If you have your Bibles with you, will you please turn to Luke chapter 10. And we're going to read Luke chapter 10 verses 38 to 42. Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, does I not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things, but one thing is needful, and Mary has chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her. May the Lord bless the public reading of the Lord. Amen. To listen to some people at times, both in conversation and in prayer, You could easily be led to believe that those who hold office in the church are more loved by Christ than those who don't. I'm not taking away from the offices of the church, the deacon, the elder, the teaching elder, but you think that the Lord loved them more. And when we come to Luke chapter 10 and verse 38, we're brought into a home that disproves that notion. We are told of this home being owned by a lady called Martha, who had a sister called Mary and other places in scripture, a brother by the name of Lazarus. And in John chapter 11, we're told in verse five, something special about this family, about this group of individuals. They weren't apostles. They didn't hold office. But it says, now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. And you go through scripture, you'll find that quite an unusual statement in the word of God. And yet it's applied to this family, just as normal, regular little family. And the only difference about them is that the Holy Ghost had come into them. They've been saved by divine grace and they'd given their hearts to Christ and were following him. The Lord Jesus enters in and tells us in verse 38, He came to pass as they went, that He entered into a certain village. And we know that village from other parts is that of Bethany, a little village. Probably not unlike Six Mile Cross. Unless you live within the locality, you probably don't even know it's there. But the Lord Jesus doesn't care about the numbers or being cosmopolitan. We thank God that the Lord Jesus likes to go to places where others don't even know about. He likes to meet with people wherever they are. Come into little villages. Come into little homes. Go into little places, perhaps out in the middle of nowhere. and meet with them as they seek to meet with him. We're told here that as he entered in, that he comes into this home and Martha, verse 38, received him into her house. Oh, this is we could just pass over this and not think much about it. But it's a remarkable thing when we think of first of all, it seems that the Lord lands on an ounce. Now we came here as a college today and you were assigned perhaps some of the students to take into your home and you were therefore able to prepare. And I know what my wife's like if somebody's coming to visit. She likes a little notice so that she can make sure that she has the cakes or buns or whatever she wants to provide for them and make sure there's things there that she can provide and set before them. It's not nice. It's not nice to be taken unawares perhaps and people come in and then you feel that you aren't able to be as hospitable as you'd like. you were given notice. But poor Martha, she was given no notice it seems. And the other thing that's most remarkable is that the Lord Jesus doesn't come alone. There's 13 men arrive at her house. 12 disciples and the Lord Jesus. And they all just land round at Martha's. And they come past. I'd like to see some faces. If 13 men came past into your home, looking perhaps to have a little bit of hospitality, you'd be quirin' shocked. And perhaps be not prepared at all. But Martha, she seeks to prepare herself. She gets into a fuzz, gets into a hole. You can imagine it. You can empathize with the poor woman as she tries to organize things and arrange things and get things in order so that she can do the best that she possibly can for them. While this passage is more applicable to Christians, that's confessed, yet there's a word that the Lord has laid in my heart here that is for you. who are not yet saved. There's no doubt here, there's many messages we could bring out and many things we could lay before you. But I want to address you if you're not saved. There's a thought in my mind, there's a word in my heart, a word that comes from this little passage, this narrative that I want you to get a hold of before you leave here. And I don't want it merely to be a message that goes in one ear and out the other. I'm wanting this, and oh God give me grace to do it, for it to get into your heart, to understand the weight of truth that by God's grace we will present before you here this evening. I want us to consider just a little words And we find in verse 42 of this passage, where the Lord Jesus, as He's addressing Martha, trying to calm her down and to show her certain truth that she needed to understand, He says to her, but one thing is needful. One thing needful. That's what we're seeking and going to endeavor to leave before you. That there is one thing needful. One thing. that goes above all other things in your life. As we look at this statement, I want us to see, first of all, the intended meaning of the statement. As we've already indicated, this was said by the Lord to a follower of his, to a woman by the name of Martha. And it brings home a stark reminder to each Christian that it's not enough for us just to be saved and to do outward works that show that we're saved. It's not enough just to do that. Martha here was a devoted follower of Christ. There's no question about that. And she finds herself in this position where she feels like she needs to do something that she thinks the Lord expects her to do. And she hurries about and busies herself trying to do what she feels is her duty. And yet all the while she's missing what it is that's most important, the very vital thing that she needed to get a hold of. I find many of us as God's people today fall into the same trap. We're saved. We love the Lord. There is that love in our hearts and we endeavor to serve him, too. We find ourselves in certain ministries, try to exercise ourselves in those works and try to do things, but is there not Does there not have to be an admission in these days that there is a lack of the basic sense of the Lord's presence in our life and communion with the Lord Jesus on a day by day basis? Is there a burning love for Christ in our hearts? Or are we just going about by way of duty? How many of us as God's people go about and we're doing it Sunday school teachers, being deacons, elders and whatever our responsibilities may be that we have taken upon us perhaps in bygone days with the right heart and the right attitude but today it's kind of duty and if we were to give it up who else would fill in for us or if we were to give it up perhaps people would start asking questions of us but there's no love We've hit a day where there's no real sharing of our burdens to the Lord and of the Lord sharing his burdens with us. That deep calling on to deep, that sense of God and knowing God. We're just kind of wading in the shadows of the waters of the gospel. Where is the burning love? Where is the spirit of martyrdom? Where is the sense of the reality of gospel truth? It seems very faint in our hearts, does it not? The old saints used to talk about, I think it was a Puritan, talked about God giving him an ache in his heart. We just want to feel happy all the time, but they were praying, God give me an ache in my heart. That we would view the world as God views it. We feel the burden. that God sees and as he looks upon a community of sin and vice and rebellion against Christ. I was thinking just in the past week of this very fact that what news item has to come on tomorrow or in the future for us as God's people to get a sense of how far we've come away from God. What will be tomorrow's news that will suddenly stir the church and make us realize that we've left the one thing needful? I don't know what it will be. You see, last week, two men trying to bring shame on anyone who would say that it's not right for them to God. We're the ones that should be ashamed. How far have we gotten away? How far is this nation getting away from truth? The Lord here, He's directing us, is He not? No, He's directing us. Hang on a minute here. You're busy. You're doing this, that and the other. It's fine. But there's one thing needful. The meaning here, essentially, is that the Lord is calling us to of a sense of responsibility to care for our souls, to look after that which is spiritual and inward and prepares us for eternity. He's saying this is the one thing needful, preparing your soul, taking time to be rightly related in your heart and in your being. The question, therefore, to you outside of Christ is, Do you have a sense of your responsibility for your own soul? What are you doing to take care for your soul? You're doing at least something that's right. You're attending God's house. You're here. Thank God. You're under gospel truth. But what sense do you have of your responsibility to your soul? Would it not be true that you go through your day, day after day, week after week, month after month, without any sense of, I need to take responsibility for my soul. I need to make sure, spiritually, I'm in the right place. If tonight finds you here and you're not yet born again of the Spirit, you're devoid of the life of God in your heart. That's ample truth. An ample proof that you are not yet taking care of your soul. You're not yet taking it seriously enough. And our prayer is that tonight God would give you grace to rectify that. To care for your soul like Mary is to get yourself to Christ. Get yourself to the Redeemer. It is to behold Him as the Lamb of God and to see Him as the only Saviour of men. And that's where Mary took herself to. Yes, she was taken by surprise. No doubt other times that she would help Martha and Martha was expecting her to come and to help her. And perhaps she was surprised why she was just sitting there idle. But Mary understood that the Lord hadn't come just to be fed and watered. He had come to speak. It tells us in verse 39. She sat at his feet and heard his word. The Lord came to speak. He came to give a word. He came to minister. And she was taking care of her soul. The Lord has something to say to me. Would to God you'd have the same thought when you came in these doors week after week. The Lord Jesus has something to say to me. I'm not just here out of duty. I want to hear what the Lord Jesus has to say to me. This then is the intended meaning. That you are to care for your soul. You're to take that responsibility. That this is the one thing needful. for you to look after yourself in this way. See, second of all, the isolated emphasis in this statement, because it says one thing. One thing. In the context, it is in contrast to what the Lord says in verse 41, when he says, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things. Also tells us in verse 40 that Martha was cumbered about much serving. So the Lord here is sensing here that there are many things, many things that are distracting her. The very idea of the word cumbered there is that to be drawn away or to be distracted. And essentially that's how she found herself. She's passed herself, as we say again, legitimately. You would be distracted too. Thirteen men come into your home and you're taken unawares. You would be distracted. How can you get things in order for them with this sense of responsibility to serve them? But the Lord says that. You're distracted, yes, and in your mind, he could discern thou art careful, that is, you're anxious and troubled in your mind about many things. Lots of things going on in your heart, but One thing, one thing is needful. This makes me think of calling upon you, Senator, and asking you, first of all, what are the distractions that keep you from the one thing? No matter how lawful or commendable they might be, they cannot exceed the weight of importance upon the one thing of caring for your soul. Maybe it's business. I don't know. And you go about, and I know how business can get a hold of you. I know what it's like to have to run your own affairs and not just clock in and clock out. And how that can press in. And it's always in your mind, and you can hardly attend church without your mind just turning and turning. You have to pray. You have to pray, don't you? Those of us, of God's people, that God would shut those things out. If you're here and you're not saved and you're running your own affairs or your work brings great responsibility upon you, I understand how it can just take over your life. I understand also how family affairs can take over your life. A legitimate and lawful thing, a commendable thing to take care of your family and to feel the weight of responsibility in that regard. I understand how studying and all many things that we find ourselves in in life, these things we must do, they are legitimate, they're fine, but they are not. They are not excuses to keep us from our responsibility to care for our souls. I wonder what it is that distracts you. Perhaps it's not even anything that is really important. Maybe it's just hobbies and sports, relationships, friendships. Things that you know aren't compatible with the gospel or being a Christian, and those are the things holding you back. That's why you haven't given your heart to Christ, that's why you're not taking care of your soul, because you're in love with some vice, some sin, something you know that the Lord Jesus wouldn't have you to bring into Him. And ask him to find acceptable. Because you know it's wrong. You know it's not right. And you abstain from gospel truth. You abstain from your responsibility to repent and believe. Because you know you can't bring this into Christ. I wonder what it is. I wonder what it is. What's the distraction? Why is it that up until this point you're not saved? There has to be a reason surely. You're sitting there thinking to yourself, why am I not yet a Christian? Why am I not walking in the enjoyment of communion with Christ? Why is there not that love? Why have I not given my heart to him? Why is it that I'm just drifting in and out of church every Sunday and I'm not a Christian? Why? What's the distraction? What is the thing that keeps you back? And look, chapter 12, we're told of a particular man who had certain legitimate things upon his mind. Verse 16, we read of the Lord Jesus saying, and he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. Nothing wrong with that. The harvest came. God granted it to him. Verse 17, he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do? Because I have no room where to bestow my fruits. What a harvest this was. And he said, This will I do. I will pull down my barns and build a grater. There will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take thy ease, eat, drink, and be merry. The harvest was fine, legitimate. He had laboured hard. He had sown the seed. God had granted a great crop. And there he is in abundance. Nothing wrong with that. It's all legitimate and fine. But it's in his response to the responsibility of his soul where he is saying, all that my soul needs is here. It's in the material world. It's with my wealth now. I have nothing else to worry about. I have everything I could ever desire. What does it say? Verse 20, But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night my soul shall be required of thee. Then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? Thou fool. Is the scripture calling you a foe? In your heart, is this all that really matters to you? The material world? I don't care how long you've been associated with this church, how long you've sat there, what claims you can make. I'm wondering about the distractions in your life. The things that are keeping you from the one thing, the one thing. I also wonder not only about the distractions that keep you from the one thing, but the delusions that blind you to the one thing. Martha was laboring about here and going about her business, thinking her good works, if we can use that term, were commending her to God more than Mary's apparent idleness. She comes and brings an accusation, a complaint. Verse 40, where it tells us she came to the Lord Jesus and said, Lord, does thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me. She's not really complaining about Mary. She's complaining about the Lord. Lord, you can just imagine it, can't you? Picture the scene. Martha going about and casting an angry eye in Mary's direction. But she's not taking a hint. She's just sitting on there, just sitting at the Lord's feet. And it doesn't matter what Martha's trying to do. She can't get her attention off the Lord. And so then she just comes in. She perhaps interrupts the Lord in mid-sermon. And says, Lord, what's going on here? Do you not see? And I'm the one doing all the work and she's just sitting here. Do you not see this, Lord? Of course, Jesus did see. Martha's like many today. You look at your actions, you look at your good works and this deludes you into thinking that this is sufficient. This is commending me to God. Surely, surely if I devote my heart to good works, my life to good works, let's say I become the next Mother Teresa and go out and sacrifice so much of the material things in this world that I may go out and serve others in this way. Surely I'm better than someone saved by divine grace who's just sitting in the presence of Jesus. That's how you would see it perhaps. You think surely I'm better. If I was to do that, if I was to live that sort of life, of course, the Christian will do good works. If he doesn't, he doesn't know grace in his heart. But you can just imagine those who give themselves excessively to good works, running about like Martha, cumbered, bearing all these burdens and all these anxieties of mine, trying to earn favour and show themselves worthy. But this is the delusion, to think that to labour, For acceptance with God is a delusion indeed. You meet so many people. Oh, even people with a dark past. This is amazing. You go on the doors, you talk to people and they start opening up to you. And they have a dark past. They even admit that. But now they're on the straight and narrow and they don't do anybody any harm. And they think to themselves that I'm OK before God. 1 John 1, verse 8, we read there, if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If you're here and you think that by your good works, you're finding acceptance with God. I don't care what those good works might be. It might be the ability you have to give to charitable deeds, give to the church. It might be your voluntary work in some charitable affair. I don't know. I don't know what you consider good works. I don't know how you conduct your life. But if there's any seed of thought in your mind that's thinking, well, I'm laboring for acceptance with God, that I'm OK. I haven't done anyone any harm. And I treat others how I'd like to be treated. If that's your philosophy, then you are deluded. Romans 3 19 tells us that the law of God shows that all the world is guilty before God. That's what it says. You go down through the law as a schoolmaster and it meets out his affairs and it says we've all fallen short. We're all guilty. All the world is guilty before God. We have no hope. None at all. He goes on to say, Paul, in the following verse of Romans 3, verse 20, it says, By the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in God's sight. You know, when you look at it, well, if all the world is guilty before God, how then can we find acceptance with God? Legitimate argument. And Paul brings out that argument. He says, well, yes, we're all guilty. And because we're guilty, we can never justify ourselves within ourselves by doing what is in our heart as our brother spoke of. We can't Do anything and there's nothing to be found in ourselves. No actions we can do to justify us before God. To say, well, look, there Lord, now I am acceptable. By the deeds of the law, no flesh can be justified. James says something very weighty in James 2 verse 10. Whosoever keep the whole law, if you keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, you're guilty of all. You're guilty. Even if you just leave that little bit of all, you're guilty. Plain and simple. Keep the whole law, offend in one point, you're guilty. You are guilty. Just like the rest of the world. You think of the rich young man or even in the previous verses of this certain lawyer that we read of in chapter 10 of Luke and verse 25. And it comes with this great question, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Seems legitimate inquiry. He wants to know how to have peace with God and how to know that after this life all is well with his soul. He's taking more care for his soul perhaps than you are. But he's looking to himself. I'll not go down through it, but you'll find that the Lord brings the law to him. And this man tries to justify himself. It tells us that in verse 29. He willing to justify himself. And if you're here and you're sitting there looking at me, I'm telling you now, you can't justify yourself. If you are to find acceptance with God, that justification must come from God. It must be granted by God. It's a gift found in Christ alone. And if you don't realise that, you'll be like the rich young ruler who went away sorrowful. At this, This lawyer who never knew the peace of God in his heart. Thirdly, and finally, the important reminder in this statement, because one thing needful, needful, it is needful, first of all, to embrace the right person. This is what Mary understood. The Lord Jesus had come into the home. He hadn't asked for a meal. He hadn't asked for supper. He hadn't asked for a great feast. He came in. to speak the Word. It tells us in verse 39, Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet. She came to Jesus and heard His Word. She came to the right person. This is the only one she could turn to. Mary brought herself to Christ. And there's absolutely no other way for you or me or anyone else to find acceptance with God. We must come to the right person, that being the Lord Jesus. If you're ever going to be in heaven at the last, if you're going to see yourself there gasping your last breath and having confidence that when you pass into eternity that it's going to be fine and well with your soul, the only way you'll ever have assurance is if you're looking to the right person. You're depending on the Lord Jesus Christ. The Scripture reminds us of this. The mind boggles that these professing Christians in circles today, liberal circles who say yes they're Christians but they accept other ways. The Bible has no other way. There's no other place. There's no other person. There's no other thing to save a man's soul. God hasn't gone about just satisfying our own lust and desire, saying, well, he wants this. I'll give him that kind of a saviour. He wants that. I'll give him that kind of a saviour. Acts 4, 12, neither is there salvation in any other. There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. There's none. And Jesus affirmed it. John 14, 6. I am the way. You want the right way? I am it. You want the truth? I am it. You want life? I am it. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. Paul writes, That thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus. Not Buddha. Not your church, because of some people. Oh, I go to the Free Church, or I go to the Church of Ireland, or I go this, or I go... They bring a name. They bring any name to you but Jesus. They never say, they never confess the Lord Jesus Christ. Once you start passing in upon a personal relationship with Christ, they don't want to go there. As long as you're just talking about church affairs and what church they go to, they're happy. But can they confess with their mouth the Lord Jesus? No. No. I ask you, can you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus? Do you believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead? It is by this that we may be saved. Not only is it needful to embrace the right person, but it's needful to assume the right posture, because Mary, she sat at the feet of Jesus. Sat at Jesus' feet. That's a good posture to assume. It's a posture of submission. Recognition that we're not coming to someone on equal terms here. Yes, he is man, but he is also God. He is Lord. He is Master. She throws herself at his feet, makes no apology for it, and doesn't get up even when Martha's giving off. And all who truly come to know Christ, they do this. They throw themselves at Jesus' feet. They cast everything upon Him. They look to Him and say, there is provision. There's my substitute. There's my Redeemer. There's my burden bearer. There's the One who took my sins on His own body and took them to that tree. He is mine. And I rest in Him and in Him alone. I wonder, do you do that? I wonder, have you resigned yourself to Christ? She did it. She resigned herself to Christ and heard His word, listened to His word. The Lord Jesus, speaking to some who began to assent to what He was saying, that is, believe in what He was saying. In John 8, verse 31, it says, Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on Him, If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed. Perhaps here, you're here tonight and you're holding on to some profession of the past. You pray the prayer. You have some experience on a bygone day. But you know, let's be honest here, let's man up to it. You're not walking with God. Your heart's a million miles away from Christ. You don't pray. You're not reading the Bible. And there's no sense of hope and joy in the gospel. You're just clinging on to some experience of the past. But what does Jesus say? If you continue in my word, then you're my disciple. I believe in a gospel that enables sinners to persevere to the end. I believe it because I experience it. If you're not persevering, if you're not continuing in his word, if you're not going on, then question greatly whatever experiences of the past and come afresh this very night and say, Oh, Lord Jesus, whatever that is in the past doesn't matter. I need to fall at thy feet now. And throw yourself there. Him that cometh unto me I will in no ways cast out. The one thing needful, as we close, the one thing needful in your life is the right preparation of your soul. Prepare to meet thy God. Making yourself ready. It is vital because without it you must face death. Without the presence of Christ, and you must face judgment without the pardon of Christ. What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Jesus asked that question. You might ask the same. Imagine hypothetically You were granted everything you could ever desire in this life. Everything. Whatever you want. Whatever your vile mind can imagine. Whatever extent you can think of what you could desire in this life. Imagine it was granted to you. Accept God's salvation. And there you are. Passing through the valley of the shadow of death. entering into eternity and having to face the reality of eternal fire and judgment of God upon you for your sin. What would you give to exchange it? What would you give to do it over again? This is not possible. When one dies, he dies. He has to bear the judgment of God. That's what we're told by Paul. Hebrews 9.27, it's appointed unto men, wants to die. And after this, the judgment. This life ends when death comes upon us. And judgment then awaits us. So the question is, the question is, what are you doing with your soul? Have you prepared? Are you right before God? Are you walking with Him? Do you know gospel joy? Do you know His blessed peace? Have you an absolute assurance of your pardon and that mysterious communion we have with Him when we're walking as we should? Do you know that? Or is your religion, is your experience of the gospel something of history. Or maybe it's something that can't even be brought into any part of your life. You've just sat on for years, unmoved, without thinking once that it's time to seek the Lord. May God speak to your heart. May God stir your soul. It is time for you to seek the Lord now, is it not? Think of it. We know not what shall be in the morrow. A funeral took place this very day for a man fairly young, from the point of diagnosis to the day of his death, four weeks gone into eternity. Four weeks. In four weeks' time, who knows where you will be? It is time to seek the Lord. Today, if you hear his voice, you don't harden your heart. Don't be the fool. Don't look after the temple, neglecting the one thing needful. May God give you grace