ONE THING

 Marcus Peters

Midland SDA Church

April 6, 2013

Opening Remarks

Theme Text: Luke 10:38-40

Perspective on Life | Psalms 90:10-12

• Life is short
• Life is finite
• Unless Jesus comes in our lifetime we all have an expiration date
• Good for us to recognize our mortality
• We need to meditate on the brevity of life
• The Psalmist says we need to number our days:
• If you until 70 years age that comes to 25,550 days
• If you’re 20 years you have 18,250 days left
• If you’re 35 years you have 12,775 days left
• If you’re 50 years you have 7,300 days left
• James 4:14
• “For what is your life? It is even vapor, that appears for a little while and then vanishes away”

Sobering reality

• The average American graduates at 22 lives until 70* (a difference of 48 years)
• The adult life span can be broken down into a few key activities:
• 16 years working
• 15 years sleeping
• 8 years (television, internet) media
• 4 years eating
• 2 years commuting
• < 4 years to do what you actually like
• Life is short so the obvious question is how should I spend it? What should I do?
• When we consider life from this perspective our priorities crystallize. Mark 8:36
• Thoughts on the Rich Young Ruler.
• What is that “one thing” that may be lacking in your life?

Priorities

• Conversion
• Communion
• Calling

Conversion | John 9

• Read vs. 1-3
• Jesus is about to get stoned (John 8:59). The Savior is escaping for His life. He passes by a man born blind.
• Jesus is not afraid for his life; he is afraid to pass you by.
• Some of us have weaknesses in our lives we’ve been dealing with for a long time.
• Those sins that doth so easily beset us (addictions, guilt, shame, anger, depression etc).
• Why is this my struggle? Why is this my lot in life?
• Jesus’ response to that question: that the works of God should be made manifest in you.
• “They that are whole have no need of a physician but they that are sick: I am not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” Mark 2:17
• Read vs. 6-7
• For the first time in his life the blind man can see.
• As he washes in the pool of Siloam he sees a refection of himself for the first time.
• He witnesses beauty all round him.
• The clear blue skies, children playing and laughing.
• He sees his parents for the very first time.
• He also sees evil for the first time.
• As soon as Jesus works the change is his life the enemy was trying to undo that very work.
• Vs. 8-9: Neighbors – “Is not this he that sat and begged?”
• Personal experience
• When people bring up your past it only makes the change of God that much more powerful.
• Vs. 18: Jews (doubted that he was blind in the first place)
• Vs. 20-22: Parents (gave lip service)
• Vs. 16, 24: Pharisees (wanted to get into a theological debate)
• Everyone is trying to discount the blind man’s experience with Jesus.
• We focus a lot on the devil's deceptive power but also forget that he's an accuser of the brethren.
• The word Satan means accuser.
• Jesus’ experience. Matthew 3:16-17 & 4:1-4.
• To deny Jesus is to deny his own experience.
• Vs. 24-25: “one thing I know”
• You can’t reason me out of my faith in Jesus
• May not be able to explain the mysteries of Daniel and Revelation
• Might not understand all the nuts and bolts of the investigative judgment
• Might not be able to preach like Peter or evangelize like Paul
• The questions is have you been delivered?
• Has God changed your life?
• Are you free from the burden of sin?
• Have you experienced the joy of His salvation?
• Have you had and encounter, a life-changing experience with Jesus
• Can you say with all authority… “one thing I know, I was blind but now I see”
• If not, Jesus says “one thing thou lackest”… “you need to be born again”
• Conversion of John Newton
• “I am a great sinner and Jesus is a great savior.”

Communion | Luke 10:38-40

• Mary sat at Jesus’ feet and heard his word.
• She enjoyed quality time with Christ.
• But Martha was cumbered about much serving.
• She was busy doing the work of the Lord that she had no time for the Lord of the work.
• Jesus’ response to the Martha: “one thing is needful”
• Desire of Ages page 525:
• The “one thing” that Martha needed was a calm, devotional spirit, a deeper anxiety for knowledge concerning the future, immortal life, and the graces necessary for spiritual advancement. She needed less anxiety for the things which pass away, and more for those things which endure forever. Jesus would teach His children to seize every opportunity of gaining that knowledge which will make them wise unto salvation. The cause of Christ needs careful, energetic workers. There is a wide field for the Marthas, with their zeal in active religious work. But let them first sit with Mary at the feet of Jesus. Let diligence, promptness, and energy be sanctified by the grace of Christ; then the life will be an unconquerable power for good.
• How’s your devotional life? How’s your communion with God?
• Is the busyness of life stifling your quality time with Jesus?
• Spurgeon: “Sometimes we think we are too busy to pray. That also is a great mistake, for praying is a saving of time. You remember Luther's remark, "I have so much to do to-day that I shall never get through it with less than three hours' prayer." He had not been accustomed to take so much time for prayer on ordinary days, but since that was a busy day, he must needs have more communion with his God… If we have no time we must make time, for if God has given us time for secondary duties, he must have given us time for primary ones, and to draw near to him is a primary duty, and we must let nothing set it on one side.
• If we don’t enjoy communion God today what makes us think we will enjoy communion with Him in heaven. Rev 21:3
• Jesus is not an ideology. He is not a theory or creed. He is a real person with real feelings!
• Matthew 7:22-23
• Expand on “many wonderful works”
• The key is does the Lord know us?
• Can He rightly say that an intimate relationship exists between us?
• Is Jesus to you beautiful and altogether lovely? Or is He just an ATM machine?
• Husband & wife analogy.
• The essence of the Christian experience. Psalms 40:1-3
• Jesus’ example. John 20:17. “Touch me not for I’ve not yet ascended to my Father”

Calling | Philippians 3:13-14

• “This one thing I do”
• Runs counter to our culture.
• We have so much technology that should make life simpler yet are busier than any previous generation.
• Many of us are drowning in a lot of good but not what’s best.
• Do you feel yourself being a jack of all trades but master of none?
• Are you feeling fulfilled in life?
• Jeremiah’s calling: Jer 1:4-5
• Purpose precedes existence
• God needed a prophet and so he raised up Jeremiah to fulfill that role
• Like Jeremiah each of us has a specific calling in life
• The questions is: “are we pursuing our calling?”
• Logical question: how do we find our calling?
• It’s not by doing everything. By being a jack of all trades and master of none.
• Education page 267 (The Lifework)
• This one thing I do:
• “I submit to you that if a man hasn't discovered something he will die for, he isn't fit to live.” MLK
• Alarming statistic: Most heart attacks occur on Monday morning between 6AM and 10AM

• Life of Jesus. (His mission statement). Matthew 1:21
• In the temple:  Luke 2:49: “How is it that ye sought me?”
• In Cana: John 2:4: Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come.
• Luke 12:13-14 “Who made me a judge or ruler over you?
• Matt 16:21-23 Rebuking Peter
• John 7:1-8
• Because His mission was to be the Savior of the world he didn’t do everything even though he could
• People have strong opinions on what we should be doing
• Jesus never does anything out of obligation
• He can't be everything to everyone. He’s willing to go against expectation.
• He has a compass
• Rob Bell story
• floating offshore about 30 ft huge starfish
• because my hands are filled with shells
• you can't grab hold off the shells
• pursue the few things
• Be like Jesus you can say no because you already said yes