitting at his feet, we see that she was troubled about many things. Well, what were some of these things?

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First, Martha was distracted from her Lord by all her activity. We read in verse 48,

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Martha was distracted with much serving. Martha was not doing a bad thing.

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She was serving others, principally her honored guest, Jesus. However, we read, but Martha was distracted with much serving.

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Martha was doing a good thing, but even a good thing, if not done in proper order and manner, becomes a distracting thing.

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If communion with Jesus is not maintained, even relatively minor events in one's life may become a cause of anxiety and distress, and thereby, and thereby a cause that may lead us to sin.

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Martha saw herself as serving the Lord, but even one's service to the Lord or the Lord's church can become a cause of sin if one does not maintain communion with Jesus.

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I wonder sometimes if the complaining spirit, the fault -finding spirit doesn't reflect a failure to commune with the

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Lord Jesus. One follows with the other. Communing with Jesus gives perspective and balance.

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A biblical balance and priority of importance to what we're doing or attempting to do. But poor

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Martha was distracted from her Lord even while she was busy serving the Lord and those with him. And sadly, those that are entangled in the caries of this life are not easily disentangled, even though many things she was troubled about were needless, while the one thing she neglected was needful.

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Priorities. But not only was Martha distracted by all her activities, she also grew discouraged from all her serving because she had failed to sit at Jesus' feet.

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So Martha came to Jesus, Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?

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We see that Martha is troubled, distraught from her serving. This little gathering that had such promise of bringing much happiness had begun to manifest a tense spirit in Martha.

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Martha was discouraged and look at what a trifle thing it was that resulted in her discouragement.

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Fixing a dinner for houseguests. Doesn't take much to trouble us, does it?

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What should have been and could have been a delightful privilege became a discouraging burden to her. But it doesn't stop there.

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Martha was also distanced from Jesus due to all her serving because she had failed to sit at his feet.

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Now she'd come to Jesus, but not to learn from him, but rather charge him with failure and demand that he fix her problem.

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Again, we read Martha's words, Lord, do you not care? Martha perceives that the problem was not with her, but really the problem was with Jesus.

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He didn't fix it. Fix Martha or fix Mary rather. But ultimately it was his fault.

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He didn't care about her plight or so she thought. He was just sitting there talking with others and he gets blamed for not fixing her problem.

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Can you relate to that? I think we all can in a measure. This little problem enters the household and now

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Martha's questioning whether or not Jesus even cares about her. Don't you care?

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That's how easy and quick it is to get into spiritual problems if you neglect communing with Jesus.

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You might even find yourself accusing the Lord of failure to come to your defense or relief. Where's the Lord in all this?

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Why didn't he fix this or relieve me of this problem? So let's be careful what we bring to our

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Lord to fix on our behalf. And Matthew Henry wrote, those are not always in the right that are most forward to appeal to God.

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We must therefore take heed lest at any time we expect that Christ should espouse our unjust and groundless quarrels.

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The cares which he cast upon us, we may certainly, we may cheerfully cast upon him, but not those which we foolishly draw upon ourselves.

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He will be the patron of the poor and injured, but not the of the turbulent and injurious.

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That's where Martha was. When you neglect communion with Christ, you may soon find yourself distanced from him and doubt even his love and concern for you.

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Had you been in God's word, reassuring yourself of all that Christ had promised and all that Christ has done for your soul, how could you possibly doubt his care regardless of what comes into your life?

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But if you fail to walk in faith and fellowship with him, then perhaps the least thing, the most trifle thing, even the perceived failure of a sister will cause you to doubt

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God's love for you. And you'll be filled with anxiety and worry about silly things.

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But it can also be said that due to Martha's failure to sit at the feet of Jesus, she became distant not only from Jesus, but Martha became distant from others also.

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Martha had become upset with her sister, Mary. But did Martha come and speak directly to Mary?

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She wasn't even speaking to Mary at this point. No, she was not only disappointed with Mary, but she was angry with Mary.

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She would not quietly come to Mary and voice her concern and make an appeal to come to a sister. But she came to Jesus and talked to him about doing something about Mary, even while Mary was sitting before her, listening probably to Martha make this appeal to Jesus.

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Martha made the matter public, bringing it into the open. And so clearly, Martha had erected a barrier between herself and her sister.

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She wouldn't even speak to her sister at this point. Mary was doing right.

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She was sitting before the Lord, serving him with her attention and response to his words. But Martha did not care about that.

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Martha thought that Mary should be with her, serving her in the kitchen. But we also see that Martha was self -deceived and thinking that she alone was doing right.

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She thought that everything would fall apart if she let up. Some people can begin to think that.

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Everything would unravel, fall apart, if it were not for her. Everything rested on her shoulders.

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Or so she thought. Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?

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She thought she alone saw and understood things objectively, according to truth. But she had deceived herself and justified herself because of all her activity.

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She alone was right, or so she thought. She alone cared for this most important matter.

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Even Jesus did not care for her and her situation. That's what happens when people even begin serving in the church and they're neglecting their own walk and communion with the

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Lord Jesus. It's a foolish thing to think that God's will or God's work will only be successful if we put our hand to the work.

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God does not need you or me to do his work. Now, it's a great privilege and delight to be used of him to serve him in his church, but we should never think that we're indispensable to advance his cause or purpose in his kingdom.

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He can just as easily put somebody in your place. Remember Esther?

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You know, her uncle Mordecai? You better go and talk to that king and deal with it.

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If you don't, the Lord is going to raise somebody else to do it in your place.

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He doesn't need you. Moreover, we see that Martha was convinced that others were the cause of her trouble.

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Martha says to Jesus, tell her to help me. She thought that she alone was doing right. Her sister was failing in her responsibility and she was even blaming the

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Lord for what she believed to be his failure and that all this was happening to her. She thought well of herself and she thought ill of others.

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The short of it is that she had become more concerned about herself than the Lord. She was failing to love the

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Lord and she became more concerned about herself than her sister. She was failing to love her neighbor as herself.

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Martha would determine that she would assert her will upon others. She even went so far as to tell the

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Lord what to do. Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Jesus is no longer

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Lord in her mind that is over her, but now she's in control. She's telling Jesus how he was to direct his disciples.

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The problem is that when a little thing like dinner preparation for a guest began to bring Martha anxiety, she didn't try to leave the matter with the

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Lord. She plotted along, acting, reacting, take matters into her own hands according to her own will to the detriment of her and everybody else around her.

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She thought the problem was with Mary and Jesus. The problem was with her.

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In short, Martha had become selfish and had acted and spoke out of self -interest. Again, Spurgeon's comments which are so relevant.

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Martha's spirit has this mischief about it also that it brings self too much to remembrance.

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We would not severely judge Martha, but we conceive that in some measure she aimed at making the service a credit to herself as the mistress of the house.

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At any rate, self came up when she began to grow weary and complained that she was left to serve alone.

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We also want our work to show well as our work. We'd like those who see it to commend it and if not commend it, we feel that we're treated badly and are left to work alone.

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Now to the extent in which I think of myself and my service, I spoil it. Self must sink and Christ must be all in all.

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John the Baptist must be our motto. He must increase, I must decrease. For Jesus is shoelace, we are not worthy done loose.

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Too much work and too little fellowship will always bring self into prominence. Self must be prayed down and fellowship with Jesus must keep it down.

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Martha seemed to fancy that what she was doing was necessary for Christ. She was cumbered about with much serving because she thought it necessary that there should be a noble entertainment for the

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Lord. We are still too apt to think that Jesus wants or needs our work and that he cannot do without us.

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The preacher inquires what would become of the church if he were removed. The deacon is suspicious that if he were taken away, there would be a great gap left in the leadership of the church.

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The teacher of a class feels that those children would never be converted. Christ would miss the travail of his soul but for the hymn.

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Ah, but a fly on St. Paul's Cathedral might as well imagine that all the traffic at his feet was regulated by his presence and would cease should he be removed.

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I love you to think that Christ will do much work by you and to attach as much weight as you can to your responsibilities.

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But as to Jesus needing us, the thing is preposterous. Mary is much wiser than when she feels.

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He desires me to receive his words and yield him my love. I would gladly give him meat but he will see to that.

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He is the master of all things and can do without me or Martha. I'd need him far more than he can need me.

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Martha was blind to her failures, however. She thought the problems were with the other people and her situation.

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All she could see were what she perceived to be the failures of others around her.

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And this would have all been avoided had she just been in communion with the Lord Jesus. It's in Jesus Christ we have life and that has to be infused in us daily.

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We are to abide in Christ and then you bring forth fruit. John 15. Again, she thought well of herself but ill of others.

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She should have thought ill of herself and given the benefit of that out to others. She thought she was loving the

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Lord by serving him, but she should have been loving the Lord by first sitting before him.

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And when we fail in our devotion to Christ, we'll soon fail in our service for Christ. We'll too become quickly distracted with much serving, worried, and troubled about many things.

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Martha was not failing to sit at Jesus' feet due to a sensual spirit or unholy concern. Martha truly desired to serve her

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Lord, but she had been distracted from the one thing needful, communion with her

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Savior. Martha was not doing a bad work, she was attempting a good work. But look at all the problems that resulted because she had neglected having communion or fellowship with the

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Lord Jesus. Christ must be first and central to our Christian experience or even our service for him will become fruitless, problematic.

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So perhaps you've been very busy this past week. You've drifted away from your moorings, from your Lord. Perhaps you've not lived in constant fellowship, but you've been full of care and empty of prayer.

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Perhaps you failed to commit your trials and troubles to the Lord or you've attempted to address them in your own way, in your own strength.

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That's a prescription for failure, is it not? And frustration. You've blundered along in your duty without asking for the

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Lord's guidance or assistance. So I would urge each of us, me included, to lay down serving until we first have been seated before our

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Lord, learning and loving him. May it never be said of us that we've departed from him or failed in seeking him and being enriched by our devotion to him.

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For it will most certainly bring about our weakness and failure, discouragement, sin and sorrow. Let's come to him.

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All the resources of God's grace are needed to preserve us from falling and becoming ensnared to things other than Jesus and our fellowship with him.

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The workplace biddens you. The children may be cried after you. The attractions, distractions of the world of work entice and call after you.

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But the Lord bids you to come on to him. He commands you to learn of him.

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And in so doing, you will find rest for your souls. That which Martha did not have.

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At this stage, come to me, all you who labor heavy laden. I will give you rest.

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Take my yoke upon you. Learn of me. Learn from me. Learn of me. For I am gentle and lowly in heart.

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You'll find rest in your soul. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Spurgeon gave another sermon on this subject that I came across.

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And in it, he made an appeal of how easy it is to comply to this matter sitting at the feet of Jesus.

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We're not asking a hard thing of us. He isn't. It's an unspeakable mercy that the one thing needful is a very simple one.

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Little child, thou could not climb the mountain, but thou can't sit at Jesus' feet. Thou canst not understand hard doctrine, but thou canst love him who said,

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Suffer the little children that come unto me. Forbid them not, for such is the kingdom of heaven. Unlearned man, thou has no time to acquire earthly love.

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If the one thing needful were something that belonged only to the learned, I'll ask for thee. But if thou canst not teach, it's not needful that you should.

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It's only needful that you should learn. Take the incarnate wisdom, Christ, to be thy master, and sit as a little child at his feet and learn with all thine heart.

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That is all he asked of thee. Men will have it that they must do something to be saved.

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They must fret and worry like Martha. But after all, the right way is to end your doing and fretting by sitting down content with Jesus' doing.

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Satisfied with his righteousness and with the merit of his precious blood. The one thing needful is very easy, except to proud hearts, which cannot brook to accept anything grotesque, and to be beholden to sovereign mercy.

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To the poor in spirit is not only simple, but sweet to sit at Jesus' feet. I would be nothing but what he makes me.

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I would have nothing but what he gives me. I would ask nothing but what he promises me. I would trust in nothing but what he has done for me.

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And I would desire nothing but what he has prepared for me. To sit at Jesus' feet in humble submission and quiet rest is he the master,

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I the little child. I the vessel waiting to be filled, and he my foldest. I the mown grass, and he the falling dew.

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I the raindrop, and he the sun that make me glisten in life with diamond brilliance. And then exhales me in death to be absorbed in him.

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This is all in all to me. And so what should Martha have done when she found herself in this situation?

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And what are we to do when we find ourselves in a similar frame of mind in circumstances that trouble us?

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The apostle Paul gave these instructions, and really it's what we've been asserting here. He asserted the same way in different words.

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Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.

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Be anxious for nothing, Martha. But in everything by prayer and supplication, devotion.

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With thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding.

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In other words, it's not contingent on your circumstances or what happens to you. Will guard your hearts and your minds to Christ Jesus.

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Amen. We ought to be people that are characterized by genuine peace and well -being, regardless of what is coming down around our ears when we rest in the

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Lord Jesus. Paul was urging these Christians that they encounter that which causes worry and anxiety to their souls.

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They would resort to prayer and submission and communion to Christ Jesus. To be seated with Jesus, hearing from him, speaking with him, and enjoying his presence.

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May the Lord help each of us to be true in this matter. Amen. Thank you,

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Father, for your word and for this simple little account, our God, that we have that is so instructive, our

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God, and corrective. Help us, our God, not to be as Martha, worried and anxious about many things.

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But help us, our God, to come before you and trust you and learn from you, our

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God. Hear your word and believe it. Help us, our God, to be humble and teachable and full of joy, our

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God, when we are in your presence. For we pray these things, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen.