Amen.
All right, we're there in Luke, chapter number 10,
and of course we've been going through this series,
Journey with Jesus, this verse-by-verse study
through the Gospel of Luke,
and tonight we're gonna finish up this chapter,
chapter number 10, as we'll look at this final story
in this chapter, and then Wednesday night
we'll start into chapter number 11.
And what we see tonight is a story of Jesus, of course,
being invited to the home of Mary and Martha.
If you notice there in verse number 38,
the Bible says, now it came to pass as they went
that He, referring to Jesus,
entered into a certain village.
And if you remember, I've been reminding you
this is where we're going.
Jesus is making His way down to Jerusalem.
When the Bible says there, as they went,
we are referring to the fact that He is moving
down to Jerusalem on His way to the Passover
and eventually the cross.
The Bible says 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.
And if you're taking notes tonight,
and maybe you want to jot some of these things down
on the back of your course,
so at least there's a place for you to write down some notes,
you can make note of the fact that Martha and Mary
are actually Lazarus's sisters.
If you remember Lazarus, who died,
and Jesus resurrects him from the grave,
they're all related.
Mary and Martha are sisters to Lazarus.
Of course, Jesus was a good friend of Lazarus
and Mary and Martha, and He is now at their house,
fellowshiping, notice there in verse 39,
and she had a sister called Mary,
which also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word.
But Martha, verse 40, was cumbered about much serving,
and came to Him and said, Lord,
does Thou not care that my sister hath left me
to serve alone?
Bid her therefore that she help me.
What we see tonight in this short story
is the story of two sisters,
and you'll notice there that we have Martha,
who is laboring, the Bible says she was cumbered about
much serving, and Mary, who is listening.
The Bible says about Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet.
And what we see is this story play out,
and we see some lessons in regards to the Christian life.
And I am not one who likes to over-exaggerate statements
when we're preaching through the Word of God.
Obviously, we've been going through this sermon series
on the Gospel of Luke, so I don't mean
to over-exaggerate things, but let me just say this.
What we're gonna talk about tonight,
not necessarily this story, but the lesson in this story,
in my opinion, is probably one of the most important things
that you can learn in regards to your Christian life,
in regards to your Christian life,
and whether you're gonna make it in the Christian life.
I believe that the reason that this story is in Scripture
is because of the idea that's being taught here,
and it's not only taught here,
it's taught all throughout the Bible,
but this idea of how to make it in the Christian life.
And I want you to notice here, and if you're taking notes
and you're writing down some things,
I'd like to give you three points tonight.
The first point is this, I'd like you to notice
in this story Martha's frustrated approach
to the Christian life.
When we come to this story, we see a very frustrated woman
by the name of Martha, and she's frustrated
because of her approach to the Christian life.
I want you to notice the comparison that is made
between Martha's labor and Mary's listening.
Notice there in verse 40, Luke chapter 10, verse 40,
I want you to notice that Martha was very occupied
with work.
The Bible says, but Martha was coming about much serving.
And of course, the Lord Jesus Christ was coming.
He was coming over to their house.
The Bible says there in verse 38
that Martha received him into her house.
And as you can imagine, when you're gonna have guests,
you like to prepare.
My wife and I, over the years,
have had many, many people over.
In fact, many of you have came over to our house,
and we like to have things ready, of course.
When guests are coming, you want to make sure
that everything is ready and set,
that the house is clean and that everything's presentable,
that the food is prepared.
And this is what Martha is doing.
She's being a good host, and she's getting things ready
for this visit with the Lord Jesus Christ.
But the Bible says that she was
cumbered about much serving.
I want you to notice that she was occupied with her work.
She was working at this thing of serving,
and really, it was none other than the Lord Jesus Christ.
I mean, she's literally serving the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord Jesus Christ on this earth is coming to her house,
and she's having them over for dinner,
and she's trying to make sure that everything's set,
that the house is clean, that the tables are set,
and that the drinks are all in their place,
and that there's enough napkins,
and that the different places at the dinner table are ready.
She's trying to make sure that everything is good to go,
and she's occupied with the work.
And of course, this is a literal story.
This actually happened.
But we can take a principle here
that Martha was occupied in serving the Lord Jesus Christ.
She was working for the Lord Jesus Christ.
What I want you to notice is that not only was she occupied,
but the Bible tells us that she was overwhelmed by the work.
Notice again there in verse 40.
But Martha was, notice this word,
cumbered about much serving.
The Bible does not only tell us
that Martha was about much serving.
That would tell us that she was occupied with her work.
But the Bible tells us
that Martha was cumbered about much serving.
The word cumbered means to be burdened.
It means to be overloaded.
If you remember, and I won't have you turn there,
but there's another story of a tree
in which Jesus is looking for the tree in the parable.
We're told that he's looking for this tree to produce fruit.
And when the tree does not produce fruit,
he says, why cumbereth this tree,
the ground on which it is?
And the idea is that the tree is burdening
and overloading the soil in that area.
And he says, look, if this tree's not gonna produce,
we need to get rid of the tree because it's cumbering,
it's overloading, it's burdening.
And this is what the Bible tells us about Martha,
that she was overwhelmed, she was overloaded,
she was burdened, she was cumbered about much serving.
Now I want you to compare Martha's labor.
She was occupied and she was overwhelmed.
And I want you to contrast that with Mary's listening.
Look at verse 39.
And she had a sister called Mary, which also,
I want you to notice that word also.
The Bible says she also sat at Jesus' feet
and heard his word.
When we see this story, the fact that the Bible tells us
that Mary also sat at Jesus' feet,
the idea is not that Mary was this lazy sister
who allowed Martha to do all the work,
get the house picked up and everything arranged
and get the meal ready and prepared
while she sat there and did nothing.
But what the Bible tells us is that both Martha and Mary
were busy about the work of preparing the house,
preparing the meal, getting things ready
for this visit with the Lord Jesus Christ.
She was also working alongside Martha.
The difference was when Jesus showed up,
she stopped working and she sat,
she also, alongside her work,
she sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word.
The difference between Martha and Mary
is that Mary was not only working,
but Mary was also communing with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Mary worked and Martha worked,
but Mary sat down to commune.
She sat down to fellowship.
She sat down to hear the Bible tells us.
Look at the last part of verse 39.
And she heard his word.
And I want you to understand something about this story.
And the purpose of this story
that we have in Luke chapter 10 regarding Mary and Martha,
this story highlights the fact
that sometimes in the Christian life,
people are serving or working for the Lord like Martha,
but they are not communing or listening
or fellowshiping with the Lord.
See, you gotta understand,
there's a difference between working for Jesus
and walking with Jesus.
There's a difference between
I'm busy about the work of the ministry
and I'm busy about the work of the ministry,
but I'm also making sure I'm getting fed.
I'm also making sure that I'm gonna sit at Jesus' feet
and hear his word.
See, the story highlights the fact
that sometimes in the Christian life,
people are serving or working for the Lord,
but they are not communing or walking with the Lord.
Now, please understand this.
This story is not meant in any way, shape, or form
to discourage or devalue or de-emphasize
the work we do for God.
In fact, all throughout the Bible,
we are encouraged to work for the Lord.
This story is not saying that there is anything wrong
with working for God, working for the Lord.
We are commanded to do so,
and I am thankful that Verity Baptist Church
is a working church.
It's a church filled of laborers.
It's a church filled with people that want to work for God.
But I want to also remind you
that this story is about not telling us,
the purpose of the story is not to tell us
that, hey, don't work for God
and just listen to the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's not the purpose of the story.
The purpose of the story is to remind us
and to show us what happens
when you are busy working for the Lord
and you're not walking with the Lord.
The story is telling us that when you try to do
the work of the ministry in the flesh,
you will end up overwhelmed and frustrated
and cumbered about.
See, Mary was listening
while Martha was laboring,
and Martha, the Bible tells us, was overwhelmed.
She was cumbered about.
See, you need to understand that the Christian life
requires communing with the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Christian life requires fuel.
We have to fuel ourselves spiritually.
And this life requires communion with the flesh.
You say, why is that?
Here's why, and please get this.
And look, the sermon's not very long
and this idea's not very difficult to understand,
but I want you to get this.
The Christian life was never meant to be done in the flesh.
The spiritual work of walking with God
and working for God
and living in the presence of the Spirit of God,
it was never meant to be done in the flesh.
It was never meant to be done
as some sort of a human effort,
just getting yourself to do certain spiritual things.
And here's all I'm telling you is when you do that,
when you decide to walk with God, quote, unquote,
and doing it in a way that is not spiritual,
in a way that is not fueled through a communion
and relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ,
it will leave you overwhelmed.
It will leave you frustrated.
It'll leave you feeling burdened.
And listen to me, I feel sorry, I feel bad
for some of you in this room tonight
who look at the Christian life as a huge burden.
Walking with God is just this burden.
Living a separated life is this burden
and it's hard and it's difficult and it's not fun
and it's not something that I want.
Some of you teenagers here tonight,
you've got this idea that,
well, as soon as I turn 18 years old,
I'm gonna move out and do something different
because the Christian life is just this burden.
And I'm here to tell you something.
If that's how you feel tonight, you're not doing it right.
You're trying to live for God in the flesh.
It was never meant to be done in the flesh.
See, what we see in this story is Martha's frustrated
approach to the Christian life.
You know what the Bible says?
The joy of the Lord is your strength.
You know what Jesus said?
I am come that they might have life
and that they might have it more abundantly.
The Christian life, Paul said,
that I might finish my course with joy.
The Christian life is not meant to be something,
look, please understand me, I understand
the Christian life can be difficult at times.
Sometimes we gotta fight battles
and earnestly contend for the faith.
I understand that.
But the Christian life was not meant
to be this burden, this drudgery.
Well, you know, I'm just gonna stay married
because that's what the Bible says.
And I'm just gonna have to just tell death to his part.
You think I wanna get to the end of my marriage just,
well, it's just till death do us part
because that's what God said.
I'm just hating it.
No, you know, I wanna get to the end of my course with joy.
I wanna get to the end of my life with joy.
I wanna get to the end of my life being married
to the same woman and raising children for God
and Lord willing, pastoring the same church
and I get there bitter and I get there burdened
and I get there angry and I get there frustrated
but be happy in the Lord.
But that'll never happen, please listen to me.
That will never happen while you try
to live the Christian life in the flesh.
The Christian life was not meant to be lived in the flesh.
So you see, Mark, those frustrated approach
and if you're here tonight and you say,
pastor, that's me.
I mean, I only show up for soul winning
because if I don't, people are gonna think I'm backslidden.
You have that attitude, you're already backslidden.
It doesn't matter what people think.
I only show up for Sunday night church
because my husband makes me.
I only show up for Sunday night church
because my children expect it.
I only show up for Sunday night church
because my kids are in the choir.
I only show up for Sunday night church
because I've got this position that I'm on.
Listen to me, the Christian life was never meant
to be lived that way.
It can't be done in the flesh, it's a spiritual work.
We see Martha's frustrated approach to the Christian life.
Why don't you notice, secondly, tonight,
not only do we see Martha's frustrated approach
to the Christian life, but we see Martha's fleshly attitude
in the Christian life.
Notice, when you try to live the Christian life
through the flesh, you end up just having
a fleshly attitude in the Christian life.
Notice that we see Martha, the characteristics
of the Christian life, lived in the flesh.
And look, I'm here to tell you,
my wife and I have been in ministry for 12 years,
and over the 12 years of ministry,
we have seen people that look exactly
what's described here for Martha,
and there's one explanation for it.
They're trying to do this in the flesh.
I mean, look at the Christian life lived in the flesh.
Look at verse 40, her carnality is showed.
You say, how do you see her carnality?
She's not spiritual, she's not walking with God,
she's walking in the flesh,
she's trying to do spiritual things in the flesh,
and it shows, notice, her carnality showed
in her complaining.
Look at Luke 10 and verse 40.
But Martha was comer about much serving,
and came to him, notice, she comes to Jesus,
and said, Lord, does thou not care
that my sister hath led me to serve alone?
Notice, you say, how can I tell if I'm having fun
in the Christian life?
How can I tell if I've got some joy in the Christian life?
How can I tell if I'm trying to live
the Christian life in the flesh?
If I'm trying to do it out of just forcing myself
to do it in the flesh, how can I tell?
Here's one great way that you can tell,
are you constantly complaining?
Listen to me, you guys, you men.
Are you just constantly, every day at work,
every day at work, complaining?
Complaining about your job, complaining about your boss,
complaining about this, complaining about that.
Look, that oughta tell you,
you're trying to do it in the flesh.
By the way, nobody likes work.
By the way, it works hard.
I've got the greatest job in the world.
I'm literally doing my dream,
and you know that I don't like work.
I mean, tomorrow morning, I'm gonna get up,
and I'm gonna open up a Word document,
and I'm gonna open up Luke chapter 11,
and I'm gonna sit there and think to myself,
man, I should be doing, rather, doing something else.
So what are you gonna do, Pastor?
I'm gonna start setting out Luke chapter 11,
and prepare a sermon for you.
Say why?
Because that's my job.
I do it for the Lord, and I'm not doing it in the flesh,
but I'm gonna tell you something.
When you're just constantly complaining,
you're complaining about the church,
you're complaining about this,
you're complaining about your wife,
you're complaining about your husband,
you're complaining about where you live,
and look, all of that, just realize,
when you're complaining about your life,
it's because you're trying to do it in the flesh.
One of the signs of spirituality is contentment,
is satisfaction.
The Bible says complaining is idiotic,
for we dare not make ourselves of the number,
or compare ourselves amongst ourselves,
for they that compare themselves among themselves,
the Bible says, are not wise.
We see that her carnality showed up in complaining.
Lord, does thou not care?
But I want you to notice,
not only was her carnality seen in complaining,
but her carnality showed up in comparing.
And by the way,
complaining is always connected to comparing.
But Martha was comforted about much serving,
and came to him, and said, Lord, does thou not care?
Notice her comparison,
that my sister hath led me to serve alone.
She's comparing herself to her sister,
and let me tell you something,
we won't take the time to turn it,
I've preached many sermons out of it,
but there's a very interesting Psalm in the book of Psalms,
where we have a man named Asaph,
and he says that he almost quit serving God,
and he quit on God,
because he got his eyes upon the world,
and he began to see the successes of the world,
and he began to see the riches of the world,
and he began to see the wickedness of the world,
and when he began to compare himself to those people,
he said, I almost quit on God.
That's the road that comparing leads you.
Comparing leads you to complaining.
Notice the third thing.
Her carnality showed up in her criticizing.
Look at verse 40.
But Martha was comforted about much serving,
and came to him, and said, Lord,
does thou not care that my sister
hath led me to serve alone?
Bid her therefore that she help me.
Here we have a woman complaining,
comparing, criticizing.
This is not how the Christian life was meant to be lived,
but this is literally how some of you live your lives.
Just everything's negative, everything's hard,
everything's ugly, everything's bad.
I don't like it.
You say, why is that?
Here's why.
Because you're trying to do a spiritual work
for God in the flesh,
and your fleshly attitude is seen.
We see Martha's frustrated approach to the Christian life,
and we see Martha's fleshly attitude in the Christian life.
See, the Christian life lived in the flesh looks like this.
We've had church members like this.
They're just constantly complaining,
they're constantly comparing,
and they're constantly criticizing.
And that'll tell you that what comes out of your life
is a fruit of what's inside.
Because if you're walking with the Spirit,
you know what'll come as a result of that?
The Bible says the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
meekness, temperance.
See, how do I know if I'm walking with God?
Do you have love?
Is love coming out of your heart, your mouth, in your life?
Are you joyful?
Because you're not joyful if you're complaining
and criticizing and comparing.
Love, joy, do you have peace?
No, I'm just constantly anxious.
Well then, look, let me just help you with something.
That didn't come from the Holy Spirit.
The Bible says that God has not given us a spirit of fear.
I'm constantly stressed out about how things are gonna happen
in the economy and the present.
Let me tell you something.
If you're walking with the Spirit,
you'd have love, joy, peace, longsuffering.
You'd be patient.
You'd be longsuffering with people.
You wouldn't be flying off the handle.
Gentleness, goodness, meekness, temperance.
Say what's temperance?
Self-control.
You'd have discipline.
You'd have the discipline to get up early in the morning
and read the Bible and go to work
and do what you're supposed to do.
These are all the things that come out of
the Spirit-filled life.
You know what comes out of the flesh-filled life?
Criticizing, complaining, comparing.
The Christian life's not meant to be lived.
Look, it's impossible to live the Christian life
trying to do it in the flesh.
So we see Martha's frustrated approach.
And to be honest with you, I'm very concerned
for some of our people here at this church.
Because it seems like you're very frustrated.
And I'm here to tell you you're not supposed to be
living the Christian life in the flesh.
You say, well, how are you supposed to be
living the Christian life?
Well, the Christian life is not meant
to be lived in the flesh.
The Christian life, you're there in Luke,
go to John, John chapter 15.
The Christian life is meant to be fueled
by the Word of God.
So what is the Christian life supposed to look like?
Here's what it's supposed to look like.
It's impossible to do in the flesh.
Look, it's impossible for my wife and I
to do what God has called us to do
as the pastor and pastor's wife of this church.
We can't do it.
There's no possible way that we could perform the actions
and do all the things that are required of us
as a pastor and pastor's wife.
Of even a church this, I mean,
we run 200 on a Sunday morning.
It's impossible.
By the way, it's impossible for you
to raise your children for God.
It's impossible.
Some of you I'm gonna discourage right now.
Some of you I'm gonna encourage right now.
It's impossible for you to have a happy marriage.
It can't happen.
It's impossible for you to do that in the flesh.
It can't happen.
You can't have two individuals walking in the flesh
and expect them to be married for decades
and tell death to his part and be happy about it.
It can't happen,
which is why there's like a 70% divorce rate
because trying to do it in the flesh is impossible.
God never called you to do it in the flesh.
See, the Christian life lived in the flesh is a failure.
You say, well, what's the Christian life
supposed to look like?
Here's what it's supposed to look like.
It's supposed to look like being fueled by the word of God.
John 15, are you there?
Look at verse three.
John 15.
Now ye are clean.
Don't miss this.
Now ye are clean.
The word clean means holy, set aside, sanctified.
Not perfect in the sense that you and I
think of perfect like sinless.
Obviously, none of us are sinless.
We're always gonna be sinners.
But Jesus says, now ye are clean.
And see, that statement right there,
for some of you, that's a burden.
It's a burden.
See, you're not getting your philosophy
from the word of God.
You're getting your philosophy from Sigmund Freud
telling you that the conscience
and telling you something's right and something's right,
it's this burden.
See, you say, I can't do that.
I can't live the Christian life.
I can't live a holy life.
I can't give up my rock and roll music.
I can't give up my drugs.
I can't give up my alcohol.
I can't give up my cussing.
I can't give up my bad attitude.
You say, I can't do it.
Well, it's not that you can't do it.
It's that you're doing it wrong.
Because many Christians have done it.
You say, how do I do it?
Here's how.
Now ye are clean.
Here's the only way, through the word.
Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way
by taking heed thereto according to thy word?
The only way to live the Christian life
is through the word of God.
Now ye are clean through the word
which I have spoken unto you.
No, no, no, don't miss this.
Remember, Jesus is what?
The word.
The word made flesh well among us.
We beheld his glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth.
Now ye are clean through the word
which I have spoken unto you.
Notice what he says, verse four.
Abide in me.
You say, what was Mary doing when she sat?
Get that beautiful picture.
I wish we could have physically done that, all of us.
I wish we could physically have done what she did
when the Bible says she sat at Jesus' feet.
I mean, I get this picture.
You know, Jesus said that,
suffer little children to come unto me
for of such as the kingdom of God.
I just envision this grown woman almost as a child,
as Jesus sits to teach and to speak
and to expound upon the word of God.
I just envision her sitting in the instyle
at the feet of Jesus, just listening, hearing the words,
communing with Jesus.
Jesus said, abide in me, and I in you.
Don't miss it, don't miss it.
As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself,
except that abide in me, no more can ye
except ye abide in me.
I wish the Holy Spirit would give me the words
to help you understand this.
I am the vine, ye are the branches.
Say, what does that mean?
If you think about it in the sense of a tree,
Jesus is saying, I'm the trunk, you're the branches.
A branch is not, it's not a plant life
that lives on its own.
You don't go out into the world,
well, there's a branch, just all by itself.
A branch is always connected to a vine,
to a trunk, to a source.
I am the vine, ye are the branches.
He that abideth in me and I in him,
the same bringeth forth much fruit.
Don't miss it, look at it.
For with me, without me, ye can do nothing.
Say, ah, the Christian life isn't working.
Yeah, of course it's not gonna work
if you're not abiding in Jesus.
He already told you, you can't do it without Jesus.
You think you're gonna be a soul winner
like my dad is for 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, 40 years,
50 years, and live your life?
Go on a mission strip next week.
It's amazing, you think you're gonna do that?
Just in the flesh.
I am the vine, ye are the branches.
He that abideth in me and I in him,
the same bringeth forth much fruit.
For without me, ye can do nothing.
Notice verse six, if a man abide not in me,
Jesus is the word,
if a man abide not in me,
he has cast forth as a branch and is withered.
You say, is that talking about losing your salvation?
No, it's talking about dying in your Christian life.
Because you know what happens
when you rip a branch off a trunk
and just set it off to the side?
It'll dry out and it'll die.
And that's some of your Christian lives.
I don't understand why it's not working!
Because you're supposed to be connected to Jesus.
You're supposed to be abiding in the vine.
For without me, ye can do nothing.
If a man abide not in me,
he has cast forth as a branch and is withered,
and men gather them and cast them into the fire,
and they are burned.
If ye abide in me and my words abide in you,
ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
Notice there is a connection between,
you say, I'd like to abide in Jesus, that sounds good.
Okay, how do you do that practically?
If ye abide in me and my words abide in you.
It has to do with your connection to the word of God.
Keep your finger there in John, go to Psalm 1.
Psalm 1, if you open your Bible just right in the center,
you'll more than likely fall in the book of Psalms.
Psalm 1.
I remember years ago, Brother Stuckey was preaching for us.
I remember he made the statement,
and I agreed with the statement.
I did not disagree with the statement,
but when he made the statement, I thought to myself,
that's an interesting way of saying that.
And the more I thought about the statement that he made,
the more that I just realized, yeah, he's right.
And the statement that he made years ago was this.
He said, there are two types of Christians in this world,
those who read the Bible and those who don't.
And it's so true, because the key to living
a long and joyful Christian life
is being connected to the vine, the word of God,
the Lord Jesus Christ.
Notice Psalm 1.
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel
of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful,
but his delight, please get this, his delight,
the blessed man, his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and in his law that he meditate day and night.
And then don't miss it, so we like verse three.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water
that bringeth forth his fruit in his season,
because leaf also shall not wither,
and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
You say, what's the key?
What is the key to being blessed?
What is the key to being firm, to being planted
by the rivers, to bringing forth your fruit in his season,
not having your leaf also wither,
having everything in your life have the blessing of God
and having God prosper?
You say, what's the key?
Here's the key, his delight is in the law of the Lord.
This is why, you go to Jeremiah, Jeremiah 17,
you're there in Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes,
Song of Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Jeremiah 17.
This is why Joshua wrote in the book of Joshua,
he said, this book of the law shall not depart
out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein
day and night, that thou mayest observe to do
according to all that is written therein,
and then thou shalt make thy way prosperous,
and then thou shalt have good success.
See, the Christian life is meant to be fueled.
It's meant to be fueled by the word of God.
And if you're not being fueled by the word of God,
that fuel of your flesh, you can do it for a little while,
but it's gonna run out.
You can do it for a short amount of time, but it won't last.
Jeremiah 17, eight, for he shall be as a tree
planted by the waters, and that spreads out of her roots
by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh,
but her leaf shall be green, and shall not be careful
in the year of drought.
And neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
See, Brother Stuckey was right all those years ago.
There's two types of Christians in this world.
Those who read the Bible,
those who allow the word of God to fuel them,
those who sit at Jesus' feet and hear his words,
and those who just labor in the flesh.
Wow, I mean, I show up Sunday morning,
Sunday night, Wednesday night.
I mean, I serve and I volunteer.
I mean, I go soloing and I do, I'm doing all those things.
Yeah, you're doing all those things,
but when you're not sitting at Jesus' feet,
you'll be cumbered about it.
You'll be frustrated and fleshly, and it won't last.
Go back to Luke chapter 10.
I've brought this up so many times.
I'm always just amazed at how accurate.
I brought this up, I read years ago, I read this study
that said the average quote-unquote Christian
will live the Christian life for three years.
When they make it past the three-year mark,
they're usually good until the seventh-year mark.
I mean, over the years, it's uncanny.
My wife and I have just been amazed
when people quit on God, and it's like, yup.
Three, I mean, it's like three years to the date.
Or it's like, I mean, literally it's like seven years,
and it's like, they're done.
I mean, it's like I'm a stinking prophet.
And I wish I wasn't.
Luke chapter 10.
We see Martha's frustrated approach to the Christian life.
We see Martha's fleshly attitude in the Christian life.
Number three, like you to notice Martha's failing attempt
at the Christian life.
She's frustrated, and she's walking in the flesh.
Verse 41, and Jesus answering said unto her,
Martha, Martha.
One of these days, I'm gonna do a study
on all the times the Bible repeats the names twice.
You know, you know what's coming next
is not good for Martha.
When Jesus says, Martha, Martha,
notice the wrong preoccupations.
Thou art careful.
The word careful means anxious.
It means stressed out.
The Bible says, casting all your care upon him,
for he careth for you.
Thou art careful and troubled about many things.
He says, Martha, the problem,
the reason you're so frustrated,
the reason you're so cumbered, you're so burdened,
you're so overwhelmed, the reason you're so carnal,
you're criticizing and complaining and comparing,
the reason for these things
is because you have the wrong preoccupations.
Thou art careful and troubled about many things.
You're distracted with the wrong things.
Go to Mark real quickly, Mark chapter four.
Mark chapter four.
You're there in Luke, just go backwards,
one book, Mark chapter four, look at verse 18.
Mark chapter four and verse 18.
And these are they which are sown among thorns,
such as hear the word, notice Mark 4.19,
and the cares of this world, the worries of this world,
and the deceitfulness of riches,
and the lust of other things entering in,
choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.
See, there's two types of Christians in this world.
Those who put their roots down and get their fuel
from something other than their flesh,
and those who don't.
She had the wrong preoccupation.
Go back to Luke chapter 10.
I want you to notice the right priority.
I love what Jesus says here in Luke 10 42.
Because here you have Martha complaining
about her sister Mary.
Lord, does thou not care that my sister
hath left me to serve alone?
Bid her, make her help me.
And here's Jesus' response, verse 42.
But one thing is needful.
I love that phrase, one thing.
Paul said, but this one thing I do,
forgetting those things which are behind
and reaching forth into those things which are before
I press toward the mark.
He says, look, you're worried about a lot of things.
You're careful about a lot of things.
You're preoccupied with a lot of things.
You've got a lot of things.
A lot of things have your attention, Martha.
But one thing is needful.
Don't miss it.
And Mary hath chosen that good part,
which shall not be taken away from her.
You know what Jesus says?
He says, Martha, you'd be better off sitting at my feet
and communing with me.
It's good to work for Jesus.
Please, please, please get this.
It's good to work for Jesus.
But you better make sure you have a walk with Jesus.
Amen.
Make sure you're sitting at Jesus' feet.
Make sure you're hearing his words.
Go to Acts 17.
Acts 17.
You're there in Luke, John, Acts, Acts 17.
Acts chapter 17.
But one thing is needful.
See, you have this story.
I hope I'm making sense.
You got Martha, cumbered about much serving,
working for the Lord Jesus Christ,
getting everything ready and saying,
why is it for Jesus?
I'm doing it for Jesus.
And praise God for it.
And you got Mary sitting at this feet of Jesus,
listening to his words, communing with Christ.
And Jesus says, hey, Martha,
why don't you take some time to refuel?
You say, well, how can I do that?
I mean, how can I sit at Jesus' feet?
Listen to me, you can sit at Jesus' feet every day.
You can start every day opening up this Bible
and just sit at Jesus' feet
and let the words of God and let the words of Jesus
fuel you, help you, strengthen you.
And by the way, it's the only way to do it
and not be frustrated and hating life.
You might actually start being filled with the Spirit
and feeling things you haven't felt in a long time,
like joy and peace and love.
Acts 17 and verse 10.
And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas
by night unto Berea,
who coming hither went into the synagogue of the Jews.
These were more noble than those in Thessalonica
in that they received the word.
We've seen this.
I mean, I don't know how many times
I've even showed you this verse,
but I've showed it to you for a reason.
They received the word with all readiness of mind
and searched the scriptures daily,
whether those things are so.
Go to Deuteronomy chapter 17.
Deuteronomy 17.
I don't know how many times over the years
I've pleaded with you, with Verity Baptist Church,
to develop a daily devotional time,
to have a disciplined daily devotional time
where you get along with God and the word of God,
and you read the word of God,
and you allow Jesus to speak into your heart,
and you get fueled from the word of God.
I don't know how many sermons
have been preached from this pulpit.
I don't know how many points have been made
from these scriptures.
And to be honest with you,
I'm afraid to even know how many people in this church
even read their Bibles.
I honestly, I don't even want to know.
If we took a survey and I actually found out the number,
I might just quit the ministry.
It's so frustrating that you think
you can live the Christian life in the flesh.
And how long can you go without eating physically?
But you're trying to live the Christian,
and then you wonder why you can't get along
with your husband.
Then you wonder why you can't get along with your wife.
Then you wonder why you can't have victory
with sin in your life.
You wonder why you get so upset and so angry.
You wonder why you don't have the things.
You watch other people say, why are they so happy?
Why are they so joyful?
Why are they living that way?
It's because they're not doing it.
Jesus is doing it through them.
Amen.
And do you know that God has no respect to our persons?
You can do it too.
But you won't.
Many won't.
Deuteronomy 17, verse 18.
And it shall be when he,
this is Moses giving instructions
to the future king of Israel,
when he said at the bottom of the throne of his kingdom
that he shall write him a copy of his law in the book
out of that which is before the priests, the Levites.
Notice verse 19.
And it shall be with him.
Notice what God says.
And he shall read therein all the days of his life,
that he may learn to fear the Lord as God.
Why do I need to read the Bible?
That you may learn to fear the Lord your God.
That he may learn to fear the Lord as God.
Why do I need to read the Bible?
To keep all the words of this law and these statutes.
Why do I need to read the Bible?
To do them.
I wish you would believe me.
I wish you would believe me when I tell you
that the word of God, I'm not just a pastor
trying to earn a paycheck.
I'm really not.
I wish you would believe me when I told you
that this Bible can literally solve all of your problems.
I mean, it can solve everything.
It can answer everything.
It can take care of everything.
It's all right here.
And we ignore it.
We ignore it and ignore it and ignore it and ignore it.
And then our flesh gets frustrated.
You wonder why you can't live the Christian life.
I wish you'd make a decision today
to become a faithful Bible reader.
I don't know about reading the Bible.
I wish you would make a decision today
that you would make an appointment
with the Lord Jesus Christ and sit at the feet of Jesus
and just commune with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Just you and God.
I've taught you this over the years.
It's not hard.
Choose a place.
Just pick a place.
Find a place.
Have a plan.
Get a chart.
Look, I don't know how much easier.
I mean, I try, you know, we motivate you
with nine chapters a day every year.
And then we give you a chart to say,
whoa, you read the whole New Testament.
Now you can read the whole Old Testament.
It won't even take that long.
You can probably read for about seven minutes every day.
Choose a place and get a plan and make an appointment
and make it a priority.
Because there's two types of Christians in this world.
The ones who make it and the ones who don't.
Or the ones who make it with joy
and the ones who are frustrated the entire time.
But one thing is needful.
One thing.
You say, well, Pastor, I come to church
and I'll let you teach me the Bible.
You know, you would get better at coming to church
and hearing the word.
Your heart would be ready to hear the sermons
if you spent time in the word every day.
Amen.
Go to 2 Peter, if you would, chapter one.
2 Peter, chapter one.
You say, Pastor, I think you're preaching at me.
Well, good.
That's the point.
I remember years ago I used to get, people would be like,
because you'd be surprised how bold people are.
They walk up to you, was that a sermon member?
And I'd be like, oh, whoa, no, no, no, no.
I was like, was that a sermon member?
I'm like, yes, it was.
You, right there.
I don't even know your name,
but if you think it was for you, it's for you.
And some of you are like,
I don't read the Bible, Pastor, are you preaching at me?
Yes, I'm preaching at you.
Because I'm worried about your marriage.
Because I'm worried about your children.
Because I'm worried about you ruining your life.
Yes, I'm preaching to you.
2 Peter 1, verse 19.
See, there are two things that come with Bible reading.
Sitting at Jesus' feet,
communing with the Lord Jesus Christ.
I love that song we sing, I come to the garden alone.
That song's all about spending time with Jesus.
2 Peter 1 and verse 19.
We have also a more sure word of prophecy.
That's your King James Bible, amen?
Amen.
Does you know good to have a perfect,
preserved, inspired, infallible word of God
if you never read it?
We have also a more sure word of prophecy.
Where unto ye do well to take heed?
It's funny to me, the more times I look at this one verse,
the more times over the, I mean, honestly,
over the last several months,
the more times I look at this one verse,
the more that I see in this one verse.
Because a few months ago, I preached this sermon
about Bible reading and I was highlighting,
because I had recently just kind of seen this spiritually
as I was reading the Bible, where the Bible says,
because usually when we go to this verse,
we're preaching about the King James Bible.
Praise God for it.
A more sure word of prophecy, and that it is.
But because we always emphasize
the more sure word of prophecy,
I had lost the fact that it says,
where unto ye do well to take heed?
Amen.
And what he's saying is, look,
you've got a Bible that is reliable.
The word of the Lord is perfect.
So take heed to it.
Listen to it.
Let it guide you.
Actually do what it tells you to do.
Keep your finger right there, 2 Peter.
Go to Psalms.
I'm not sure if you kept your place in Psalms,
where Psalm 119.
See, there's two things that you should be getting
out of your Bible reading every day.
You say, what are they?
One is spiritual application.
One is that you read the Bible and you're like,
yeah, I need to stop doing that.
Or I need to start doing that.
Spiritual application.
Ye do well that ye take heed.
You do well that ye take heed.
Psalm 119, are you there?
Look at verse 105.
Psalm 119 is about the word of God.
The whole chapter's about the word of God.
Just look at verse 105.
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.
You know what the purpose of, you say,
what's the purpose of my reading?
It'll guide you.
It'll tell you what to do.
It'll tell you what not to do.
It'll tell you why to do it or why not to do it.
It should be a lamp unto thy feet
and a light unto thy path.
It should be spiritual application.
I mean, I've preached that so many times.
It's ridiculous.
The whole point, and again, even coming to church,
you say, pastor does Bible preaching.
It doesn't help you if you don't actually do it.
Ye would do well to take heed.
Spiritual application.
That's why you read the Bible.
But then you have this question.
What if I don't like reading the Bible?
What if I'd rather go on Facebook?
What if I'd rather go on YouTube?
What if I'd rather do anything else than read the Bible?
You know, the problem with you is that you're a cardinal.
You're not spiritual.
And you can't live the Christian life
being fueled off of flesh.
It's not gonna work.
So you say, well, I don't understand
because I need the word of God to fill me
to live the Christian life, but I'm so carnal,
I don't like reading the word of God.
So how does this work?
Here's how it works.
Go back to 2 Peter, chapter one.
Here's another truth.
Maybe you've seen this before.
I'd seen it, obviously.
I'd read the verse thousands of times,
but something I'd just never really seen.
Because you know, the word of God is quick and powerful.
It's alive.
Every time you read it, there's something new.
There's something fresh.
2 Peter 1.19.
We have also a more sure word of prophecy
where unto you do well that you take heed.
That's the spiritual application, right?
But notice, there's another thing
that Bible reading does for you.
You got the spiritual application,
but then you also have a spiritual awakening.
Don't miss it.
Look at it.
We have also a more sure word of prophecy.
That's the word of God.
Where unto you do well to take heed,
that's the scriptural application,
as unto a light that shineth in a dark place.
That's your fleshly heart.
That's your carnal heart.
You say, Pastor, what happens if a carnal Christian
decides, you know what, I'm gonna read the Bible every day.
I'm just gonna do it.
Pastor keeps telling us, I'm just gonna do it.
I'm gonna pick a place.
I'm gonna get a plan.
I'm gonna make an appointment.
Maybe I'm not gonna read much.
Maybe it's just a proper word of the day.
I'm just gonna read and ask God.
And by the way, every morning, my wife and I wake up.
My wife makes a cup of coffee.
We sit down and we read the word of God.
We don't read it together.
We read it separately, but we read it together,
if that makes sense.
We do it at the same time.
Every morning when I open this King James Bible,
I pray the same prayer,
a quote from Psalm 119.
I pray this prayer as I open the word of God
to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Open thou mine eyes,
that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.
Every morning I ask God,
would you let me see something out of your word of God,
out of the word today?
Would you speak to me today?
Sometimes it's informational, sometimes it's convicting.
Open thou mine eyes,
that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.
And notice what'll happen when you do.
We have also a more sure word of prophecy,
where unto ye do well that ye take heed,
as unto a light that shineth in a dark place,
until, notice, don't miss it,
until the day dawn and the day star.
You say, who's the day star?
The day star is the star you see in the day.
You know what that star is called?
It's called the sun.
You know who's referred to and represented
in the word of God as the sun?
The son of God, the son of righteousness.
The bright and morning star, the day star.
Notice, until the day dawn and the day star
arise in your heart.
You know what the Bible says?
The Bible says that if you open and read the word of God
and you take heed thereto,
something will happen in your heart.
And God will begin to work.
And the Holy Spirit will begin to work.
And the day star will begin to arise in your heart.
And you'll experience something that I'm afraid
many of you have never experienced.
And it's a walk with God.
Where you actually love the Lord.
Where you're not doing it because it's expected of you.
Where you're not doing it because, you know,
I just kind of like all the cool kids are doing.
Where you actually love God.
And if all forsook you, you'd still love Him.
And if all left you, you'd still not love Him.
And if everybody, if nobody was walking
and you could get away with whatever sin,
you still wouldn't because you're not doing it
for any other reason than the day star has risen in your heart.
I hope some of you teens will develop a walk with God.
Before you turn 18, I hope that day star
will rise in your heart.
Go to Luke 24.
Luke 24.
I'm not trying to hyper-spiritualize this for you,
but I'm just telling you that there's something,
there's something about a Christian who's walking with God.
And it's just so clear.
The Bible says if we walk in the Spirit,
we shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
Luke 24, look at verse 32.
This is what I'm talking about.
Luke 24, 32.
Remember Jesus?
He'd risen from the dead.
He's walking with His disciples.
They don't know it's Him.
After He reveals Himself, He disappears.
Here's what they said.
And they said one to another, Luke 24, 32.
Did not our hearts burn within us?
Spiritual heartburn, it's a good thing.
Did not our hearts burn within us?
While He, who's the He, Jesus Christ, the Word of God,
talked with us by the way.
What'd they do with Jesus?
They fellowshipped with Jesus.
The same thing Mary was doing.
She sat at Jesus' feet, communed with Jesus,
fellowshipped with Jesus.
They walked down the road talking to Jesus.
They communed with Jesus, and they said,
did not our hearts burn within us?
What are they referring to?
They're referring to the fact
that when they spoke to the Word of God,
they communed with the Word of God,
they fellowshipped with the Word of God.
The day dawned, and the day star arose in their hearts.
Did not our hearts burn within us?
While He talked with us, by the way,
and while He opened to us the Scriptures.
Go back to Luke chapter 10.
May I tell you something?
There's two types of Christians in this world.
Those who are frustrated, and those who are joyful.
Those who are overburdened and overwhelmed.
Those who are excited to serve.
Those who will last, like Paul said.
Those who will get to the end of their lives and say,
I have finished my course.
I have ran the race.
Henceforth, there's laid up for me a crown of righteousness.
I'm finishing with joy.
And those who will quit.
You say, why?
Here's why.
Because there are some Christians
that actually walk with Jesus.
And there are others that only work for Jesus.
And working for Jesus was never meant
to be done in the flesh.
So we see in our story, Luke 10, 38.
Now it came to pass as they went,
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,
does Thou not care that my sister
hath left me to serve alone?
Bid her therefore that she help me.
She's cumbered, she's burdened, she's frustrated.
She's not fueled by the word of God.
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.
There is a question for you.
Which are you?
I mean, I'm assuming you're here on a Sunday night.
So I'm not worried about whether you're working for God.
I'm just wondering if you're also walking with God.
Are you Mary?
Or are you Martha?
Because one's frustrated, the other one's joyful.
It's by our heads and our board of prayer.
Heavenly Father,
Lord, I pray that you would help us to
understand this story.
I agree with Brother Stuckey many years later.
There are two types of Christians.
Those who commune with Jesus and those who don't.
Lord, I pray you'd help us.
If I could force people, if I could preach it into them,
I would.
I pray you'd help us to develop the discipline
to walk with you every day.
And Lord, I pray that something miraculous would happen.
That the day star would dawn in the hearts
of our church people.
That the Son of God would allow that spiritual burning
in our hearts.
And that we would know, maybe for some,
for the first time ever,
what it actually means to be filled with the Spirit of God.
In the matchless name of Christ, we pray.
Amen.