I've entitled this message, Sons
of Thunder. Look at verse 17 again, and James,
the son of Zebedee and John, the brother of James, and he
surnamed them Boanerges, which is the sons of thunder. James and John are the second
and third disciples of the 12 that the Lord chose to be apostles
and he surnamed Simon Peter and then he surnamed James and John,
the sons of thunder. This seems to point to a fiery
and sometimes destructive zeal, which could come on like a thunderstorm.
Let me show you this in Luke chapter nine. beginning in verse 51. And it
came to pass when the time was come that he should be received
up, talking about into heaven. He steadfastly set his face to
go to Jerusalem. He was on his way to the cross
and sent messengers before his face. And they went and entered
into a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him. And they
did not receive him because his face was as though he would go
to Jerusalem. And when his disciples, James
and John, the sons of thunder, they loved Christ. And they were
upset that there was somebody that wouldn't receive him. They
were angry. Now there's a mixture of love
to Christ, zeal for his glory, but there's something else going
on here. I think this is where they get this name, sons of thunder. And when his disciples, James
and John, saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command
fire to come down from heaven and consume them, even as Elias
did? Now, they loved their master,
but look what the Lord said about this. Verse 55, but he turned
and rebuked them, saying, You know not what manner of spirit
you are of. For the Son of Man is not come
to destroy men's lives, but to save them. So we see this mixture
going on here. They love Christ. And they were
upset that these people didn't receive him, but they took a
wrong turn. They wanted fire to come down from heaven and
consume them. Now, James and John were a part
of that inner circle. Peter, James, and John. And James is actually mentioned
before John, and he could have been the second most influential
of the 12. Maybe Peter was first, James was second, but this is
that inner circle. And it was these three that were
called into the house to witness the Lord raising that little
maid from the dead. He didn't call anybody else to
do that. He didn't ask the other nine, just these three. It was these three who were called
up to witness the Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration. The
other disciples were not allowed to see this, but these three
were. And when the Lord was going to
the Gethsemane's garden to pray, who were the three that he brought
with him to pray with him and watch with him? James and John
and Peter. Now, James was the first apostle
to be put to death. Acts chapter 12, now about that
time, Herod the king stretched forth his hand to vex certain
of the church, and he killed James, the brother of John, with
the sword. He was the first disciple to
be put to death, and because he saw it pleased the Jews. The
Jews were pleased by this. They despised James. They despised
the message he preached, and they were real happy he was put
to death. He was the first martyr of the disciples, and John, interestingly
enough, is the only one who wasn't martyred. He was banished to
the Isle of Patmos, lived to be very old. He wrote the last
revelation when he was probably a hundred years old. He wrote
the Gospel of John. He wrote 1st and 2nd and 3rd
John. And I love the way John refers
to himself. That disciple that Jesus loved. That's what I want to be more
than anything else. That disciple that Jesus loved. Now the Lord mentions them together
as the sons of thunder. And I want to look at a passage
where they both come to the Lord and they both demonstrate themselves
in this character as the sons of thunder. And in this passage
of scripture, we're going to, with the, with the Lord teaching
us, we're going to learn some glorious gospel truth through
this passage of scripture. Now we need to turn to Mark chapter
10. Mark chapter 10, verse 35, and
James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were pointed out several
times that Zebedee was their father. They were in a fishing
venture with him. And their mother was Mary, I think it's called
Salome or you've seen it in the scriptures, but she was one of
the three Marys that stood with the Lord Jesus Christ at the
cross. And so what a mother they had. And as a matter of fact,
in this passage of scripture, hold your finger there and look
at Matthew chapter 20, verse 20, Matthew chapter 20,
verse 20. Then came to him the mother of
Zebedee's children with their sons. I wonder if they put her
up to this. I don't know, but I know my mother
would have done this. I have no doubt about it. Then
came to him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons, worshiping
him and desiring a certain thing of him. And he said unto her,
what wilt thou? She said unto him, grant that these my two
sons may sit, the one on thy right hand and the other on thy
left in thy kingdom. I want these two boys to be the
two top dogs in the kingdom of heaven. That's what she wanted.
And I'm not so sure that they didn't put her up to asking this
and she was all for it. But go back to Mark chapter 10
and you'll see where James and John speak. Verse 35, and James and John,
maybe this was after their mother first kind of ran interference
for them, and maybe they were embarrassed to make this request,
and they thought it would be best if our mother did it first,
and they tried to play it the right way, but now they say their
part. And James and John, the sons
of Zebedee, come unto him, saying, Master, we would that thou shouldst
do for us whatsoever we shall desire. Now, I can tell you right
off the bat, that's foolish, isn't it? What we desire would end up being
worse for us. I have no question about that.
And the Lord taught us to pray. Our father, which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth
as it is in heaven. Not give us whatever it is we're
asking you. Such is their prayer. Verse 36, and he said unto them,
what would you that I should do for you? What do you want
me to do? Now the Lord knew what they were
going to ask, didn't he? As a matter of fact, he was in
complete control of this. And through them asking this,
we're going to learn a whole lot about the gospel. So I'm
so thankful for that. Every stupid thing any disciple
says, the Lord uses it for his glory and the good of his people.
He just controls and reigns in everything. I'm so thankful for
that because how many stupid things have I said? How many
stupid things have you said? Yet the Lord overrules them for
his glory and for our good. And he said unto them, what would
you that I should do for you? And they said unto him, grant
unto us that we may sit one on thy right hand and the other
on thy left in thy glory. We wanna be the two top dogs
in your kingdom. Now, this is done out of a partial
love for Christ and wanting to be with him. I mean, these men
did love Christ, and they wanted to sit on his right hand and
on his left in his glory. But there was also self-seeking,
self-serving, arrogance, pride, and a lack of love to the brethren. I want to be exalted over my
brothers. I want to have a higher position than them. Now, one
of the things this reminds me is this is the acting out of
the two natures. We have a nature that is just
as sinful as it was before we were saved. It's the same nature,
having the same wicked motives, the same sinful appetites. It's
there and it's seen in these men and they're wanting to exalt
themselves above the brethren. But these men also had a genuine
love for Christ. Verse 38, but Jesus said unto
them, you don't know what you're asking. You have no idea what
you're asking. Can you drink of the cup that
I drink of and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized
with? You see, for him to sit on the
throne, there's a cup he's going to have
to drink. And there's a baptism that he
was going to have to be baptized with. Now that cup that he had
to drink from, you remember in Gethsemane's garden when he said,
oh, father, if it be possible, let this cup pass for me. Yes, I don't have any doubt that
includes the wrath of God that he knew he was going to experience. But more than that, more than
that, this was the sins of all of his people. Now, you and I
don't understand this because sin really, quite frankly, doesn't
bother us that much. I wish it bothered us more, but
it doesn't. But the Lord knew what sin was,
and he was going to drink the cup of his people's sins. And just the thought of that
is what made him sweat great drops of blood in Gethsemane's
garden. Now, when you drink something,
it becomes in you, doesn't it? I drink this water. It's now in me. He bore our sins
in his own body on the tree. And I, every time I try to start
talking about the cross, I'm just confronted with the fact
that I don't have any idea what I'm talking about. I believe
what I'm talking about. I know what I'm saying. So, but do I understand
it? Do I comprehend it? No. But I
know that he was made sin. When he drank that cup, the sins
of his people became his sins and he drank it up. And oh, that baptism that he
was baptized with. The fire of God's wrath, he was
immersed in it. absolutely immersed in it, totally
separated from God. He had no communication with
his father at that time. His father forsook him because
those sins that were in that cup became his sins. And he looks at James and John,
and he asks this question. You don't know what you're asking.
Can you drink of the cup that I drink of and be baptized with
the baptism that I'm baptized with? And they give this incredible
answer. We can. We're up to the test. We can
handle that. Our love for you is such that
we'll go through anything for you. We're up to the test. We'll do whatever it takes to
sit on your right hand and on your left. Now, they had no idea
what they were saying. Here are the words that I thought
of, naive, stupid, arrogant, ignorant. These are the words
that we could use to describe their response. But here's what's
even more amazing. If I was the Lord, You ignorant,
proud, where in the world do you think that you can do this?
You're so sinful, so weak, and you're telling me you're up to
this. We're able, we're able, but look at the way the Lord
answered him. And Jesus said unto them, you shall indeed drink
of the cup that I drink of, And with the baptism that I am baptized
with, you shall be baptized. Now the Lord doesn't rebuke them.
And here we have what baptism depicts. I'm one with him. Both he that
sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of one. Paul said, I am crucified with
Christ. He didn't say it's as if I were
crucified with Christ. He said, I am crucified with
Christ. In the beloved, I went to the
tree. Now he says to these poor, ignorant
disciples like me and you, like them, you shall indeed drink
of the cup that I drink of. And you shall indeed be immersed
under the wrath of God with the baptism I am immersed with. Turn with me to Romans chapter
6. Now let me say at the onset,
before I read this passage of scripture, this is not talking
about water baptism. So don't even look at it that way. Water
baptism depicts this, but this is not talking about water baptism.
Verse three, know ye not that so many of us as were baptized
into Christ, into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his death. When he was immersed under the
wrath of God in death, we were too. Therefore, we are buried
with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised
up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should
also walk in newness of life. For if we've been planted together
in the likeness of its death, we shall be also in the likeness
of his resurrection, knowing this, that our old man is crucified
with him. that the body of sin might be
destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin for he that
is dead is free. And my marginal reading says
justified. He justified from sin. Sin's got nothing to say to him.
Now, if we'd be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall live
with him. Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth
no more, death hath no more dominion over him. How free is Christ
from death? utterly. How free are we from
death? Completely, utterly. For in that he died, he died
unto sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise,
reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but
alive unto God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, understand
this. The only reason Paul says, reckon yourselves to be dead
indeed to sin, because you are dead indeed to sin. And the only
reason he says reckon yourselves to be alive unto God, because
you are alive unto God, because you were in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what he's saying to
these fellas. He's saying, you shall indeed drink of the cup
that I drink you. The Lord can never be separated
from his people. You're going to drink of this
cup. You're going to be baptized with this baptism. Now, did James
and John know what they were saying when they said what they
did? I seriously doubt it. Maybe they did, I don't know,
but I seriously doubt it. I don't think they had any understanding
of what they were saying. but what gospel truth we're given
through this statement. I think of the, this is how close
the union with Christ and his people are, where he could say,
you're going to drink of this cup and you're going to be baptized
with this baptism. I think of that passage of scripture
in Ephesians chapter five, he that loveth his wife loveth himself. Now on a marriage basis, If you
love your wife, you're the one that's going to benefit from
it, right? I wish we'd learn that. But that's really not what
it's talking about. at all. When Christ loved his
wife, this union was so real that he was loving himself. When
Christ loves his bride, he loves himself. When Christ loves any
of his people, he loves himself. Now back to our text in Mark
chapter 10. Verse 40, but to sit on my right
hand and on my left hand is not mine to give, but it shall be
given to them for whom it is prepared. And who are those people? I don't know. I don't know. Don't
need to know, but I know who is going to be there. those whom
He prepared to be there according to His sovereign will. And the
Lord is also speaking of His subordination to the Father.
I don't know. I don't know. And this is how
somehow, don't ask me how to explain this, but as a man, he
didn't know. He knew only the Father knew. Now, verse 41. And when the ten heard it, they
began to be much displeased with James and John. Matthew's account
said they were moved to indignation. They were angry with James and
John. They were judging them for what
they themselves were guilty of. They thought they're trying to
exalt themselves above us. Well, they would do the same
thing. I think it's I think it's so interesting and sad is probably
a better word. But right after the Lord's table,
right before the betrayal of Christ, right before he went
to the cross, you know what was going on? According to Luke chapter
22, they were having a fight. Right after the Lord's table.
And you know what that fight was about? Which of them should
be counted greatest? That's the disciples. And they
were so indignant that these men would presume to take a place
above him when they were the ones who deserve this place.
That's what's going on at this time. They were angry. Verse 42, but Jesus called them to him. He doesn't say y'all get out
of here. He called them unto him. The Lord always does that. Every believer is always welcome.
He calls them unto him and saith unto them, you know how that
they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship
over them. And their great ones exercise
authority. Now this is the way of the world. One man has authority and power
over another. And that's what everybody wants.
I want to one up on somebody. I want to have some kind of advantage.
That's the way the world thinks. Somebody exercises authority
over another. Verse 43, but it But so shall it not be among
you. Now, I know that's the way the
world operates, but that's not the way my kingdom operates.
Ever. It shall not be so among you,
but whosoever will be great among you shall be your minister. And whosoever of you will be
the chiefest shall be the servant of all. Now, there is only one
way to attain greatness. And this is something that everybody
in this room ought to be striving for. The only way to attain greatness
is by being everybody's servant. Everybody's slave. That's the only way to attain
greatness, whosoever will be the chiefest, the first in rank
or honor will be the servant, literally the slave of all. Now, I wish I'd learned this.
It doesn't take great gifts to be great in the kingdom of heaven.
It doesn't take great talents. It doesn't take riches. It doesn't
take wealth. It doesn't even take an engaging
personality. All it takes is to be the servant
of all. All it takes is to be the servant
of all. And I couldn't help but think
of the words of one of our former presidents, John F. Kennedy.
Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you
can do for your country. Now that is the attitude of a
servant. That's not what a believer can
do for you, but ask what you can do for them. Every one of us, beginning here,
are far more prone to whine and to feel sorry for ourselves and
to see the faults in others and how mistreated we are. Now that
person will not attain to greatness in the kingdom of heaven. It's
only that one who is servant of all. Now look what the Lord
says, verse 45. For even the Son of Man came not
to be ministered unto, but to minister. He didn't come to be
served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. Now, I can't help but try to
imagine how I would have felt if I was in that group when the
Lord was washing their feet. How would you have felt? I would
have just had trouble with that. And if I had trouble with that,
the reason behind it is pride on my part. That's the only reason. But the Lord let them know that
he is the servant washing their feet. And here's what he did. For even the son of man came
not to be ministered unto, but to minister. And look at this
last statement. and to give his life a ransom
for many. The death of Christ, when he
gave up his life, was a ransom. It's very important. This word's
not used many times. I think it's only used two or
three times in the New Testament. But the death of Christ was a
ransom. That means a payment. You know,
when somebody's kidnapped and there's a ransom payment to get
them to be delivered, he was a ransom payment. Now, who is
this ransom payment to? People said, well, he had to
buy us back from the devil. That's blasphemous. No. This was a ransom payment to
the law and the justice of God. He paid that debt to set his
people free. The soul that sinneth shall surely
die. I've sinned in that cup that
he drank. My sins were in that cup. That's something to think about,
isn't it? My sins were in that cup that he drank, and he drank
my sins, and he bore them in his own body on the tree. They
became his sins. He died, and with that death,
he made the ransom payment. You see, in his death, he did
what me or you could never do. He satisfied God. God's law said, I'm satisfied. I don't need anything else. Don't
want anything else. Not looking for anything else.
The justice of God is satisfied. He doesn't have any sin for me
to judge. It's all been put away. This is the ransom payment of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And here's what's glorious in
thinking about this right now. The holy God of glory is satisfied
with me. Right now. If Christ died for
you, I wish I could describe how infinitely satisfied and
pleased God is with you right now. It's the blood of Christ
that accomplished that. And the last thing I want us
to consider is he gave his life for ransom for many. For many. Not just a few, but for many. Not for everybody, but for many. I'm thankful for this word, many. He shall not justify everybody
by what he did, but he shall justify many. He came to give his life a ransom
for many. Not all, but many. Now Christ died for the elect.
I want to say that as clearly as I know how. He died for the
elect. He died for sheep. He died for
his church. He died for those the Father
gave him before the world began. It's a group that is described
as many, but it is an exact number. He did not die for all men without
exception, but he did die for his people. Matthew 1.21, thou
shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save, he shall save
his people from their sins. Having made peace through the
blood of his cross by him to reconcile all things to himself,
by him I say, whether they be things in earth or things in
heaven, and you that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your
mind by wicked works, yet now, right now, hath he reconciled
in the body of his flesh to present you holy and unblameable and
unreprovable in his sight. That's this ransom for many. Now, this religious world, for
the most part, I would say, I don't know how much percent,
I'd be ignorant if I tried to give something like that, but
a whole lot of them. Even people who, most people
believe that Jesus Christ shed his blood for all men without
exception. Why, there are even people who
believe in election who say that he shed his blood for all men
without exception, which is one of the silliest things. I don't
even understand how somebody can believe something like that,
but they did. They did. Now, I want to give you six monstrous
implications of this teaching that Jesus Christ shed his blood
for every man to ever live. Now, if he did shed his blood for
every man to ever live, And some of those men are not saved, he
failed. His intentions were thwarted. He did not do what he intended
to do. If he shed his blood for everybody
and everybody's not saved, he is a failure. Now there is a
place called hell. The Bible teaches that. And there's
people in hell. And I guarantee you this, there's
nobody in hell that he died for. Everybody he died for must be
saved. Second implication, if Christ
died for all men without exception, and some of those men are not
saved, then his death doesn't save. His death does not save. If he
can die for somebody and they wind up in hell, his death does
not save. Something else is needed. Third,
if Jesus Christ paid for the sins of all men when he died
on Calvary Street, and some of those men end up in hell anyway,
God is not just. He is punishing for the same
sin twice. He's not having any respect to
what his son accomplished for that person. He's negating that
and punishing that person anyway. God is not just. Fourth, If God loves everybody
and wants everybody to be saved and gave his son to die for everybody
to ever live and died for all their sins, the fourth monstrous
implication of that is God's love is utterly meaningless. If he can love somebody and yet
they end up in hell, what does love do for them? Absolutely
nothing. It completely negates the love
of God. Fifth, if Christ died for everybody
and God intended everybody to be saved that he died for, and
if somebody is not saved, then God is no longer immutable. He's
mutable. He treats people differently.
At first he wants to love them and save them, and after that
he casts them into hell. God is mutable. He's not immutable. And the last
monstrous implication of Christ dying for everyone, without exception,
And some of those people wind up in hell anyway, that means
salvation is by works. There's something you need to
do to be saved. Now, those are monstrous implications. You see, we're not talking about
what people would call mistaken theology. We're talking about
another gospel. We're talking about a false gospel. But turn
this thing around. Lord's successful. Everybody
he intended to save, he saved. His death actually saves. Now,
I love that scripture in Romans 8, 33, who is he that condemneth?
It's Christ that died. Listen to me, the only hope that
I have that I'll stand in glory and be accepted by God is because
Christ died for me. Not because of anything I've
done, not because of anything I believe, but because Christ
died for me. His death saves, and God is in
fact just. He won't punish for the same
sin twice. That sin's been put away. And the very justice of
God demands the salvation of everybody that Christ died for.
The justice of God, the law of God demands it. It doesn't say,
Well, forgive him. No, there's nothing to forgive
him for. His sins have been put away. There are no sins. And God's love saves. Everybody
he loves, he saves. No exceptions to that rule. God's
immutable. He doesn't love somebody and
then send them to hell. His affections never change toward the object
of his love, and thank God salvation's not dependent upon my works.
It's dependent upon what he has done. Now, how can I know he died for me?
Well, the scripture says, this is a faithful saying, And it's
worthy of everybody in this room's acceptance and acceptation and
everybody outside of this room's acceptation. Everybody ought
to rejoice in this. This is a faithful saying, worthy
of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners. And if you fit that description,
he came to save you. and He saved you. Now through these sons of thunder,
and they're selfish. I don't know if anything, I guess
there's good in it because they love Christ. and wanted to be
at his right hand and on his left, but there was so much flesh
in it, so much self-seeking, so much pride, such a lack of
love for the brethren and trying to exalt yourself over your brethren. We could go on and on with the
problems with this, but what a glorious view we're given of
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ through these two sons
of thunder. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for the
gospel of your son, how we thank you for the saving efficacy of
the death of your son, how we thank you for its accomplishments.
And Lord, we ask that you would give us grace. To. Be. The servant. Of all. Lord, we would be great
in thy kingdom, but it would be what you would call great.
Lord, enable us to be servants of all for Christ's sake. Bless
this message for your glory and for our good. In Christ's name
we pray, amen.