The Substance of an Address to a Sunday School.
What does the Lord Jesus mean, dear children, when He says, “One thing is needful?” What is the one thing needful? Salvation. —Truly, salvation is, in a sense, very important to us, the one thing needful; but let us see exactly what Jesus means by it in this passage. In the first place, tell me, where is Mary sitting? At the feet of Jesus. —What is she listening to? His word. —Yes, she was receiving something from Christ, in place of providing something for Him. She honored Him as a Divine Person, as God as well as man. She knew that all fullness dwelt in Jesus, and that, although He was tired and wearied with His journey, He could fill her soul with heavenly things. But was not Martha very kind to Jesus? Yes. —O, yes; she was very kind. She thought of His bodily wants, and we should love Martha for her kindness to Jesus. But, you see, Mary thought of Him as God, and honored Him as God, by sitting at His feet, and drinking in the truth from His lips. Now, which of the two sisters had chosen the better part? Mary—Yes, Mary; and the blessed Jesus says, it should not be taken from her. “Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” Is not this very comforting to the heart? Surely it is. When Jesus is the chosen portion of our hearts, we know that He will never be taken away from us.
And now, my dear children, this is just the place we want you all to take this afternoon-to come to Jesus, and, like Mary, to sit at His feet, and hear His loving, gracious words. What is He saying to you now? I mean, just now—this afternoon? Is it not, “Come unto me!”—unto myself? Yes, surely. But who are invited? “ALL ye that labor and are heavy laden.” Everyone is invited, for all are laboring under the heavy burden of sin, whether they are sensible of it or not. Oh! it is a heavy, heavy burden, sin, and will be sure to sink the soul deep in hell, if it is not put away. But you know what puts it all away. “The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanseth us from all sin.” And now tell me, what is His promise to those —who do come to Him? “I will give you rest.” Does He ever refuse any who come to Him? No; “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”
If you do what He bids you, should you not believe what He says to you? Yes, surely. This is the “one thing needful:” to do what He bids you—to believe what He says to you. “Come unto me......I will give you rest.” This is just what Mary did. She came to Himself—she sat at His feet, hearing His word. Is it enough to hear the word of Jesus with the outward ear merely? No. —Ο no, you are all hearing it with the outward ear just now, but how many are hearing it with the ear of the heart? God tries the heart. If you are hearing the word of Jesus this afternoon with the ear of the heart, you will be sure to trust in Him. All who believe with the heart can trust His word. They know that they have rest, just because He says it. Could a sinner have rest if his sins were not all put away? No, certainly not; for even one sin, unforgiven, would be eternal trouble to the soul. Well, now, have you done what Jesus bids you? “Come unto me.” Have you taken your places like little children at His feet? Do you really desire this afternoon to sit at these blessed feet, and listen to the words of grace as they fall from His lips? Well, then, will you believe what He says to you? And can you really trust in Him? How safe will you be, if you trust in Jesus? Quite safe. — Yes, just as safe as He can make you. “Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.” They will surely be blessed with God’s own blessedness, and made happy with God’s own happiness.
Now, then, I will explain to you why this is the “one thing needful,” and why we are so anxious that you should come to Jesus this afternoon—hear His word—believe it— be saved—and be happy in loving Jesus and in serving Him. I will now give you five reasons, which will prove that to sit at Jesus’ feet and hear His word is the “one thing needful.” And I want you to pay particular attention to these five things, that you may remember them afterward, and speak of them to your teachers. Besides, I will ask you a great many questions about them before I have finished.
1. The one thing needful glorifies God. If we refuse to hear what Jesus says, the blessed God is dishonored. Jesus tells us what God is. God is love. We can only know what God is by believing the word of Christ. Does God command us to hear Jesus? Yes. “This is my beloved Son: hear him.” If you refuse to hear the Son, you disobey the Father. He would have all men to honor the Son even as they honor the Father. (John 5:2323That all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent him. (John 5:23).) You see how much depends on a little boy or a little girl coming, or refusing to come, to Jesus. Is it not sad to think that some of you will listen to your teachers, to your parents, to your neighbors, and it may be to Satan, and yet refuse to listen to the sweet words of Jesus? Is it not so? Yes. Oh! then, come, come at once—obey God—sit at Jesus’ feet—hear His word. If you choose the good part this afternoon, it shall never be taken from you. Oh! how many of you have been brought to the feet of Jesus since we began to speak? A good many, I hope. Have you? Have you? Have YOU? Are there still some that are careless about coming? Surely not! I hope not. But there may be some who have the desire to come, but they are afraid. Need you be afraid when Jesus Himself says, “Come unto me—I will in no wise cast you out—Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God.” But this brings us to the second thing, which is;
2. The one thing needful pleases the heart of Christ. Oh! what a precious truth this is. Well now, would you not like to please the heart of that blessed Jesus? Yes. — Yes, and well you may. He loves you. He died that you might live. He shed His precious blood that your sins might be all washed away. He rose again that you might have eternal life. He has gone up to heaven that you might be accepted in Him. And now He is looking down from that heaven, to see how many of your hearts are really desiring to please Him. How many will He see this afternoon? Will He see yours? yours? yours? Oh! does He now see some little heart breathing after Him? Have you made His heart glad by believing in Him? Is it not very wonderful that He, who is surrounded with all the bright and beautiful angels above, should be made glad by any one of you coming to Him as your Saviour, and trusting in Him with all your heart. When a little child, or any person, can say truly, “Jesus loved me, and gave Himself for me,” His heart is made glad. How many of you are saying this in your hearts to Jesus just now? Perhaps you will tell me after, when we are speaking to each other about the blessed Jesus. But you may now tell Him what is in your heart. You will come to Jesus this afternoon, will you not? Would you not like to make Him glad? I think you would—I should. But I think there is none like Jesus. Do you? No—No, there is none like Him. But you could trust in Him now, could you not? Would there be any risk in trusting all to Him? No. —O, no; none, whatever. “Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.”
But now, tell me, are you quite sure that nothing you could do on earth would so much please the heart of Jesus as trusting in Him? Yes. How can you prove it? Mary pleased Christ better than Martha. Quite right; and yet Martha was very kind to Jesus. Do you love Martha for being kind to Jesus? Yes. Is that because you love Him? I hope it is. But now, tell me, what was Mary doing? Was she thinking of the wants of Jesus? No. She thought of her own need, and of Christ’s fullness, and she came to Him in her need, knowing and believing that He could meet it all. She knew He was God as well as man, and that He alone could supply all her wants. Can we do any one thing in this world, that so pleases the heart of Christ, as to come to Him with all our wants, firmly believing that He is able and willing to supply them all? No—no, dear children. A little child, with his heart confiding in Jesus, honors Him more than a great preacher with a doubting heart. Now, then, you will surely please the heart of the blessed Jesus this afternoon—will you not? You can trust in Him now—can you not? I know some of you are ready to tell me, with weeping eyes, that you do love Jesus, and that you can now give your hearts to Him. Oh! love Him more and more, and trust Him more and more. You can trust all to Him now—can you not? Tell Jesus.
But now we must go on to the other three things, and I can do little more than tell you what they are.
3. The one thing needful is grateful to the Holy Spirit. The great thing for which the Holy Spirit is down here, on the earth, is to glorify Jesus, by making Him known to our hearts. When we are taught by the Spirit what Jesus is, we sit at His feet, and own Him as our Lord and Master. Has the Holy Spirit revealed Jesus to your hearts, and brought you to His feet? Would any little boy or girl ever come to Jesus of their own accord? No—oh no, not one! By nature our hearts are dead to Him. Jesus may speak ever so sweetly, but there is no answer in our hearts to Him. Who is it that quickens the dead soul? God. — Yes, God the Holy Ghost? By what means does He quicken it? By the word of Jesus. You see then how important it is to receive the word, and trust in the living God. If there be a true desire in any one of your hearts to come to Jesus, who has put that desire there. The world? No—Satan? No—Has it sprung up in your own hearts? No—How then has it come there? By the Holy Spirit— And what has He used to produce that desire? The word of God. —Yes, quite true. But, tell me, will the Holy Spirit satisfy that desire? Yes. How can He do that? By revealing Christ to our hearts. And when you receive Him, is every desire met? O, yes. —And if you were all to receive Jesus this afternoon, would not that be very grateful to the Holy Spirit? Yes. And will you all receive Jesus now, just now? Do you know the Holy Spirit is here, and sees your hearts? How solemn—yet how blessed! There would be no good in either you or me coming here, were He not present with us. May He give you good desires this afternoon, create in your hearts a thirst, and quench it with the water of life.
4. The one thing needful honors the word. To hear, believe, and obey the word of the Lord, is to honor it. Mary did this. To neglect or to doubt God’s word is to dishonor it. Oh! then, listen to Jesus—come to the Bible—hear Him, as it were, speaking to you. Just see for a moment what blessings came to those who hear and believe the word of Jesus. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.” (John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24).) Could anything be more plain, more sure, more blessed?
5. The one thing needful is salvation to the soul. Oh! my dear children, is not this the one thing needful indeed, for you and for me? Yes. —O, yes! Everything else compared with this is as nothing. And now let me ask you plainly, Are you saved—saved, through believing in Jesus? All who have been brought to Jesus this afternoon are saved. Not will be, or may be, but are saved. The grace of God bringeth salvation; not the hope of it merely, but the thing itself. As our Lord said to Zacchaeus, “This day is salvation come to this house.” It was not a future, but a present salvation.
We will now go over these various points together, and let me hear how you will remember them..........After prayer, we can have individual conversation about, “The one thing needful.”
And may the Lord enable every one of you this afternoon, my dear children, to be decided for Christ.
Jesus, my All in all Thou art,
My rest in toil, my ease in pain;
The medicine of my broken heart;
‘Mid storms my peace; in loss my gain;
My smile beneath the tyrant’s frown;
In shame, my glory and my crown.
In want, my plentiful supply;
In weakness, my almighty power;
In bonds, my perfect liberty:
My refuge in temptation’s hour;
My comfort ‘midst all grief and thrall.
My life in death, my All in all.