Sermon
A Gracious Reminder to Faithful Servants | April 22, 2026
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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Welcome to the Liberty Baptist Sermon Archives.
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The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty Baptist
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Church in Easton, MA. You can find out more about us
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or contact us at my libertybaptist.org or just look
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us up on Facebook. And now we hope that this
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message from God's Word will be a blessing to you.
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Luke chapter 10 we're going to our message tonight is going to
Luke 10 chapter mention
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come from 5 verses coming from Luke chapter 10.
Luke 10 chapter mention
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The text tonight will be verses 38 through 42 and as you're
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finding that I just want to commend you for gathering
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together of course in the middle of your busy week, you've put
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other things intentionally aside to be here tonight.
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I know it's it's a good habit of the majority of us, but don't
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take it for granted that you certainly are busy, busy
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schedules. Maybe you've come right from
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work, but you've you've chosen to be here tonight and it says a
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lot about how you feel about the Lord and how you feel about his
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church. And I just I'm thankful that
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you're here and I know the Lord wants to bless as we continue
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tonight in looking at the word of God.
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So Luke chapter 10, our text 30, verses 38 through 42, it's a
Luke 10 chapter mention
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familiar passage of Scripture. And maybe you're gazing down at
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the verses right now and you're looking at these verses and
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they're already very familiar to you.
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And as I've said before, when we consider a familiar passage of
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Scripture, we want to not have in the forefront of our minds.
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So I know what this this passage is talking about.
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I know what it says. And so unfortunately I came
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tonight, but I got to hear something I already know.
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And so I'm going to tune out. I want to encourage you to be
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continue to be open to what the Lord would have to say to you
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through our passage tonight. And so in our passage we are
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presented with the two, with two sisters that who are known for
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their love and commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ, that being
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Mary and Martha. I think when you hear those
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names, if you're familiar with the word of God, you when you
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hear the names Mary and Martha, you probably think of 2 ladies
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who were part really of that early church and they were known
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for their love and commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ and to the
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cause of Christ. And of course, there are some of
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us here tonight who are not as familiar with Mary and Martha.
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Some of these things tonight will be new to you, and they
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will be profitable for you in your your Christian life as we
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hear God's Word and take in these truths tonight.
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But though these two ladies, Mary and Martha, undoubtingly
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love the Lord, we will see that even faithful servants need
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gracious reminders about the most important areas of the
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Christian life. And that in fact, that's the
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reason why we do come to God's Word and why we do gather as a
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church. One reason is because we need
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reminding of the truths of God's Word and how they apply to our
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lives. And so if we were to consider
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the the whole of Luke chapter 10, we'd see a lot of
Luke 10 chapter mention
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information, we'd see a, we'd see a few things that need to be
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important to us in the Christian life.
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And so we'd see a couple other areas that are essential to the
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Christian life. And so earlier in Luke chapter
Luke 10 chapter mention
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10, we would see that Jesus was commissioning the 70 to go
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deliver the gospel of Jesus Christ around Israel and around
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Jerusalem. And so we would see from that
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passage of Scripture, we'd be reminded that we are ambassadors
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for Christ. We are representatives of Jesus
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and then as we would further read into Luke 10, we would see
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in read of Jesus telling the parable of the Good Samaritan.
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So these are all in the same passage of Scripture where Jesus
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is commissioning the 70, where there is a man who's been robbed
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and beaten on the road and the one person who walked by him and
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took care of him and loved on him was the man from Samaria.
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And we would see from that account that we are to be loving
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neighbors. We are to be caring neighbors
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out there in the community. But in our chunk of verses
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tonight, verses 38 through 42 will discover that Christ places
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more significance on an area of the Christian life.
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So we see that we are ambassadors for Christ, but then
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we also see that we are to be caring and loving neighbors.
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But in just these these 5 or 6 short verses tonight, we'll see
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that this is actually one of the most important aspects of the
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Christian life. And that is the matter of our
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personal relationship with Christ, our personal worship of
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the Lord Jesus. In fact, without our own
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personal walk with the Lord Jesus Christ, the rest of the
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Christian life is going to be difficult to live out unless our
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heart is in tune and in love with and in submission to the
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Lord Jesus. So we have a lot of
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responsibilities in the Christian life, do we not?
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That is why we therefore need a gracious reminder quite often
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from the Lord. So let me ask you this just a
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question to get you thinking along these lines tonight as we
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jump into our passage. Why did Christ come into your
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life to save you? Why did Christ save your soul?
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You say, Well, it was to forgive me of my sin, and to make me
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free from sin, and to Take Me Home to heaven when I die.
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Well, I ask you this is that the only reason for which Christ has
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saved you, saved you? Why has he forgiven you?
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Why has he cleansed you from your sin?
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Why has he removed the consequences of sin from your
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soul? Why did Christ enter into your
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life and save your soul? You might be thinking, Dan,
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you're talking to the choir tonight.
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I, I think we know why Christ save us, saved our souls.
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Well, if Mary and Martha are also in the choir, they're
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singing soprano. There's some things that they
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know as well, but some things that Christ observes that they
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needed to be graciously reminded of.
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And so the title of our message tonight is a gracious reminder
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to faithful servants, A gracious reminder to faithful servants.
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So let's look here tonight at verse 38 through verse 32 of
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Luke chapter 10. God's Word says in verse 38 Now
Luke 10 chapter mention
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it came to pass as they went, this is Jesus and his disciples
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as they went, that he entered into a certain village, and a
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certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
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And she had a sister called Mary which also sat at Jesus feet and
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heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about
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much serving. She was busy, very occupied with
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much serving, and came to him and said, Lord, dost thou not
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care that my sister hath left me to serve alone?
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Bid her therefore that she helped me.
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Martha a little fired up here, a little aggravated.
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Verse 41 and Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha,
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thou art careful and troubled about many things.
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There's a lot on your heart. There's a lot on your mind
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there. There's a lot causing you to be
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overwhelmed with anxiety. But verse 42, he continues to
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say to her, one thing is needful, and Mary hath chosen
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that good part which shall not be taken away from her.
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So if you're taking notes tonight, I want us to see, to
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begin, that Jesus entered the home of a family who were known
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for their love for him. If you were to walk around this
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area of Bethany, which is the small town in which Mary and
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Martha lived, and you heard the name Mary and Martha and you
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heard the name Lazarus, you would probably automatically
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associate them with Christ and his disciples, with the Kingdom
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of God and the work of God in the earth.
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And so this is the home of which Jesus enters, that he enters,
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the home of a family that were known, had a reputation and had
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a testimony of their love for Christ.
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So this was the home of Martha, whose sister and brother were
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Mary and Lazarus. And so I want us to consider
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these two ladies tonight in their response to Christ
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entering into their home. And so let's consider Martha for
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a moment. So Martha.
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Martha has been known for being a worker for Jesus.
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As we consider her throughout the Gospels, we typically see
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her as being occupied. We see her being busy with much
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serving. She it was no problem for her to
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get hard work done. It was Martha's love for Jesus
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that perhaps drove her to so much serving.
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She was perhaps very hospitable. She really had no problem
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hosting people in her home. Probably she was considered an
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exceptional cook of her day. She gave attention to some of
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these details when it come came to hospitality.
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No doubt she knew how to make her house a home in that it was
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presentable and it was welcoming, especially when Jesus
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Christ was going to stop in. Imagine that.
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Imagine getting word that the Messiah was going to come visit
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you in your home. Martha likely was the type of
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person who didn't feel satisfied with herself unless she was
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convinced that she worked really hard at whatever she set her
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hands to do. It seems as if though that she
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was certainly the person to go to.
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If you needed to be assured that something was going to get done,
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you could put your trust in Martha that she was going to not
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displease you with her effort. It would then be safe to assume
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that Martha found it very easy to say yes to other people when
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they needed someone to make sure something in her skill set got
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done. They could count on on Martha.
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People probably knew that if they left the task up to her, it
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would certainly get done. She was committed.
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Martha was dependable. She had a good testimony for the
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Lord in this regard. She was committed, she was
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dependable, and she was no doubt hard working.
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So that's Martha. But her sister Mary on the other
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hand, is known throughout the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and
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John for worshipping, being found worshipping at the feet of
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Jesus. If we were to consider Mary in
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John Chapter 11 and verse 32, the Bible says there that she's
John 11 chapter mention
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found with a broken heart over the death of their brother
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Lazarus crying at Jesus feet. In the next chapter, John 12
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verse three, if we were to take a look at that, just after the
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resurrection of her brother Lazarus, she is found anointing
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the feet of Jesus with her precious ointment and with her
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hair. And so in one chapter she's
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broken hearted and she's cast it.
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She's cast herself at the feet of Jesus and just a couple days
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later she is worshipping and thanking Jesus for his
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faithfulness. And then of course, tonight in
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Luke chapter 10 in our text, she's found sitting in her
Luke 10 chapter mention
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sister's home with Jesus and his disciples at his feet, sitting
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at the feet of Jesus. So nonetheless, both Martha and
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Mary were unashamed, unashamedly associated with Jesus Christ.
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And no one who reads the Gospels can doubt their mutual love for
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Christ. Nobody who knew Martha and Mary
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doubted that they loved God, that they loved Jesus, that they
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loved what He was doing and what He came to do, and that they
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were unashamed of associating themselves with Him.
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So consider some of these sisters similarities.
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So we saw some of their their contrast.
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One found it very easy to get to work and get busy and be
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consumed with that. And the other it was very easy
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for her to maybe put time aside and to spend time with the Lord
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and meditating on the things of God.
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But both sisters loved Jesus, and they believed Him to be the
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Son of God, and they also both did what they could to lift Him
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up in their generation. They followed him, they exalted
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him, they spoke about Him, they committed their lives to Him and
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His 'cause they are set before us in Scripture as wonderful
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examples of servants who were committed to the Lord.
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But the passage before us gives a contrast in the response of
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both ladies while Jesus was present in their home, present
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in their their their current situation, present in their
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life, if you will. We see here, as we have just
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read, that Mary joined the disciples and sat down to listen
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to Jesus. We saw that while Martha
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continued working around her home in order to accommodate
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Jesus and the disciples, and as we hear this tonight, Mary sat
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at Jesus feet. Martha accommodated Jesus and
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the disciples. We would say from the from off
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the cuff that both sound pretty good.
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There's in and out themselves. There's nothing wrong with
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either of those two things being busy.
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Being at work and sitting with the Lord and his disciples both
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sound good. One was sitting and listening to
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Jesus, the other was busy. But considering why Jesus was at
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their home in the 1st place will help us decide if it was if what
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these ladies were both up to was good in their context.
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And so at the beginning of the message tonight, I asked the
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question, why did Christ die for your sin and forgive you of your
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sin when you called on him in faith and, and bring you back
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into a relationship with the Lord?
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And so we have to ask the same question about why Jesus came
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into their home and literally stepped in their their life that
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day. And we could really come to find
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the same answer to both of these questions.
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So considering why Jesus was at their home in the 1st place is
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going to help us here tonight. There are a lot of things in
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life that are good in and of themselves, right?
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There are a lot of things that can be deemed good or bad
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depending on their current context.
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Like some of you, some of you might think that you know it's
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OK to eat ice cream three times a day, right?
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There's nothing wrong with ice cream, but there might be
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something wrong with that diet. We would all agree, and we're
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looking forward to forward to this in a couple of hours, that
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there's nothing wrong with sleeping.
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But there's something wrong with sleeping on the job, right?
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So in and of itself, there is nothing wrong with Martha's hard
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work. And certainly there's nothing
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wrong with Mary sitting with Jesus and listening to him speak
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and give his words. So in order to help us
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understand if both ladies were doing what was right in the
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moment, let me ask you a question again.
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Why did Jesus come to visit these two ladies?
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What was his agenda? What was on his radar?
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What was his point in entering into their home?
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And so we see, first of all, that Jesus entered the home of a
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family that was known for their love for him.
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But we see secondly tonight that Jesus visited these ladies so
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that he can minister to their spiritual needs, so that he can
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minister to their spiritual needs.
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And so we see here in verses 30 and 39 again it says now it came
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to pass as they went that he entered into a certain village
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and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house and
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she had a sister called Mary which also sat at Jesus feet and
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she heard His word. And so Jesus intended purpose in
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coming to the home of Martha and Mary was to be with those He
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loved. He simply wanted to be with
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them. And so this passage does not
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give us any evidence that Jesus came into their home expressing
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any personal need for food, or for drink, or even for leisure.
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Certainly it seems that Martha more than likely had that
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prepared for him and the disciples, and probably offered
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it to him. But her passage does not show us
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that he was. He was needy and He was looking
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for her to do anything extra for Him.
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In fact, and it seems to be the character of the Lord Jesus.
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This seems to be the character of the Lord Jesus as He walked
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this earth. For example, He says in Matthew
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20, verse 28, even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered
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unto, to be served, but for He himself to minister, to do the
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ministering, to do the blessing, to do the serving.
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So this can all work together. Tonight Church to indicate to us
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that Jesus came to their home that day, not to 'cause these
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ladies to run around the house for Him, but instead so that He
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could relieve them for a little while from all of their labor
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and all of their cares. So I want us to consider now
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Mary's response to Jesus presence in their home.
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So we understand from the offset here that Mary's tendency and
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what was easy for her was to cast herself at the feet of the
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Lord Jesus Christ. So let's consider her response
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to him being in her home. The Bible tells us right here
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that Mary responded to Jesus presence by sitting down at his
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feet with the other disciples. Notice the words in verse 39.
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She sat at Jesus feet. They these words here in the
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description of her action, they indicate to us a couple things.
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She sat at Jesus feet. In those other two verses from
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the Gospels, it says there something regarding the feet of
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Jesus in relation to Mary. And so we see here in verse 39
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of this passage tonight. That Mary consciously dismissed
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herself from whatever she was doing prior to Jesus coming to
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place herself in a position which signified that she was at
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rest. She wasn't going to do anything.
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She was going to sit there. She was going to take her time.
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She was going to focus. She was going to be at ease.
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She was going to rest in the presence of Jesus.
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Mary was not only resting physically and maybe mentally,
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but she was focused in on something else.
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He's her seated position signified something about her
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mindset. Let me say that again.
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Her seated position said something about her mindset.
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For example, in Acts chapter 22 in verse 3 the Bible says this
Acts 22 chapter mention
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regarding Saul who would become the apostle Paul.
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Acts 22 and verse 3 it says. It says that we are told that
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before he became the apostle Paul, that he, Saul, sat at the
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feet of of Gamaliel. And so Acts 22, verse 3 says
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Paul says this of himself. I am verily a man which am a
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Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Silesia, yet brought up in the
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city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the
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perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward
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God, as you all are this day. What was Paul doing at the feet
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of Gamaliel? Well, as we look at this man
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Gamaliel, we understand that Gamaliel was highly educated.
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In fact, Gamaliel was an educator.
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Paul learned so much about the law in the Old Testament from
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this man Gamaliel. And Paul says to us in Acts 22
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three that he sat at the feet of Gamaliel.
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And So what Paul was doing at his feet was he was learning, he
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was being taught, he was being educated by this man.
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Gamaliel. Sitting at one's feet is
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historically known as the ancient posture, which signified
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that a person was learning or being educated by the other.
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It was a place of submission. It was a place of humility.
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It was a place in which where you would sit perhaps on the
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floor, and perhaps your teacher was sitting in a chair.
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And it just showed that they were a little bit more elevated
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than you were and that they were going to teach you, that they
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were going to educate you, and they were going to influence
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your thinking, influence your heart, and influence your life.
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So again, sitting at one's feet or sitting on the floor by
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somebody, it was a sign of 1's humility before the one they
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were sitting. So here we find in the same time
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period, Mary sitting at the feet of someone, but not just
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anybody, not a man like Gamaliel, not a man like
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Nicodemus, but the word of God himself, the Messiah, the
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Christ, her Savior, her Lord Jesus the Christ.
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Therefore, she intentionally forsook whatever it was that she
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was doing, and she humbled herself in such a way that
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expressed that she was a disciple learning from the words
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of Jesus. I believe there is some liberty
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we can take to speculate what it was Mary was hearing and
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receiving from Jesus. What do you think maybe Christ
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was saying in her home at this time?
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Perhaps Jesus was teaching Mary what what it is that disciples
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are supposed to do to live a maybe he was teaching her how to
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live a life that points people to salvation, to live a life of
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faith in God, to live a life of loving other people.
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Perhaps he was teaching her the importance and the the power of
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of prayer of our communication with the Lord.
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Perhaps. Maybe he was taught he was
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talking about how he had just commissioned the 70 to go preach
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the gospel in different cities. I think it's safe to say that
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Jesus told Mary that he loved her, that he would provide for
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her so long as she followed him and she was faithful to seek
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first the will of God. Maybe Jesus was teaching her the
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importance of being a godly lady in their society, teaching her
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that she has value, teaching her that she was important to God.
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Who knows? The point is, Mary responded to
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Jesus being in her home by spending time in His presence.
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That's really all that matters tonight is that she forsook
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everything that was happening right there in her life to show
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that she loved the Lord and wanted Him to influence her
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life. There's also no doubt in my mind
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that her spirit was refreshed as she sat with the Word of God
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Himself. But where was her sister Martha?
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Where was Martha? Notice the beginning of verse
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40. But Martha was cumbered about
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much serving. She was cumbered about much
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serving. The Bible uses the word cumbered
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here at the beginning of verse 40, which carries the idea that
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she was obstructed or or busy or disrupted with with something.
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She was, she was held back. She was, she was distracted from
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perhaps where her focus really was supposed to be.
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So in this context, Martha was busy with serving, a lot of
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serving. Perhaps she was just finding
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things to do. Perhaps once somebody finished
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a, a, a plate of food, she would take that and get rid of it.
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Once a crumb was dropped, she would sweep that or she would
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find something to straighten out.
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She was, the Bible teaches us that she was cumber.
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She was busy about much serving. She was obstructed.
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So in this context, she was serving a lot.
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She had kept herself so entirely busy around her home that she
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didn't think to say no to those things so she could say yes to
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spending time with Jesus. I mean, we're talking about
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Jesus here. This isn't just Joe Schmo,
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forgive me Joe, but Joe Schmo, that was his, his Jewish last
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name, Joe Schmo. This wasn't just Joe Schmo
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walking through the door, this was Jesus.
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And she continued to busy herself, what with what she was
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doing before they arrived. The Bible tells us essentially
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with the word cumbered that she was consumed.
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She was consumed with whatever she was busy with.
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But no, no one doubts still, even tonight that Martha, she
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loved Jesus too. She loved Christ too.
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In fact, she was probably doing what she was doing because she
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thought that that was was best in the moment, because she
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thought perhaps that would please Jesus.
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She wasn't doing anything that was sinful in and of itself.
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There's nothing sinful about working when it's done in its
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proper place and time. And so verse 40 tells us that
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she was cumbered about much serving.
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And so she in verse 40, she now walks into the area of her home
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where Jesus is sitting and his disciples are sitting and Mary
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her sister is sitting. So verse 40 again it says, but
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Martha was cumbered about much serving and, and came to him and
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said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to
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serve alone, to serve the 13 of you alone?
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Did her therefore that she helped me?
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And here we find a gracious reminder from Jesus to a
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faithful servant. And he says to us tonight, verse
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41 And Jesus answered and said unto her graciously, Martha,
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Martha, he's he's getting her attention because we know she's
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like this, right hair pulled out.
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You know, I guess I'll stop there.
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So he says, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about
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many things. You're anxious, but one thing is
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needful and and Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not
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be taken away from her. He says Martha's busyness was
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wrong for two primary reasons. Work in and of itself.
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Busyness in and of itself is not wrong.
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We've all come from a busy day and it was appropriate and right
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for us to be busy about our lives and we could preach a
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message on that. But but her busyness on this
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day, at this hour and this moment was wrong for two primary
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reasons. First of all, her busyness was
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wrong at the time because Jesus came into her home not to be
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ministered unto, but that He would minister to her and to
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Mary. It was time for Martha to put
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things aside for a couple of hours and to come and and seat
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herself next to her sister Mary and the rest of the church that
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was there in the Lord Jesus Christ.
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When Jesus entered into the home, it was time for both
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Martha and Mary to say no to everything else, and to say yes
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to the very Word of God himself. Martha's responsibility was to
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say yes to sitting at Jesus feet.
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And so it was. Her busyness was wrong at this
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hour, on this day, because it was it was out of place for her.
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But secondly, her busyness, her neglect to sit with Jesus LED
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her to a reaction of the flesh, to a reaction of the flesh flesh
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when she saw Mary, as we saw at the in the middle of verse 40,
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when she saw Mary sitting with Jesus, she technically reacted
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selfishly. She was frustrated that Mary
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wasn't helping her. She wanted Jesus, who had all
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authority, to tell Mary to leave his feet and go get busy
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serving. But how did Jesus actually
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respond to Martha and all of her attitude?
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Right graciously, He responded graciously.
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Here's the message tonight. Jesus graciously reminded a
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faithful yet burdened an anxious woman of God, an anxious
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servant, that time spent at his feet was the most important
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thing she could do at that moment.
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And he teaches us tonight that the most important aspect of the
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Christian life is your relationship with the Lord.
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Jesus came to relieve her of the burden.
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That's why he came into your life to relieve you of the
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burden of sin. But then, even on a daily basis,
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He wants to relieve you for a moment of some of the realities
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of life and get you saturated in His loving, gracious, and
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merciful presence and His fondness of you.
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Mary recognized her own need, and she made the best choice at
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this hour. Christ stepped into our lives to
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relieve us of our burdens, that we might have fellowship with
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Him and thus serve Him as a result.
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And that's the gospel. Why did Christ come into your
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life? Why did you call on Christ to
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save you on the day in which you were saved?
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Because remember this tonight, there was a time in your life
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where you were convinced and convicted that your sins
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separated you from God, that your sin was between you and
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having a relationship with God. And finally, by the grace of
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God, by the teaching and the preaching of the gospel, the
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Holy Spirit drew you in, helped you to realize what was
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separating you from a relationship with God.
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And upon your conviction and upon your faith in the Lord
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Jesus Christ, he removed sin out from between you and him, and he
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brought you back into a relationship with him.
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This is the essence of the gospel.
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And so Jesus did not forgive you of your sin.
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Listen tonight, just to take you to heaven.
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And that's often what we preach is get saved to go to heaven.
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Get saved to go to heaven. No, no, no, no, we get saved to
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be restored into a relationship with God, and heaven will be
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indeed in our future. But He stepped into your life to
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restore a relationship with Him. He wants to fellowship with you.
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When God created man, He created us primarily that we might know
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Him and joy Him and love Him and glorify Him forever.
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And in our sin, our sin hindered that from taking place.
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And so Christ did not step into your life to make you a busy
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person. He stepped into your life so
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that you could be saturated with Him.
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And the fact is tonight that as we walk with God, we will want
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to get up and serve Him at some point.
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But the cart doesn't come before the horse.
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We are to fall in love with Him primarily, and then we will want
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to serve Him. If we are just serving and
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serving and we are busy and busy, we're going to get burned
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out and we might not be very interested in having a daily
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walk with the Lord. In fact, that can cause us to
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forget why Jesus stepped into our house, why Jesus stepped
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into our home to have a relationship with you and with
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me. This is the gospel.
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Christ wanted them to live in light of the gospel.
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And what was the gospel at this moment?
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Him. It's always him.
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It's always the Lord Jesus. When we allow ourselves to to
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minister more for Christ than we allow Christ to minister to us,
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our ministering can become empty, vain, heartless.
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We can become and act in ways that are off balance and out of
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place. Allow me to phrase it.
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To phrase it this way, when we allow ourselves to become too
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busy with daily life to spend quiet time alone with God in His
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word and prayer, we are missing out on the primary reason Christ
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came into our lives in the 1st place.
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And that reason was so we could have a relationship with Him.
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I asked this question a few moments ago.
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Why did Christ forgive your sin and remove the consequences of
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sin so that you can have a relationship with your Creator
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through Jesus Christ? Isn't that an amazing truth?
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God, the high and holy God wants to be with us, the likes of us.
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It really is and truly is Amazing Grace.
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Remember now, Martha loved Jesus.
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She wasn't rejecting him. She she wasn't bitter toward
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Jesus. She wasn't trying to ignore
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Jesus. She simply allowed herself to
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become too busy. I would say that's the case with
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all of us at times. The Bible says that once Christ
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stepped into your life at the moment of salvation, the love of
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God was shed abroad in your heart.
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You had a love for God that you never had prior to salvation.
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And when he stepped into your life, you loved him.
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And when he stepped into your life, you loved His church, you
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loved Christians, you loved the word of God, you loved the
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presence of God. And so that was who Martha was.
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She certainly loved God. I wonder though, can we be
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guilty of telling ourselves when we're busy and busy and busy?
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Well, God knows my heart. He knows to justify not taking
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personal time at His feet. Yes, there are times where where
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where God, God always knows. And there are times where God
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does understand certain circumstances, but as a regular
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habit to not take time at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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So know this. Thirdly, tonight that there is
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nothing more important in your day than personal time with
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Jesus. But what distracts us from
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spending time with the Lord on a daily basis?
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What are the ways? Maybe we might act like Martha?
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I want to say this tonight, that business busyness in the work of
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the Lord does not equal godliness.
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Busyness being overwhelmed in the work of the Lord does not
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equal godliness. We could have our ministry, we
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could have our vocation, we could have our career.
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These are all good things and we might come to the place where we
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are content with serving work must be must get done and and
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God and God knows this, but these things are not to replace
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our time in his presence in the word and in prayer.
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Perhaps it's it's family, it's different priorities in your
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life, it's different habits, it's it's different routines.
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And as we look at these verses tonight, we consider this
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passage. We can very easily apply this to
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church life. You've chosen to be here tonight
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when you're here. I mean, you've made a decision
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to be here every time you're here.
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Obviously, I don't think anybody is here against their will, but
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this even comes into play with church life.
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What you have done tonight, even right here in the middle of your
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busy week, is you have put certain things aside.
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You have put your life on pause, the rest of your life on pause.
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Although you might have things to do even as soon as you get
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home tonight and you've come and you have sat at the feet of the
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Word of God, and I commend you for that.
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Every time you're here, you're choosing that you want to be
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influenced by the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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This has to do with your personal walk with God, and also
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has to do with your corporate walk with God.
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Is it too much to make the Lord's Day entirely devoted to
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Him? On Sundays, where we take one
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day a week and we put the rest of our life on pause, and when
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the church gathers in the morning, we gather.
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When the church gathers in the evening, we gather.
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Why? Because Jesus is here because
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it's time to sit at his feet. When we put other things on
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pause, we are showing that the presence of Christ is important.
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One of the greatest things my parents ever did for me, and
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I'll never forget it. When I was probably 14 years
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old, 1314 years old, I wanted to join the Police Explorers.
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OK, as I was pulled between preaching and policing.
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Sometimes they're the same preaching and policing.
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I I thought that's probably the direction I would have gone if
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the Lord didn't call me to preach was law enforcement.
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And so I, I wanted to get involved in the club, right?
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I want to get my feet wet and stand there at at fall festivals
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and paint people's faces and tell people where to park with
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combat boots on with my oversized polo shirt tucked in,
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right, Yes, Sir, right. But the thing was, and we were,
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we were my grew up in a Christian home.
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The thing was about the police explorers was that they had
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their primary meeting on Wednesday evenings, Wednesday
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nights. And before I committed myself to
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that, my, I had a father and I still do who evaluated the
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situation. And he said, Dan, that's going
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to take the place of your time in the church.
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I believe you can do this. And it was hard.
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It was just like, man, you sure? You sure we can't squeeze it in
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somehow and maybe show up to church a little late.
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And we said no. And so he helped me recognize
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that I needed to prioritize the feet of Jesus being where God is
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at work, being where God wants me to be.
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And here's the thing, we, we, we just take maybe 20% of our week
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and we congregate as a church and we assemble as a church to
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be in the fellowship, to be in the word and to be equipped to
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fulfill the Great Commission or even to actually fulfill the
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Great Commission. But this is true even in our
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personal lives. We get into a routine, maybe in
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our in the home and before we know it it's been a couple weeks
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since we have gone and spent time with the Lord in the Bible
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and in the place of worship and prayer.
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Perhaps you're over committing to favors and responsibilities.
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You're serving and helping other other people and that is good.
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But some people become so busy serving others that they have no
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time to sit with Jesus. Maybe it's entertainment, and
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entertainment can be a blessing at times, but we are all guilty
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of prioritizing entertainment over time at the feet of the
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only one who can satisfy our most deepest desires.
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And I'll say this too, maybe about your routine, that it is
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true that health can become a factor that makes you to have to
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rework what time with Jesus looks like for you.
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No one's saying tonight that you need to meet with the Lord first
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thing in the morning and you need to spend an hour of God
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with God. And you have to keep a journal
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and you need to report it to the pastor, and you need to prove
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that you're spending time with the Lord Jesus Christ.
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And it needs to be this time, this room at this hour.
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That's not what we're saying. What we're saying is though,
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there comes a time every day where you need to put your life
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on pause and say it's God and I time.
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That's why he saved you first and foremost, to have a
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relationship with you. Think of the gospel.
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Christ stepped into our lives so we could be together.
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We need to be deliberate and intentional about our daily walk
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with God, or else other things are going to get in the way.
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You say, Brother Dan, I'm not really sure what to do.
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I'm not 100% sure what you're talking about.
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A personal daily relationship with God like in the Bible.
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And where do I start? Well, that's what we're here
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for. You come and you ask, and we'll
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disciple you and teach you how to get involved in God's Word,
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teach you how to pray, teach you to get how to get deeply rooted
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in your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
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Having a time and place where we daily come into His presence is
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helpful. Worshipping Him, reading His
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Word, listening to His Spirit is why He saved us.
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Thank you for listening to the sermon from the pulpit of
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Liberty Baptist Church. If this message was a blessing
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to you, or if there's any way we can serve you, please let us
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know by contacting us at [email protected].
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Or you can visit us this Sunday at 800 Washington St. in Easton,
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MA. May the Lord bless you as you
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grow in His Word.