I want you to turn with me, please, to Mark's gospel, chapter 10. The gospel of Mark, chapter 10. And I want to read with you a very sad, lamentable circumstance and event. in the lives of two of our Lord's disciples.

Honestly, I don't think if you read of Peter's betrayal, his denial rather, and the forsaking of the disciples, David's adultery, Abraham giving Sarah to be another man's mistress. I don't think there's a sadder, sadder event in all the lives of God's saints recorded in scripture than that which is our text this evening.

Mark chapter 10 verse 35, James and John, the sons of Zebedee come unto him saying, if you read Matthew's account, Matthew says their mother came. Mark cuts to the chase. And he does so because obviously they put their mother up to making the request. And so Mark just says they're the ones who ask. They came to the Savior saying, Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire. And he said unto them, what would you that I should do for you? And they said unto him, granting to us, that we may set one on thy right hand and the other on thy left in thy glory.

But Jesus said unto them, you know not what you ask. Can you drink of the cup that I drink of and be baptized with the baptism that I'm baptized with? And when you read their answer, you'll realize that their question wasn't too surprising after all. This is what they said. The master said, can you drink the cup I'm going to drink up? Can you be baptized with a baptism I'm going to be baptized with? And James and John said, we can. What a statement. Yes, sir, we can do that.

And Jesus said unto them, you shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink up. And with the baptism that I am baptized with, with all shall you be baptized. But to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared.

When the ten heard it, They began to be much displeased with James and John. They were mad. They were upset. And Jesus said unto them, or said, Jesus called them unto him and saith unto them, you know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles, that is those who exercise authority and lordship over the nations of the world, the unbelieving, That's what the Gentiles represent. Folks out there in the world, you know those who rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them and their great ones exercise authority upon them.

But so shall it not be among you. But whosoever would be great among you shall be your minister. Now that word minister doesn't mean preacher. It doesn't mean The one who'll be great among you shall be the pastor. That's not what it means at all. The word minister simply means servant, servant. As a matter of fact, if you go to Great Britain or go to any of the British islands, wherever they have their various orders in government, rather than having a secretary of the state, they have the minister of state. Rather than having a secretary of the interior, they have a minister of the interior. It means a servant of the interior, a servant of the people. And the word minister here simply means servant. It's the word from which we get our word deacon. It's a servant, one who serves.

And whosoever of you will be the chiefest shall be servant of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

Now listen carefully. The introductions, as important as the message, I want you to get them both. James and John were true believers. They were born of God. They truly loved the Lord Jesus Christ. They were men who truly walked by faith. But they were terribly ignorant of some very important basic gospel truths. And their ignorance and pride made them very ambitious.

They came to the Lord Jesus and made this prayer. They said, Lord, when you sit on the throne of your glory, when you come into your glory now, They presumed that the Lord Jesus was about to establish an earthly kingdom with Israel being the top-notch dogs in the kingdom. They said, now when you come and sit in your kingdom, you sit in your glory, would you let it come to pass that I sit here on your right-hand side and my brother sits over here on your left-hand side? Let us be the top dogs in your kingdom.

And our Lord said, you don't know what you're asking. He said, can you be baptized with the baptism that I'm to be baptized with? He's talking about his sufferings and death. He's talking about what he must endure as I substitute in theirs. Can you drink the cup that I must drink, the cup of woe and the cup of wrath that I must drink? And they made this glaringly presumptuous statement. We can. We sure can. That's no problem. We can handle that.

It reminds me of the children of Israel when Moses came down with the Ten Commandments and gave the law of God. They said, well, we'll do that. That's no trouble. We can handle that. And these disciples, they heard our Lord ask this question and without even a moment's thought, they said, yes, sir, we can do that. Nothing's going to hinder us from following you. Nothing's going to keep us from you. Nothing's going to overcome us. We know that we're going to continue and no trouble out yonder can stop us from going the way we're going.

Now these disciples were not only seeking good and great things for themselves, or what they imagined to be good and great, but in the process, they sought superiority over the other apostles. There were just 12 of them. And two of them came and said, Lord, make us be the best. Make us be big shots. Make us to be top dogs in your kingdom. And when the other 10 apostles heard about that, They were very displeased as well they might be. Why should you fellas presume to think that you deserve to be top dogs in the kingdom? Why should you fellas presume to think that you deserve more than we do? We're all his disciples. We're all saved by his grace. We're all accepted in him.

Now I say again what a sad, sad picture this is. These two apostles of Christ were seeking great things for themselves. And yet it's something that shouldn't astonish us too much, because what they expressed is but a reflection of what's in our hearts, yours and mine, constantly. Pride, all the haughty, self-serving, self-adulating, self-congratulating pride that causes us, in our opinions, to exalt ourselves above one another. God forgive us, but it is a reality. It is a reality.

Now there are several things clearly taught in this passage, and I'm going to concentrate on just one of them, but let me give you these things. First, Certainly this passage is intended by the Holy Spirit to remind us that genuine believers, genuine believers, very often are ignorant of very important spiritual truths. Genuine believers very often are ignorant of very important spiritual truths. At the risk of embarrassing Ron, we were talking about it just a little bit ago. Don't say how men can believe this is inconsistent with anything. Here are two men, Ron, who were apostles of Christ. I mean, they, these fellows were Nachitu above us. They were, they were chosen apostles of Christ, but they did not understand the spiritual nature of his kingdom, though he plainly told them. They did not understand at the time what he was going to suffer at Jerusalem.

He plainly told them he was going up to Jerusalem, he was going to suffer and die, he'd be delivered into the hands of the chief priest from them into the hands of the Romans, and he would be lifted up, and when he's lifted up, then he would draw all men unto him, and he said, I'm going back to my father. But they didn't understand it. They said, well, he didn't speak it clearly. Mary Magdalene understood it. He spoke it clear enough for her to understand it. When he was in Simon's house, she came with an alabaster box of ointment and anointed him for his burial in anticipation of him performing what he said he would accomplish.

These fellows were with the Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration when Moses and Elijah spoke to him concerning the death that he should accomplish at Jerusalem. But they still didn't understand. They still didn't understand.

Now what I'm saying is this. They trusted in Christ. They truly trusted him. But they had a lot to learn though they were themselves teachers and preachers in the kingdom of God. They had a lot to learn. And I stress this because I want folks to hear what I'm saying. I want you to hear it and I want others to hear it. I plan to write it down. and I plan to distribute it and send this tape out.

I just quit trying to decide how much a fellow's got to know before he can be saved. I just quit trying to decide that. I quit trying to decide that a long time ago. The issue is not what must I know. That's not the issue. The issue is not how much must I know. The issue is who must I know. That's the issue.

Though they were ignorant much about various things, about what our Lord had said He would go to Jerusalem and accomplish at the time, though they were ignorant about the spiritual nature of His kingdom, though they expected Him to come and establish an earthly kingdom in this world out of the nation of the Jews, they were men who loved Christ and knew Christ and they worshipped Christ. They knew Him.

The Apostle Paul, when he was about to be executed as the prisoner of the Lord, He said, I know whom I believe. He didn't say what I believe or how I believe. He said, I know whom I believe. Do you know who he is? Jesus Christ, the son of the living God. Jesus Christ, the all sufficient sovereign savior of whom you read just a little bit ago. I know whom I have believed.

Now, secondly, this passage is certainly given under inspiration of God, the Holy Spirit. to show us that genuine believers are also people with sinful natures, people who must constantly watch and guard against pride, self-esteem, and self-fedulation. Now, these things are so deeply rooted in our hearts that it is not rare for these who have come out of the world who have taken up their cross, who have forsaken their own righteousness and truly believe on Christ. It is not rare for them to be irritated and annoyed by a brother or sister who's promoted and honored above them. It's both shameful and sinful, but it's not rare.

These disciples They wanted the chief place, and their brethren were upset because they dared presume to ask it. They wanted to be exalted, and their brethren didn't want them to be exalted. That's what it amounts to. It's shameful. It ought not to be, but that's just the way things are. One of the writers I read today made a statement similar to this. I don't remember exactly what it was, but I jotted down the gist of it. He said, blessed is that man or that woman who can rejoice with a sincere heart when others are exalted and they are overlooked, passed by, and ignored. Now that's a blessed man, isn't it?

Listen to what Paul says. Hold your hands here and turn to Philippians 3. Philippians chapter 3. When I read that statement, I cried, God make me that kind of man. A man who can rejoice when somebody else is exalted, when somebody else is honored, when somebody else is magnified, and I'm just overlooked, ignored, and passed over.

Here in Philippians 3 verse 3, Paul tells us to have the mind of Christ. He says, let nothing be done through strife or vainglory. Don't do anything with the object and purpose in mind of bringing division between brethren or of exalting yourself and the two are exactly the same. All strife and division comes from pride and vainglory and that does, it does. And Paul says, don't do anything through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves. Look, not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

And thirdly, this passage here in Mark chapter 10 is recorded by the spirit of God, by divine inspiration. to teach us that the rule, the inspiration, and the pattern of all godliness is the substitutionary, sanatoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse 45. Our Lord says in verse 43, He said, now if you want to be great, be a servant. He says, whosoever will be chiefest, he shall be your servant. And then He gives a pattern, a motive, an inspiration.

You ever notice how that our Lord and his apostles, in writing the scriptures, in instructing us, in teaching the scriptures, show continually that every motive for godliness, every inspiration for godliness, every rule, every pattern, is drawn not from the law at Sinai, and not from the promise of reward or the threat of punishment, but rather from the example that Christ himself gave in his substitutionary work.

He says four. Even the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and give his life a ransom for many. The death of Christ was a ransom, a ransom paid to God's offended justice for the sins of his elect, a ransom for many for the remission of sins. And our Lord's death is the rule of our lives as we walk for his glory in this world. How should I live in this world? How should I behave? What should I do? What shall be the rule by which I live? The Apostle says, blessed are those who live by this rule, the Israel of God. And that rule is the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which we are crucified unto the world and the world unto us.

What is this rule? It is the rule, the pattern, the direction of Christ's substitutionary work. The Lord is teaching us here and he teaches us repeatedly through his word. That in all things, our pattern of life, our motive and inspiration should be to follow his example in his substitutionary suffering for us. In all things. In all things. Oh, what condescension. What humiliation. What self-denial, what self-sacrificing love, kindness, and service he freely bestows upon us. That's the rule of life. That's it. That's how we're to behave. Now then, let's look at what I want to get at. Our text also shows us that there is an ambition for greatness that is to be shunned. And in another sense, an ambition for greatness that is to be nurtured and cultivated. Clearly, there is a greatness to be shown.

In verse 35, these disciples asked the Lord to let them sit one on the right hand, one on the left in his glory. And the Lord said to them, you don't know what you ask in verse 38. But then our Lord clearly indicates that there is also a greatness that is to be cultivated. committed and nurtured. He says in verse 43, but whosoever will be great among you, as if to say, now this is something y'all seek after. Would you be great? Then let him be your minister. Whosoever would be chiefest, he shall be servant of all.

Now, the question I want to address tonight is this. What is true greatness? True greatness. I like to, well, not as much now as I used to. I get older and find I'm less intrigued by these things. But when I was younger, I used to like to study history a good bit. I get intrigued with the various characters in history, men who are esteemed to be great men. And we set up our heroes. We set them up, we have pictures of them, and we give praise to them, and we extol them, men who are great warriors, great generals, great politicians, great national leaders, great thinkers, and so on.

But that greatness, aspirations for that kind of greatness are altogether wrong, altogether wrong. Yet there is a greatness that ought to be sought by every believer. Let me see if I can make three statements, show them to you from the scriptures and profit your souls.

First, understand that it is perfectly legitimate that we should desire to be great. The whole question of ambition needs to be studied again, not in the light of pseudo-piety, but in the light of divine revelation. The whole question of ambition needs to be understood. Rex Bartley, sitting back there, is a cabinetmaker. I've watched his work. He works hard. He works hard at providing the very best you can do. And he does a great job. He makes great cabinets. And it's right that he should desire to be the best there is in the business. It's right that he should desire to be the best he can possibly be. That's only proper. That's only proper. It's right that he should give meticulous care to looking after details to be the best he can possibly be.

Now, in a biblical sense, There is such a thing as a spiritual, scriptural ambition. Ambition is not necessarily carnal. Look at it just purely from a spiritual aspect over in 2 Peter 1. 2 Peter 1 verse 5. It's entirely proper for us as believers to desire to be the best we can. We should seek to grow up in all things in Christ. In fact, we're commanded to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Look what Peter says here, now in chapter one, verse five of second Peter. Beside this, beside this, beside having escaped the corruption that's in the world through lust, beside being partakers of the divine nature by the new birth. Now that's fantastic. But Peter says, now fellas, you ought to seek more than this. You ought to seek more than that you just be the children of God, but rather that you be the best of God's children you can possibly be in this world. Look what it says in verse 5. Beside this, giving all diligence, all diligence, diligence, That means work hard at it. That means bear it in. That means give yourself to this. And to your faith, virtue. And to virtue, knowledge. And to knowledge, temperance. And to temperance, patience. And to patience, godliness. And to godliness, brotherly kindness. And to brotherly kindness, charity.

That is pile these things one on top of the other with great diligence. So that you as a believer seek in this world to grow up in Jesus Christ in conformity to him. You seek while you live in this world to conform your life to Jesus Christ your Lord.

Oh, what an ambition. Say, well, preacher, we believe that all of God's elect are going to be conformed to Christ. I do too. I do too. You know I do. We believe in divine predestination and we know that what will be, will be. I know that. I know that. We believe that we have imputed righteousness from Christ. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. But this text of scripture says that you must give diligence to walk like Christ. That's what it says. You must diligently apply to yourself everything necessary that you should walk in this world in the pattern of Christ in godliness.

You and I should never be satisfied with mediocrity in anything. Never. I want, by the grace of God, to be the best man I can be, the best husband I can be, the best father I can be. I want desperately to be the best pastor I can be to Buddy Dyer, best preacher, best teacher. I want desperately to be that to you and your families. But far, far, far more importantly, I want to be the best Christian, the best disciple of Christ, the best follower of Christ I can possibly be. I really do.

Isn't that what Paul wanted? Look over in Philippians chapter 3. And listen to what Paul says. He says, I'm not satisfied with any kind of mediocrity in spiritual things. He says in verse 8, or in verse 7, what things were gained to me? Those I counted but loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss. For the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them, but know that I may win Christ and be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith."

And then it goes further. He says, I count everything lost that I may know him. That I may know him in the power of his resurrection, O that I may know him in the fellowship of his suffrage, that I may so know him that my knowing of him causes me to be made conformable unto his death. He's talking about an entire surrender and submission and devotion to God.

All right, read verse 11. If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Now, wait a minute, Paul. You're the apostle born out of deuces. You're the apostle to the Gentiles. You're the messenger God chose and God anointed and God separated to the gospel to proclaim his gospel to the Gentile world. And you say that you want to attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Surely you've already attained. Not as though I had already attained. Either were already I perfect, but I follow after if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Jesus Christ.

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth into those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Let us, therefore, as many as be perfect. The word is mature. Now Paul's talking about a mature man. He's not talking about some teenage boy idly sitting around dreaming about being somebody great. He's talking about a mature man. Let as many as be mature be thus minded. And if in anything you be otherwise minded, God will reveal even this unto you.

It's perfectly legitimate to desire to be great. I stress that. But we need to see the difference between a desire to be great and a desire to be the greatest. There's a big difference. There's a big difference. You see, a desire to be great is a desire to improve myself, my character, my work, my attitude, all of those things. You understand that? A desire to be great is a desire to improve me. That's good. But a desire to be the greatest is a desire to exalt myself above you and put you beneath me. Now that's another story altogether. That's another story altogether. That's horribly evil. That's terribly, terribly evil pride, a spirit of haughtiness that ought never be tolerated.

Well then what is it that makes people great? Listen to this second statement. There is a greatness to be shunned and avoided carefully and diligently. The Lord God said in Jeremiah 45 verse 5, Seekest thou great things for thyself? Do you? Seek them not. Seek them not.

When I was the age of Ian Bartley, I had made up my mind I wanted to be a football player with fame and notoriety. Just like boys in Kentucky want to be basketball players with fame and notoriety. I had made up my mind. I was going to Appalachian State University. That's what I was going to do. Now I say to you, and I would say to my daughter, she's sitting here, and you, your brothers and sisters, don't seek great things for yourself. Don't set your hat for those things. Don't do it. Don't do it.

You see, that which the world applauds and calls greatness is not greatness at all. The greatness of the world has more to do with a person's clothes than with his character. And that ain't much greatness, is it? The greatness of the world has more to do with where you buy your clothes than it does with kindness and generosity. And that ain't much goodness. The measures of greatness that this world uses are things rather than goodness. And that's horrible. That's horrible.

I heard Brother Mahan make a statement down at Cherokee last year. I haven't forgotten. He said, God created us to use things and love people. But we love things and use people. And the world calls that greatness. The world calls that greatness.

J.C. Ryle, he said, among the children of men, he is thought the greatest man who has most land, most money, most servants, most rank, and most earthly power. Among the children of God, he is reckoned the greatest who does the most to promote the spiritual and temporal happiness of his fellow creatures.

True greatness is never, never, never what the world imagines it to be. Never. True greatness is never what natural men think it is. Never. True greatness is never what a carnal mind esteems it to be. Never.

But what is it? give you four or five things it's not, and I'll get to what it is. True greatness is not position. A man may be president of the United States and still be a very little, petty, peevish man. I like freedom and I like information, but I declare I think our society would be better off without some of the information the media gives us. I wish I didn't know so many things about the personal characteristics of men whom I was raised to recognize as great men. Because those men, for the most part, though they were powerful, though they were men who wielded great influence over other people, they were petty, peevish little things. Little things, just little creatures. Could hardly even call them men. Position has nothing to do with greatness.

I've known some truly magnanimous and great men, some truly magnanimous and great women who were uneducated, illiterate, illiterate and poor. I've known some great ones. Now they did not make a lack of education and they did not make being illiterate and they did not make poverty and ambition in life but that's what God and his providence had given them and they were delighted with God's providence.

One of the greatest human beings I ever met without expressing partiality of family and kin. One of the greatest human beings I ever met, Louelle Harrell. She's, oh, close to Hubert's age, close to it. Oh boy, what a jewel, what a jewel. What'd she ever do? She raised, I think, eight kids. has spent her life quietly serving God. That's all. What'd she ever do? She spent those years quietly serving the interests of a local church, and I had the blessed privilege of being her and her husband's pastor for nine of those years. That's the kind of greatness I'm talking about. The kind of greatness that is found in character, not in position.

Greatness is not worldly honor. Oh, we all like to see folks get their Nobel prizes and their gold medals in the Olympics. And we like to see folks get their blue ribbons and all that stuff. And we teach our children to strive after that boy, get some recognition, get some recognition. But I want to tell you something, very often the most popular people are the smallest people, very often. You don't have to answer, Terry, but I'll guarantee you some of the most petty, mean people you've ever met in your life in your circle of people are folks who appear to be the most popular with others. It's always that way.

The fact is the greatest characters in history were despised and slandered, imprisoned and slaughtered when they lived in this world. Their contemporaries would have nothing to do with them. Our Lord said in Matthew chapter 11 that among all that were born of women has never been a greater man than John the Baptist. You know what did with him? You know what happened to John the Baptist? Why Herod cut his head off because his daughter-in-law by marriage, or his stepdaughter rather by marriage, danced before him and stirred up the passions of his heart. He cut his head off.

The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Lord of glory, that man who is the embodiment of love, kindness, compassion, righteousness, and truth, men took outside Jerusalem and nailed into a tree. John Bunyan wrote Pilgrim's Progress, numerous other books, but Pilgrim's Progress is a book that up until just recent years was a part of required reading in every literature class in the United States for generations it was required reading. Pilgrim's Progress has been published in more volume than any other book ever printed in human history except the Bible.

Over in England, I was over there, I visited Bedford, they've got a museum erected to John Bunyan now. I mean, they've got a museum. The Church of England, who had that man in prison for 12 years after he died, built a monument honoring John Bunyan. But when he was alive, he spent 12 years in prison. That's when he wrote Pilgrim's Progress.

The exercise of authority and power, that's not greatness. Napoleon was a mighty man politically, but he was such a little man. I don't mean he was just little to look at, I mean he was little inside. Caesar, the Caesars were great men politically, but little men. Adolf Hitler, was a great man politically, powerfully, powerful man, one of the most powerful men in European history. But he certainly wasn't a great man. Nimrod was a mighty hunter, but he wasn't a great man.

What fools, what utter fools, a little bit of authority and power make of little people. Give a little man great power, or just a little bit of power, and it'll make a great fool out of him. Take a man, a man of character, and strip him of all power, and it won't change his character in the least. Not in the least.

Greatness certainly is not wealth. Some of the smallest, weakest, poorest people I've ever known in this world were people of wealth. Now, there's nothing wrong with wealth. There's nothing wrong with that. But I'm telling you, wealth does not produce greatness, and it is no indication of greatness.

The world, carnal minds, Always kowtow and kiss up and honor wealthy folks, always. I watch preachers. It's so pathetic. I've been places to watch preachers just, man, they'll bow and scrape before rich folks and act like they just can't possibly lay it on thick enough because they think maybe they might throw them a dime somewhere. And I watch people do the same thing. Oh, you know, he's from a wealthy family. So what? That don't mean a hill of beans to me. Oh, they got money. I don't care if they got all of it. There's no significance. That doesn't mean anything about a man.

I wrote to someone recently, well, it's been a while back. And I said, my concern for my daughter, my only concern, asking me about her prospects of marriage, what she wants, what she plans to do. I said, my only concern is not that she have a great income. I'm not concerned about that. God has fed her for 23 years. He'll keep on feeding her. I've never seen her run naked, never have seen her run naked. God will continue to clothe her. I'm not worried about that, not in the least. I'm not concerned. Honestly, I'm not concerned that somebody gonna break in over there and rape and murder my daughter. That doesn't worry me. I'm not concerned about that. She belongs to God. He can do with her as he will. And I couldn't care less when she marries. Honestly, I couldn't care less whether she marries a man who has a fat bank account and a secure job and great influence, or marries a man who scratches out of living by the sweat of his brow. I could not care less.

Oh, don't you think he needs to be educated? No. No. I just, I'm not concerned about that. Don't you think he needs a degree? I'm not concerned about that. I'm really not concerned. I wrote to this person, I said, I only have one concern. I hope in God's providence, he might be pleased to give her a man with whom she can worship God all the days of her life. And I'm not concerned about anything else.

Oh, don't you want to have this, have that? You know, it hurts to see kids scratch and do without. But I'm not too concerned about a scratch in doing that. God takes care of his own.

Wealth is no indication of greatness. It's no indication of character. And on the other side, greatness is not poverty. I was sitting in a restaurant recently and the dear young lady who gets this tape and listens to it, she won't be angry with me. She said to me, she said, well, I never wanted anything. I just want to be poor. Maybe I'll go here and serve a church. Maybe I'll do some missionary work with somebody or something. I never wanted anything. I said, well, that ain't much of an ambition. That's easy to achieve. It ain't hard to be poor. That's not hard. It's not hard to do nothing. That's not significant.

Some folks have the idea that somehow a vow of poverty is a vow of virtue, but nothing could be further from the truth. Nowhere do you see that taught in the scriptures. There's no more virtue in poverty than there is in wealth. Poverty is no more noble an ambition than great wealth is. I know some poor people who are truly, truly poor people. You don't have to have money to be proud and snobbish and petty and envious. You don't have to have money to be mean. I know lots of poor folks who fit the bill.

However, there is a greatness, That is true greatness. A greatness to be coveted and sought with diligence. Look at our text here. Whosoever will be great among you shall be your minister.

Now, greatness is an imparted quality. I know that. It's the grace of God that takes sinners from the dung heap of fallen humanity and exalts them to sit among princes. Greatness begins in regeneration when God gives a man new character. And yet greatness is cultivated in life. Our Lord said, whosoever will be great among you, truly great. Certainly our Lord's response to James and John implies that true greatness involves a willingness to share his cup of shame and suffering. When he answered them and he said, can you drink of the cup that I drink of and be baptized with the baptism that I'm baptized with? He's talking about greatness. He said, now if you would be great, you're going to have to drink of this cup of shame and sorrow. You're going to have to be overwhelmed with doing the will of God. Can you do that?

True greatness is a willingness to do what Christ did and suffer for His sake, even as He suffered for our sake. It is to be occupied with Him. It is to take his cup and be baptized with his baptism so that we willingly do what he's given us the ability to do, being overwhelmed with the glory of God. I believe that's what it is. True greatness must be measured by Christ himself. He's the standard. What is it? Well, it's self-denial. Self-denial for the good of others. He, for your sake, became poor. He stripped himself of the riches of his heavenly glory for your sake, so that you might partake of the riches of his heavenly glory. It's shame. Shame that is willingly endured for somebody else's benefit. For the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross for Merle Hart, and the joy was Merle Hart's salvation, despising the shame. What is greatness? Oh, that's greatness. Willing to bear shame and reproach of the worst kind for somebody else and doing it with joy.

What is greatness? It's suffering. Suffering that is born patiently for the glory of God to do the will of God. If we suffer with him, We'll also reign with him. We deny him, he'll deny us. What is greatness? Our Lord says it's service. Service performed in the name of God for the good of others. Again, J.C. Ryle put in words what I'm trying to preach to you so much better than I can. He said true greatness consists not in receiving, but in giving. Not in selfish absorption of good things, but in imparting good to others. Not in being served, but in serving. Not in sitting still and being ministered to, but in going about and ministering to others. The angels of God, wonder how they view things. I'll tell you this, they see far more beauty, far more beauty in the invested labors of faithful missionaries than in the invested money of self-made millionaires. We should too. We should too.

They take far more interest in the labors of the Weimars and Groovers and Clarks of this world than they do in the labors of the Nixons and Regans and Bushes and Carters and Clintons of this world. And we should too.

The angels of God are far more impressed with the sermons of a gospel preacher than with the speeches of the most highly reputed politicians in the world. They're much more interested in the prayers and alms deeds of a Dorcas than in the investments of a Rockefeller.

Oh, let us remember these things. There is an infinite mine of profound golden wisdom in this saying of our Lord's, study it well. It is more blessing to give than to receive. For it is an act of far, much, much, much, far greater greatness to give than to receive.

Truly great people, truly great people are men and women who enrich the lives of other people. That's greatness, Bobby. To enrich the lives of other people, men and women who leave the world, their little sphere of influence, in better shape than they found it. That's true greatness.