Laboring and Sitting Should Be at Christ’s Feet

Mary was not praised for sitting still; no, but for sitting still at Jesus’ feet. And so, Christians are not to be praised, if they neglect duties, merely because they live in retirement, and keep much at home: it is not sitting, I say, but sitting at Jesus’ feet. Had Martha been sitting still, or had Mary been sitting anywhere else, I doubt not that the Master would have given a word of rebuke; he would never have said that mere sitting still was choosing the good part. Indeed, I know some of you who are none the better for doing nothing, but a great deal the worse; for those who do nothing grow sour, and are always willing to find fault with the way in which others serve Christ. Do not think, therefore, that mere activity is in itself an evil: I believe it is a blessing. Taking a survey of Christ’s Church, you will find that those who have most fellowship with Christ, are not the persons who are recluses or hermits, who have much time to spend with themselves, but they are the useful indefatigable laborers who are toiling for Jesus, and who in their toil have Him side by side with them, so that they are workers together with God.

Charles Spurgeon

CHRIST IS ALL

Looking at my sin, I see Christ as my atonement and only Christ. Looking at God’s law, I see Christ as my righteousness, my only righteousness. I am not making up what I cannot provide; He is my only righteousness. Looking at God’s justice, He is my justification. Looking at death, He is my life. Looking at the grave, He is my resurrection. Looking at eternity, He is my hope.

Pastor Henry Mahan

PREACH THE WORD

I know that we must preach the gospel in clear and simple terms. We must set forth Christ simply so that people understand what we are preaching. I know in a sense we appeal to the minds and emotions of people to come to Christ, but let us never forget that we must preach the gospel simply and leave the results in the hand of the Lord. Let us never forget what our Lord told Nicodemus, “Ye must be born again.” (John 3:7) We must be born again because the old man will never be anything but dead flesh, so that old nature will never believe. If we are going to believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we must be given a new nature that believes God in the new birth.

As we preach to the lost, remember, you can’t educate the old man into faith no matter how well thought out your sermon may be. You can’t scare the old man into faith no matter how graphic your sermon may be. You can’t make an emotional plea and get the old man to come to Christ no matter how sappy your sermon may be. You can’t appeal to the mind of the old man and get him to understand the gospel because his mind is dead and his understanding is darkened. You can’t appeal to the emotions of the old man because his heart is too hard and dead. You can’t do anything with the old man as far as salvation is concerned because he is DEAD.

Our messages should be well prayed over, well thought out, and diligently worked, but we usually still stumble and bumble around and are left feeling quite inadequate. Thankfully though, the results are in the hand of the Lord. Our confidence is the new man is going to believe the Word in spite of the preacher because he has God given faith. The new man is going to understand the Word in spite of the preacher because he has mind of Christ. The new man’s heart will react to the Word in spite of the preacher because God has given him a new, soft heart of flesh.

There is never an excuse for a bad, ill-prepared message. Our messages must be clear, simple, and easy to understand, but it is not our commentary that saves or establishes - it is the Word of God. So let’s preach the Word of God.

We are all completely dependent upon God to save, to call, to keep, and to provide. The more we learn to lean wholly on Him, the more calmness and quietness of soul we will enjoy.