Spring 2005
The Master Is Come, and Calls For You
An excerpt from a teaching given in 1984
Hattie Hammond

“Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him: but Mary sat still in the house. Then said Martha to Jesus, Lord, if You had been here, my brother had not died. But I know, that even now, whatsoever You will ask of God, God will give it you.

“Jesus says to her, Your brother shall rise again. Martha says to Him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

“Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Believe you this? She said to Him, Yea, Lord: I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.

“And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calls for you.

“As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came to Him.” John 11:20-29

The most important thing in our lives should be our relationship to Jesus. If asked, “Do you know Jesus as a living reality?,” or, “Is Jesus a person that is closer to you than any person in heaven or on earth?,” some will say, “Oh yes, I know Jesus, as He saved me.” Others will say, “Yes, He healed me, I know Him.”

Jesus will save, and He will heal, but we are called to personally, intimately, “know” the One that made us whole.

A young lady in a Kansas City hospital had a clubfoot. Her parents did not have the money to have her foot operated on, but the surgeon said, “I am willing to do this operation, so she will be able to walk again.” He did, and it was successful. When the time came for her to go home, everyone was saying how wonderful it was that she could walk again.

“Yes,” she said, “But before I leave this hospital, I must see the man that made me whole. I can go home and talk about the doctor who operated on my foot, but I want to personally ‘know’ the man that made me whole.”

So also, the deepest desire in the heart of Jesus is to personally know the person that He has made whole. He longs for us to seek to have an intimate, personal relationship with Him. The apostle Paul, after being apprehended by the Lord, said,

“I long to know Christ.” Philippians 3:10a Williams New Testament

Each one of us should consider, “Am I enjoying the privileges of the fact that not only am I saved, but that I can intimately know the One who saved me? Am I really “in Christ?” We can say all the right words, and quote the right Scriptures, and never enter into the personal relationship with Jesus that He desires us to enjoy.

Are you aware that there is “something more” in God for you? There is a multitude, which no man can number, who will be just inside the gate of heaven, whose reward is a palm branch that they will wave throughout eternity, thanking the Lord that they are saved - but, there is so much more.

“The Master is come and calls for you.” This call was to Mary, who was in the house grieving. She said, “Jesus, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” She was taken up with her grief, enclosed within herself - the atmosphere and gloom and the tomb. This is what sin does, but Jesus made Himself known to her in resurrection life.

Jesus has come. He has already paid the price to redeem us; in spirit, soul, and body, no matter what we were involved in. He called Mary out from the doom of death. Wherever death is written on any part of us, He will come and call us to rise up into His presence.

Some are waiting until they get to heaven, but Jesus said, “I Am the resurrection. “I Am” is the One who will raise all who respond, out of their grave, into resurrection life. He is saying, “I am here, right now, to take you into my nail scarred hands, and begin to bring the full redemption that you desire, if you will let Me.

Let us do what Mary did – she rose up quickly and came to Jesus. May each one of us also rise up out of our death, and come into a deeper relationship with Jesus. The most marvelous thing that can happen to us is to be conscious of the call of God that rests upon us. This is not a call to serve, but rather, this is the call of Jesus for us to come to Him, so He can impart Himself to us, that we might “sup with Him, and He with us.” Only then will we have something to give to others.

The Apostle Paul said, “I have not yet apprehended all that I see in God, and all that He has for me. I want to know Him in the power of His resurrection, and in the fellowship of His suffering. I want to get into the depths of what I see in Christ Jesus. I want to know Him personally.

“The Master is come and calls for you.” He is yet calling. Do you really love Jesus? Do you love Him enough to be different from others? Do you love Him enough to leave the ways of the world, and be separated unto Him?

We have only a short time in which to make our choices and decisions, so we will be in the company that follows the Lamb, wherever He goes. In the resurrection, our reward will not be the result of our “works,” but rather, according to our “relationship” with Jesus, and how much of Jesus has been wrought out within our lives.

“The Master is come and calls for you.” Can He have His way with you?