In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of laying down our fears, resistance, and failures before God. He encourages listeners to turn to Jesus and receive his life-giving word, regardless of their past failures. The preacher highlights the need for a heart transformation rather than relying solely on performance. He also discusses the story of Mary and Martha from Luke 10, emphasizing the importance of responding to the truth when Jesus shows himself to us.

This message is one of the Times Square Church Pulpit Series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. You are welcome to make additional cassettes of this message for free distribution to friends. However, for all other forms of reproduction or electronic transmission, existing copyright laws apply. He never left this place. He has not left you. This place is like a cup of cold water. I'm going to come back in to his presence and see you all. Thank you so much for praying for us. I can truly say, Professor Carter and I, we did have a deep rest. We had a wonderful rest. And I feel such a peace in my spirit. I feel that Jesus Christ is so on the throne. And I feel him in my spirit, deep down inside of me. And I know there's so many of you here that every day is that growing realization. Every time we bend our knee, he is King. And he is ruling and he is reigning. And he's taking us through all the places we need to go so that he can prove himself faithful to us. He's a God that doesn't keep count of our mistakes and our failings. He's a God that says, I am with you and I will never leave you and I will never forsake you. Hallelujah. And the days to come, those that know that down in their spirit and rely on him and draw on his life to be our life, we're going to make a difference. We are going to make a difference. And all hell is astounded that you and I are going to make a difference. And all heaven is going to be astounded. But I thank God that when they look at Christ in his glory and his splendor, they see all things are possible. And they're encouraging us, press into him, keep looking at him because all things are possible with this God that we serve. And so I'm just excited in my spirit. I've had a good rest, but it's so wonderful to be home. We went to Canada, the land of our birth, but we're home. We're back home. And, you know, so many times we do pray for you and I have prayed for you. And I thank you for praying for us. And I look forward to the fall and I look forward to Jesus riding triumphantly before us and doing miracles in us and through us. And I feel that's the kind of era that that time, that hour that we live in. And so I'm just so good to see you guys. I'm glad to see we have a lower pulpit. We've got a new pulpit. That's great. And the message I have today is very simple. It's a very simple word. But I would like with you, if you would turn with me to Luke 10, Luke 10. I want to talk about some very dear friends of mine in the Bible. And my message this afternoon is called When Jesus Shows Himself, When Jesus Shows Himself. Would you pray with me? Father, I praise you today. I thank you for the privilege, Lord, to lift you up. Holy Spirit, that you've been sent to reveal our Jesus. You've been sent, Lord, to reveal Him in a way that we need Him and to see Him and to know Him in an ever deeper way. Lord, I just declare today that I have nothing except what you give. So, Lord, I just give myself now to you, Holy Spirit. And I ask that you come and you would teach this. You would bring forth your truth, Lord. Let them be shining truths that get worked into us. Lord, we give you the praise and glory, what you're going to do in our midst. We praise you for lifting Him up. And, Lord, we praise you for the release and the deliverance you're going to bring among your people. For that's our bread because we are your children. And, Lord, we give you all the praise and all the glory for it. In Jesus' precious name. Amen and amen. Luke 10 and starting at verse 38. And I want to talk about Mary and Martha today. You know, if you've been saved for any length of time, we're all very familiar with this story about Jesus going to visit the home of Mary and Martha and Lazarus. But even though it's a very familiar story, I believe that the Lord is going to show us every time we come to something that He has written by His Spirit. It's like a well. There is a depth and a layer and a refreshing to it. And we can go deeper and deeper into it. And even though it's a simple word, and even though we may have heard about them many times, there's still something new. And in verse 38, it says, 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 I love the way that this starts because it talks about a certain village and a certain woman. This is saying that God has these people hand-picked for a reason. That God made a very specific choice because He uses that word repeatedly. Certain. There was a certain woman. There is a certain house. There is a certain household. And I'm moving into that house and I'm moving into these hearts. And my presence in their life is for a purpose. And now He's sharing for all the generations to follow them, to look into their lives and their hearts and their home. Because Jesus hand-picked them for a reason. God knows our name. God knows where we live. God knows what we're facing. We are that certain people to Him. We are that certain woman. And I like the way it says that there was a woman named Martha. She was named Martha. And Bible, many of you know that that root word, Martha, is from the root word marrow, which means bitter and angry, vexed. It also means, in its most literal translation, it means trickle. And now here's this woman and she has a name. And she's been named and many times that's a little window. God's saying, this is the personality I'm dealing with. And this is a person, I've come into her house. She's received me. She's being hospitable. She wants to honor me and she wants to be, she's invited me in. But her name is Martha. And she's got a trickle of life. She's got a trickle of understanding. And the life in her is shut down to a trickle. And what I'm trying to say to her and what I want to do in her and through her, she's almost shut off to it. Her name is trickle. And it says she received him into her house. And I love just a few simple words. But this speaks to me of a lady very much inviting Jesus into her world. Very much coming into a place that she's the boss. She issued the invitation. But he came. And then it says that she had a sister, verse 39, called Mary. Which also sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word. Now here's a sister called Mary. And Mary is from the same root word as Martha. And it also means bitter. But it's more on the sad side, the root word of that name, Mary. Sad and bitter. And here's these women sharing very similar circumstances. Here is these women. But one is named Martha and one is called. And when you look at that word called, it means chosen out and separate for a purpose. And there's such a picture of the church. There's such a picture of the choices that you and I absolutely have. Of what our life is going to be like when Jesus gets invited to the home. And here's this lady called Mary. She's been called out. She's been separated. And even though her circumstances are not the best. You and I know from a simple biblical study that women in those days without husband, without family, did not share the same prestige, did not share the same respect as married women. The longing for family, the longing for children would be as strong in them as it is for most women. And yet the scripture tells us it was two sisters and a brother that lived together. And their circumstances and what went on in the depth of their heart, the sorrows there, the disappointments there, they shared. These women faced the same disappointments and the same heartache and the same heaviness. But one's going to be named and one's going to be called. And Jesus says in the middle of that circumstance you have a choice. Do you want to be called out and into something? Or do you want that to be the name you label for the rest of your life even though in spite of, I've been invited into your home. Now Jesus chose them. And the scripture tells us clearly that Jesus loved them. In John 11 he says, Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. And that's why he enters our lives. Because he loves us. And it says in verse 39 that Mary which also sat at Jesus' feet. Also sat. My first question was did Martha sit at his feet? It said Mary sat also. So did Martha sit there? When Jesus came into the home was there a time that Jesus came, they offered him the courtesy, they welcomed him, they sat down and they sat with him. And did both these women sat there? But I love as the scripture so clearly says that Mary heard him. And so it says that we can sit at his feet and not hear him. We sit at his feet, we sit at his presence, we invite him into our lives. And beloved it's such a picture of the choice we have to make. Now in this scripture, in this parable it's not talking about times that we come into his presence and we're distracted, we have a hard time being focused, there's many things pressing in on our mind. This is talking now about a root that is in these women. The presence of Christ is a light and it's coming down and through this story he's shining right into their heart, right into their minds, right into the center of their being. And they have different reactions. And I believe that Martha sat there too but she never heard anything. But the scripture says that Mary heard him. And that means that his words that he spoke had meaning to her. They had meaning to her. She understood what he was saying. And when she began to understand what he was saying, she was getting a new perspective on things. She was being lifted out and lifted up of circumstances and a hard attitude. And a mind and a spirit that were locked sometimes down into hard places. And she was being lifted up and she was seeing things. Because she heard him. And when we begin to get an understanding, we get a desire for truth. Because we're beginning to feel the benefit of truth, we're beginning, if we respond to it, to be set free. And here is this woman and she's hearing him. And I started to think, Lord, here's a lady, what's she hearing? And a scripture came immediately to mind. And it said that she was learning of me. Not learning about me but learning of me. And I thought of that scripture that says, Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. And you shall find rest for your souls. Because my yoke is easy and my burden is light. And you know, we will never hear that. And we would never know the truth of that except we heard it from God Almighty himself. Because as human beings we get so laden down and we get so heavy that in our spirit and the messages we get from the world and the devil, what they do, they operate ultimately to shut us down. To keep us under. To not let us know there is a greater truth and a higher reality that humans were created for. That God put his very breath into humanity for a purpose. And we would never think these thoughts and we would never know that God says unto me, come unto me ye who labor and heavy laden, because I'm going to give you rest. He says if you learn of me, not learn about me, but you learn of me. You learn who I am and then you begin to say God I want to be like that. I want to be like you. He says you're going to find a rest in that prayer. You're going to find a release in that heart attitude. I'm going to bring you into something and teach you things that you never could have learned outside of that prayer or that truth. Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. You will find me, Jesus says, meek and lonely in heart. That means when we failed him, he won't turn us away. That means when we forgot him for days on end, he doesn't keep score and say that's it, you've crossed a line. He's meek and lowly in heart. That means that in spite of knowing who we are, he does not despise us or despise our struggles. It means that when we play the fool, it means when we act so proud, it means when we get deceived in our thinking and warped in our thinking, he says I'm going to still reach out. I'm going to extend my hand and whosoever will will grasp when they get a ray of light, if they will reach back, I'm there because I'm meek and I'm lonely in heart. And he's saying now I'm going to give you a key if you want to find rest for your souls, if you want to learn how to live above your circumstance, if we want to go out on these streets and we want to have another spirit upon us with a different understanding, he says you're going to be meek and lowly of heart too. But I'm going to teach it to you. He says there's another kind of life I have for you, I've prepared for you. He says I'm going to lift you out of your own sadness and bitterness and narrowness and meanness. And he says learn of me, I am meek and lowly in heart. When he says that the Lord was beginning to minister to me, he says, Teresa, if you'll follow me down this path of learning of me, that I, God Almighty, that I, Jesus Christ, creator of heaven and earth, have decided for this period, this dispensation, I'm going to be revealed as meek and lowly, not a conquering king, but to those that start to seek truth and start to seek me, they're going to find me meek, that's power with restraint. When I could crush you, I won't. When I could keep a list, I don't. When I could turn away from you, I don't. I'm meek and lowly in heart. He said I'm going to give you a key that when you go down before me asking for that kind of heart, I'm going to lift you up. The humble shall bow before me and then I'm going to lift them up because the humble hearted before me are the ones that know me, are the ones that find rest, are the ones that have a peace and a joy. He says there is a peace and a joy and a rest for your souls you don't find any other way except when you learn of me. When you learn of me that I'm meek and humble. You know, the humble are the most powerful in God's kingdom. They're the most powerful because there is a deep understanding that God can still use us. You see, we get a true picture of us in our humility of ourselves. But then we get an unclouded picture of God and we begin to see that if we've asked Jesus into our heart, the absolute miracle of blessed is he whose sin is forgiven, whose iniquity is not imputed to them. The absolute realization of that begins to flood us and we begin to see that it's my privilege to walk cleansed and forgiven. And when we have to keep availing ourselves of that, confessing a sin, knowing that we are forgiven and asking for the power to turn away from it because we are forgiven. Because every day we have a new beginning and every day we have a new hope because God said it. He said, that's the way I'm going to operate. And he said, you will never reap the benefit of it to your humble and heart till we keep admitting who we are. And then he said, but they get the eyes of faith that a mighty God uses flawed people but keep pressing into me. Because in spite of getting a real revelation of who we are, if we keep crying out, God, I want to learn of you to be meek and humble in heart. He says, you get powerful. Because with that kind of revelation of who we are, we get a faith to learn to look away from ourselves and keep focused on Christ. And beloved, I have found that humility is the cure for so many troubles. You know, humility goes to the root of things. Humility goes to the root of things. That's why it brings a rest. Things really happen. You know, and when we get to the bottom of things, when God begins to have to say things to us and we agree with him, when he begins to show us how things really are and what's really in our mind and our heart, we really begin to deal with that because we've got a humble heart saying, God, whatever you have to speak, you give me the grace to hear. And you give me the grace to change. Not my strength, but yours. And beloved, then, with that understanding, the strength he gives us starts to get reserved for the real battle. We're not frittering away our strength on a sidetrack issue. For example, if we begin to say, Jesus, I want to learn of you meek and humble in heart, we're not going to get drawn into the ego battle. We're not going to get sidetracked by the wounded pride battle. We're not going to get the poor, what about me, trap one more time around our leg and spirit. Because when we're humble in heart, we don't get sidetracked about those issues. When the wounded pride and the ego issue and all that come and go, Lord, I thank you, your light surfacing what's happening in my heart. And we begin to say, Lord, these feelings, if we choose, get resolved, get forgiven, we get cleansed. When we experience the forgiveness and love of Jesus Christ for us at that moment. And we move on. And we look away from ourselves. And then, in this incredible place, our strength gets reserved for the real battle. We're not frittering it away on our own little petty battles. God says, look, I'm going to deal, I'll deal with your heart, I'll give you the strength to turn away. And a freedom comes into our spirit. We're not chained to ourselves anymore. We say, God, I'm going to lay that down. That ego, that pride thing, that thing, I'm going to lay it down. God, you're going to look after me. God, you're going to take care of the pain of my heart right now. And I'm going to look to you. And we get free. We don't get sidetracked. And Jesus says, learn of me. Because He says, those that will learn of me, He says, I'm going to manifest myself to them. He says, I'm going to reveal myself and make myself known to them. And beloved, in John 14, 21, it says clearly, if a person desires to love me and wants to do the things my way, He says, I will manifest myself. I will show myself. I will make myself known to that one. And then one of His disciples, Judas Not Ascariot, says to Him, Lord, how is it that You will show Yourself to us and You're not going to show Yourself to the world or the worldly? Lord, if I hear You right, You're saying that there are those that desire to love You and do it Your way, the humble in heart, and You say, You're going to show Yourself to them. But He says, the world, they're not going to know a thing about You. The world, they're not going to understand the secrets that You have laid out that You want to reveal. Those that are walking high-minded or those that say they know You, they're going to be shot out of a reality that's powerful, that sets us free, that gives us a testimony in the world, that we're not chained to ourselves anymore and we start to have a desire, Lord, to walk in this world to please You. It doesn't matter what You've called me to do or where I am. God, You're giving me a heart to please You in all things and I'm being transformed. And that's the testimony of the body of Christ. And beloved, that's the children's bread. He says, I'm going to reveal Myself to you. I'm going to make Myself known to those that say, Lord, I have a desire to love You and walk Your way. He says, I'm going to manifest Myself to those. And those that have no revelation and can't tell you something fresh about Jesus Christ, God says, no, that's My sign of a worldly heart. That's My sign that someone belongs to the world. There's no fresh revelation about Me. They can't tell you one thing new. They can tell you rote. They can tell you the phrases. They can tell you the standard fare. But when it comes to sharing something that's burning in their spirit to light the spirits of those around them, they cannot. He says, because I manifest Myself to those that want to love Me and do it My way. And He says, if there's no fresh revelation, if there's not something new, if there's not something that lights your spirit, if there's not something that you can't share with someone, and it is light and it is warm, He says, that's My plumb line. There's something worldly going on there. And Jesus does that because He's making a separation. Beloved, I want to tell you today, there is a season for every Christian where we're called to live next door to Heaven. There is a season in every Christian's life that we climb the mountain with Christ and we get a new view. We get a new view of our life and we get a new view of what He does for us. We get a new view of the families around us. We get a new view of the heart He's given us. There's got to be a time in every Christian's life that the joy and the peace that Christ brings passes understanding and He takes us to a place we've never been before. And we know in our knower that God is real. And we know that He loves us and we know we are forgiven. And we know that the release that comes and the comfort that comes is real and no man takes it from us. Hard times can't separate us from us and those that come against us cannot rob us of this knowledge when He has taken us to the mountain. He's revealed Himself there. And we're called to live next door to heaven for seasons in our life. Now, beloved, if you've never experienced that, I'm not condemning you. But I say that if you belong to Jesus Christ, that's the children's bread. That's your right and that's my right. That's my privilege. And if there are times that we don't know that abandonment and that times we say, Lord, I need You to show me now. I need You to bring me there. I need something sealed in my spirit where You're God without a doubt and You love me and You brought me to a place that the world can't touch and the devil can't lie it away from me. It's a place many times, beloved, the Christians that find themselves there living next door to heaven for a season in their life. They're the people who have been much in duty and much suffering. They find themselves there. There are people who find themselves there. They've been much downcast. They've been much bewildered. There are times they don't understand what's going on and Jesus Christ reveals Himself in an instant. And the comfort He brings is so powerful and so deep. You say, Lord, I'd go all through that suffering seven times over to have You reveal Yourself like that to me again because He's worth it. Beloved, have you ever known that? Have you ever been allowed to be brought to the place where there seems to be no hope and all you can see is the end of the world and Christ comes up on your horizon and suddenly everything is made new and you live in the heavenlies with Christ? Beloved, we're called for a season to live next door to heaven. And the humble-hearted know what pure religion means. And that's it. That Jesus Christ is real. And that He loves us. He walks with us. And He's making us new. Now, beloved, I believe that Mary's sitting at His feet by the creative word that Jesus Christ was speaking and piercing her darkness and piercing her confusion and giving her hope in a place where she has never felt hope before, where she has felt love, where she's never been loved before and all of a sudden she wants to live the life He's offering and she's sitting there and she's experiencing this word. He's manifesting Himself through His word to her and all of a sudden her sister Martha comes crashing in on the scene. And Martha comes in and she's sidetracked and she's bitter and she's resentful and she's accusing and she's out of touch with what Jesus is saying and she's untouched because she's out of touch. And she's left His feet and she's gone to that busy religious kitchen and the Scripture says in verse 40 that, but Martha was encumbered about much serving and came to Him and said, Lord, does thou not care that my sister have left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me. And this woman comes in and the Scripture says cumbered about. That means to drag around. Encumbered about means to drag around. And this woman comes into this room and she is full of anger and resentment and accusing. And she's had it because in her mind she's the only one doing anything. And she's come in now totally oblivious to reality. Totally oblivious to this Jesus that she's invited into her home. Totally shut out to the life He is offering and what He is doing. Except it moves her to envy, I believe, seeing the look on her sister's face and still sitting there. And she's shut out. And she comes in and she's accusing and she's dragging around every sorrowful thing, every injustice, everything that's ever been done to her at that moment. Because I'll tell you something, when Jesus Christ is in your home, there are no halfway things. His very presence in our home drives things up that we're shocked at. Because we are His, He doesn't deal in halfway measures. And His very presence, He is absolute truth and He is absolute light. And in His presence is this kind of light that drives everything up. You know, I believe she went back in the kitchen absolutely shocked. Saying, Lord, don't you care? Tell her to come to me. Tell her to come back to me. Tell her to get up and help me. Lord, acknowledge that I'm alone out there doing something for You. And where is everybody else? Tell her to come back. I'll tell you something, one thing I do know about my Jesus, those that come to Him, He never sends them back there. He delivers them from that mindset. He delivers them from that kind of busy, empty religion that leaves us accusatory, bittered in our soul. He delivers us from that. She never went back. He would never send her there. Now Jesus knows that Martha has not heard a word, but He loves her. He loves her. And so Jesus gives her a very direct word. Jesus gives her a word that is going to sift her, if she can hear Him. Jesus is going to liberate her, that's His desire, with an answer to her that will sift right through her confusion and her anger and her resentment and that trickling little bit of life in her. He's reaching out a hand with His word. He wants to reveal something to her if she can hear Him. And so He sends this word to her. And He says in verse 41, He says, Martha, Martha, you are careful and troubled about many things, but one thing is needful. One thing is needful. And Mary which has chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. Now if the Lord ever wanted to get a Martha's attention, He would say, one thing is needful. This is a woman that is consumed with doing. This is a doer. This is the type of personality that walks in the room and sees everything to be done. This is the kind of woman that has a job for everybody. And for Jesus to say to her, Mary, Mary, describe her to a T, you are troubled, you are anxious, you are dragging around your discontent and your anger. But one thing at this moment in your life is needful and it's not the pots. One thing is needful. And Mary has chosen it. Now beloved, I would have loved all my Christian life to know what that one thing needful was. I would like somebody when I was two months saved to get up and preach one thing needful and say, here it is, here's the one thing needful for your whole Christian walk. I would have loved that. So would you. But you see, the one thing needful is at that moment in our life when Jesus Christ, if he can even get a trickle of our attention and a trickle of our anxiousness and get a hold of us and he's going to say something that's going to speak right to the root, right to the problem, right to the contention, our lack of peace and our off course when we are off course because of it. What he has to say at that moment is the one thing needful. Because he does not speak in vain. And he sees that woman walking in a wrong direction. He sees that woman and he sees her beginning from the end. And in his great love he wants to turn her. And she's got an example before her. She's got a flesh and blood example of a sister that's moving into a life she doesn't have. But he speaks a word to her. And beloved, that's what he does to us today. He gives us flesh and blood examples but he speaks a word. You know one time there was a parable and a man went to hell and he said, oh let me go back and testify that there is a hell to my brothers who are still alive so they'll never come here. And Jesus says they have the prophets and they have Moses. They have a word. Let them hear that. What that man in hell knew that for so many when Jesus speaks they can hear and everything depends on their hearing and our hearing. And so Jesus says to her, one thing is needful. And that's the one phrase that would get her attention. That's the one thing that when she went to bed at night lying there going one thing is needful. One thing is needful. What is needful? What is needful? Why would he say that to you? What is one thing needful? But you know beloved, when we go all through this woman's life, if she asks that question she never asked it long enough. She never considered it deep enough. She never took those words and laid it to heart. She never said, Jesus what are you saying to me? Why didn't you answer me? Why didn't you answer my question? Why didn't you send Mary back into the kitchen? Why all of a sudden is it my problem here when all I'm trying to do Jesus is serve you? Why all of a sudden is the spotlight on me and you tell me one thing is needful? And Jesus was saying to her partly, he was saying many things but I think one thing he was saying to her is all your service to me Mary is rooted in yourself. You can't hear what I'm saying. You don't know what I'm trying to reveal to you. The mysteries and the glories and unspeakable things that will never be thought of by a human mind. I'm trying to give you a vision and I'm trying to give you a perspective that humanity cannot have apart from me and it is only given to me to those that say Jesus I desire to love you and I want to follow you. And Martha though you have all the words and you have the testimony you are not following me. Your service is your own. You've manufactured it. You've designed it. You like what you do. You get to direct it. You get to choose the time and place You get to stay in charge. I don't ever have to speak to you about something fearful about something that may move you out of your comfort zone of laying something down that I may give you my life. Nope. Service your way. And it's bearing the bitter fruit of the religious self-directed life self-directed service. I'm not showing myself to you Martha. You don't have any secrets. You don't know what I'm trying to say. You're deaf. And beloved if we can hear Him if we can hear Him we're going to hear Him say that true service is not what you do for me but true service is who am I to you? Who am I to you? Will you lay down all your ideas and your preconceived ideas of what it is to follow me and to serve me? Lay down your fears. Lay down your resistance. Lay down your failures. And let me speak a word into you. Jesus is saying to His body I know how many times you've failed me but He says I'm still speaking life to you. I'm saying if you will turn to me He said what you've known is repeated failure I will turn it about because I am God. Your service to me is rooted by turning to me because I'm going to speak a life-giving word if you can hear it yes, even to you and yes, even to me. But we can't hear those thoughts apart from His Spirit. And many times our whole idea of service is locked into our performance. And when we have performed we think He's well pleased. Beloved, it's about the heart. We can perform and be so far from Him. What do we do when truth comes to us? What do we do when truth visits us? Are we going to be Mary or are we going to be Martha? When God begins to say something in the midst of our confusion our pain and we don't understand or in the midst of our apathy in the midst of the battle for our spiritual life and the great temptation to give up that it's proved to be just one unending battle and it just looks so easy just to loosen up and I'll say Jesus, I love you with the best of them and I'll go to service and I will give lip service to prayer but God knows and you know that there's a slipping away. What do we do when truth comes? You know the Scripture says that we can do nothing against the truth. That when Jesus speaks we've got to do something about it. Jesus says in His Word we can do nothing against the truth. We can do nothing against it. Nothing can come against truth once spoken. We can't hurt it. We can't harm it. We can't change it. We can't erase it. It will remain and it will follow us to the judgment. And Mary embraced it and heard what He had to say. But beloved many, many people who say Jesus, I love you are going to fall into an end time trap. Are going to decide after Jesus comes into the house and into the home that they prefer the Martha service. You know Martha stood before Jesus and said Lord, I know at Lazarus' tomb Lord, I know that You are the Son of God. I know that You're this and I know that You're that. She had a testimony. But when Jesus said to her if you believe you will see the glory of God. He said, I am the resurrection and the life. And He that comes to me though He were dead yet shall He live. Do you believe this? Oh yes Lord, I believe that You are the Son of God. She didn't hear Him. He asked her a direct question. Martha, you're trickling. Your spiritual life is dwindling. You've tried and tried in your own flesh for your service but I even though a man were dead yet can He live if He'll turn to me because I am resurrection and I am life. Do you believe that Martha? You know the Pharisees once came to Jesus and they are the epitome of the end time battle for the church. They are the epitome of a Martha service that says God how I understand service to be and what I want to do for you and I understand spiritual truth all the while getting more and more shut out of the reality of Christ and the power of Christ and the glory of Christ is typified when this Martha spirit was typified when the Pharisees came to Jesus one time and they said to Him they were religious people not interested in truth. That's what a Pharisee is. Religious people not interested in truth. And they didn't want to be honest with Jesus because they weren't interested in truth. And they came to Him to ask Him a question and even though they would never be honest with Him He saw their hearts but they would never speak the truth but they demanded that He be honest with them. Now that is a religious heart. That's a heart that says God, you know I can put up a blind, a shield, a mask on my heart and spirit but God just answer me this will you How come? But if we're living in silence concerning spiritual things, beloved we may be on a wrong path. And the Pharisees came to Him and they said to Jesus they said by what authority do you do these things you're preaching and who gives you that authority? And Jesus knowing that they you know if He gave them the right answer they'd still be unmoved. If they really wanted to know the answer that He would have given them that answer. But they weren't concerned by whose authority and who told you you can preach in the temple. And so they weren't interested in truth but also Jesus knowing them says wait I have a question to ask you. The baptism of John was it from men or from heaven? And they mulled it over and they said you know if we answer this He's got us there and if we answer this then we're caught here and they thought it over thought it over and realized somehow uncannily one more time He had done it again He turned the tables and they were left speechless. So they came to Him and they said we don't know we can't say. Jesus said to them neither do I give you an answer because when I speak truth He says it's a plumb line and you can't see it Pharisees but this man John's ministry was a plumb line and it was a separating ministry and those that could hear Him He was preparing them to hear Me and the true believers could begin to recognize what He was saying and recognize His voice and it paved the way for them to hear Me and it was a separating ministry and that's what truth is and if we don't want truth Jesus is not going to answer our questions and if we don't want truth He's not going to explain to us the path that we're on He says I'm going to release you to a Martha's service and you're not going to I'm not going to reveal myself to you and that's got to be a sign He says that's going to be a sign and so at the end we see these two ladies one last time in John 12 we see them and this is now after Lazarus their brother had been raised from the dead we have to think about this you know when Lazarus died both Martha and Mary came to Jesus with questions and you know for a season even Mary was confused because you know Martha who seemed so confident and so reasonable many times that divided heart can sound so logical and even now Mary's beginning to take up a rite of glory if you'd been here my brother would not have died and we see now a place where Jesus there's so many questions but when Christ's presence when Mary comes to His presence she falls at His feet and it's like okay you know what because your presence is here it's enough and I don't even need the questions answered for this moment you're here and she falls to His feet and then you know the story how Jesus turns to the tomb Martha rebukes Him Lord He's been dead four days He's now a rotting corpse Jesus speaks truth to her again and then He says Lazarus come forth and a man four days dead in a Mediterranean heat comes forth whole and they unwrap him alive and now John 12 shows us a Martha after Lazarus a believer who now in her home in her life a powerful resurrection has happened in her midst to one more family member beloved we have many people come into our midst and you're looking on your left as a Mary bursting into freedom and a Lazarus on your right broken into resurrection life and all things have become new but the Martha sits there and truth given week after week after week and beloved the truth the questions Jesus asks for our liberation He goes right to the core of the problem if we can hear Him the most precious thing we have is that we love truth our prayer needs to be today Lord in this hour of deception I want to be a believer Lord no matter what question whatever you are turning in the midst of my turmoil the question you're turning to me Lord I'm going to trust it goes right it's not off topic it goes right to the center of who I am and what my problems are it goes to the core it goes to what will liberate me if I can hear it Martha after Lazarus after a powerful testimony it tells us in John 12 that she served Jesus and when you look at that word served it means with the emphasis on the doing and not on the relationship and so she served and here she is all again once engrossed on doing the work on getting the work done as she sees fit as she sees what needs to be done there's a party here celebrating Lazarus and her whole life is becoming beside the point and her testimony to the world is lost and it's swallowed up and hidden by her so called service to Christ you know Jesus said Mary's chosen that good part that shall not be taken from her and the inference is Martha what you're going to give your life blood to what you're going to give your time to what you're going to give your life for is going to be taken from you it's not going to last what you've esteemed so highly and you worked so hard for and you put everything you had into it he says it's not going to last it's going to be taken from you and she is there serving with all her energies and directed at doing the task and not about the relationship between the Lord and the servant and beloved you know something it's so easy for the enemy to stop that kind of service so easy it's birthed in flesh carried out in the flesh all the enemy has to do is just begin to to intimate that that service is not appreciated or somebody is doing it better or you've got the lowly place a number of things in any heart that's not humble will fall for it's a kindergarten tactic but it's very effective and so many in the body of Christ get nullified and their service amount to nothing because they can't hear what Jesus is saying beloved is Jesus Christ giving you a fresh revelation of himself he says I'm going to manifest myself to those that love me and will follow my way beloved that's a promise to us that's a promise to us that's as good as the bank he says I'll do that he says I'll come in and I will sup with you I will have intimate you will know me in a reality like you've never known me before he says that's a promise I'm going to show you things about myself that nothing can be it can never be taken from you but who wants it I'm going to speak things to you puzzling that's going to go to the center of the problem of your confusion of the stronghold of the besetting sin of the reason why we're not moving forward with our eyes up ourselves and focused on Christ he says I'm going to speak to it and reveal it will you hear me because in the last days with a Martha church and a Pharisee church they're going to be full of good deeds but no revelation and no power to go on and fight the real battle fight the Lord's battle know the Lord's victory Jesus loved Martha he loves us and what he speaks to us beloved is precisely what we need to hear what he will show us we need to take time we need to say Lord you know Jesus doesn't speak in mega in those mini bites sometimes we have to meditate on his words sometimes we have to begin to think from the beginning when Jesus said to her there's only one thing needful Martha that was designed to make her think to stop in her tracks to turn around and say who is it that's speaking to me and what does he mean and beloved God was going to do that for us if we can hear him Jesus says I'll show myself to those that will learn of me who will be humble in heart and will agree when I speak who will seek me will not have nothing to hide and nothing to protect if I speak to them you'll say Lord whatever you show me whatever you manifest to me in your word and what you've been speaking to me for many here he's been speaking over and over the same thing but we've been afraid to approach it we're afraid what it means we're afraid of the failure we're afraid of so many things there's a deep resistance in us Jesus said I'm Lord of even that resistance I can take it down if you'll turn to me and say Lord I'll go your way you'll give me the courage and I'm going to know a victory that I've never known even though my past history has been in this particular time a complete failure I will not be turned from you because you're going to give me a revelation that's going to set me free that's going to break the power of hell off my life and my testimony Hallelujah Hallelujah Beloved we'll pray for the grace to hear what Jesus is saying will you stand with me Hallelujah Jesus will give us a sifting word so that when we stand to speak it'll be something so fresh and vital and will make a difference in us and those that hear us will we believe him for that kind of life that kind of word beloved there's some of you that have been resisting what God has been saying to you this altar is open for those there are those that are saying Lord I need to break through I need you to reveal yourself to me I need a revelation like that I need to live beside heaven's gates for a season I want that revelation of you that you are so powerful a revelation that can't be taken from me by the world of the flesh or the devil something that puts a radiance in me and a peace and a joy that comes in because I know you like that there's some of you that are saying Lord I need that touch I want to seek you to you give that to me will you come those beloved when Mary heard Jesus he was able to release her from her fears he was able to release her from everything that she'd been holding and trying to manage herself and keep to herself because while Martha served she took that alabaster jar broke it anointed the Lord her story still lives she had such an absence of fear she could come and give it all it symbolized an abandoning and a giving it all and there was such a joy and a peace because Jesus would never fail her it was going to be a God who would die for her and I believe she was one of the first to hear it that's why she anointed him what the disciples couldn't hear was made manifest revealed to her and she could give it all Jesus could touch anything and she gladly gave it all because she knew what she was giving was worthless compared to what she was getting and what a testimony and beloved that can be our testimony that can be our life that Lord you can touch anything in my life and Lord with it you give me the grace to give it and then I'm going to flow in a freedom and a release and a joy and a peace and it's going to astound everybody who knows me and those that meet me I believe that and I believe he's taking us to the shores of that place where we can just break it all open and give it all to him he understands the struggle and he understands the fear but he says I give you the power if you'll turn to me and you hear me and beloved those that have come and are troubled and anxious about many things Jesus said I'm going to give you a word that will liberate you I'm going to give you a word you can build your life on it release it all to me so that I may pour into you that I may bless you that I may give you more than you've ever had that the riches of heaven will never be denied you beloved that is the gospel of Jesus Christ and he understands why we're troubled and anxious but we make a determination Lord I'm going to have a choice you said Mary chose something Mary had an understanding heart she looked at me she looked at her fears and glory to God she said it is a greater than my fear is present here and she gave it to him and he never failed her and he filled her and she never lacked she was a radiant testimony speaking to us even to today beloved we've come many have come now with a Martha's care and anxiety but with the cry Lord I want to have Mary's abandon to you I'm going to hear you whatever you have to speak I'll hear it because in you is liberation and peace beloved those that want that today will you just raise your hands and you know for many of you what you are releasing for many it's the fear and the failure in certain areas that have been over and over that have been trying to rob you of your testimony and your faith and your confidence in God but God's saying because though you know repeated failure in a certain area means that I brought you to a desperation point where you're not trying to do your service in this you know you've got nothing and count on and when you give it to me I come in and I give you the power and he says keep turning to me keep turning to me keep turning to me I will not fail you I will change you I will break the stronghold beloved that's going to be our testimony that's going to be the testimony of the church that we're getting free in Jesus Christ that's the children's bread deliverance is the children's bread hallelujah now beloved he knows you don't need to say an audible prayer he knows your heart he sees it he knows the cry of your heart and now by an act of faith we're going to bring a sacrifice of faith and a sacrifice of praise a sacrifice of faith Lord I'm going to believe you for this and a sacrifice of praise that says God your word has created something in me Lord you are manifesting yourself you're being real to me at this minute my fear is not real you are real you're bigger than the fear you're bigger than the doubt you've created and revealed yourself to be a God to me to be God to me hallelujah the only God now beloved let's just praise him this is real this is real his deliverance is real his presence is real hallelujah his word is true Lord we praise you today Lord we come to you weak empty we come as failures so many times but you love us you love us you love us and you've forgiven us it's under the blood it is forgiven when we belong to you and Lord you're giving us a new beginning even this moment no matter how many times the devil has said you failed we say I have a new beginning in Christ and I turn to you for the power I turn to you for the strength I have a humility in my spirit that says I can't but says Lord you can and I'm going to see the devil under my heel because you Jesus are with me and I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me hallelujah beloved give him the praise give him the praise for he is worthy hallelujah thank you Jesus hallelujah I praise you I praise you my Jesus for a new beginning I praise you for the new beginning hallelujah in Christ hallelujah