Let's turn to Matthew chapter
20. I'll ask the Lord to bless the
Word before we begin. Our God and our Father, we thank
You for today. Thank You for bringing us here.
Lord, we thank You for all Your mercies continually. showering your people with grace
and mercy. Lord, thankful that we have a
place to hear the gospel preached. Thankful we have a heart to desire
to hear the gospel preached. Lord, we pray for each of the
men here and each home represented, members of each home that grace
would be upon them. Bless Your Word and make Christ
be exalted in the hearts of each of Your people. Thank You, Lord,
for these mercies. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Now let's begin reading here
in Matthew 20. Verse 20, it says, Then came
to the Lord the Mother of Zebedee's children with her sons. This
was James and John and their mother. They came worshiping
him and desiring a certain thing of him. And he said unto her,
What wilt thou? And she said unto him, Grant
that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, the
other on thy left, in thy kingdom. But Jesus answered and said,
you know not what you ask. Are you able to drink of the
cup that I shall drink of and to be baptized with the baptism
that I'm baptized with? And you know there he's speaking
of the cross, what he would bear on the cross. And they say to
him, we are able. And he said to them, you shall
drink indeed of my cup. Be baptized with the baptism
that I'm baptized with. but to sit on my right hand and
on my left is not mine to give, but it should be given to them
for whom it's prepared of my father. And when the ten heard
it, the other apostles heard it, they were moved with indignation
against the two brethren. But Jesus called them unto him
and said, you know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion
over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon
them. But it shall not be so among
you, but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister. And whosoever will be chief among
you, let him be your servant. Even as the son of man came not
to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life
a ransom for many. Our subject is the greatest,
the greatest, Our Lord declares here that to be the greatest
in the kingdom of God is to serve. To be the greatest is to be the
servant. Even as the son of man came not
to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life
a ransom for many. Now, the sin nature that we're
born with and the sin nature that every believer still has
is pride. is pride. When the 10 heard this,
first of all, for James and John's mother to come there and James
and John and ask this was pride in itself, wanting to be the
greatest. And then when the 10, verse 24, when the 10 heard it,
they were moved with indignation against the two brethren. This
fired them up. They were mad about that. Now, it wasn't the fact that
James and John wanted to be exalted. That's not what they were angry
about. They were angry because James and John wanted to be exalted
over them. That's what they were angry about.
Pride is our greatest problem. It was the reason Lucifer fell
from heaven, why he revolted against God, I will be as the
most high God. I will exalt my throne. I will,
I will, I will. Pride's the root of all sin. It's at the heart of all sin. It's the cause of all strife.
Only by pride cometh contention. It's the cause of every war that
takes place in the world. Pride keeps sinners from seeking
The Lord. It's not sin that will keep us
from the Lord. The Lord, when he makes us to
know our sin, you'll come to the Lord. But it's pride. It's thinking we don't need him.
It's thinking we're righteous without him that will keep us
from the Lord. Even the apostles had this problem
of pride. In another place, they asked
the Lord, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Just
a few pages back in Matthew 18, they asked that, who's the greatest?
This was on their mind before now. Wondering who's going to
be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Now you think about
that. They came to the Lord Jesus and asked him that. This is the prince of life, the
God of glory, who came down to serve us and minister to us And
here some weak sinners being saved totally, entirely by Him,
come to Him and ask Him, who's going to be the greatest? Now,
you reckon who they were thinking about? Each one was thinking
when they asked who will be the greatest. They're thinking, will
it be me? Will I be the greatest? They
were true worshippers of Christ. The Lord had called them by His
grace. And He has shown them something of what they are in
their flesh. And they believed on the Lord
Jesus and they followed the Lord. But they were preferring themselves
above their brethren. And wanting to be exalted above
their brethren, they were commending themselves in why they ought
to deserve the highest honor. And to do that, you have to belittle
your brother. And that's what they were doing.
And that is just the fruit of our proud, sinful nature. It's still with us. I know you
hate it. I hate it in me, but it's there
and it's with us. It's with us. Now here's the
Lord's instruction in verse 25. But Jesus called them unto him
and he said, You know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise
dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority
upon them. But it shall not be so among
you. But whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister. Now the world's way is to be
served. And in the world's estimation,
whoever it is that's being served, they're the greatest. Whoever's
sitting at the table being served, they're the greatest. And the
princes of the Gentiles rule over men, and they demand to
be served by men, and that's how the world operates. But our
Lord said here, it shall not be so among you. He didn't say
it ought not be. He said, it shall not be so among
you. The Lord will humble his children. He will humble us.
It will not be so among his people. Verse back there in Matthew 18.
Let me just read this to you. He called a little child. They asked him this question,
who will be the greatest? And he said, verily, I say unto
you, he called this little child and set him in the midst. And
he said, verily, I say unto you, except you be converted, turn
from this prideful notion of being great, being the greatest,
except you be converted and become as little children, you should
not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble
himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom
of heaven." That's our Lord's instruction to them. Now, to
be great in the kingdom of heaven, he said, is to serve, is to minister,
is to serve our brethren. He said, whosoever will be great
among you, if you have a desire to be great, then be the least
and serve." That's what he's saying, serve, serve. He says
through Paul in Philippians 2, 3, let nothing be done through
strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other
better than themselves. He said through Paul in Romans
12.10, be kindly affection one to another with brotherly love
in honor preferring one another. In other words, preferring the
other to have the honor rather than self. That means to lower
ourselves to the weaknesses and infirmities of brethren. It means to cover their sins,
That means to relieve their needs, to rejoice in their prosperity,
to be compassionate when they're in distress, to overlook their
unkindness, to forgive one another, be helpers of one another's joy
by speaking of Christ and his finished work to one another.
It's the spirit of that woman who came, like Mary, who came
and and fell down at his feet and washed his feet with her
tears and dried her feet with her hair like the one who came
and took that box of ointment and broke it open on his feet
to anoint his body for the burial. And the Lord said, she did what
she could. She did what she could. Now you
just imagine when she came in there, when they were in Simon's
house, the Pharisee's house, and she came in there, that woman
that was a known sinner and fell down at his feet, crying and
washing his feet with her tears and drying them with the hair
of her head. Think about how people in that
room must have felt about what she was doing. If you saw somebody
come in and fall down at somebody's feet and start weeping, and just
at their feet, Simon looked at her and said,
I mean, he was so proud. This is a sinner doing this.
He must not be a profiter. He'd know what kind of woman
this was. But see, that was, her heart was broken. Her heart
was broke and she fell down at his feet. And when Judas criticized
the one that brought the box at one point, the Lord said,
leave her alone. He said, she's done what she
could. That's how the Lord says to his people to do. He don't
require you to do what you can't do. He don't give all the same
measure of grace. He doesn't give everybody the
same gifts. He doesn't give everybody the same ministry. And he doesn't
ask you to do anything you can't do. He says, do what you can. Do what you can. Now, the example here, the Lord
gives in verse 27, Matthew 20, 27. He said, whosoever will be chief
among you, let him be your servant, even as the son of man came not
to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life
a ransom for many. The Lord Jesus is the example. He's the pattern
here. And you know, the Lord God said
this in Isaiah 66 too. He said, to this man will I look. even to him that is of a poor
and a contrite spirit and trembleth at my word." Preeminently, who
is that? That's the Lord Jesus. That's the Lord Jesus. He said,
I'm meek and I'm lowly in heart. That's him. The Son of God is
the one who humbled himself lower than any man has ever humbled
himself. He became a servant like no other
ever became a servant. Go over to Philippians 2 and
let's read it. Philippians 2. It says in verse 6, He was in the form of God Now
he needed nothing, brethren. He needed nothing and could be
given nothing. He's God. He's self-sufficient,
holy God. Totally separate from us. Totally
separate from us. He's God. It's not robbery for him to be
equal with God, but he made himself of no reputation. That's what
That's what James and John were asking. They wanted to be made
of reputation in the kingdom of heaven. He made himself of
no reputation. He took upon him the form of
a servant. That's what the Lord said, he
that will be greatest let him serve, even as the Lord came
to serve his people. He was made in the likeness of
men and being found in fashion as a man. He humbled himself
and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Now hold your place right there
just a minute. You think about this, that Christ esteemed his
father better than himself. He did this for his father. He's
serving his father. He esteemed his elect better
than himself. He was better than us in every
way. In every way. We're sinners. And yet He esteemed us better
than Himself. That's what Paul's getting at
when he says, let this mind be in you which was in Christ. He esteemed the Father and desired
the Father to have the honor so much, and he esteemed his
brethren so highly, that he was made a curse for both, for God
his Father and for his people. Christ made himself the absolute
least. He said the Son of Man came not
to be ministered to, but to minister and to give his life a ransom
for many. Now I just spoke about what it
means to serve one another. What was he doing in serving
us? He was coming down to our weaknesses and our infirmities. He was covering our sins. He was relieving our needs. He
was rejoicing in our prosperity. He was compassionate toward us
in our distress. He was overlooking our unkindness. Think of how unkind that was
to come to him, who had come from glory and was doing this.
We didn't have to go anywhere. He came to us and came to us. And then we were exalting ourselves
over him saying, who will be the greatest in the kingdom of
heaven? He's forgiving his people. He's
been a helper of our joy, declaring Christ to us, teaching us himself
that he's the righteousness of God that we must have. So he
took the form of a servant. He's ministering, he's serving
his people, his fallen, sinful, proud, wicked people, knowing
every thought in our heart, knowing everything about us, and he's
serving us. ministering to his apostles,
being merciful to their prideful selves, turning them from arguing
over who should be the greatest. Imagine if he would have said,
well, John, you're a son of thunder. Peter, you're impetuous. You
think that would have Stop this argument between them or you
think that would have fueled it. If he would have exalted one
over the other, it would have fueled it. If he'd have pointed
out the faults of one of them, or two of them, or three of them,
it would have exalted the others over that one. And that's not
what he did. He said, all of you, make yourself
the least. And serve the other. That's what this thing is of
declaring we're all sinners and declaring Christ is the greatest.
It's so that we're all on the same level. So we're all in the
dust. So that one's not being exalted
over another. So we see this is what we are. This is who he is. It's what
he's done for us. He took the form of a servant
to serve us. And then as he's doing this,
going along with them, calling them out, establishing his church,
then he gets to the end of this ministry. Now comes where he
humbles himself more and he becomes obedient even to the death of
the cross. Now is the time that he's going
to exalt God to the highest. Now's the time where he's going
to save his people from our sins. Now's the time when he's going
to that cross to give his life a ransom for many. It wasn't like, you know, somebody
kidnaps your child and they call and they demand a ransom price
and you go get some money and pay them. The ransom that was
demanded was life. It was his blood. And he came
to give his life a ransom for many. His life a ransom. Galatians 1.4 says he gave himself
for our sins. that He might deliver us from
this present evil world according to the will of God our Father,
to whom be glory forever and ever. Our Lord Jesus Christ gave
Himself willingly, freely, fully, faithfully. Our Lord Jesus Christ
gave Himself for our sins. We're not talking about children that are well beloved
and have reason to be honored and exalted in your pride and
joy. We're talking about sinful, rebellious,
shameful children. He came to give his life for
our sins, for our sin. And when it says he came to give
his life, he came to lay down his life in our place. He came
to give his body which is going to be beaten and broken and beyond
recognition. He came to give his blood, which
is the life, life's in the blood. He came to pour out his blood
because without the shedding of blood, there's no remission
of sin. We sinned and payment to God's law demanded we must
die. And he has to come and shed his
blood to redeem his people. And he's giving his, his very soul to God and suffer. He said, now it's my soul trouble. He completely, totally, thoroughly
gave His life a ransom for many. For our sins. We didn't deserve
Him serving us. We did not deserve Him serving
us. It wasn't like, you know, if
a server comes to your table and serves you because they think
they're going to get a big tip when you get finished. There's nothing we could give
him. He's given us everything. He tells us, you know, do for
those that can't do anything for you. Do things for those,
bring them to your table and feed them that you normally would
pass by and say, bring them to your table. They can't do anything
for you. I used to get in trouble because
I had a tendency to pick up homeless people and If they needed a ride
somewhere, I'd take them somewhere. But do for people that can't
do for you. Try to do something every day
for somebody that can't do anything for you. But especially for you,
brethren, he gave himself to be wounded for our sins, to be
bruised for our sins, to be chastised for our sin, and he did this
under the fierce wrath of God. This was the toughest part of
the whole thing, the most painful part of the whole thing. This
was before the God he loved. This is his father, and he's
bearing shame, the shame of sin he hates, and he is being forsaken in wrath by God. And he poured out his soul unto
death. He said, Therefore doth my Father
love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man takes it from me, but
I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down.
I have power to take it again. This is the commandment I received
of my Father. That means the Father gave him
this commandment. And our Lord, He had it within
His power. He didn't... Now, understand
what I'm saying. I want to say this carefully.
He entered covenant, so He never would not do what He entered
covenant to do. But I'm saying, He willingly
did this. He didn't have to lay down His
life for us, but He did. And being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself and became obedient even to death,
even to the death of the cross. Now that's what Paul's talking
about when he says, you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes, he became
poor, that you through his poverty might be rich. And it was our Lord's humility
that fulfilled the righteousness of the law. This was love that
fulfilled the righteousness of the law. And this exalted God,
his father to the highest. Serving to the very least to
the death of the cross, exalted his father to the highest. Here
you have the least and the highest right here. Him serving, making
Himself the least and exalting the Father to the highest. Now
look what God did there in Philippians 2.9. Wherefore God also hath
highly exalted Him. They asked who will be the greatest
in the kingdom of heaven? Wherefore God also has highly
exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every name. That
at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow of things in heaven
and things in earth and things under the earth, and every tongue
shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the
Father. There's the greatest. There's the greatest. By that
work of redemption, every chosen child of God has been redeemed. We are ransomed. We are His purchased
possession. his purchased possession. So
the Son of God is not only the great example of self-denying
love and service. He, by the sacrifice of himself,
bought us so that we'll never die. We'll never perish in our
sin. The ransom price was his precious
blood. You know you were not redeemed
with the corruptible things of silver and gold. but with the
precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish and without spot,
in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of
sins according to the riches of his grace. The many are God's
elect, chosen, and precious, as many as God the Father ordained
to eternal life. And so our risen Redeemer, he's
there now, and you know what he's doing still? He's still
serving us. He's still serving us. Oh, His
work's finished. His work of redemption's finished,
but He's still serving us. He served us when He sent us
this gospel, and I pray He's sending it to us today. He served us when He delivered
us by the new birth. He served us every hour of every
day. before we knew him by keeping
us. And since we've known him, he's
still serving us by keeping us and forgiving us and ministering
to us through the gospel, through his word, through his spirit. And he's going to minister to
us again. He's going to deliver us when
he returns. And, and this is, this is, I
never, I can't, I love this. He told them, you're gonna sit
at my table in my kingdom, and I will serve you. Talk about a lack, a total absence
of pride, a total absence of sin, nothing but love. The king,
the king of kings and Lord of lords, gonna sit you and me down
at his table. And he said, I'm gonna come forth
and serve you. That's how God gave us a new
heart. That's how he gave us a broken and contrite heart.
That's how he keeps doing it. We get so proud. We know everything. And he says, why don't you become
a fool that you really might be wise? We don't like to hear
that. And we're too proud for that. But he makes us fools. He makes
us fools. You thought it was going to be
one way and he'll turn it on its head. He humbled himself under God's
mighty hand to the point of being the very least. And when he cried
out to the Father and he finished everything, in due time, the
Father exalted him. Because he highly exalted the
Father. Now, this is what he's teaching
us, brethren. 1 Peter 5. Peter was there that
day. He had the same problem they
all had. Here's what he's telling us right here. He told the chief shepherd, I
mean the shepherds, the pastors, he tells them to feed the flock. He said, take the oversight,
not by constraint, but willingly, not for filthy lucre, but of
a ready mind, neither being lords over God's people, but being
examples to the flock. And when a chief shepherd shall
appear, you shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
This is so of all of his people. And he says to the younger, submit
yourself to the elder. Submit yourself to the elder.
He says, all of you be subject one to another. Submit to one
another. Be clothed with humility. For God resisted the proud and
gives grace to the humble. God loves humility. He loves
humility. Look at our Redeemer. Humble
yourselves, therefore, unto the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due
time. The Father sent His Son, and
His Son did that. He submitted Himself to the mighty
hand of God. And in due time, God the Father
exalted Him. And He says to us now, let's
submit to Him. And in due time, God will exalt
you. Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you."
So if we'd be the greatest, He says, make ourselves the least
and serve and minister to brethren. Because that way up with God
is always down. The way up is down. And so as
He grows us in grace, He's growing us up into Him. But He's doing
it by growing us down in ourselves. And in due time, He'll exalt
you. In due time, He'll exalt you.
And you know this, when He exalts you, we're not going to want
to be the greatest. There won't be any thought then
of being the greatest. We're going to want Him to be
the greatest. And we're going to praise Him. All right. Father, we thank you
for this word. Thank you for sending your son
and working this work for us. Lord, be merciful to us as you humble
us. We ask you, Lord, to remember
mercy as you humble us. Thank you, Father, for this ransom that you've paid
in your son. We ask you, Lord, to quicken
our hearts. Call out your sheep. Make us behold Christ the greatest. Lord, make us to really see ourselves
as the least. And Lord, help us to serve, help
us to minister to one another. Help us to look to you and see
how you minister to us. And help us to minister to one
another. In Christ's name we ask it. Amen.