Don't you love singing about the blood?
It reaches to the highest mountains and it flows to the
lowest valleys. Well, before I ask you to turn
me to mark chapter 10, where we're going to resume where we
last left off, I'm going to ask you to turn to Luke Chapter one,
beginning in verse 15. And really, just verse 15 is
what I want to bring to our attention here.
This is spoken of not the Christ, but the forerunner of
Christ, John the Baptist. And there is a statement made
here about his destiny, about his calling, about who he is,
that I think is convicting and encouraging at the same time.
And Luke 115 we read. For he will be great before the
Lord, and he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be
filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.
It's that first part of verse 15 that I want to highlight.
For he will be great before men, for the world, before Herod,
before the synagogues in the temple.
No, he will be great before the Lord.
Other translations would say he will be great in the sight of
the Lord. Now there are many people who
are ambitious in life, many people who are even ambitions
within, ambitious within Christendom.
And they want to be great, they want to do great things, they
want to make great impact. But.
For what purpose? And what measure are you using
in terms of the evaluation of the greatness that you're
seeking after? If we're not careful, we can be
people who seek after greatness before everyone except for the
Lord. But that was not true of this
man of God. He would be great, and though he
was acknowledged and though he was respected in many ways by
others, his preoccupation and God's longing was that he would
be great before the Lord. And the reason why I bring this
to us is because as we come to our main text in Mark chapter
10, we're going to see these disciples of Jesus who also
wanted to pursue greatness, Greatness in Christ's Kingdom.
But for all the wrong reasons. And their understanding of
greatness was so warped, so skewed.
And here, Christ the Great Teacher is going to teach them
yet again of what true greatness looks like, how the Lord esteems
greatness. But before we even get to that
reminder in this text, there's so many other things that we
have to explore. So turn with me to mark chapter
10 beginning in verse 35. What has been allotted to us
this afternoon are 10 verses, and the spiritual banquet that
has been prepared for us by the Holy Spirit has been provided in
the format of a dialogue between the Lord Jesus and a family.
And as you can imagine, in preparing a text where the text
is primarily a conversation between 2:00 or more parties, it
can be very challenging to try to dissect and provide these
truths in sections. But prayfully, there are 4
headings that I want to present to you that will hopefully help
gather our gleanings from these verses and categorize them so
they can be memorable for us. So let's read not all these 10
verses, but the first few, and then I want to tell you what we
are going to be exploring under these headings.
And then we'll ask for the Holy Spirit's help.
In verse 35 of Mark, Chapter 10, we read, and James and John, the
sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, Teacher, we
want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.
And he said to them, what do you want me to do for you?
And they said to him, grant us to sit, one at your right hand
and one at your left in your glory.
Jesus said to them, you do not know what you are asking.
Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized
with a baptism with which I am baptized?
And they said to him, we are able.
And Jesus said to them, the cup that I drink, you will drink,
and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be
baptized. But to sit on my right hand or
my left is not mine to grant. But it is for those for whom it
has been prepared. Lord, we ask for the Spirit of
wisdom and revelation. May these truths, by the power
of your Holy Spirit, fortify. Us.
In our faith, in our consecration to you, and even in
this text, may you peel away any hindrance, any veil that blinds
us or blurs the vision of the absolute beauty of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Help us see the Christ.
Help us see the Son of God. Help us see the personal Savior.
Even in these verses we pray in Jesus name.
Amen. I want to speak to you in this
text about four things. The first thing is the request.
The second thing is the rebuke. The third thing is.
The ruling and the last thing is the reminder, The request, the
rebuke, the ruling, the reminder.
In the 1st 2 verses we have the request of two disciples, James
and John, the sons of Zebury. They came up to the Lord.
And they asked him. They asked him for a guarantee.
They asked him for an approval for a particular request that
they did not make known just yet.
And if we're not careful, we can pluck this verse or these two
verses out of its context and use it as a proof text to
encourage believers to be bold and approaching Christ in
prayer. And there are many places in the
Bible where you and I are encouraged to have confidence
before the throne of grace, but this is not an appropriate
example for that. This is actually a bad example
of what prayer is about. Again, you have these two
disciples who come to Christ and they ask the Lord for a
guarantee for an approval even before making their request
known. Did you catch that Lord?
Would you just say yes to what we're about to ask you?
And there is no specific desire being made known here, and it's
an attempted pursuit to have Christ agree and to consent
regardless of the nature of the request.
And so instead of this being an example of what prayer should
look like, this is what we see. This is an.
Illustration of what many people mistakenly believe prayer is
about that if I just come to Jesus and package my wishes in
faith filled prayer. He's going to give me.
Whatever I ask, and no, that's not how prayer works.
It doesn't matter if you tag that request within Jesus name.
It doesn't matter if you pray in the King James.
It doesn't matter how long you pray.
The confidence in our prayer is not that Jesus is our genie.
The confidence in our prayer is what First John 5 verse 14 says,
where the Apostle of love spells out the confidence and the
contingency of our confidence in the place of prayer, he writes
in first John 514. And this is the confidence that
we have toward him, that if we ask according anything according
to his will, he hears us ask, ask anything, ask freely, ask
with holy courage, ask. And this is something that we
should be confident about. We can't approach this mighty
God. We can come with heavy hearts.
We can come with exciting ideas. We can come before Him and ask
anything upon this contingency if it's in accordance to His
will. And so do you want to know how
you can grow in confidence and. Prayer.
It's very simple. Grow in your knowledge of the
will of God. Be familiar with what he
desires. Be acquainted with what his
promises are. No down deep inside what it is
that He is willing to grant. I would even say look at the
past records of what the Lord was willing to back up with His
power and His provision. If you want to grow in
confidence in the place of prayer, you must also feed into
your understanding of the will of God, the mind of God.
You know, knowing the Bible feeds many things, and perhaps
you did not know this, but it also feeds the courage and the
precision of your intercession, of your supplication.
Of you coming before him and believing that he will hear you.
And this is where James and John went wrong.
They wanted the stamp of approval before they even gave.
And understood if the request was in alignment with his will.
And the Lord Lord's response to the request confirms this,
right? Look here in the the same verse
we read where they ask in the next verse 36, he said to them.
What do you want me to do for you?
He didn't say. Yeah, you got it.
He didn't say. I'll do as you say.
No, no, no, no. He's taking this opportunity to
train his disciples to be specific with our prayers, yes,
but also to compare their desires and to line it up with
the mind of God. So let's talk about what you
want. What do you want me to do for
you? Say it.
The Lord knew. The Lord knew what they wanted.
He's all knowing. But it's for them to confess.
It's for them to blurt it out. It's for them to bring it to the
light and to bring it before the presence of Christ, to see if it
actually holds weight, if it's legitimate, if it's appropriate.
You see, the Lord in His wisdom and love must if He loves you
and if He is all wise, then he must consider your motivations
and mine your goals. And mine He has to, He has to
screen them. No good parent would give their
child anything that they ask, and it would be good for us for
time to time to step back and take the principle of Jesus
question here and apply it to ourselves.
What is it that you truly desire of the Lord?
What do your prayers look like? What do they sound like?
What's the theme of your request?
And then take it further and ask why you're asking those things
again. The Lord knew what they wanted,
but He wanted them to investigate further.
He wanted them to seek it and understand it in a deeper way.
Because what you pray about reveals a lot about.
You. I don't know if you know that.
But what you? Pray about reveals much about
you and he wants them to look at what they're asking for and to
from there ask why am I asking for this?
Why am I? Seeking the Lord for this, and
again, prayer will reveal what you believe about God.
Some people don't pray. You know what that reveals?
They don't believe God. They don't want intimacy with
God. They don't actually trust that
he can make a way. And some people do pray, but
again, what they are presenting before the Lord says what they
believe about God, and even more, what they believe about
themselves. And the disciples are not
hesitant to make the request plainly known.
Look at verse 37 again. And they said to him, grant us
to sit one at your right hand and one at your left in your
glory. This seems like a random
invocation, right? It seems like it's coming out of
nowhere, but it's not random and especially when you compare it
to the parallel account found in Matthew chapter 20.
In Matthew 20 you have the same scene spelled out but with
different details. But before we even visit Matthew
chapter 20, you have to remember what happened in Matthew 19.
Jesus promised the disciples that this this group of 12
something before we come to this moment, and we touched on this a
few weeks ago, but let's let's visit it again for the sake of
remembrance. Matthew 19, verse 28.
Turn your Bibles there and look at this glorious assurance that
Christ gives to these apostles and training what awaits them in
the millennial glory. What is to come for their
service, The reward that is prepared.
In Matthew 1928, Jesus said to them, truly, I say to you, in
the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious
throne, you who have followed me will also sit on 12 Thrones
judging the 12 tribes of Israel. Again, you got to fit that
somewhere in your theology. Is there going to be judgment?
Is there going to be such administration in the eternal
realm? No, it doesn't make sense.
And we know that in this lifetime, in in this world, in
this age, the disciples are not sitting on 12 Thrones in Israel.
They will one day when Christ comes back and sets up His
throne in Jerusalem. And so the disciples hear this.
They go, no way we got a throne with our name on it.
Each of us are going to get a throne, and you would think that
would suffice as such an exaltation to be granted to
these unworthy fishermen and tax collectors and other blue collar
folk. But James and John and hearing
about the nature of the reward, look at each other.
I think we're better than these other guys.
What do you think, John? I like the way you're thinking,
James. I think we are better.
And so here they are taking in the promise of Christ, and
they're mixing it with the lust for esteem and fame and
authority. And that's that's a bad recipe.
And what's now cooking in their hearts is this audacity to
approach Christ and to ask him for the highest seats.
To be the closest to him to be even ruling not just above these
tribes but above the other apostles, we want to sit at your
right and at your left. And here's what's so complicated
about this request, because in a positive way, it reveals their
faith, is it not? They believe that Jesus Christ
is the Messiah. The nature of this request shows
that they actually trust that he will rule and reign, that he is
the one that they have been waiting for.
But at the same time, with this declaration of faith, you have
their hearts that are polluted and muddied by selfish ambition
and wanting to take advantage of already the fact that they are
close to Christ, part of that inner circle with Peter, right?
They're taking advantage of that, and they want greater
leadership. They want to be served.
They want shinier crowns, so to speak.
They want more, and for all the wrong reasons.
And here's the lesson that we can take from this request, this
mingling of faith and flesh. You can have faith and still act
in the flesh. You can't have sincere faith and
live unrepentantly in the flesh. But let me, my brother, and my
sister give you a friendly reminder of what the disciples
of Jesus Christ. I'm not talking about the 12.
I'm talking about disciples of Christ today are capable of.
You can have good, solid doctrine.
You can believe the right things and still say, do and think
contrary to your convictions. We believe Christ is going to
rule and reign, but we're puffed with pride.
Is that possible? Absolutely.
So don't get surprised when disciples of Jesus disappoint.
The original guys are disappointing us and and you
want to throw in the towel because you're disappointed by
some people in the church, some people who bear the name of
Christ. I learned here that you can you
can have faith and still be fleshly to an extent.
And we look at this and we're ready to look at others and be
like, OK, that makes sense of why so and so acts that way.
No, I look at this and I say, Lord Jesus, cleanse me.
Cleanse my heart from self-interest as I pursue
spiritual things. Cleanse my heart from selfish
ambition and pride as I seek to serve you and your people.
I don't want to just be pure my doctrine.
I want to be pure in my life. These guys got it all twisted
and if you think it's bad now, it only gets worse when you
consider the wider context. James and John are not the only
ones in on this ploy. I told you where the parallel
account was, right? Matthew chapter 20 turned there
and look at another character in this story, Matthew 20, and look
at verse 20. This is the mirroring account in
Matthew 20 verse 20. And here's what we read Then the
mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons and
kneeling before him, she asked him for something.
So just isn't James and John here?
We got mom on the scene. How did this happen?
According to Matthew, there is another person to consider and
obviously she agreed to this and she believed that her sons were
justified in asking for this right?
And at first, it doesn't seem clear where this idea
originated. Did it come from the boys, or
did it come from Mom? I'm under the persuasion that
when you consider the weight of evidence that it started with
James and John, you see this cycling of who wants to be the
greatest in many of their conversations throughout the
Gospels. And if that is the case, and
this reveals a couple of things, the first thing that it reveals
is that one of the ugly manifestations of pride is that
it finds no problem taking advantage of others.
Pride takes prisoners. And how sad it is that these
young men felt it appropriate to recruit their mother on the
scheme and to tell their mother, Mom, we need you to do something
for us. You're an elder woman.
You're obviously respected by virtue of age, and so would you
go to Jesus? And would you ask him if we can
sit on the right and left of his throne?
And here's this poor mother who now comes before the Lord and
she kneels before him. We read, she even, she even uses
the mask of worship and reverence and adoration, which
is a picture of how we can use worship and thinking we can
manipulate. The will of God.
You can't manipulate God. And so here's this mother now
kneeling before him and asking him for the same thing that
we've just read here in Mark chapter 10.
Self promotion hurts other people.
Did you hear me? Self promotion will always hurt
relationships, not just the mother.
Look at this lo that they brought her to.
But what would this do for the other 10 apostles?
We read later on that they were indignant in verse 41 for the
wrong reasons. But this had the potential to
sever relationships. And so we see here that there is
pride, and pride takes prisoners and it wounds and it bruises
relationships. That has no problem stepping
over others, using others, bulldozing over others so that
you can satisfy that lust. But there's a second.
Thing to learn here with the presence of this mother.
She's a disappointing example of a parent, isn't she?
How did you even agree to this? You're the mother.
A Middle Eastern mother. How did you agree to this?
How did you succumb to this scheme?
How did you give in? And remember, this mother is not
just a random person. She herself is a follower of
Jesus Christ. I encourage you to go to the
last portions of the book of Matthew in your own time and
read of the woman who are there standing at a distance from the
cross. And the mother of the sons of
Zebedee was present. She followed Christ.
She loved the Lord. She believed the Lord.
So she had an understanding of the will of God, of the
character of of God in the person of Jesus Christ.
She wasn't held hostage. She agreed, obviously, when she
should have redirected and she should have corrected, and she
should have trained her boys not to think like this.
And when I meditate on this, I thought to myself, there are
cases when the fleshliness of some is the result of the
failure of parents who did not lovingly and wisely redirect the
murky mindsets of those who have been entrusted to them to
disciple your kids. And when you see the way they're
thinking about God and the way they're thinking about life,
it's your duty to lovingly, wisely, carefully, yes, to step
in and say, son, daughter, you're not thinking right here.
You can't force your kids to do anything.
You can't be legalistic with your kids.
You're going to. You're going to turn them off in
another way. But there is a healthy
responsibility, an approach that must be made to say you're not
thinking right here, and it's my duty, given by God to speak into
your life as long as you live here.
I have to say this is not right, this is not right.
And if they're old enough, you step away and let them make
their own choice. But you do what you need to do
to speak truth to them. It's not the youth pastor
pastor's job to raise your children.
Parents, if you expect your children to get truth one hour
or two out of a week, it's not going to cut it with the
avalanche of filth that they are fighting off every single day.
And so we see these two come up to their mother and somehow she
gives in and it reminds me of David.
We've been studying about David's life and now we're in
Solomon's life. And this verse always rings in
the back of my mind whenever I consider Biblical parenthood.
In First Kings chapter one, verse 6, when we speak about
Adonijah who tried to just do what James and John are doing in
his own world, trying to seize the throne from Solomon thinking
that he deserves it, even this is crazy.
He even knew that it was the Lord's will for Solomon to be
the king and he still wanted it. And then the Holy Spirit writes
this down in the beginning of this book to instruct US1.
Of the failures that led to this man to believe this about
himself. First Kings 1/6.
His father had never at any time displeased him by asking why
have you done thus and so. David was a great king.
He was a bad dad. David was a worship leader, but
he couldn't lead most of his children to worship the true
God. He never displeased them.
He never wanted to step on their toes.
He never wanted to ruin their plans.
Whatever was in David's mind, the Holy Spirit tells us that
there was a contribution of his negligence that led to the
monster that Azanijah was. I know what some of you might be
thinking. Where are your kids for you to
be preaching to us, preacher? I understand, but I don't preach
from experience. I preach from the Bible.
And if you think this is all disappointing, it actually gets
worse. I'm sorry, this actually gets
worse. And when you consider the wider
context again, you can disconnect 35 to 37 from Mark
chapter 10. And you can still make a case
for the shortcoming of these disciples.
But consider where it has been placed.
And when you consider where it has been placed, then you will
understand the insensitivity and the impudence, the lack of
respect of these two. Did we forget what happened
right before James and John approached Christ to ask for
this? Let me remind you of Mark
chapter 10 again in verse 34. Jesus telling them what's about
to happen in a few days in Jerusalem, he says and they will
mock him and spit on him and flog him and kill him, and after
three days he will rise. He told them of his death, his
suffering, his resurrection. And this is the response of
James and John. Instead of being moved by the
humility of Jesus Christ, instead of being humbled by how
their mindset and their belief system of the Messiah was not
complete. And to ask further questions
about what this means, they're so preoccupied with themselves.
They're so caught up about how they can secure their own future
and how they can be promoted using the name of Jesus.
This is so heartbreaking. And again, I don't bring this to
our attention so that we can find more reasons to belittle
the disciples. I bring this to our attention so
that with this mounting, devastating, heartbreaking
attitude of these men, you see this ray of light of the
absolute patience of the Lord Jesus Christ, how long-suffering
He is to deal with these kind of disciples again.
You read it. You read this first.
What do you want me to do for you?
You can see that as the Lord trying to have them cough up
what they're saying. We can also see this the Lord
willing to engage in conversation as a teaching tool.
Willing to still manage the immaturity of these 12.
Willing to still patiently work with them, willing to still walk
with them and love them and train them and rewire them.
Willing. And if you're hearing this
message today, no matter where you're at in life, and you are
discouraged because you are a person who knows what is true,
like these disciples did, but still find yourself in some
areas struggling in the flesh, Do not let your discouragement
cause you to be distant from the refiner.
Don't let your flesh and the struggle against the flesh pull
you away from the master. I see a patient Christ here.
I see a Christ here reminds me of the word of the Lord in
Malachi chapter 3 verse 3, where we're told in there very
specifically that the Lord who is ready to purify a remnant
among Israel. Says there that he will sit to
refine them. Doesn't it say that he will sit
Notice? It doesn't say he will stand.
He will sit Implying what? Patience.
A willingness to remain and stay there.
In what process? In the process of purifying you
and me. Is much more patient than you
can imagine. I find with genuine,
wholehearted believers that they are less patient than Christ is
with their growth and their sanctification.
But here's the Lord, Here's what we hear.
He will sit and he will refine. He's slow to get up.
He's slow to give up. And this is the Lord for the
rest of this chapter. Who's willing to engage with
these stubborn slow to believe, slow to get it again and again?
What I found in my study of the Gospels is a shepherd who loves
his sheep, All these sheep that wander away, the sheep that
takes so much time and attention from someone.
That's Christ. No wonder he uses that language.
So this is all under the request.
But now we come to the rebuke. A loving leader will rebuke.
A loving shepherd will at times wound his sheep so that they can
learn. And Jesus said to them in verse
38, you don't know what you're asking.
Are you able to drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with
the baptism with which I am baptized?
I love the first part of verse 38.
You do not know what you are asking.
It was true the disciples, and it's true for many disciples
today. You don't really know the extent
of your request, do you, James and John, They didn't.
And I would say that some of our supplications that we make
suffer from severe ignorance, ignorance of the wider
implications of being granted such a thing.
Ignorance. Of how what we think to be a
positive provision, whatever kind of provision, maybe, can
actually bring more harm and hindrance than help and
happiness. And you and I should rejoice.
I want to tell you that you and I should rejoice in many things.
And here's another category where you can praise God when he
says no. And when he, what you feel like
is him ignoring your request. This is him actually not
supplying your request. You can rejoice.
I know it doesn't feel good in the moment, but you, you, I'm
sure, can look back in your life and think to yourself if you
think carefully. I'm glad God didn't answer that
prayer. I didn't know what I was asking
for. And earlier, you heard how you
and I must pray according to the will of God if we're to have
confidence performed. But there's another layer to the
will of God, not just the revealed will in the Word, but
His personalized will for your life.
That also should be taken into consideration when we understand
how prayer works. God has His.
Objective will, His clear will for all believers.
And he has a tailor made will for you.
And that's what we're often concerned by.
Lord, what do you want me to? Where do you want me to go?
Who do you want me to be All these different things.
And consider this that you and I, as we ask sometimes don't
know what we're asking for. And what you think will glorify
God in the season is actually not going to glorify God at that
time. It will.
Maybe at another time. What you think will bless you
because you see a blessing somebody else?
Oh, surely then it will bring the same kind of joy in my life.
Not necessarily so. The confidence that you and I
have in praying according to the will of God is that you're
praying to a God who knows what he has for you, and if it fits
that he will grant it and he will honor your faith.
And if it does it, then trust that he has your best in mind,
best for his glory, best for your good.
Ask again. Ask freely, ask confidently,
Don't be limited, don't be shy, but be at rest to know that even
sometimes your emotions, your flesh, can create a fog to your
faith. And when you're asking, you
think that this is the best option when the fact God knows
it's not, you do not know what you're asking.
And in the case of the ignorance of the disciples, He explains
their ignorance. He says, are you able to drink
the cup that I drink or be baptized with a baptism with
which I'm to be baptized? This seems cryptic.
This seems ambiguous. It's not because the symbol of a
cup is familiar in the Hebrew. Scriptures and In many places
when a cup is defined, especially in relation to God
and man, it speaks of God appointing something to someone.
And the substance of that cup can be joy and it can be
provision and it can be prosperity, right?
So we think of that famous Psalm and Psalm 23 verse five.
My cup overflows, but in most cases the symbol and the idiom
of a cup is actually a reference to the judgment of God and the
wrath of God. You see that in Isaiah 51, verse
17, the cup of His wrath you read even in the psalms of the
wicked, drinking from the cup of His anger or His judgment, we
remember the words of the Lord Jesus, who in that garden
interceding and praying, asking the Father if it was possible
for this cup to be passed from Him.
Not my will, but your will be done.
So this symbol of a cup, when Jesus says here you don't know
what you're asking, are you able to drink the cup that I drink?
This is a cup of suffering. This is a cup that is poured out
by God's righteous indignation in the case of Christ.
But the theme is suffering, and that's only double down here,
and it's solidified by this next metaphor or this picture.
Or be baptized with a baptism with which I'm baptized.
Again, we have this Christian narrow application of the word
baptism, but in the original it's a very simple term.
It's a broad term. It simply means immersion.
And some believe that even the word baptism as a translation
does a disservice to how we view baptism.
It speaks of being submerged in something that clarifies a lot,
doesn't it? I know that sounds
controversial. Submerged, submerged and even in
the Hebrew scriptures you see this picture in the theme of
suffering, of being overcome or submerged in waters.
Elifast tells his friend Job in Job 2211 that the flood of
waters are over you and describing his plight.
So what's Jesus collectively saying here?
He's saying, are you willing to suffer?
You want exaltation, and in the economy of God, the pathway to
exaltation is suffering. You want to be promoted in the
next life. And in great part, the degree of
your exaltation is determined by what you're willing to endure
here on. Earth.
And Jesus looks at these men and he says, I'm about to drink and
be immersed in suffering, internal internal suffering,
external suffering before I know my exaltation.
Are you willing to take the similar path to your promotion
that you so badly want? Look what they said in verse 39.
We are able. Do you really know what you're
asking for, you disciples? We are able, and Jesus took him
at their word. We are able.
You're going to drink and you will be baptized with this
baptism. The first martyr who was an
apostle was James, Acts chapter 12, verse two, who was the last
martyr among the apostles? His brother John, who suffered
lifelong persecution and was eventually abandoned on the
island called Patmos. According to Revelation chapter
one, verse 9, the first martyr among the apostles was James.
The last one was John. He took them at their word.
You want to drink it? Drink.
You want to be baptized? Here's your baptism.
Now we come to the ruling. We looked at the request, we
looked at the rebuke, and then verse 39 and 40 we look at the
ruling and they said them we are able.
And Jesus said to them the cup that I drink, you will drink,
and in verse 40 says, But to sit on my right hand or at my left
is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been
prepared. So Jesus prophesied their
destinies on earth. And then he explains that the
exact at the same time outcome of the reward is not readily
available and knowable. Yes, you will suffer, but to
give you what you're asking is not for me to grant.
It's been prepared by the Father.
According to Matthew, it's already been determined by his
foreknowledge and. So in my role here within the
Godhead, that's not my responsibility.
That doesn't make him any less God.
And I believe even in this, where we see Jesus clearly
define their destiny on earth, and it reminds them and explains
to them that what's to come is not to be known at this point.
You see a valuable lesson, right?
You're still going to suffer even though you don't know the
reward that's going to be provided for your suffering.
And that tells me something about what Christ expects of us
and what Christ is worthy of. Christ is worthy of your
sacrifice, and even if that sacrifice demands suffering,
he's worthy of it whether you know the reward for it or not,
because he's the reward. He's the goal, not positions and
not authority and not jewels and not treasures.
Again, we read about these crowns.
There are five different crowns that are mentioned in the New
Testament, and I only see one purpose for crowns in the New
Testament. It's found in Revelation where
those crowns were cast at the feet of the Lamb.
So if I'm going to work for a crown, it's so that I can bring
something of worth to the feet of Christ.
As one preacher said, I don't want to bring Jesus a paper
mache crown, but who's the reward here?
I can't determine whether or not you're going to be able to sit
in those two seats, but you're going to suffer.
And James and John should have smiled anyway, because Christ is
the object of our goal. I will suffer come what may,
because I'm doing it for him. I'm doing it for the smile of my
master. So the ruling has been set.
But now we come to the reminder, and the reason why I named that
heading the reminders. Because we've seen these truths
before. Look at verse 41.
And when the 10 heard it, they began to be indignant at James
and John. They weren't offended because of
their sinfulness. They were offended because they
got a head start. James and John asked Jesus for
those privileged places and here are the 10 who hear about and
they go they beat us to it. This isn't a righteous thing in
nation. This is this is just as carnal
as the two other ones. Pride does not bring unity.
It it always brings a vision and all you need is one person
puffed up with unrepented, unrestrained self promotion.
And it can bring ruin even to apostles.
And when the 10 heard it, they began to be a dignant at James
and John. Now look at this verse 42.
And Jesus called them to him. Oh, isn't that a beautiful
picture? I can't even read past that
Jesus. So here's this teacher.
Wise, all knowing, Pure in love, perfect in power.
And he's seeing James and John here, and they're doing their
thing. And then he looks over to the
tent and they hear about it. And now he can sense something
is brewing. And Jesus says, OK, time out,
whistle. Come, come, let me reel you in
here. You know what I see from that?
Jesus is the peacemaker. Only Jesus can heal pride.
Only Jesus can take what is prone to division and mend it
together and keep it. He is the bond of love that
unites our hearts. So if you want peace in your
church, if you want peace in your marriage, if you want peace
in your friendships, let Christ rule in that place.
Let Christ reign in that place. You know, in our desire to see
more members here at NBC. And we're so blessed by all the
members and the future members we praise God for.
But we'll make the membership here joyful experiences.
Every person has Christ ruling on the throne of their hearts.
That's how we will avoid potential disaster in our midst.
That's true for your spouse. That's true for your future
spouse. Here's Christ, who is able to
bring in these men who are at odds with one another.
And he says, you know that those who are considered rulers of the
Gentiles lorded over them, and they're great ones.
Exercise authority over them. Pause.
You know, he's reminding them, you know, what it's like to be
ruled over others. I mean, they were under Roman
oppression, you know? And then he distinguishes this
kind of understanding of greatness and leadership, and he
says, this is of the world. The way you're thinking is
worldly. You know that rulers of
Gentiles, they Lord over them. They, they proclaim their
greatness by how many people serve them and are under him.
And here's what we take from this.
Even people who follow Christ, if you're not careful, pay
attention to this. If you're not young people, hey,
check this out. You can be taking your cues from
the world. You can be developing an
understanding of what success and identity and purpose looks
like from the unbelieving. That's what these disciples are
doing. They have translated what
success looks like among the Gentiles, and they have brought
it into success in the Kingdom of God and Jesus.
That's not of my Kingdom. Notice what he says in verse 43.
But it shall not be so among you.
You're different. My Kingdom operates differently.
This attitude and this under that's not of my Kingdom.
And so you and I have to be on guard.
As one preacher said it this way, you and I do not naturally
drift into holiness. Leave yourself be and don't
exercise these principles and these spiritual disciplines.
You're not going to naturally drift into godliness.
You drift the opposite direction.
And Christ comes with His word, his piercing word, And he says,
that's not a view, that's not what it should be like for you.
And he says in the next part, But whoever would be great among
you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you
must be slave. Of all.
Have we not seen this before? We have seen this before.
Mark nine. We read this in the previous
chapter. We studied about greatness in
the Kingdom of God. And here we are again.
The Holy Spirit found it necessary to record this
conversation and place it in the very next chapter, after we had
a whole Sunday dedicated to it. Why?
Because we forget. That's why.
A lot of us suffer from spiritual amnesia.
We forget. We need to be reminded.
It needs to be compacted again, over and over, before it begins
to materialize in real life. And Jesus had no problem
teaching the same thing again, he says.
If you want to be great, you have to be a servant.
If you want to be greatest, be a slave.
A servant is one thing. To be a slave means that you're
owned. You're owned by somebody else.
You want to be the greatest? Consider everybody more
significant than yourself. Consider everybody as those who
are over you. Oh, this is real, is it not?
Must be slave of all. And he doesn't just teach it now
he shows by way of example 4 verse 45.
For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and
to give his life as a ransom for many.
I'm not just telling you to do this, I'm showing you how to do
it. That's a true teacher.
Side note, excellent verse to use against the enemies of the
gospel who try to claim that Jesus never taught that his
mission on earth was to die for the sins of man.
There's some people out there who say that this is Paul's idea
and our Christian theology comes from the Apostle Paul and not
from Christ. Well, here's one verse among
many that shows that Jesus did believe that when he came on the
earth is that he would come as a substitute for the sins of man.
But that's not the primary purpose for his statement.
Here I show you I've exemplified I'm ready to show the greatest
act of servanthood as I'm ready to die and serve.
Yes, my father, but even the world through my blood being
shed. Can I say something?
You and I are closer to being like Jesus when we serve.
When we serve. I hope that's a cry of your
heart. Lord, I want to be like you in
this world. That's a wonderful cry.
That's a Holy Spirit cry. But you know how it's realized?
You know how you inch yourself closer to that?
It's not by holding a microphone and preaching.
It's not by having a grand ministry where people are
listening and hearing and contributing.
Jesus, Jesus qualifies it. Serve others.
Put their needs above yours and not just when the opportunity
arise. Intentionally serve others, not
when your course or force. No, be eager to serve others.
That's where greatness is known in my Kingdom and we run in the
opposite direction of the way of the King and the law of his
Kingdom. When we are captivated and we
justify self promotion and self exaltation, that's not Christ.
And so the request is clear. It was off and that's why I
deserved loving rebuke. Jesus gave a ruling, A ruling
for them, but a principle in that ruling for us.
He's worthy to be served regardless of the reward being
known or not. And the reminder, A reminder for
these 12 and a reminder for you and I.
If we want to be closest to Jesus, and being like Jesus, we
will follow in the steps of servanthood, looking at others
and saying constantly, How can I serve them?
How can I serve them? What a way to end this time
before we break bread. Verse 45.
For even the Son of man came not to be served, but the servant to
give his life as a ransom for many.
I want to read to you Psalm 49 verse 7 as we close the psalmist
says in Psalm 49 verse seven, truly no man can ransom another
or gift to God the price of his life.
For the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice
that he should live on forever and never see the pit.
Here is the Psalmist describing the weakness of wealth.
As much as it can get you in this life, it can never.
No matter how great the price is, no matter the mountains of
gold that you possess, it can never purchase everlasting life.
And this language of ransom is so clear, Jesus utilizes it
concerning himself. And he says I've come that I
might be a ransom for many. Well, hold on.
We learn here that. No man can ransom another Yes,
but we're talking about the God man, and he's not.
Coming with silver or gold, as Peter says, but with the
preciousness of his own blood, Only the blood of Jesus Christ
can ransom the soul of another. And you and I today are about to
be reminded that we've been ransomed by the blood of Jesus
Christ. That was the sole thing that
would satisfy the justice and the demand of God, and the price
has been paid. But my question to you today is,
has it been applied to your account?
Are you still in debt? The only way that your debt of
sin can be taken care of? The only transaction that is
possible and satisfactory is if it has been signed with the
blood of the Lamb of God and if you've accepted it freely to
say, there is no other payment I can make, There is no other
payment somebody else can make for me.
The only way I have a guarantee into the presence of God is
through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
So if you have not made that decision to make Jesus Christ as
Lord, you know you're a Sinner. The world knows that we have a
sin problem where they're all confused and bumping heads as
how do we solve it? And here's how we solve it.
The Savior Jesus Christ of Nazareth has declared that in
His name and no other name under having given among men by which
we must be saved. Are you saved?
I'm a good boy. Good boy.
Ain't going to cut it. I pay my taxes.
Wonderful. I didn't commit murder.
Have you hated your brother in your heart?
According to this Kingdom, that's murder.
Well, I've been faithful to my wife.
Have you ever even thought for a moment of another woman who's
not your wife? You're an adulteress.
You're an adulterer. There is no way to escape
concerning the standard of holiness.
Every single one of us have fallen short of the glory of
God. Think with me now of a chasm.
Here's this chasm, Here's you and I with the rest of the
world, and here's God's holiness and His presence, and here's
this big gap in between, and here's how we justify our
holiness. Here's one person who runs, and
he makes a leap, and he comes very close to the edge of God's
presence. And then you have others here
who fall in the midway point or fall right away.
No matter where you are on the spectrum of your morality, the
Bible declares we have all fallen short of the glory of
God. So don't compare yourself to the
next person, because as close as you think you are to your
neighbor in comparison to your neighbor, to your wife, or to
your children or to your boss, we all fall.
And Christ comes and he builds a bridge through the cross, where
if you realize that you, with your silly little moral legs,
can't plunge yourself further enough to reach him and to
simply take the path that he's called you to take in Christ,
that's how you're saved. That's how you know forgiveness
of sin. And so if you're not a believer
in this place, I encourage you from the bottom of my heart.
This is not reserved for you. This is reserved for those who
have walked on that path and have crossed the way of
justification by faith. And so we ask that you just
observe You're free to remain. Please don't take this the wrong
way, but this is something that Christ instituted for His
church. Those who have been purchased by
His blood, believer in this place, rejoice.
And knowing that your performance is not what gets you
God's favor. It's what the Son of God has
done. And as we come here, we remember
His body and His blood. He is the ransom.
You are forgiven forever, You know recently.
Can I just be transparent? I don't know if this will
encourage you, Encourages me more and more.
I get excited about the Lord's table.
I found myself excited about the first Sunday of this month
because I just want to come and rehearse his forgiveness again.
I need it. You need it.
I'm forgiven. I'm forgiven.
I'm saved. I'm redeemed.
It's done. I've been perfected for all
time, though I am still being sanctified.
Hebrews 1014. And so we're going to sing a
song in a moment. If the praise team can come at
this time, we're going to sing a song as they did sang a hymn at
the Last Supper before the betrayal of the Son of God.
And then we will partake after Pastor Benna shares a few words.
But as they Let me pray and then you guys can come.
Lord, we do thank you for this word.
A reminder, yes, but a reminder that we always need.
You were the perfect servant, and you've reminded us again
what greatness looks like in your eyes.
We want to be great before the Lord or forgive us of our
ambition. And our motives was to be great
before our elders, to be great before Christians, to be great
on the charts for Christian radio, whatever it may be.
Lord, we ask that you would cleanse us from all false
ambition and bring us to the simplicity of our devotion to
you to be great before Christ and now Lord.
We put that aside, and we remember that we've been saved
by Your blood. As we sing these truths, may we
remember in a holy way of who we were and how you've redeemed us.
Who we could have. Been If you didn't redeem us so
that we can offer you the proper due for your great sacrifice in
Jesus name. Amen.
Praise theme please. You can stand with us, please.
As we worship the Lord. I'll just meditate on His love,
meditate on His sacrifice, and we will eat together soon.