What we have here is another lesson on greatness. It is evident the lesson on greatness
did not sink in with his disciples when they asked him who was the
greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And remember, he took that little
child and said, you know, except you become like little children
and not enter the kingdom of heaven. Well, evidently that didn't really
sink in. It usually doesn't sink in the first time with us. You know, I don't know how true
this is, but I was a man that was an educator. I heard him
one time saying, usually we have to be told things either three
times or seven times. before we finally get it, you
know, it registers. And you remember last week's
sermon, that was the third time he told them he was going up
to Jerusalem to suffer, to die, and to rise, and he would rise
again the third day. And here, this subject really
has to be dealt with again. And James and John get mama. This time, they bring her along
to get her to ask for it. These are grown men. I was reading
this, and I thought, these are two grown men, and they got their
mother to come and ask for them. How sad. How sad. These are two grown men, and
they got Mama coming up here and saying, will you talk to
him and see if he'll give us a place, one on the right hand and one
on the left. And our Lord, once again, He
lets them know and us know. The true meaning of greatness
is in serving. It's in serving others. And he uses himself as an example
at the end of it there, as he said, even as a son of man came
not to be ministered unto. If anyone deserved to be served,
he did. but he's the one who made himself
of no reputation, though he be equal with God, as it reads over
in Philippians. Though he be equal with God,
he made himself of no reputation, but he came in the form of a
servant, and he served. Remember one time he took a towel
and knelt down and washed and dried the disciples' feet? That's not an easy thing to do.
That's a humbling thing. That is a humbling thing to do. Verse 20. Shortly after this,
after he had told them about him going to Jerusalem, they
were going to Jerusalem rather. Shortly after this, the mother
of James and John said the children of Zebedee, which is talking
here of James and John, came to Christ to ask a certain thing. She had one request. She didn't come to know more
of Him, nor did they come to know more of Him, to learn, to
sit at His feet. They came to be exalted in the
kingdom. Now, they believed, they are
to be commanded in this, they did believe that He's the King,
and He has a kingdom, and He's going to come into His kingdom.
And what they wanted was one to sit on the right hand and
one to sit on the left hand. And when she came and she asked
our Lord this question, He says in verse 21, "...what wilt thou?"
And He's not asking for information. God never asks for information. But He asks that we may tell
Him what's on our hearts, or to expose truth. And he says
to her, what wilt thou? And let's note here the willingness
of our Lord to hear the prayer of his children, even if they're
misguided. Have you ever thought about praying
about something and thinking, have you ever thought, how do
I pray about this? How do I pray? Is this right
or wrong? How do I pray about this? Well,
first of all, He already knows. And just lay it before Him. Just
lay it before Him. And that's what she does. She
has a certain thing on her mind, and we know because we're reading
it now, that it was wrong, their attitude, all of it was just
wrong, because they were looking to be exalted in the kingdom
of heaven. There's one exalted in the kingdom of heaven, Jesus
Christ. There's one to be exalted. And she says to him, let my sons,
one sit on your right hand and one sit on your left hand. That's
a place of exaltation. That is a place of authority.
That is a place of power. Could they be saved and ask such
a question? I thought of that. Could they
be saved and ask such a question, such a proud question, to be
so arrogant as to say, let me sit here on this side and my
brother sit on that side, Could they be saved and ask such
questions? Absolutely. Absolutely. I like what one writer said.
I don't know where I got this, but I got this a long time ago.
I wrote it down. He said, like snakes, we continually shed our
old skin. And that's what they're doing,
shedding their old skin right now. We are not saved because
we said not. We are not saved because of how
much we know. We are saved because Jesus Christ died for us. And God called us by His grace.
He regenerated us. He's given us life in the Lord
Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ was raised again
for our justification. And Jesus Christ sits at God's
right hand interceding for us. I'm not saved because I don't
sin. I'm not saved because I ask stupid questions. I'm saved because
Christ died for me. I died in Jesus Christ. He's
my Savior. He's my Lord and Savior. And
let me say, He's my Lord and Savior in that order. In that
order. And he says to her, and I think
he does this, he's so gentle with them. You've got to realize,
this is God instructing His children. How do you instruct your children?
You know, when your children were little, when they were young,
and you were instructing them, you would talk to them, and you
would talk to them kindly. And that's how you would instruct
them. You said, well, now listen to me. You really don't know
what you're saying here, but let me instruct you here. Let's
talk about this. And he says, you know not what
you ask, and most of the time we don't. You know, Paul said
in one place, we preach in part, we know in part. And I tell you
what, we pray in part too. We pray in part. We don't really
know what we ask most of the time. I don't think we do. You
know, the Lord said to Jeremiah, and I like this, and this goes
good with what she's asking for her sons, what they want her
to ask. Seekest thou great things for
thyself? Seek them not. Seek them not. Our lives, our lives, I wish
I could have learned more of this when I was younger, but
our lives are to be spent in seeking the glory of God in every
part of it. Every part of it. And he says here, you don't know
what you're asking because to sit on my right hand or my left
hand, first of all, you've got to understand something of what
has to happen for me to even be in that kingdom, for God,
for Christ to even sit on the throne in that kingdom. There's
a cross He's got to go through. There's a cross He has to bear.
Suffering. And that's why he says there
in verse 22, can you drink of the cup that I'm going to drink
of? And can you be baptized with
the baptism that I'm going to be baptized with? Can you do
that? Can you drink, listen, can you
drink of the fury of God's wrath against sin? Can you drink of
that cup and survive, come back? Can you drink the gall of bitterness
that I'm going to drink? Can you drink that? Can you be baptized into the
death? The death that I shall be baptized
with, can you be baptized into that death? Can you be submerged
into that death that I'm about to die? He's going to die the
death of a criminal. He's going to die the death that
I deserve to die. He's going to take my hell. And
then he's going to die, the death of a criminal. He says here,
can you do that? Can you be baptized with the
baptism that I'm going to be baptized with? Can you satisfy
justice by your death? Yes, they said. Yeah, we can
do that. Oh, they thought, oh. Finally, a question we can answer.
Yes. We are able. We are able. This shows me that God does not save theologians,
He saves sinners. He saves sinners. Listen now, salvation is not
how much I owe. Salvation is not how much I know. It's who I know. It's the person
I know. Paul said, I am persuaded that
he is able to keep that which I've committed unto him against
that day. I'm persuaded he's able to do it. I'm persuaded
he's able to keep that. He's able to keep my soul. He's
able to keep me against that day when I stand before God.
That day when I die, He's pointing unto me and wants to die, and
after this judgment, He's able to keep me. It's not how much
I know, it's the one I know. You know, when you look at the
Gospels, and the Lord goes through, and He heals different ones,
And different ones, like these two blind men we'll see here
next week, Lord willing. These two blind men, they call
him Son of David. They believed him to be the Messiah.
What did that eunuch know? When he asked Philip about being
baptized, and that eunuch said, Philip said, if you believe,
and he said, I believe with all my heart that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God. That's all he knew. That's all he knew. Now, if you truly, from your
heart, believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, it's evident
God has done a work of grace in you. And I can tell you what's
going to happen. From then on, you're going to be taught of
God. For all thy children shall be taught of God. You'll know
the gospel. And you'll know the truth of the gospel. You'll know
the doctrines of the gospel. You'll believe it. When you hear
it, you'll believe it. Because God's given you hearing
ears. But they said, yes, we're able.
Well, he said, yeah, indeed, you shall drink of the cup I'm
going to drink of, and you shall be baptized with the baptism
that I'm going to be baptized with. First of all, we are all, all
whom God saves are partakers of his sufferings. When he died
on Calvary's tree, I died on Calvary's tree. When he suffered
the wrath of God, I suffered the wrath of God. That's representation.
Everything that he experienced, I experienced in him. Now, I
may not experience it in his flesh, but in Christ, as my representative,
I experienced the death, this death that he's talking about,
and this baptism that he's talking about. But also here, he said,
you're gonna drink of the cup I drink of, there's gonna be
suffering. You cannot be a believer and
never suffer for the gospel. Every one of the apostles, except
for John, he was exiled, and the others were martyred. They
all were martyred. They say Peter was hanged upside
down, and I think James, he was beheaded, and all these different
things happened to them, but they were martyred. Yes, they,
he said, you're gonna drink of the cup that I drink of. But
not, now listen, but not to the extent that I'm drinking of it,
because the wrath that I'm experiencing, that I'm going to experience,
the death I'm going to experience is at the hands of God. The suffering
you're going to experience is going to be at the hands of men.
Big difference. Big difference, suffering at
the hands of God, His wrath against sin, and just suffering at the
hands of men who hate the gospel. Yes, you're going to drink of
this cup, you're going to suffer. We shall suffer persecution for
His sake. There is no way into the kingdom
of God apart from the cross, apart from suffering. In this
life, He said, you shall suffer persecution. If you are honest,
if God has saved me, and I'm honest, and I will be, with men
and women over the truth, Now, hatred is going to come out.
It's going to come out. It is written in Philippians
2, it is given on behalf of Christ, it's given to you on behalf of
Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His
namesake. Suffer for His namesake. There's no entering the kingdom
of heaven without suffering. Look over in 1 Peter 4. Look in verse 12. Beloved, think it not strange,
concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you, as though some
strange thing happened unto you. But rejoice inasmuch as you are
partakers of Christ's sufferings." We are partakers of the blessings.
Can we not be partakers of the sufferings? "...that when His glory shall
be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy." Christ said, if they hated Me,
they'll hate you. They don't love the gospel anymore
now than they did then. But notice here He says to them,
let me get back here to verse 23. And He said unto them, You shall
drink indeed of My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that
I am baptized with, but to sit on My right hand, on My left,
It's not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom
it is prepared of my Father. Everything, everything in the
kingdom of heaven has been divinely prepared and fixed and cannot
and will not be altered. That's what he's saying. This is not up for grabs. We're
not corporate ladder climbing here. This is already being prepared
of my Father. It's already fixed, predetermined. It's given by sovereignty. Now
listen, those in the kingdom of heaven
and where God puts them, Like now, in the body of Christ, where
God has put you in the body of Christ, He has me here standing
as the pastor. And He has you in your place,
in the body of Christ. That is totally done by divine
sovereignty. That's not done by, well, this
one here has more talent. This one has more gifts and talent. You know, he's a better speaker
than, no. And God doesn't call men because they're good speakers. God does not need what A.D. Mews called my natural talents. A.D. Mews said God has to kill
our natural talents before he uses us. I believe this because I went
to the preacher school at Henry's for two years back 1980, 81,
82. And one of the things that I
learned, and I think it's one of the most valuable lessons
God taught me, in that time there, I learned
I could not preach. I learned I could not preach.
I thought, what am I doing here? I couldn't tell you how many
times I drove home, I mean, in tears saying, why am
I doing this? I can't preach. I don't know what I'm doing.
But when I started that class, I thought I could. I was like,
I can do this. This is what they say. Yeah,
we can do this. We can do this. I think one of
the greatest lessons that God will teach any young man is that
he can't do it. It's of God. Paul said, who is
sufficient for these things? God is our sufficiency. The man that's raising his hand
says, I'll do it. If you need anybody to speak
for you, I'll do it. I've had a couple of times, I've had people
tell me. I had one man call me one time
looking for a pastor. and he was wanting to put his
name in the hat. I thought, your name ain't going
in the hat. No. You're out looking for something. We don't put ourselves in the
ministry. God puts us in the ministry. Paul said this, God
makes us able ministers of the gospel and nobody else. All the schooling in the world
will not make you an able minister of the gospel. It takes God first,
and then He'll school you. He'll school you. He might send
you to school, but He'll school you. Listen, this place in the Kingdom
of Heaven is given by sovereignty and not special favors. God shows
special favors to no one. God is no respecter of person.
God has never put a person in a position because they just
have the ability for it. He puts them on purpose, for
a purpose, for His glory and the good of the body of Christ.
That's what He does. And we never use the name of
Christ to get favors from God. That's not why we use the name
of Christ. That's not why we ask in the name of Christ. We
ask in the name of Christ, recognizing His authority, recognizing who
He is, recognizing that we don't deserve what we're asking for,
but He does. He does. Using the name of Christ is not
name-dropping. That's why we need to be careful
when we use the name of Christ. Well, the other ten exposed themselves. They think, well, James and John,
that was bad. The whole lot was bad. Aren't
we a mess? Really, by nature now, we're
a mess. It is by grace all the way home.
It's by grace all the way home. The other ten became angry. Because
they wanted that. They were of the same spirit.
They wanted that position. I'm sure Peter's like, I'm better
than you guys. I've got more talent than you
guys got. It's like one time whenever I
was a plant manager. years ago at a place. They took
me. I was a machinist and became
a foreman and then they made me plant manager. And it made
some people mad. It upset some people. And there
was only one reason it upset them. They thought they were
a better manager than me. That's why it upset them. They
wanted that position. They were trying to get it. And these disciples here, they
show themselves But yet, here's the good news of it all, they're
still the Lord's children. I like that. I like to know that
you can act up and still be His child. It truly takes the work of the
Holy Spirit to humble us and make us to desire and take the
lowest seat in the house. He says here to them, and I'll
wind this down. But Jesus called them unto him. He says, it's
like saying, come here, children. Come over here. It's time to
go to school. It's time for class to start
now. He says, come over here, and he's going to start class,
and he's going to instruct. He homeschools his kids. And
he said, you know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion
over them. They want you to know who's the
boss. You ever work for anybody like
that? They're going to let you know who's the boss. And they that are great, they
think they're great anyway, but they that are great exercise
authority upon them. You go do this. I told you to
do that, dude. That's their attitude. But it's not that way in the
kingdom of heaven. It's not that way among you,
in the kingdom of heaven, among His people. But whosoever
will be great among you, let him be your minister, your servant. Let him serve you. You know,
that's what I'm doing. I'm serving the Lord's church.
I'm serving the Lord, but in serving the Lord, I'm serving
His people. "...And whosoever will be chief
among you, let him be your servant." See, this is total opposite.
This is the total opposite of thinking of natural men. Well, 99.9% of all people want
to be the boss. They just want to be, they want
to run the show. And they're not capable of running
the show. The reason, you know, I've learned this. One of the
reasons that business fails, probably the number one reason
that businesses fail, somebody got promoted to the point of
incompetence. That's what happened. And he just climbed up here,
well, the next thing you know, he's gone. He got promoted to
the point of incompetence. You know, in the scriptures,
there was captains of fifties and captains of hundreds and
there's captains of thousands. Well, captains of fifty couldn't
be captains of thousand. Not unless they took time and
trained and, you know, a process took place. But here in the kingdom of heaven,
the greatest among you is going to be the servant, the one who
serves. He serves your interest. He serves
God's interest. He's the servant. And our Lord
uses Himself as the example. Even as the Son of Man came not
to be ministered to, He came not to be served of men, He came
to serve. It says in Isaiah 42, Behold
My servant. Though He was equal with God,
He thought it not robbery to be equal with God. He made Himself
of no reputation. but he became a servant. Our
Lord became a servant. Everything He did, think about
this, everything He did, everything He did, He did for you. Jesus
Christ did not, He did not do one thing for Himself. You read
through the Gospels, you find any place where He actually did
one thing for Himself, nothing. Everything he did, he did for
the good of someone else, never for himself, never. He didn't
build a house for himself. He didn't buy land for himself.
He did nothing for himself. Everything he did, he did according
to the will of his father. He did for the good of others.
The scripture says, and I can't remember which scripture it is
in the gospel, it says, he went about doing good. When he would go from town to
town, he went from town to town for a purpose. And that was to
save someone, do something good for someone. And he's God. This man is God. God came into
this world and became a servant. He showed us true greatness.
God in all His glory, in all that He is, came into this world
and became a servant. God did that. Now, why would
it be hard for me to do that? God Almighty one day took a towel and He bent down. and He washed
His disciples' feet. God did that. God Almighty had no place to
lay His head in His own creation. God Almighty went to the cross
and took upon Him the sins of His children and put them all
away. God did that. God Almighty redeemed
us by His blood. That's what it says in Acts 20,
28, I believe. Paul says, you're redeemed by
the blood of God. God Almighty did that. Now, why
would it be hard for me to serve? He gives us Himself as the example
of true greatness. It's in serving, not being served. And what he's saying to them,
you need to get this out of your mind. You need to change your
way of thinking. You need to change your way of
thinking of greatness, because in the kingdom of God is total
reverse from the kingdom of men. It's serving, doing good to others,
taking care of others, and not serving yourself. May the Lord make us willing,
willing to become servants, not just receivers, but servants
in his kingdom. All right.