And, oh, this one of my friends,
you walk around like a television. Let me tell you a story, and
this story has a moral. You know, every parable that
our Lord taught had one primary lesson, which he was one primary
spiritual lesson, which he was instructing his disciples in.
And we can call that a moral. There was a moral to each of
his stories. And he gave this moral in or this parable in Matthew
chapter 20. And I don't want to read it,
but I'll just give it to you briefly. Here was the story. Once upon
a time, there was a wealthy landowner and this wealthy landowner went
out early in the morning to hire some laborers. He had a farm
and a vineyard. And he needed some laborers,
and like most farmers, he got up early in the morning. Farmers
do that, and went down to the town square to hire some help,
and he went at six o'clock in the morning. And there were some
men gathered together there who wanted jobs, and he said, you
want to work for me? And they said, how much you pay?
And he said, I pay a penny a day. Now back in those days, a penny
a day was one full day's wage. It was customary wages for a
soldier or anybody who worked for a merchant to make a penny
a day. A denarius was a day's wage. And he said, I'll pay you one
day's wage. And they said, that's fine. So
they went to work for him, six o'clock in the morning. Well,
at nine o'clock, he went back to the marketplace and there
were some men sitting there and he said, you fellows want to
go to work? They said, yeah, and he said, come work for me,
I'll pay you what's right. That's all he said, I'll pay
you what's right. So they went to work for him. He went back
at noon. He said, and there was some more
fellows sitting there, he said, how come you guys sitting here?
Why are you sitting around? They said, well, nobody's hiring
us. He said, well, come work for me. They said, great. He
said, I'll pay you what's fair. So they went to work. He went
back out three o'clock, same spot, And more workers, more
migrant workers or whatever, had drifted in and they were
sitting there. He said, how come you fellows aren't working? They
said, nobody will hire us. He said, well, I'll hire you.
They said, what do you pay? He said, I pay what's fair. They
said, all right, we'll trust you. So they went to work in
the vineyard. He went back out at five o'clock. And there were
a few fellows sitting there. He said, how come you fellows
sitting around here idle? They said, nobody will hire us. He
said, come work for me, I'll pay you what's fair. So they
did. Quitting time, whistle blew at
six o'clock. And the landowner talked to his
foreman and he said, go pay the man. But I want you to give them
their money, pay them from the ones, pay the ones that came
to work at five o'clock first, and then all the way down, and
then the ones that came to work at six o'clock way back in the
morning, then working all day long. pay them last, so he lined
them all up. And those guys who came to work
at five o'clock, they stepped up there, and the foreman, he
paid them a full day's wage. That's what they got for one
hour of work. Worked one hour, got a full day's
wage. And they were thrilled. Probably
the fellow went home and told his wife, said, we're going to
the mall tonight. Well, we're eating out tonight. Worked one
hour and got a full day's wage. That was the five o'clock workers.
And then the three o'clock workers stepped forward and they got
a full day's wage and they were happy. And then the twelve o'clock
workers, they stepped up and they only worked half a day,
but they got a full day's wage. And then the nine o'clock workers.
Well, back at the back of the line were the guys that went
to work at six o'clock in the morning and they saw all these
fellows coming out counting their money and they got a full day's
wage and they're saying, boy, Those guys got that much. We're
really going to get paid. We'll probably get double time,
you know, at least time and a half for all that we work. And there
they were back at the back of the line. They stepped forward
and the foreman paid them a penny, a full day's wage. And they were
disappointed. And they let it be known. And
they told the foreman, they said, this isn't fair. And the landowner
was standing by. He said, what was that? And the
guy said, that's not fair. He said, what's not fair about
it? They said, we've worked all day long. We've borne the heat
of the day. We've got blisters on our hands. We've worked ourselves
to death. And these guys came and worked. Some of them didn't work but
an hour, and they got the same wages we got. They said, you've
made them to be equal to us, and we don't like that. and the
landowner said well let's just read the scripture now you're
in Matthew twenty let's see what the scripture has to say. Verse. Ten. Now you know keep
in mind now that these five o'clock workers got paid first and then
the three o'clock in the twelve o'clock if the guys working at
six o'clock had got paid first They would have left and never
known or seen the generosity of the landowner to the other,
right? Because they just got their money walked off. You know,
that's all the money I work for and so I will just go and spend
it. But they were at the end of the
line and they saw all these other guys getting the same amount
of wages. All right, look at verse 10. But when the first
came, they supposed that they should have received more. And
they likewise received every man a penny, a full day's wage.
And when they had received it, they murmured against the good
men of the house, saying, These last have wrought but one hour,
and thou hast made them equal unto us. That's the key statement.
It's one of the most key statements in the parable, is that statement
right there. Thou hast made them equal unto
us, which have borne the burden and the heat of the day. But
he answered one of them and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong. Did you not agree with me for
a penny? You got what you, you know, you signed on for a full
day's wages, that's what you got. He said, now verse 14, take,
take that thine is. Now you take your money. I will
give unto this last, even as unto thee. Now verse 15, is it
not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil because I'm
good? Do you begrudge my generosity?
Just because you're greedy and selfish, does that mean I've
got to be that way? Just because you don't want to share, does
that mean I'm supposed to be that way too? You get mad at me because
I'm generous? And then verse 16, so, the last
shall be first, and the first last. For many be called, but
few chosen. Now if you consider this parable
by itself, Matthew 21 through 16, just consider it by itself,
you're going to have a very difficult time understanding the moral
of the story. The moral of the story. Look
back at verse 1 of chapter 20. Verse 1 of chapter 20 says, 4,
the kingdom of heaven is likened to 4. For now it's a shame we're
so bound by chapters and verses now chapters and verses are helpful. I mean if Matthew had not been
divided into chapters I probably had to announce as my text go
to the two hundred and tenth paragraph of Matthew and we've
been forever finding it. So it's right helpful very helpful
that the translators when they translated the Bible from the
Hebrew and the Greek into the English they divided it up into
chapters and verses for us. And we're grateful to them so
that we can go to Psalm 23 and we don't have to look through
a whole massive group of Psalms. We know what Psalm 23 is. But
yet being bound by chapters and verses often hinders us because
we think that a passage is just isolated and stands on its own. And we sometimes tend to, like
this parable, if we just isolate this parable and lift it out
from Matthew 19, without considering Matthew 19, just pick out Matthew
21 through 16. We aren't really going to understand
this parable. We're not going to understand
it unless we realize what our Lord was talking about and what
the situation was back in chapter 19. Because there's a connection
here, and I'll show you there's a connection. Look at verse 30
of chapter 19. Watch verse 30. But many that are first shall
be last, and the last shall be first. Does that sound familiar?
Yeah. Look over here, verse 16 of chapter
20. See, we just read almost the exact same words. So the
last shall be first, and the first last. For many be called,
but few chosen. So there is a connection here
that we've got to make. In order to understand what moral
our Lord is teaching in Matthew chapter 20, the first 16 verses,
we've got to go back into chapter 19, find out what he's talking
about. So let's go back to chapter 19. And I'll tell you where this
whole thing begins. You know what a paragraph mark
is, don't you? A paragraph mark has two lines
and looks like a backwards looking P. Look back verse 27 of Matthew
19. See, that's a paragraph sign,
right? And it starts off with then. Well, we've got to go back
further than that, because this is continuing, because something
happened and then something else happened. Go back to verse 23.
It's another paragraph. Then said Jesus. Well, we've
got to go back further than that to find out the beginning of
this situation. And really, you go back to verse
16, because look at verse 15. And he laid his hands on the
children and departed thence. Now we're going to begin a whole
new situation, because there's a break in time there. See? He
departed. He goes somewhere else. And then
a brand new situation starts. So if you want to understand
Matthew 20, you've got to go back to Matthew 19, start with
verse 16, and understand all of that. Then you'll learn the
moral of the story. So let's go back. Look at verse
16 of Matthew 19. This is where we'll start. And
behold, one came unto him and said, Good Master, what good
thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?" Good Master, good
teacher he calls him, good teacher. Now this is a very wealthy, a
very moral, a very powerful young man. And he approaches the Lord
Jesus Christ and he says, Tell me what good deed, what excellent,
perfect deed I must do in order to earn eternal life. Now watch
how Christ deals with him. Verse 20, or verse 17, I mean. And he said unto him, Why do
you call me good? Why callest thou me good? There
is none good but one, that is God. And what he's saying, what
our Lord is saying is, if I'm not God, don't call me good. Because there's only one who's
good. Only one is good, that's God. And if I'm not God, I'm
not good. If I'm not God, I'm not good.
There's none good but God. And really, this ought to have
silenced the man. Christ said there's none good
but God. This man has just said, what
good thing must I do? This ought to have silenced him
right here, because Christ said there's none good but God. What
good thing can I do? Christ says there's nobody good
but God. In other words, you can't do any good thing. And
the fellow ought to have got the message then, but he didn't. So our Lord continues in the
rest of verse seventeen, but if you persist, you really want
to know. Our Lord says this, but if thou
wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. If you really want
to enter into eternal life of what you do, keep the law. There's only one of two ways
a man's going to get to glory. That's by being perfect himself.
Absolutely perfect. Inwardly, outwardly. Externally,
internally. Keep the whole law. Absolutely. Be obedient to the law. Or else,
find somebody else. Find somebody else who can keep
the law for you. That's it. Our Lord says if you want to
make it by your own goodness, You'd be perfect. You keep the
whole law. Keep the whole law. Well, verse
18, and he saith unto him, Which ones? Which ones? Moral law or ceremonial law?
Which ones? All right. Christ says, Well,
thou shalt do no murder. And our Lord quotes here from
the second table of the law. our responsibility to each other.
That's what he quotes from the second table of the law. Jesus
said, thou shalt do no murder, thou shalt not commit adultery,
thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, honor
thy father and thy mother, and thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself. You do all of that. Now, the Lord confronts him with the
law. And then this man says in verse
20, I've done all that. I've done all that. What lack
I yet? In other words, I've done all
those laws. Give me something hard to do. Give me something different.
I've been keeping all the laws that you've talked about since
I was just a kid. Give me a real toughie. Give
me something hard to do. This is a hard-headed, ignorant,
rich young man here. He just doesn't understand the
law. He says, I've done all that. I've kept those since I was young.
Verse 21, And Jesus said unto him, Okay, now watch, our Lord's
going to whittle him down to size now. If thou wilt be perfect,
you go sell what thou hast and give to the poor. Thou shalt
have treasure in heaven, and come follow me." You see, this
man's rich and his neighbors are poor. He lives in the biggest
house. He rides in the fanciest carriage.
He eats the best food. He wears the finest clothes.
His silos are bulging at the seams. His fields are rifling
in the harvest, and you've got to tear down barns and build
more barns, and his neighbors are starving to death. That's why our Lord quotes in
the second table of the law, because that ought to have got
him. He should have picked up on that. But, our Lord now says, you sell
all that you've got. Sell out, and come follow me. In verse 22, the young man heard
that saying, he went away sorrowful for he had great possessions.
He walked off. Christ stripped him, whittled
him down. This guy is offended and he walks
off. Now watch this. Then said Jesus
to his disciples. This is important. Who is he
talking to? To his disciples. You see, he's
talked with this man. This young man has approached
him and our Lord has handled him. He's talked to him and the
man's gone away offended. And our Lord then says to the
disciples, I've got something for them. I look at verse twenty
three he said into his disciples barely I say to you that a rich
man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven or with great
difficulty now. I Lord if he'd been dealing with
with a wise man or religious man he isn't just saying Only
a rich man, it's difficult for a rich man to get into heaven.
What he's saying is, it's difficult for a rich man who trusts in
his riches, who trusts in his riches. And you can add to that,
it's difficult for a wise man who trusts in his wisdom, or
an influential man who trusts in his standing in society, or
a religious man who trusts in his decisions. or a kind and
decent man who trusts in his morality. It's difficult or impossible. It's impossible. Look at verse
24, and again I send you it's easier for a camel to go through
the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the
kingdom of heaven. Evidently the disciples were were quite
taken up with this man. They were impressed by this young
man because they asked our Lord then in verse 25 when his disciples
heard it, they were exceedingly amazing. Who then can we say? I mean, we thought this man be
a prize catch. He's influential. He's got money. That's another contributor. Treasurer
would like him. It means more money in the temple
coffers and be another member. And the disciples saw our Lord
just strip this man down, and the man goes away abandoned.
And the disciples are just astonished above measure. And they say,
well, if he can't be saved, who then can they save? And our Lord
says in verse 26, with men, you can forget it. It's impossible. It's impossible. It's impossible
for a man to be saved by his own righteousness, his own goodness,
his own morality, his own will, his own way, his own decision. It's impossible. Just mark that
down. It's impossible. But with God, all things are
possible. What man can't do, God can do, and God must do. He must do. He must save the
lost. Salvation's something God does
for the sinner, and thank God He does. He does say so, okay? Now verse twenty-seven. Then
answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken
all and followed thee. What shall we therefore have?
Now you can't really know Why Peter said this, unless you know
about our Lord's conversation with this rich man from verses
16 on. You can't know what led Peter
to say this. You see, Peter's the spokesman
for the group, as he usually is, and Peter says, we've left
all. Now, what prompted Peter to say
that? What prompted Peter to say that? Our Lord has just talked
with a young rich man, and our Lord said, forsake all and follow
me, and he wouldn't forsake anything. And Peter heard that. And so
Peter steps up and says, we've forsaken all. You see the connection
there? I didn't see that until just
a few weeks ago. We've got to put Scripture together. Here's
this young rich man, and he's not going to forsake anything.
Christ says, if you'll be perfect, sell all that you've got, forsake
all that you've got, and come follow me. And old Peter's standing
over there to the side, and he's listening. And our Lord says
that about it, with men it's impossible. And Peter steps forward
and says, Lord, we've forsaken all. We did what that man wouldn't
do. Now what are we going to have? What are we going to get
for that? You see what he's saying? That's
how that goes together. What are we going to get? Verse twenty-eight, our Lord
answers him. He said, Verily I say unto you, that ye which
have followed me in the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit
in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones,
judging the twelve tribes of Israel. When and what is this regeneration? Well, it's not the regeneration
called the new birth. If you've got a Cambridge Bible
or a Bible with a center center column references at that word
regeneration, you may have a little letter or something that may
in my Bible. It's an L that sends it to Titus
three in verse five. Your BIOS Bible have that. But
Titus 3, 5 talks about the washing of regeneration. Well, the disciples
don't have anything to do with regeneration, do they? They don't
have anything to do with quickening the soul. They don't have anything
to do with the Spirit of God giving a man his life. This is
not the regeneration of a soul, this regeneration that he's talking
about here. And I'll tell you something else,
neither is he talking here about the final judgment. Now, I've
read most all the commentators, at least the popular commentators
or the commentators that we would have some confidence in. And unfortunately, several of
them say this is the final judgment, that our Lord is saying that
the twelve, that these twelve disciples are going to sit on
twelve literal thrones and that they're going to do the judging.
But that's not possible because the apostle Paul, now he was
an apostle, he said, we shall all stand before the judgment
seat of Christ. He can't be doing both the judging
and being the judgee. He can't be the judger and the
judgee at the same time. Acts, was it Acts 20? No, it's not Acts 20. Acts 17? Anyway, where Paul stood on Mount,
on Mars, what was? Mars Hill, is what I'm trying
to think of. And he said that the Father has given all judgment
to the Son. John said that in John 5 too.
All judgment has been given to the Son. So this is not talking
about future judgment. Well, what then is this regeneration?
It's the dawning of a new day. Now, up until now, they had the
Passover, they had the sacrifices, the priesthood, the tabernacle,
the temple, and the Sabbath days, and the feast days, and all of
those things. But Christ has fulfilled all of those times.
And the day of regeneration began When I Lord after he had died
there and rose again and stayed on earth for forty days when
I Lord ascended to heaven and sat down on his throne and sent
his Holy Spirit back the day of regeneration began with the
dawning of a new era. The dawning of a new day glorious
things happen. Thousands of people were converted
by sovereign grace on that day of Pentecost when Peter preached
that powerful sermon. And our Lord says to these disciples,
now remember, Peter said, well, we're going to have it. Our Lord
said, you're going to sit on thrones during the day of regeneration.
You're going to have unusual power. You're going to have unusual
authority. And they did. They did, didn't
they? had gifts, they could heal, speak
in other languages without studying those languages, and they had
authority. They had authority. Paul wrote
in one of his epistles to a church, and he says, don't make me come
down there now. Now, what would you think if
I was to say, don't make me come up there now? We'd say, arrogant
fool. But when Paul said that, he had
some authority. He was an apostle. He spoke for
God. He sent... He was... He's seen
the risen Christ. He's called by the Lord. Had
unusual authority. And the disciples judged Israel. They pronounced judgment on Israel.
Peter stood before them and said, you with your wicked hands crucified
the Lord of Glory. He pronounced judgment upon them.
So our Lord says, you're going to have something special. You're
going to have gifts. You're going to have authority,
that power. in the regeneration, in that
dawning of a new era. Dawning of a new era. You will
have special offices, special authority, and so forth. But
now watch this, verse twenty-nine. And everyone, not just you, but
everyone that hath forsaken houses or brethren or sisters or father
or mother or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake
shall receive a hundredfold and shall inherit everlasting life.
Everyone, not just you men, but everyone who's forsaken all and
followed me." Well, who are those who've forsaken all and followed
Christ? All believers of all ages. Our
Lord says, you've got to forsake all and follow me. Now what did
he say? He said, you want to be my disciple? Forsake all and
follow me. So our Lord is talking about
all believers of all ages, and he said, Jim, does that mean
here that we must literally forsake or leave our houses and our families? You know, Peter and the disciples,
they had literally forsaken all. They forsook their boats. When
he said, Lord, we forsake, we forsook all, he's telling the
truth. They left their fishing boats behind, their nets and
their families. Matthew was sitting at the seat
of customs, and he dropped his tax books, and they did forsake
everything. We forsake everything in the
sense of this. We let no one and nothing come
between us and Christ. If it comes between us and the
Son of God, it's got to go. That's forsaking all and following
Christ. It means that there stands nothing
in competition to Him. It means that he is preferred
and loved and considered before all things. Everything's given
over to him. And those who do that, by enabling
grace, Christ said, shall receive a hundredfold, a hundredfold
of those things that he's forsaken. Forsaken houses? You know, I've
got houses all over the world. Everywhere there's a believer,
I've got a house. I've got a house to stay in.
I'm going in January to Tupelo, Mississippi, to preach for a
fellow. I never have met him, but he
called me a couple of weeks ago and asked me. He'd read something
I'd written. He called me and asked if I'd
come preach for him. I've got a house in Tupelo, Mississippi,
and I've got family in Tupelo, Mississippi. I've got brothers
and sisters in Tupelo, Mississippi. I've got them in Rocky Mountain.
And I got him in Louisiana, I got him in Ashland, Kentucky. My
family has all of a sudden, when God saved me by His grace, all
of a sudden I've got a massive family. And I've got lots of
houses. And I've got lots of property.
Somebody told me about a young man somewhere down in North Carolina
that he was in college Attending a sovereign grace church and
and his parents told him said now if you keep on going to that
sovereign grace church, we're going to cut off your college
tuition. And Henry Mahan told him, said, well, listen, you've
got mothers and fathers all over the place who will help you.
You keep on going. You got out. You got family,
lots of family. That's what our Lord's saying.
You'll have a hundred fold. You give up these things. Some
of us, we got perhaps family that that not interested in the
gospel, your earthly family. But look, this is your family.
Look at the family you got here. You got big family. And not just
in this group, but you got family down there in Ball, Louisiana,
and Ashland, Kentucky, and Houston, Texas, and Cherokee, North Carolina,
and down where Milton Howard is, and Chiapas, Mexico. You
got big family. That's what our Lord said. You'll
receive a hundredfold of these things. You've forsaken all.
Forsaken all. OK, now, you still with me? I
hope I haven't lost anybody. The disciples said, we've left
all, what are we going to get? Our Lord says, you'll have a
special place in the regeneration, and everybody who follows me
will be blessed in this life and in the life to come. But
now, hang on now, verse 30. But, but, here comes a word of
warning. It's coming forth from our Savior's
lips. But many that are first, now, Who do you think the first are
in this passage? Think about it. Who do you think
the first are? And our Lord Peter stepped up
there and said, what are we going to have? Our Lord said, you're
going to have authority in the day of regeneration. In their
minds, they were first. We're number one. Peter said,
what are we going to have? Our Lord said, you're going to
have authority and power in the regeneration. Do you hear that,
John? We're number uno. We're number
one. And then our Lord says, And every
one that hath forsaken all is going to receive from me. But
many that are first at the head of the line, six o'clock workers—begin
to put this together now?—many that are first All of a sudden,
they go into the back of the line. It's going to be last. And the last five o'clock works. See, that's what the parable
is all about here in Matthew 20. You see it now? That's what
it's all about. And the last be first. Now, our Lord is warning His
disciples, He's warning us too. He's warning us about falling
into a legal spirit of, what am I going to receive? What are
my rewards going to be in heaven? How many stars will be in my
crown? After all, I've been serving
the Lord for twenty years or thirty years or whatever. Beware
of calculating how many rewards and crowns and which positions
and how many honors and how many stars you're going to have in
a spiritual kingdom where such a legal spirit is entirely out
of place. There's just no place for it
at all. When he says, but many that are
first shall be last, who could it be talking about but the disciples? They first trusted Christ. They
were the first to forsake all. They'd be first in the regeneration,
first in the gifts, but he says they should be last. In eternal
glory, we're all going to be the same. Not going to be big
shots and little shots. Not going to be some living in
a mansion on Main Street and some living in a, as I heard
Oliver Greene say on radio one time, living in the slum section
of heaven. Can you imagine a slum section
in heaven? But that's what he said. It's
not going to be like that at all. There are no degrees of
glory. Now, I know human reasoning. Human reasoning, human thought
works like this. The disciples and the missionaries
and the preachers, they're going to be greater in heaven. Well, I know that's how people
think, but the Lord says, my thoughts are not your thoughts.
I don't think like you do and you don't think like I do. You
see, we're all the same by grace. We're chosen by the same electing
grace. We're redeemed by the same blood.
And we all wear the same robe of righteousness. Listen, you
don't want a different robe in heaven, do you? I want a robe
just like you're going to wear it. I don't want one different.
I read in the Bible about a fellow that appeared before the Lord
with a different kind of robe on, and he didn't do too well.
I want a robe like everybody else is going to have up there
standing, like you're going to have. I don't want star-studded
jewels on it. I want the robe of Christ's righteousness. That's what I want. It will all
be the same. Kings and priests unto God. Equality
in glory. That's the moral of the parable. Equality in glory. Remember I
told you the key statement there in verse twelve? And thou hast
made them equal unto us. Equality in glory. You see, it
doesn't matter how long you've been converted, like these workers.
Some went to work at 6, some 9, some 12, some 3 o'clock, some
even 5 o'clock. It doesn't matter how long you've
been converted. You were converted when it pleased
God. God saved you by His grace when it pleased Him to save you.
And it doesn't matter what your gifts and abilities are. Whatever
gifts and abilities we have, God gave them to us. We're nothing
of ourselves. Whatever we have, God gave to
us. You take the thief on the cross. I'd say he was kind of one of
those five clock workers, wouldn't you? Maybe five minutes till
six. I mean, right there at the end,
you know. And a fellow like Timothy, Paul
says that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scripture. A man
like Timothy, or Paul. Jim, you mean to tell me that
the thief on the cross is going to have equal standing to Paul
in glory? You wouldn't want it to be otherwise,
would you? It's all of grace, isn't it? It's all due to Christ's
person and Christ's word and Christ's righteousness and Christ's
blood and Christ's merits. It's all of grace. So the moral of the story is,
beware of a legalistic spirit and of thinking that you've done
anything of yourself that deserves the approval of God and the reward
of God. Now, I'll ask you this question.
Do you really want God to reward you for what you've done? I want God to reward me for what
Christ has done. That's what I want to do, because
He was perfectly obedient to God. I was visiting with one
of the ladies in our church. Her dad had been in the hospital,
and I was visiting with him and talking with him about the Lord.
And he said, well, I'm ready to go and collect the rewards
that I find. And I just cringed. Well, real quick, did the disciples
learn the moral? No. Look at chapter 20, verse
17. My time is about gone, but I'd
like to wind this up. Chapter 20, verse 17. Did they
learn the moral? And Jesus, going up to Jerusalem,
took the twelve disciples apart in the way and began to talk
with them about his death. And that's what's talked about
in verses 18 and 19. The Son of Man is going to Jerusalem. Verse 19, they'll deliver him
to the Gentiles to mock, to scourge, and to crucify him. But verse
20, Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children with her
sons, James and John, worshipping him and asking or 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 the left in thy
kingdom." Goodness gracious! And you know, it isn't so much
Mama who's at fault here. If you compare this with the
passages in Mark and Luke, you'll find that James and John put
her up to this. She was just the mouthpiece.
They said, Mom, after all, you see, their mama was the sister
of Mary or the sister of Joseph, the sister. So this is our Lord's
aunt. So they pushed her up and said,
ask him what position we don't have. Now, remember, in verses
17, 18 and 19 here, he's talking about his death. And the whole time he's talking
about his death, James and John are over here saying, Let's get
mama to go ask you what our position is going to be in the kingdom.
Did they learn the moral of the story? No. Not at all. Of it all. She said,
Grant that these may sit in thy kingdom. Verse 22. 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 to be baptized with? Our Lord said, you don't
know what you're asking because the way to the crown is by the
cross. That's what you want. The way
to glory is by suffering. And our Lord said, can you handle
that? And the last phrase in verse 22, we're able! Put it on us, we can handle anything. These are depraved men saved
by grace, and we're depraved people saved by grace too. Don't
ever think that the disciples were, you know, on an elevation
that, wow, you know, these guys weren't even hardly sinners anymore.
They were still sinners, saved by grace. And you and I are too.
And he said unto them, verse 23, You shall indeed drink of
my cup and be baptized with the baptism I'm baptized with. Yeah,
you will. You're going to suffer. You are
going to suffer. But he says this, to sit on my
right hand and on my left is not mine to give to you, but
it should be given to them for whom it's prepared of my father.
And the them is all of God's elect. It's for all of God's
elect. And verse 24, And when the other ten heard it, they
were moved with indignation against the two brothers. You mean they're
going to have a place higher than we're going to have? And
they're upset now. And they begin to fuss. They
began to fuss. Verse 25, But Jesus called unto
him, called unto him. One of the ten spoke out for
the rest of them. And our Lord said, Settle down
here. They're fussing. One said, I'm going to be bigger
than you are in the kingdom. No, you're not. No, you're not. Mama just asked him if I could
sit on his right hand. Well, who says you're the biggest?
I gave up more than you did. And they're over there quarreling.
Just shut up. That's what he said. Just shut
up. Quit your fussing. He called unto them. He called
unto them. Or he called them unto him. And
he said, ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion
over them. They that are great exercise
the fire. That's what you want. You want a fire. You want to
exercise a fire field. You want to be the boss. Verse
26, But it shall not be so among you. We're not going to have
different standings among my people, he says. But whosoever
will be great among you, let him be your minister. And whosoever
will be cheap among you, let him be your servant. Verse 28,
Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to
minister and to give his life a ransom for many. And they departed
unto Jericho. Now this is where it ends. So
this thing begins back here in verse 16 of chapter 19 and goes
all the way to verse 29 of chapter 20. Our Lord says, stop quarreling. Whatever position you have as
a position of grace, you be ready to serve. You wait on others. An older man, 79 years old, heard
me preach this message. And he came up to me after the
message down in Louisiana, I preached a few weeks ago, and he said,
you know, Jim, I'd be satisfied if God would just let me in his
basement, if he'd just let me in the basement of heaven. And
I said, Russell, I know what you mean, but you're going to
be seated around the throne of God with Paul and Peter and James
and John and Abraham and Abel and all of God's elect, and we
all going to be there too. All the same. He said, that's
grace, isn't it? I said, that's grace. Now, that's
grace that God would elevate us to that position. You see,
Christ has purchased heaven for us with all of its blessings.
And the scripture says, well, Abraham, Abraham, the Lord said,
Abraham, I am thy exceeding great reward. I am your reward. Do you see the evil of this reward
system? There's a lot of evil in this
system of rewards. It's another form of works, is
what it is. It's another form of flesh wanting
to get some glory, of man wanting to get some credit. And Christ
says, it shall not be so. All was seen in glory. hands up real quick.