"THE GOOD PART"

J.Renton

Luke 10: 38-42; Matthew 11: 25-30; John 12: 23-26; 13: 21-25

At the end of our reading the question was raised as to how our state can be improved - a very important question. We have, of course, first of all to acknowledge that our state needs improvement. The Spirit would help us; we are not to be over-occupied with the low state but rather with how it can be improved.

I would like to speak about the "good part". We can be in the midst of a low state, crying to the Lord for help, and that is good for us, but there is another way. We can be feeling conditions and cry to the Lord about them, but the other way is, we can be with the Lord viewing the conditions; that is where the Lord would have us be. We are often concerned as to whether the Lord is with us, and I suppose many companies of believers think the Lord is with them, or try to believe the Lord is with them. What is far more important is that we should be exercised to be with the Lord; He will not put obstacles in our way if we are really desirous of being with Him and viewing things as He views them. It is open to every one of us.

I begin with this homely incident in Martha's house. "He entered into a certain village; and a certain woman, Martha by name, received him into her house". This was a house open to receive the Lord. Martha was a good sister, she loved the Lord, opened her house to receive Him. It says she "received him into her house". We have had recent ministry on reception. She received him into her house. "And she had a sister called Mary". Luke has his own way of writing. He tells us that there was a manger available for the Babe Jesus before he tells us that there was no room in the inn. He tells us in chapter 7 what that woman did before he tells us what Simon the Pharisee did not do. He tells us here what Mary did before he tells us about Martha being distracted with much serving; and that is what the Lord would bring before us at this time, that we might be like Mary. The Lord says "Mary has chosen the good part". She chose this way; it was not laid upon her. I do not think many of us choose this way. Most of us are like Martha, let us accept it. But Luke says "she had a sister called Mary, who also, having sat down at the feet of Jesus was listening to his word". She was with the Lord, listening to Him. I wonder what we know of this. I trust we desire to know more of the good part that Mary chose. Luke tells us what Mary did, Mary's attitude, and says that Martha was distracted. Distracted from what? Distracted from the good part that Mary chose. I am afraid many of us become distracted. Martha had a sense of responsibility; it was her house. It is good to have a sense of responsibility, but Martha in her keen sense of responsibility was saying for herself, I must do something, I must be active. Did it help the situation? She was distracted. Dear brethren, there is a better way, there is another way, and that is the good part that Mary chose. I am afraid we often act as distracted from the good part that the Lord would have us fill, to be listening to Him, to take our directions from Him. What has He in mind for us in our localities, the enjoyment of eternal life? Maybe I can spoil that by my own sense of responsibility and feeling that I have to do something, have to be active. We think, what can we do? What can we organise to do something. That is not the way. Martha was distracted with much serving. It was her house; she felt, I have to do something, I take on this responsibility, what can I do? But she was distracted from the good part that Mary chose. "Martha was distracted with much serving, and coming up she said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Speak to her therefore that she may help me". She would have Mary with her in her activity which resulted from her being distracted. She complained about Mary because she was not helping her in what she thought she ought to be doing. Mary was with the Lord, listening to Him, seeing things as He saw them, looking down on the situation. Martha was in the midst of the situation, wondering what she could do next to help things, as she thought. "But Jesus answering said to her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things". Mary was with the Lord, listening to His mind. You might say she was doing nothing. Sometimes, dear brethren, the less we do the better. She was doing the most important thing of all, she was listening to His word. "Thou art careful and troubled about many things; but there is need of one". I would like to say it to my brethren in this area: "there is need of one", the good part that Mary chose. "There is need of one, and Mary has chosen the good part the which shall not be taken from her". Mary chose it. Most of us are like Martha, let us face it; we think in terms of: What can we do? we will have to do something. There is another way, there is the good part which the Lord commends, and Mary chose that good part. I am sure of this: not many of us choose it but the Lord said "the which shall not be taken from her”.

But in Matthew 11 the Lord invites us. "Come to me" He says. The Lord would invite every one of us to come to Him, "all ye who labour and are burdened" Martha laboured and was burdened. It is good to labour and be burdened, but not as being distracted from the good part. Who laboured like Jesus? He mentions the cities in which most of His works of power had taken place. Think of His labours in Bethsaida and Capernaum, His labours in Galilee! He said 'woe!' to these cities. It is interesting to realise that before He pronounced woe on these cities He had called out a number from them. That is what He is doing today, the Lord is calling out individuals. Woe to this world! It is about to come into judgment, but the Lord is calling out persons today. Did not Andrew and Peter and Philip all come from Bethsaida? Think of that centurion in Capernaum concerning whom the Lord said "Not even in Israel have I found so great faith", Luke 7: 9. The Lord secured individuals, and then pronounces woe to these cities in which His works of power had taken place because they had not repented, where there was lack of results. The Lord said prophetically "I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought and in vain", Isa 49: 4. Was He discouraged? Was He disappointed? He was not. He was with His Father, looking down on the situation; He was not in the midst of these cities, looking up to God. "At that time, Jesus answering said, I praise thee, Father, Lord of the heaven and of the earth". In Luke's account of this it says "Jesus rejoiced in spirit", chap 10: 21. He was not in the midst of these cities, looking up to God; He was with God, looking down on these cities. Oh, we need this, dear brethren. If there is one thing we need to improve our state, this is needed. "I praise thee, Father, Lord of the heaven and of the earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to babes". He was with His Father, having His Father's view of the whole situation, in communion with His Father, seeing things as He saw them. He was able to praise His Father in this situation. "Yea, Father", He says, "for thus has it been well-pleasing in thy sight. All things have been delivered to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son but the Father". We could say something about these things if we were able, but what I want to come to is "Come to me, all ye who labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest". Are there exercises involving labour, are things burdening you, dear brother or sister? The Lord says "Come to me". He does not say, Look to me; He does not say, Pray to me; He says "Come to me", that is, to be with Him where He is, to see things as He sees them, to feel about things as He feels them. "Come to me, all ye who labour and are burdened".

Maybe there are some persons here who labour and are burdened because of conditions. Maybe some sisters, some widows living alone, are feeling the state and are looking up to the Lord and crying to Him. The Lord will hear you, but there is another way and that is to be with Him, having His view of the situation. "Come to me, all ye who labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest". The Lord Jesus was restful in this situation, although His works of power had not had the effect they ought to have had. He was restful with His Father viewing it all. We can be obsessed with difficulties but this is the answer: "Come to me, all ye who labour and are burdened, and I" - "I" He says - "will give you rest". "I", who found rest with His Father in this situation in this chapter, "I will give you rest" in whatever situation you find yourself. Mary chose the good part. Maybe we have not chosen the good part, but the good part is open to us; the Lord invites us: "Come to me". "Come to me"; not, as I said, Pray to Me, or Cry to Me, which in itself is all right. "Come to me... and I will give you rest". In verse 28 rest is to be known immediately: "Come to me, all ye who labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest". That is the way to restfulness of spirit in spite of what conditions are. The longer-term view is "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me... and ye shall find rest to your souls". Finding rest may be a more settled experience as a result of answering to what the Lord says: "Take my yoke upon you". What was His yoke? His yoke was committal to the will of His Father who is in the heavens; that was His yoke and the Lord would welcome us to be in the same yoke: "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me". Then He says "for I am meek and lowly in heart". Where do we learn lowliness, dear brethren? It is so difficult for us to be lowly, so easy for us to be otherwise. We learn it as coming to Him: "learn from me". The Lord has been spoken of here as a great model for us; we learn from Him! "And ye shall find rest to your souls; for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light". The Lord will not put upon us any burden we are not able to bear even if we may feel burdened, heavily burdened; "my yoke is easy", He said. It is easy if we in our measure are committed to the will of His Father who is in the heavens as He was. "My yoke is easy, and my burden is light". The Lord invites us: "Come to me"; come to His side, be with Him in how He views every matter, and then if we do anything or say anything, if we write anything from this viewpoint it will help the situation. We have valuable letters of those who have gone before us which were no doubt written from this viewpoint; I do not know if that can be said of all that we write. "My yoke" is service under His control. The Spirit will help us to fulfil committal to the will of His Father who is in the heavens. May the Lord help us in these things.

In the gospel of John, chapter 12, the Lord is nearing the end of His life here. He said "The hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified". What was the way taken that the Son of man should be glorified? "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, it abides alone; but if it die, it bears much fruit". This is the way in which the Son of man was glorified; in His death; and the result of the death of the Lord Jesus in this character is that there is fruit like Himself, after its own kind. We were speaking earlier about going down; we see it in the Lord Himself. It is not so much the suffering side stressed here, nor the atoning work; it is the attitude of the Son of man, falling into the ground, dying. It refers to His death; would it refer to His burial? "Except the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, it abides alone; but if it die, it bears much fruit". It bears fruit like itself, fruit like the grain of wheat that fell into the ground and died. Therefore the Lord says immediately, "He that loves his life shall lose it, and he that hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal". If there is to be fruit according to the character of the grain of wheat, how is it arrived at? It is not arrived at without moral exercises on the part of those who are to be the fruit. "He that loves his life shall lose it". It is very striking how the Lord immediately says this after verse 24. Some difficulties among us are caused because we love our lives, love ourselves, love our own ideas, love our own activities. "He that loves his life shall lose it and he that hates his life in this world" - very strong language! - "he that hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal". What is in view? That there should be fruit according to the character of the grain of wheat that fell into the ground and died. What does it involve with us? Moral exercises, hating of self, detesting anything that promotes self. Do I detest anything that promotes self at the expense of the promotion of Christ? "He that loves his life shall lose it, and he that hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal". Life eternal is reached through the conclusion of moral exercises. These are real exercises which we have to face. It is true discipleship, true committal to our Lord Jesus Christ and His will, His yoke. "He that hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal". Then He says "If anyone serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there also shall be my servant". Oh, what a prospect! What an objective to have before us, to be with Him! The Lord does not say, Where My servant is, there will I be; He says "where I am, there also shall be my servant". It was true of Mary in Luke 10; where He was Mary was. Martha was distracted. I need not go over that again but these are the facts. Mary was with Him where He was. "Come to me, all ye who labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest". It means that we are to be with Him where He is. "Where I am, there also shall be my servant". That is open to every one of us as we face the moral exercises of verse 25 and follow Him. “If anyone serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there also shall be my servant". The Lord was the perfect Servant; "there also shall be my servant". That is fruit, fruit after the character of the grain of wheat. Then the Lord adds "And if any one serve me, him shall the Father honour". Oh, how blessed to be honoured by the Father! The Lord was honoured by the Father distinctively, but the true fruit of the death of the Lord Jesus is to be honoured by the Father: "him shall the Father honour". It is not honour in this world; it is not even honour among the brethren. I have been impressed with Paul's last days. You would have thought that a servant like Paul would have been greatly honoured among the brethren. What a servant he was! How devoted he was! Localities owed their existence to Paul, under the Lord of course. At the end of his days it does not seem that he had much honour among persons in Asia. Onesiphorus had to seek him out; but oh, the Father honoured him. The Father's honours, dear brethren, are worth far more than any place we may have among the brethren; that will pass away.

In chapter 13 - these are well-known scriptures - we have John in the bosom of Jesus. I suppose only one could have been in the position that John was in, in the physical setting of that table. I suppose they were lying at table, and John was lying in the bosom of Jesus. Oh, how John would appreciate that position! But, you know dear brethren, the bosom of Jesus is open to every one of us, each of us can know what it is to be in the bosom of Jesus. I do not know if we know very much about it. I do not know if I know very much about it, but at least it ought to be attractive to us. It is a setting of love, a setting of enjoyed, experienced love, in the bosom of Jesus. "Now there was at table one of his disciples in the bosom of Jesus, whom Jesus loved". This is the first reference in this gospel to the disciple whom Jesus loved. He speaks of himself later in this way, but I think I am right in saying that this is the first reference to it. He knew Jesus' love by lying in His bosom. That was his experience and John was in a secret that no one else had. Everyone else said "Is it I?" (Matt 26: 22; Mark 14: 19) according to other gospels, but John said "who is it?" Jesus and he shared a divine secret no one else knew about. This kind of thing is open to us, to be in the confidence of our Lord Jesus Christ. Is anything more desirable? This was John's position. He was with Jesus, in the bosom of Jesus, looking round on the situation, just as Jesus was. Then it says "leaning on the breast of Jesus, says to him, Lord, who is it?" and the Lord indicates who it is, and John and the Lord Jesus shared this secret. We can be in the secret of things. Only John was here, but it is open to all of us to be with the Lord, looking down on whatever situation may occur, and if we are in that setting, if we are maintained in that setting, whatever we do, whatever we say will help conditions, it will improve any situation, it will improve the state of things among us. May the Lord help us for His Name's sake.

 

LONDON

19 November 1983