Please turn with me in your Bibles to Luke chapter 10. Luke chapter 10, our focus this evening is on the one thing needful. Luke 10 verses 38 to 42, the account of Mary and Martha. Luke 10, I'll begin reading in verse 38.

Now, it happened as they went that he entered a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. She had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached him and said, Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore, tell her to help me.

And Jesus answered and said to her, Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things, but one thing is needed. And Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her. Amen. Well, let us pray.

Our Father, we thank You for this section of Scripture. We pray for the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Help us to receive lessons from this passage, and help us, by Your grace, to put them into practice. May we indeed see the importance of sitting at the feet of Jesus and hearing His Word.

May we value above all other things that devotion to Christ. May we see him as altogether lovely and chief among 10,000. May we see him as scripture sets him forth, as that one who is worthy of our praise and our worship and our adoration, of our time and our talents and everything that is in us. For certainly he laid down his life on our behalf.

He was raised the third day on our behalf, and he now sits in throne at the right hand of God most high, where he will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. May we see, Lord Most High, how important it is for us to follow him, and may you enable us by the power of your Holy Spirit. Forgive us again for our sins, grant us grace to honor you, and we pray these things through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Introduction

Last week when we considered John the Baptist in his final testimony to our Lord Jesus, he made this statement in John 3, 29. He said, but the friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. What made John the Baptist happy, what caused him to rejoice, was hearing the voice of Christ. You see this emphasis all throughout the gospel records on how important it is for us to hear Jesus.

In Luke chapter 8, the parable of the sower, in verses 4 to 15, you have the parable given and then you have the parable explained. And the specific point is that we are to take heed, therefore, to how we hear. We need to listen to God's Word, and by God's grace, we need to respond to it correctly and appropriately. Well, here in Luke 10, verses 38 to 42, Jesus teaches the same lesson, the necessity of hearing the Word of Christ. but it's in a context of normal, ordinary, everyday life.

So I want to look at two things this evening. In the first place,

The Difference Between the Sisters

the difference between the sisters in verses 38 to 40, and secondly, the devotion commended by Christ in verses 41 to 42. Now I should say at the outset, if we come out of this passage concluding that Mary was a devoted, godly believer and Martha was an undevoted, ungodly unbeliever, then we have misread the passage. Martha was a godly woman as well. And as well, this text does not teach what's later been called monasticism. a withdrawal from the world, no engagement with the world, no dishes, no diapers, no service, no work.

All we do is steal away in a cave and worship the Lord. Certainly, there have been those in the history of the church that have taken Mary as the example or paradigm or pattern of that type of a mindset. That's not what's going on here. It's a question of priority in the context of a home.

So as I said, the difference between the sisters, first of all, in verses 38 to 40,

Setting and Background in Bethany

the setting is in Bethany. Though the town is not indicated, it says he entered a certain village. We know from other portions of scripture that Mary, Martha, and Lazarus lived in Bethany. It's about two miles from Jerusalem.

This is in the context where Jesus has set his face like a flint to go to Jerusalem. So he's on his way to Jerusalem. He stops here in Bethany. Notice in John chapter 11, John chapter 11, just to fill out in our mind's eye who these persons are, Martha and Mary.

Specifically in John 11 at verse 5, now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. And just to show you something of Martha's godliness, notice in verse 20 in John 11, Now Martha, as soon as she had heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him. But Mary was sitting in the house. Now Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you. It's an expression of faith. She sees that Christ is pleasing to the Father. I know that whatever you ask of God, He will give you.

And then Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again. Martha affirms a general resurrection from the dead. I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. It's very important that we get that.

The Jews understood the doctrine of a final resurrection. This isn't a New Testament teaching alone. Certainly the New Testament teaches it and fleshes it out for us, but the Old Testament is sufficient to teach man that there is a final resurrection at the end of time. that there will be a judgment of the just and the unjust. And she affirms that.

I know that He will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.

Do you believe this? Note what she responds. She said to him, yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world. So we're not dealing with Martha as if she's an unbelieving goat.

We understand that she is a godly woman. She gets distracted. She loses sight of the priority when Christ is in the midst of that. As well, these are the same ones indicated in John chapter 12.

This anointing at Bethany, when Mary takes that pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anoints the feet of Jesus, and wipes his feet with her hair, and the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. Several weeks ago, we looked at that woman who was a sinner in Luke chapter 7. It's a different account. That was in the home of Simon the Pharisee.

This is Simon the leper. This is Mary, the mother of Martha, or the sister of Martha and Lazarus, two different accounts, but these are the same people, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. Now notice back in Luke chapter 10. It says at the end of verse 38, a certain woman named Martha welcomed him into her house.

Now that it's her house indicates that most likely she was a widow at this particular time, not that it would be you know, never heard of that a woman would own a house or own property, but most likely she's the oldest sibling and she has seen the death of a husband and it is her house. So she extends this welcome to the Lord Jesus Christ, again, understanding who He is. Loving Him, wanting to esteem Him, and give Him those expressions of courtesy and hospitality. Now note the difference.

The devotion is seen in Mary, verse 39. She had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. Now this posture was somewhat common. We read it, and it certainly sounds worshipful, and I don't doubt there was a worshipful tendency or energy in her heart at this particular time, but disciples sat at the feet of their rabbis.

They sat at the feet of their teachers.

Mary's Devoted Hearing

Notice the devotion of Mary is conspicuous in that she is hearing His Word. It's intriguing. Christ comes to this house, he's welcomed by Martha, and what does he do? The first thing he engages in is speaking the word, preaching the truth.

He doesn't say, what's for dinner? He doesn't say, what do you have to drink? He doesn't say, do you have a place where I can lie down and take a nap? Again, none of these are sinful claims or sinful desires.

None of them are things that are outlandish. None of them are things that we would want to withhold from anybody. But we see Jesus' purpose. He begins to teach the Word of God.

He comes into the house. He declares the Word. He seizes the opportunity to do good to souls, and Christ highlights by this action the driving force of His ministry. He came to make known the Kingdom of God.

This is what He was about. This is what He specified when He said, it is my task, it is my business to be about preaching the Kingdom of God. Matthew Henry made this observation concerning her devotion to His Word. Since Christ is forward to speak, we should be swift to hear.

That's precisely what you see here. Mary sitting at His feet and hearing His Word because He is preaching, He is teaching, He is having a study with them. So she is the devoted one in this particular house. But notice, secondly, the distracted one.

Martha's Distraction and Complaint

Verse 40, Martha was distracted with much serving. Or, as the old King James has it, she was cumbered about with much serving. And she approached him and said, Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore, tell her to help me.

So the distraction is highlighted, and then she makes a complaint. We're going to slow down for just a moment here because I think that in some sense we might be in this particular passage. She is distracted with much serving. She approaches Christ and she says, Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?

Lord, do you not care that I'm doing everything all on my own? Lord, do you not care that I am preparing this bounty, cooking these dishes, fixing your meal, creating a context of hospitality? Do you not care that I'm doing all of this on my own? Brethren, if we are engaged in service unto God, we ought not to think that we need others to participate in it.

Now certainly it's good, and I'm not suggesting that all you Marys out there just continue to let everybody else cook the food and let everybody else vacuum the floors. But brethren, when we are engaged for service unto God, it is God to whom we look. And in this instance, she says, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? When that service is rendered up to the living and the true God, we should be content to know that He sees.

We should be content to know that He rewards. We should be content to know that our service is done for Him. And whether we have help or not, whether everybody else participates or not, if the activity is a noble one, if the activity is service unto God, then we need to get about it, and we ought not to complain that we're all alone. Again, don't abuse the text and say, well, last week, Pastor Butler, you said that Mary was the devoted one, so I'm not coming to the church workday.

I'm gonna sit at home and listen to sermons on sermonaudio.com. Please don't abuse passages like that. I always hate the fact that people put passages on the torture rack and they sort of crank it and make it say what they want it to say. Don't do that to passages of scripture.

It's an unwise, ungodly, unrighteous thing to do. But the point of this is she impugns the concern or impugns Christ for a lack of concern for her situation. But notice she doesn't stop. She says at the end of verse 40, and again, it probably sounds like I'm picking on her.

I'm really not. I'm just simply trying to point out what's going on in the passage. She says at the end in verse 40, therefore tell her to help me. Tell her to help me.

Now, on the surface, this is probably not the most outlandish claim one has ever made. Mary is there devoted at the feet of Christ, Martha is busying herself with all of the preparations to entertain Christ, and Martha comes and expresses her concern, you don't care, tell her to get up off of her backside and join me in the preparation of these particular things. You look at this particular thing, it kind of does parallel sometimes our prayer life, doesn't it? Therefore, tell her to help me.

I'm sure that I've seen a book with the title, The Weapon of Prayer. The Weapon of Prayer. Has anybody ever seen that book? Maybe you have, maybe you haven't.

I'm not sure the author. It's one of those persons that you find in the thrift store, so I'm guessing it's not the best author. I don't find John Owen in the thrift store. The Weapon of Prayer.

There's a sense where that's legit, isn't it? Prayer is a mighty weapon when we pray properly before the living and true God. When we pray according to the will of God, we are employing that piece of armor or armament from the storehouse of God. We're bringing to God specific prayers, supplications, intercessions, all those things.

But brethren, do we ever weaponize prayer? Do we become Joel Osteen or Benny Hinn at the throne of grace? We don't like their big hair and we don't like their foolish teaching, but we like the idea that God gives us what we want. When you pray, do you pray for people and then tell God how their sanctification will look?

Think about that for a moment. It's legit to say, God, please sanctify my wife. But to fill in, God, that will look like dinner at 5.30 with those roast potatoes that I so desperately love. It will look like the most pure home that never had any dirt in it whatsoever.

It will look like her just waiting for me on the stairwell, embracing me in the warmth of her arms and giving me a kiss after, is that how we pray? Are we prosperity prayers? Lord, tell her to help me. Or what about you dear sisters?

God, sanctify that deadbeat husband. Make him clean out the garage. I've been after him forever on that one. Make him bring me flowers, God.

One of the sisters in church got jewelry. He never brings me jewelry, God. Please move him to bring me jewelry. Now, maybe this isn't how you pray.

Praise God Almighty. But maybe it has seeped into your heart. You try to use God to change people. You try to use God to change your circumstances.

You try to use God to make your life better. Now again, I'm not laying all this at the feet of Martha. I do not believe for a moment that this is going on in her head. I'm going to try and manipulate Jesus to make my sister pick up this pot of food and take it to the table.

It's a genuine issue. Therefore, tell her to help me. But take this principle to your prayer closet. Yes, it's righteous to pray for your elders.

But Lord, if he goes one minute past 1230, cut him off! It's right to pray for civil authority. It's right to pray for all sorts of things. But brethren, when we get into the posture of telling God what sanctification will look like in His people, no one likes to be told their job, do they?

Wherever you work, whatever it is you do, you don't like it when the customer says, you know, I think you could go about this in a much more efficient way. I think we all know this response when the police officer pulls us over. When the police officer marches up to our car and knocks on the window, and we roll that window down, what's typically our first response? If not verbal, at least in our hearts, why aren't you out catching a child molester?

We want to tell him how to do his job. We're not supposed to tell the high and lofty one how to do his job. We're not to specify what sanctification will look like in our wives, or in our husbands, or in our children. We can certainly pray sanctify them.

We might even, in our intercessions, give some specifics. I'm not saying pray vagaries and pray generically, but beware of being in the mindset of a prosperity prayer. I want God to fix my life. I want God to make me happy.

I want God to do that, and the way to do that, God, is to fix this man I'm married to. Fix this woman I'm married to. Pray for her. Pray for him.

Pray for their sanctification. Pray for their growth and grace. But brethren, don't pray to change them into somebody else. You married that person.

Don't want to say you're stuck with them, but in a sense, you are, till death do you part. And you ought not to come to the point where you are telling God how sanctification is going to look.

The Devotion Commended by Christ

Notice then, secondly, by way of a major concern, or the major heading, the devotion commended by Christ, verses 41 and 42.

Christ Identifies the Problem

Christ first identifies the problem. Jesus answered and said to her, Martha, Martha. What an endearing way. Martha, Martha.

Christ is so good, isn't he? Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. The Lord does not respond in the manner in which she hoped. Do you see that?

And I suspect that when we do those prosperity prayers, God may not always answer in the way that we prosperity pray. Lord, fix my spouse. What does the Lord say? The problem isn't your spouse.

The problem isn't her. Martha, it's you. Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. Matthew Henry said, she expected Christ to have blamed Mary for not doing as she did, but he blamed her for not doing as Mary did.

The Lord basically seizes this opportunity as a teachable moment. Again, not an abiding principle for all of life, not that if you are the devoted person that sits at the feet of Jesus, that means you're going to quit your job, you're going to live in a cave, and you're going to chant all day. That's not what this passage is teaching. The Lord reminds her of the situation that is facing her, and I think what we find in this instance, the way that he addresses her, is an indication of what we find in the letter to the Laodiceans in the book of Revelation.

Revelation 3.19, Christ says, "'As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore, be zealous and repent.'" Christ uses this time not to correct Mary, not to get her in the kitchen, not to get her behind the saucepan, but to try and reorganize the thinking process of Martha, Because it's an issue of priority. Again, it's not wrong to cook. It's not wrong to vacuum.

It's not wrong to sweep. It's not wrong to change diapers. In fact, by all means, change those diapers. It's not wrong to engage in the ordinary and the mundane.

But if Christ, Jesus, is sitting in your living room and He is teaching the Word of God, the diapers can even weigh, the saucepan can weigh, the vacuuming can weigh. There is something more important with reference to the Kingdom of God. And notice the language that Christ uses in this particular rebuke. You are worried and troubled about many things.

Not just the dishes, not just the vacuuming. Perhaps that Martha was dispositionally given to that mindset. Maybe there is a dispositional difference involved in this contemplative Mary and this type A wired up Martha. But Jesus puts his finger on the issue.

You are worried and troubled about many things. In other words, you need to sit still and listen to the word of Christ. Look at Luke chapter 12, specifically verses 22 to 34. This parallels Matthew chapter 6, where Jesus condemns the sin, yes I said it, the sin of worry or the sin of carnal anxiety.

And over and over again, do not worry about what you will eat. Do not worry about what you will wear. Do not worry about tomorrow. Do not worry about those things.

What's the governing principle here in Luke 12, 31 and in Matthew 6, 33? Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. So you see, Martha has missed the kingdom in her presence. Her service was not wrong, but her service distracted her from the one thing needful.

When Christ is speaking His word, it is more important to attend to that word. She was worried and troubled about many things, not just one thing. She is rebuked because her trouble over many things kept her from that one thing needful. Now, the new King James translates verse 42, but one thing is needed.

If you're familiar with the old King James, you'll note that I am using that phraseology because it has a long pedigree in the history of the church, the one thing needful. Her many things. the dishes, the diapers, though I suspect she probably didn't have diaper-wearing children in the home at that time, the vacuuming, the pictures, the, you know, hanging on the whatever they had. The vase was a little off. Those many things are distracting you from the one thing.

That's the whole context in Matthew 6 and here in Luke 12. Brethren, when clothing, when food, when tomorrow takes your focus off the kingdom of God, Jesus' corrective is don't worry about those things. Do not be anxious. Now he's not saying don't ever think about it.

Of course you think about what you're gonna put on. Of course you think about what you're gonna eat. But don't be carnally anxious. What happens when we're carnally anxious?

It's an evidence that we're not trusting God. This is what's condemned in that particular section. And I suspect that this is what's going on as Jesus identifies the situation facing Martha. You are worried and troubled about many things.

You've got the focus wrong. You've got the priority wrong. It's not wrong to serve the Savior, but in this instance, it's better to listen to the Savior. It's better to attend to His Word.

Matthew Henry said, care is good and duty, but cumber is sin and folly. And J.C. Ryle makes this observation concerning the fault of Martha. The fault of Martha is this worried and troubled about many things.

Ryle says the fault of Martha should be a perpetual warning to all Christians. If we desire to grow in grace and to enjoy soul prosperity, we must beware of the cares of this world. Except we watch and pray, they will insensibly eat up our spirituality and bring leanness on our souls. It is not open sin or flagrant breaches of God's commandments alone which lead men to eternal ruin.

It is far more frequently an excessive attention to things in themselves lawful. and the being cumbered about much serving. It seems so proper to attend to the duties of our station. It is just here that our danger lies. Our families, our business, our daily callings, our household affairs, our intercourse with society, all, all may become snares to our hearts and may draw us away from God.

Brethren, I doubt that you would have ever heard Martha in her life say, wow, I wish I would have served more dishes at that meal. You probably would have heard Martha later in her life say, I wish I would have attended to his word more earnestly. It's like me, when I talk to other believers, the majority report of God's people is not, yeah, I've just been spending so much time in scripture. I have been spending almost too much time in scripture.

It's like the guy at the job interview. What's your greatest weakness? I care too much. Oh, okay.

I work too hard. Oh, yeah, that's a weakness. It's like, people don't do that. They don't say, I read my Bible too much.

You know what most of God's people are saying? I don't read my Bible enough. I'm busy with my life. I'm busy with my job.

I'm busy with my spouse. I'm busy with my kids. I'm busy with my whatever. Fill in the blank.

This is Ryle's point. It's not just the flagrant violations of God's commandments. It's the lawful, righteous things in our lives crowding out the kingdom of God most high. It never seems to dawn on us that we could get up earlier.

It never seems to dawn on us that we could discipline ourselves more earnestly. It never seems to dawn on us that we take Paul's admonition to Timothy seriously. Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness. Bodily exercise profits little, but godliness is profitable for all things, for this age and the age to come.

Reverend, do not let the busyness of life crowd out devotion to God. That's the point in this particular passage. Martha's not a reprobate. Martha's not an unbeliever.

Martha's not a goat. She's not a wretch. Martha is just cumbered about. dishes and saucepans and whatever is taking more of her attention than the fact that the incarnate word of God is sitting in her living room speaking the words of truth. Mary understood that and Mary sits at the feet and she takes in that data.

The Remedy: One Thing Is Needed

Notice, the remedy is prescribed by Christ to Martha in verse 42, but one thing is needed. Now, there's a variant reading here, and some suggest that the idea is that the one thing is only one dish as opposed to several dishes. In other words, she's probably making food for Jesus. Excuse me, and on this reading, some suggest only one dish is needed, just the soup, Mary, or Martha.

We don't need buns, and we don't need, you know, dessert. It's just, that's to de-spiritualize the passage. The one thing needful is what Mary's doing. The one thing needful is devotion to Christ.

The one thing needful is devotion to Christ as manifested in evidence by the fact that she is hearing the word of Christ. So this is the remedy prescribed. If you've got a mindset that is troubled, you've got a mindset that is worried, you've got a mindset that is anxious, or you are cumbered about by much serving, here's the remedy for you. If you have this dispositional proclivity to be more about diapers and dishes than hearing the Word of God, listen to what Christ has to say.

But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part which will not be taken away from her. Notice, it's one thing. It's not the only thing. He's not saying don't ever change diapers, don't ever do dishes, don't ever cook food.

He is saying that in terms of the priority structure with reference to the kingdom, the kingdom is run most essentially by our attendant upon the king himself in terms of his word. One thing is needed and Mary has chosen that good part which will not be taken away from her. The one thing is the priority of seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And notice how he underscores Mary has chosen that good part.

I just like to be there, you know, as a fly on the wall watching this scene. Martha tells her, tell my sister to start getting busy. And not only does Jesus not tell Mary to get busy, he tells Martha to change her focus. Right?

You see the point? It's not monkery, it's not monasticism, it's not living in a cave. It's in your normal, everyday, regular lives, be faithful to Christ. In your normal, everyday, ordinary lives, attend to the word of Christ.

If Christ comes to your house and has a Bible study, forget about the crockpot. Forget about the rug. Forget about those things because Christ is in your midst and he's going to speak the truth. And his truth trumps all crockpots.

Notice the choice Mary made was that good part, devotion to Christ first. Notice the choice Mary made was lasting, which will not be taken away from her. It's a great encouragement to seek after Christ. You will never go wrong in hearing the word of Christ, whether in private or public.

You're never going to be the worst for wear for hearing Christ. You're never going to get to the point where you say, wow, I wasted an hour hearing the word of Christ. I wasted an hour reading the word of Christ. Again, the majority report among God's people is I've wasted so much time that I haven't spent time in God's word.

I have become lazy. I have become lethargic. I have become apathetic. I have allowed everything else in my life to crowd out that one thing needful.

You do not hear the persons that are devoted to Christ, those persons who listen at the feet of Christ. You don't hear them complaining, wow, what a waste of time this has been. You will never regret spending time in the presence of Jesus. You will never lose the spiritual benefit that communion with Christ brings.

One thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her. It will not be taken. The spiritual benefits that you accrue through communion with Jesus Christ are yours. They are lasting.

They are permanent. They are not going to go away. Moth and rust cannot destroy them. Take whatever other venture in your life, whatever other thing in your life.

It ebbs and it flows. It's good or it's ill. But this relationship with Jesus, that's what's most important, Martha. Martha, I'm okay with soup.

I'm okay with oatmeal. I'm okay with creamy farina. I'm okay with whatever it is you have. I want you to hear the word of Christ.

I want you to know the joys of spiritual communion. Martha, I am in your house to do good to your soul. Christ is the one we ought to take heed to in this matter. Ryle, again, says it concerning the one thing needful.

He describes it as the grace of God. The true Christian's portion is the grace of God. He says, it is the only good thing which is substantial, satisfying, real, and lasting. It is good in sickness and good in health. good in youth and good in age, good in adversity and good in prosperity, good in life and good in death, good in time and good in eternity.

No circumstance and no position can be imagined in which it is not good for man to have the grace of God. Amen, Ryle, a hundred times over. The point of the passage is simple. When Christ speaks, attend.

When Christ speaks, listen. When Christ speaks, give your attention. Don't be cumbered about with these many things. Don't be troubled and worried over things that you have no control over.

You need to attend to the word of the living God as revealed to us in the scripture.

Application and Practical Lessons

In conclusion, I want to draw out just a couple of practical lessons and then we close.

Differences Between Believers

First, the passage does highlight for us the differences between believers. Not everybody in the church is a Mary. Not everybody in the church is a Martha. Jesus doesn't say you need to stop being a Martha and you need to start being a Mary.

Martha's always gonna be Martha, Mary's always gonna be Mary, but Martha can learn something from Mary here, right? And I suspect there are times when Mary can learn something from Martha. If all you ever do is listen to sermons on sermonaudio.com and your house looks like it should be condemned by the city because it's a pigsty, then listen to Martha. Get up and dust.

Get up and sweep. Get up and cook. Get up and do something. but the passage highlights differences between God's people. Not everybody in the church is the same.

Praise be to God for that. Have you ever considered and pondered that reality and are thankful for the fact that not everybody in the church is just like you? If you do it the opposite way, you're sick. Oh, I wish everybody in the church would be just like me.

That's a problem, brethren. You ought to be thankful everybody in the church is not like you. Praise God for a blessed diversity. What we find in this passage is that Martha had something to learn from Mary with reference to the one thing needful.

But you know, this is a few verses. We don't know what happened in the rest of their lives. I'm certain that Martha had lessons to teach to Mary as well. Ryle, again, comments, and if you don't have Ryle, get Ryle.

Don't buy Tim Hortons for a month and buy J.C. Ryle or find him online. The expository thoughts of Ryle are online. I've always thought if there's one book I could make people read, I think I can tell you to read scripture, I can make you if I come over to your house and Put your eyes in front of the passage, but if there was one thing outside for horse sense and for just good expository thoughts, that's the name of the commentary on the Gospels, you can't beat Ryle.

He's just pithy, and it's just quick and easy. There's not a lot of, you know, difficulty in embracing what he says. But he makes this comment concerning the differences between believers. He says, we must not expect all believers in Christ to be exactly like one another.

We must not set down others as having no grace because their experience does not entirely tally with our own. We don't want Mary to rise up and say, hey Martha, you're a real goat. No, Christ is teaching a lesson here. We need to be able to do that without making people feel unsaved or unconverted.

There's lessons that we can teach another believer. It's not implying or inferring. If I were to say to you, you know, there's a better way to hammer that nail, well, you're telling me I'm not a carpenter? No, but you shouldn't put your thumb in the trajectory of the hammer.

You know, it's pretty obvious, right? I'm not telling you you're a carpenter. I may think you're not the best carpenter if you keep trying to hammer nails that way, but in the church, we try to do, I mean, you're saying I'm not Christian. No, I'm giving you a piece of advice.

Why can't we do that? Why is it judgmental for Mary to say, hey, Martha, put the dishes down and come over here and watch this sermon? Anyways, Ryle goes on to say, we must not set down others as having no grace because their experience does not entirely tally with our own. The sheep and the Lord's flock have each their own peculiarities, don't they all?

Yes? Amen that one. The sheep and the flock each have their own peculiarities. Yes, we do.

The trees in the Lord's garden are not all precisely alike. All true servants of God agree in the principal things of religion. All are led by one spirit. All feel their sins.

All trust in Christ. All repent, all believe, and all are holy. but in minor matters they often differ widely. Let not one despise another on this account. There will be Marthas and there will be Marys in the church until the Lord comes again."

The Passage Does Not Commend Monasticism

Secondly, just to underscore that the passage does not commend monasticism, Calvin makes this observation. Nothing was farther from the design of Christ than to encourage his disciples to indulge in indolence. Nothing was farther from the design of Christ to encourage his disciples to indolence. In other words, just sit around all day.

He goes on to highlight the response of some to see monasticism held forth in this passage. He says, on the contrary, we know that men were created for the express purpose of being employed in labor of various kinds. It's that Protestant work ethic. Listen.

On the contrary, we know that men were created for the express purpose of being employed in labor of various kinds. Why were we created? To be in labor, to serve, to work, to labor. And that no sacrifice is more pleasing to God than when every man applies diligently to his own calling and endeavors to live in such a manner as to contribute to the general advantage.

The Proper Priority for the Believer

Thirdly, the passage does commend the proper priority for the believer. It commends to us the one thing needful. And in this particular instance, the one thing needful is devotion to Christ as evidenced through hearing the word of Christ. The distraction of Martha over many things is a potential problem for every child of God.

Just to draw out some ideas from Matthew 6. I'm more familiar with Matthew 6 than Luke 12. I realize the language is very similar, but because I've preached through Matthew 6, here are some things that happens with reference to anxiety in the hearts of God's people. Here is what happens when we are worried and troubled about many things, when that many things crowds out the one thing needful.

In the first place, it betrays a lack of focus with reference to the kingdom. Jesus ends those sections, whether it be Luke 12 or Matthew 6, with that banging of the gong of the priority structure with reference to the kingdom. It is the kingdom. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to us.

Secondly, it paralyzes individual growth. When you are cumbered about or when you are worried and troubled about many things, guess what's probably not happening? You're probably not growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Thirdly, it shifts the focus from the eternal to the temporal.

Again, don't neglect the temporal. Please, when you're driving home tonight, do not neglect the temporal stop sign. Do not neglect the temporal red light. Do not neglect the temporal cars that you see out there.

Well, I'm just eternally minded. Brethren, the idea being is that when we're worried, when we're troubled, when we have anxiety about many things, it shifts the focus from the eternal to the temporal. Ryle again says, profits and pleasures are dearly purchased. Listen.

Prophets and pleasures are dearly purchased if, in order to obtain them, we thrust aside eternity from our thoughts, abridge our Bible reading, become careless hearers of the gospel, and shorten our prayers. A little earth upon the fire within us will soon make that fire burn low. As well, fourthly, it reduces us to fearful, doubting, tormented souls. I mean, think about it.

If you are troubled and or worried and troubled about many things, the context in Matthew 6, do not worry about what you'll eat, do not worry about what you'll wear, do not worry about tomorrow, You know, people, perhaps you're like that. Perhaps you look at the world and say, man, I don't want tomorrow to come. Today's been bad enough. Christ says don't think that way.

What does it do to people? It paralyzes us. It causes or produces fearfulness, doubt, torment, instead of bold, faithful, earnest subjects of God's kingdom. And as well, and I would suggest finally, it may ultimately prove to be a problem of idolatry.

It may ultimately prove to be a problem of idolatry because if we are consumed with what will I wear? What will I drink? What will I eat? What will happen to me tomorrow?

There's a lot of I and me in that mindset. A lot of I and me in our lives is evidence of the fact that we've got an idolatry problem. We come first. Instead of seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, we seek first our food, we seek our comfort, we seek our ease, we seek our complacency.

It may ultimately prove to be a problem of idolatry as self is the center and not Christ. Worry advertises where the treasure is laid up. We're worried about food, we're worried about drink, we're worried about clothes. That's what's important to us.

The Altogether Lovely Christ

And finally, the passage commends the altogether lovely Christ. Christ is worthy of us sitting at His feet and hearing His Word, isn't He? Christ is worthy of us sitting at His feet and hearing His Word, attending to the preaching of God's Word. Brethren, whenever I say that, it probably sounds self-serving.

You need to sit here. Find a church. If you cannot be in this church because of some reasons, my heart and my desire is that you're happy and that you grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus. Whenever persons in the history of our church have ever come to me and said, we are thinking about leaving the church, I always express grief over that because I don't want to see anybody ever leave this church.

I think we're a family, albeit the peculiarities abound, but we are a family and it always hurts to see somebody leave the flock. But secondly, I always express to them that I want them to grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. If they cannot do that here, then find a place to be. Find a place where your soul is fed and your heart is stirred and the Word of God comes to you.

By all means, I'll open the door for you. I'll give you recommendations. I will give you a list. I'll give you pastors' names.

Call them. Set something up. Be in a place. But do not miss the preaching of God's Word.

Brethren, God sets a premium on the preaching of His Word. There is something unique about preaching. There is something that is unique about this endeavor. When you are reading privately, certainly you're receiving the information.

To be sure, it's a great medium, and by all means, continue in your private reading. But when Paul comes to the end of his life and he exhorts Timothy on what conduct in the church ought to look like, the parting command, the final command that is given to Timothy in the context of corporate responsibility is preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and teaching.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. They will heap up for themselves teachers that will tickle their ears. Timothy, the response to that is to preach the word. Brethren, I believe in the preaching of the word, not as a preacher of the word, but as a Christian, as a Christian.

The time I wasn't a pastor, when the church was open, I was there. I praise God that I had men in my life who, when they led me to Christ, answered the question, here's what you do now. You never miss church. You always show up.

When the doors are open, you're there, and you listen to the word of God. It just seemed like a no-brainer. If God is speaking to us through the medium of preaching, then we ought to be there. We ought to attend, we ought to hear, we ought to give attention to that.

So certainly the corporate gatherings of God's people where the word of God is preached, but as well privately. I know you're busy, brethren. I know that you have lives that are full of events and full of issues. There are some people in this church that in my mind are heroic.

To use my brother's adjective or descriptor, there are machines in this church. Men who labor, men who are diligent, men who get up early and work hard and go to bed late, and women too. I'm not saying men inclusively. There are people that work hard.

But there is always time in a day. There has to be time in a day to spend some moments at the feet of Christ and hear his word. If something must get shorted, then do your best to short something that is in Christ. He ought not to be the one that's edged out of the day timer or the calendar.

He ought not to be the one that gets deleted in your calendar app. He ought not to be the one that is not nodded to in the course of a day. This, you may go home and say, oh, he tried to guilt manipulate us to read our Bible. If that's what you want to call it, fine.

You know, I'm sure I've got a lot to answer for, guilt manipulation is just another one of them. If the one thing needful is devotion to Christ as expressed by hearing his word, and you're not hearing his word daily, then brethren, you need to repent. If it's a busier season than normal, you don't know what... Yeah, you know what?

God's good. We started off worship this morning by singing Psalm 103. You know what Psalm 103 tells us? God knows our frame.

He pities us. He knows we're but dust. Brethren, this is not to say that if you miss a day because you're so busy, Jim Butler's gonna be mad and God's gonna get you. No, God knows.

He knows your heart. He knows your intents. He knows your desires. He knows what makes you tick.

But if you've lived at a comfortable distance with God, if you have marginalized the living Christ right out of your calendar, if you do not attend regularly to the corporate means, you do not attend regularly to the private means, that's a different animal. That's a different situation. That's where we need to hear the word of Christ and hear there is one thing needful. And Mary has chosen that good part.

And what Mary has chosen will not be taken away from her. In other words, you'll never be the loser for spending time with the Lord Jesus. Well, let us pray.

Closing Prayer

Our Father, we thank you for the Word of God, and we thank you for this section in Scripture and what it reveals to us concerning how important it is to spend time at the feet of Jesus Christ. I pray that you would just help us in this, that you would guide us in this, that you would grant us grace, Lord, to schedule our lives accordingly, not to be overrun or overruled by carnal anxiety, by these worry fits. Help us, God, to put things into proper perspective and to seek first your kingdom and your righteousness. I ask that you would go with each one of us now and bring us together on Wednesday night as we study Scripture.

Help us to hear there the word of the living God. And we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Scripture References

• Psalm 103
• Matthew 6; 6:25-34; 6:33
• Luke 7; 8:4-15; 10:38-42; 12; 12:22-34; 12:31
• John 3:29; 11:5; 11:20; 12
• Revelation 3:19