Okay, now back to Matthew chapter
20. Matthew chapter 20. I'm taking
the title for the message from what is said in verse 28. Matthew
20, verse 28. Even as the Son of Man came,
He came in the fullness of time. He came not to be ministered
unto, No one ministered to him. He ministered to his people.
He served his people. But to minister, to be a servant,
Isaiah 42 calls him, Behold my servant, my elect, in whom my
soul delighted, and to give his life. No one, we read a moment
ago in John 10, he said no man takes my life from me. I have
power to lay it down. I have power to take it again.
This commandment have I received of my Father. He came to give
Himself, to shed His blood, that we may obtain eternal life. A ransom. A ransom. Now notice
it says a ransom for many. A ransom for many. The Lord Jesus
Christ did not die for all the sins of all men. He laid down
His life for the sheep. So I'm taking the title for the
message from the words found there in verse 28. Christ gave
Himself, Christ gave His life a ransom for many. Now what is
a ransom? A ransom is a redemption price.
A ransom is full payment for sin. Do you want all your sin
paid for? Look to Christ. Lean on His everlasting
arms. Look to Christ. Ransom is redemption
price, it's full payment for sin. In other words, it's an
atonement for sin. Here in His love, not that we
love God, but that He loved us, He sent His Son to be the atonement
for our sin. In whom we have redemption through
His blood, the forgiveness of sin, according to the riches
of His grace. You remember the Scripture, when
I thought of that word ransom, what Scripture did you think
of? Ransom. Job 33, where it's said there,
deliver them from going down to the pit. I have found a ransom. A ransom. Now, you can think
in your mind, oftentimes when a child will be kidnapped, usually
a wealthy family sometimes, their children or their child will
be kidnapped, and they hold them for ransom, don't they? A price,
a price. But when the ransom is paid,
What happens? The child goes free. The Lord
Jesus Christ paid our sin debt in full, and He set us free. He set us free. Thank God we
have a Savior who paid our ransom price. Now, it says there are
ransoms for many. Who are these many for whom Christ
died? Well, we read in John chapter
10, He said, I laid down my life for the sheep. They're called
His sheep. They're called His people. They're
called His elect. Now, who are His sheep? Who are
His people? Who are His elect? You know who
they are? Sinners. Sinners. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
save sinners. Sinners. The Lord Jesus Christ,
when we were yet without strength, the Lord Jesus Christ died for
the ungodly, didn't He? Can you find your place there?
We read in Revelation 5, they sung a new song saying, thou
art worthy to take the book to open the seals thereof, for thou
was slain and has redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every
kindred, tongue, people, and nation. A multitude of sinners
bought with his precious blood. God bought the church with his
own blood. A multitude of sinners bought
with his own blood. A multitude of sinners brought
to The Lord Jesus cried. He suffered once for sin, the
just for the unjust that he might bring us unto God. Now we see,
as we read in verse 17, and Jesus going up to Jerusalem, took the
12, talking about the 12 apostles, apart in the way, he set them
aside in the way, and he said to them, behold, we go to Jerusalem. They knew that they were hated
in Jerusalem. The Lord wasn't a popular man.
They said, you have a devil and are mad. They called him a winebibber,
a gluttonous man. They knew what awaited, the hatred
that awaited them in Jerusalem. We go up to Jerusalem, and a
son of man shall be betrayed, and the chief priest under the
scribes, and they shall condemn him to death. And they said,
deliver him to the Gentiles, the Romans, to mock, remember
they mocked him as king, to scourge him, whipped him with a lash,
and then they nailed him to the tree. Third day, he came forth
from the tomb. We see the Lord Jesus Christ
on his ordained path to accomplish our salvation. He marches toward
Jerusalem, the place of his crucifixion and death without reservation,
without reservation. It says in Luke 18, where this
is recorded, then he took the 12 and said unto them, behold,
we go up to Jerusalem and all things that are written by the
prophet concerning the son of man shall be accomplished. His death was an accomplishment. He accomplished salvation for
us. His death was not a defeat. but rather a glorious accomplishment. His death was a victory. Victory over sin, over death,
over hell and the grave. His victory is ours. Thanks be
to God who has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Our blessed Lord tells them again,
again of his suffering. We've seen this before in Matthew.
Turn back to Matthew 16. This is the third time the Lord
tells them this. Matthew 13. Excuse me, Matthew
16, verse 21. Matthew 16, verse 21. From that
time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples, had that
he must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things of the elders and
chief priests and scribes to be killed, be raised again the
third day. Matthew 16, verse 22. Then Peter took him, began to
rebuke him saying, be it far from thee, Lord, this shall not
be. And he turned and said unto him, Peter, get thee behind me,
Satan. Thou art an offense unto me.
Thou savest not the things that be of God. Of God? It's of God, isn't it? Turn over
to Matthew 17. This is the second time he says
this. Verse 22. Matthew 17, 22. And while they abode in Galilee,
Jesus said unto them, the Son of Man, shall be betrayed into
the hands of men, and they shall kill him the third day, and he
shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorrowful. It says over in Luke 18 that
they understood not any of these things. They didn't have any
right understanding of what was going on. Our blessed Lord marches
with determination toward his hour appointed, his hour of suffering
and shame with unmatched boldness. It says in Isaiah 50, his face
was set like a flint. They couldn't turn him from it.
Unmatched boldness, unflinching courage as a captain of our salvation,
as a mighty conquering king, he went forth conquering and
to conquer. You see his resolve, his determination. the nation. Determination, the
Lord Jesus Christ fully knows what's going to take place in
Jerusalem. He does not turn from it. This
was the Lord's eternal purpose from all eternity. The Lord is
always known from all eternity. The scripture said He's the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the earth. Behold the Lamb of
God that takes away our sin. In the fullness of time, The
time God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the
law to redeem them that were under the law. These sayings
were not a possibility that it might happen, but he speaks with
absolute certainty, doesn't he? Shall be betrayed, shall be condemned,
shall be delivered, shall be crucified, shall be raised again
the third day. No uncertainties there are there. These sayings are not a possibility,
but absolute certainty. by the divine decrees of Almighty
God. No man takes my life. He said,
I give my life for ransom for many. Now make sure you understand
this. Make sure you get this. The death
of the Lord Jesus Christ was not a terrible accident. He died
the appointed death at the appointed time for the appointed people
to accomplish their appointed salvation. God had not appointed
us unto wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. Remember from our study in the
book of Acts, Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God. You have taken, you have by wicked
hand and crucified the Lord of glory, but you only did what
God determined before to be done. God planned the cross. from all
eternity. God presided over the cross.
Pilate said to him, don't you know I'm in charge? Don't you
know I have power to crucify you or to release you? And the
Lord said, you don't have any power over me. But what I give
you, God planned the cross, presided over the cross, and participated
in afflicting his dear son. It's the cup of wrath that he
was baptized in, the wrath of God. It wasn't what wicked men
did that day. That's not our hope, is it? Wicked
men did wicked things. They scourged him. They planted
a crown of thorns and pushed it down on his head. They bowed
the knee and put a reed in his hand and they bowed the knee
and they mocked him as king. Put a purple robe on him. Put
a blindfold on him and hit him. Said, if you're a prophet, tell
us who hit you. They mocked him. But it wasn't
what wicked men did that's our hope. That's what God was doing
at the cross. God made Him to be sin for us,
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in our Lord Jesus Christ. As many as were ordained to eternal
life, those believed the gospel. Christ must die to fulfill all
scripture. It says in 1 Corinthians 15 how
that Christ died for our sin according to Scripture, how He
was buried, how He was raised again the third day according
to the Scripture. Christ must die to put away our
sin by the sacrifice of Himself, and that's exactly what He did.
He obtained for us eternal redemption. Christ must die to establish
righteousness for us. I not only need my sin removed,
I need righteousness imputed. And that's what we have in Christ
and Him crucified. Christ must be raised from the
dead to vindicate all that He said and did was received by
the Heavenly Father out of satisfying unto Him. How do we know? How
do we know that Christ honored the law of God in every precept
in His life, honored the law of God in the penalty in His
death? How do we know that was satisfying and accepted to God?
How do we know? God raised Him from the dead.
God raised him from the dead. When he by himself purged our
sin, he sat down on the right hand of God, delivered for our
offenses and raised again for our justification. You see, the
atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ, now get this, it wasn't
offered unto men. It was offered unto God. It was
satisfying unto God. God is well pleased with his
beloved son. Delivered for our offenses, raised
again for our justification. His resurrection is a guarantee
of ours. He said, because I live, you
live. His resurrection is a guarantee of ours. We take our dear loved
ones, and I buried a lot of them here. You're going to bury me one day
over here on Wind Branch. You're going to take this old
body when the spirit and soul leaves this body, just a pile
of clay, a pile of dirt. You're going to take this old
lumpless, lifeless, helpless lump of clay and you're going
to bury it. How's it going to come out of there on that resurrection
morning? I'm not going to get myself out
of that grave. He's going to raise us up by
His mighty power. He's going to come again and
raise us up by His mighty power. Christ is the resurrection and
the life. Christ is our resurrection. This
is the heartbeat of the gospel. May we never cease to preach
it. May we ever love to hear it. Do you ever get tired of
hearing Christ put away your sin? He loved you, washed you
from your sin in His own blood. May we ever Love to hear it. May we always glory in what Christ
has done for us. God forbid we should glory save
in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. May we ever constantly
draw hope, courage, and comfort from Him who loved us and washed
us from our sin in His own blood. Thank God He came. Thank God
He died the appointed death for the appointed people at the appointed
hour. You remember many times He said, my hour has not yet
come. And then finally he said, the hours come. I lay down my
life. I lay down my life for the people.
There's a great atonement for our sin. The ransom price has
been paid. That's why we lean on him. That's why we trust him for all
redemption and all righteousness. Now, we have a great ransom price
paid. Now we see something of a problem,
and we could call it a great problem. A great problem, and
it's called pride. Pride. James and John, with their
mother, they come to the Lord Jesus Christ after hearing, after
the Lord telling them everything he's going to suffer, everything
that he's going to accomplish, and all they're thinking about
is, What do we get? What's in it for us? We want
to sit one over here on the right hand and one over here on the
left hand. What is that? Religious pride. That's what it is. Religious
pride. A great problem. You see what
it says there? Then came to him the mother of
Zebedee's children. James and John, those two blessed,
blessed apostles with their sons, Mark 10 says they came to worshipping
Him. Worshipping Him, that's the good
and right thing to do. Desiring a certain thing of Him. And He said to them, well, what
do you need? What wilt thou? And she said,
Grant that these, my two sons, may sit one on your right hand
and the other on the left in your kingdom. And the Lord said,
you know not what you ask. Are you able to drink of that
cup that I shall drink of and to be baptized with the baptism
that I'm baptized with? And they said, we're able. Now what do you see in that?
Tell you what I see. Pride. Sinful, religious pride. We're all plagued with this.
I have a problem, you have a problem. We're all plagued with pride.
The worst kind of pride. Religious pride is the worst
kind of pride. There's pride of race, pride
of face, pride of place. The worst kind is pride of grace.
Be thankful. Don't be full of pride. We're
all as an unclean thing. All of our righteousnesses are
filthy rags. We all do fate as a leaf. Our
iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. Man at his best
state is altogether vanity. James and John were chosen apostles
called by the mighty grace of God. They were lovers of the
Lord Jesus Christ. They came seeking and asking
mercy for themselves. They didn't understand what they
were asking. The Lord was telling them about
His great suffering and salvation that He would accomplish, and
they're taken up with their own preeminence in the kingdom of
God. It's much like we read over there in Matthew chapter 19.
You remember Peter, when the Lord talks about forsaking all
and following Him, and Peter speaks up and says, Lord, we
have done that, now what are we going to give? You remember?
And then he says, the last is going to be first, and the first
shall be last. Now, we must not be too harsh
on them. We have the same problem. We
have the same problem. Pride, and you know what is accompanied
with pride? Ignorance. Arrogance and ignorance. Arrogance and ignorance. Their
pride is a fair representation of all sinful pride in our own
heart, our own willful ignorance. You remember Proverbs 6, when
God says the things that He hates, what's at the top of the list?
Pride. Pride. Pride. Believers are still sinners. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh. This old nature that we have must be constantly put
off, suppressed by almighty grace. We must watch over our own heart,
our own tongue, and at all times guard against pride, self-confidence,
self-righteousness, and count all but lost that we might win
Christ and be found in him. You know pride is the oldest
of all sins? Did you know that? It was pride
that brought the angel Lucifer to fall from heaven. You remember Isaiah 14? He said, I will be like the multi-god. I will ascend to heaven. I will
exalt. He believed in free will. He
thought he had a free will. I will, I will, I will exalt
my throne. I will sit among the Mount of
the congregation on the side of the north. I will ascend to
the most high. I will be like the most high
God. What pride, isn't it? God said, no, you won't. You'll
be brought down to hell. Satan fell. It was pride that
not only destroyed and brought down the fallen angels, It was
also pride that destroyed Adam in the garden, wasn't it? Pride.
Pride destroyed Adam in the garden. Adam believed Satan's lie, didn't
he? You remember the lie that Satan
told? Well, God doth know in the day that you eat thereof,
your eyes will be opened and you shall be as God's, knowing
good and evil. It was pride that got Adam. to
sin against God. He thought he would make an advancement,
so he took of that fruit that he was forbidden to eat. You
see, it's pride that keeps, think about this, it's pride that keeps
sinners from seeking salvation where it's found. It's pride
that keeps us from crying unto God, be merciful to me, thee
sinner. It's self-righteous, willful,
ignorance, and pride. It's pride that makes us weak,
subject to temptations. Of all those things in the Bible
that says that God hates, it's top of the list. These six things,
they seven are abomination unto me, a proud look and a lying
tongue. Hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked imagination, feet that are swift in running
to mischief, a false witness that speak of lies. He that soweth
discord among the brethren. You know, three out of those
seven things, or four out of those seven things, talk about
this tongue. It's an unruly member, full of
deadly poison. We talked about it in our Bible
study from James chapter 3. Oh may God help us to recognize
our sinful pride, to subdue it. He's not unto them of a broken
heart. Save us such as be of a contrite spirit. God save me
from a proud, self-righteous spirit. Give me a broken heart
that I might seek mercy where it's found in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, the Lord's so gracious and long-suffering with these
ignorant men. He's long-suffering to usward too. And He said unto
them, verse 22, You know not what ye ask. They were ignorant. They're not only full of pride,
they were ignorant. You know not what you ask. Are you able
to drink of this cup that I shall drink of? And to be baptized
with the baptism I'm baptized with? And they said, we're able. They said in Mark 10, we can.
We're able. Oh no, my friend. You're not
able. Our Lord is talking about the
cup of His suffering. the cup that's full of our sins,
the cup that He would drink dry, suffering for our sins against
God. Remember, He prayed in the garden,
Lord, if it's possible to take this cup away from Me, nevertheless,
not My will, Thy will be done. We're going to see that in Matthew
26. When he prays there in Gethsemane
garden, it says in Luke 22 that his sweat became as great drops
of blood as he began to drink the cup of damnation dry. Our Lord was baptized with the
holy wrath of God immersed in agony and suffering for our sins. Is it nothing to you, all you
that pass by, behold and see, if there be any sorrow? Like
unto my sorrow, which is done to me, wherewith the Lord hath
afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger, it pleased the
Lord to bruise him in our room and in our stead. Are you able,
the Lord asked, and they said, yep, we're able. No man is able
to satisfy the holy justice of God, but only the God-man mediator
who died for our sin once, the just for the unjust that he might
bring us unto God. No man is able to put away his
own sin, but the Lord Jesus Christ did that for us. He appeared
once in the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. No man is able to establish a
justifying righteousness, but the Lord Jesus Christ did that
very thing for us. God made Him to be sin for us
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. If we are able to honor the law
of God, if we're able to put away our sin, no need for the
Lord Jesus Christ to come. Paul makes that argument in Galatians
2. if righteous has come by the
law. Christ died in vain. He is the only one who was able
to accomplish salvation for us. Salvation is of the Lord alone. He is the one who is able to
perform all things for us. He is the one who is able to
save us and keep us and present us. We have no ability, do we? No man can come unto me except
the Father which sent me draw him. He is able to save to the
uttermost all that come to God by him. He is the one who is
able. We're not. We're not able. Now, look at verse 23. Verse 23. And he said unto them, verse
23, You shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with
the baptism I am baptized with. But the sit on my right hand
and my left is not mine, to give, but for whom it is prepared of
my Father." Now, the apostles did suffer greatly for preaching
the gospel. James, that's spoken of here,
you remember what happened to James in Acts chapter 12? Herod arrested him and beheaded
him, he killed him. And Herod also arrested Peter
and was going to Execute Peter as well, but the Lord delivered
him. You remember what happened to the apostle John? James' brother,
John was cast out of society for preaching the gospel, cast
out to the Isle of Patmos, was the Alcatraz in that day, and
was later killed. All the apostles died as martyrs.
All of them died as martyrs. But there's something here more
than just that. More than just that. And here's
what we see. We see the blessed truth of substitution. The Lord of glory lays down his
life for the sheep at a satisfying surety, savior, and substitute
as a representative in the federal head for his covenant people.
How are we going to drink of that cup that he drank? How are we going to be baptized
in the baptism of the wrath that he was baptized with, being one
in him and one with him. In Adam, we see what? All died.
The Lord Jesus Christ died as a representative federal head
of his people. In Adam, all died. In Christ,
shall all be made alive. By one man's disobedience, many
were made sinners. So by the obedience of another,
shall many be made righteous. The Lord promised these disciples
will be baptized with the same baptism and drink of the same
cup. This is not referring to their
personal suffering for the Lord, but rather about every believer
being identified with the Lord Jesus Christ in his death as
a representative man. The Lord Jesus Christ did not
die as a private man, but as a public man, as a representative
man. You see, when He died, we died.
We were in Him. All the elect of God, all believers
are made one with Him. What He did, we did. When He
kept the law, we did. When He died under the wrath
of God, we were one with Him and crucified with Him. Representation,
substitution, satisfaction. And here's the scripture, Galatians
2.20. I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me, in the life which I now live in
the flesh. I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me." So when he lived, we lived in
him. When he died, we died in him.
When he was raised from the dead, guess what? We were one with
Him. The Scriptures already speak
of us as being seated in the Lord Jesus Christ, where He is,
we are. We're seated in the heavenlies,
in Christ, right now. Oh, preacher, you're crazy. You're
right here, right now. Yeah, in me, but in Him, I'm
already glorified in Christ. As He is, so are we in this world.
When He rose from the dead, we arose with Him. Now, how important
is His resurrection? If Christ be not risen, then
is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. If He be
not risen, 1 Corinthians 15, if Christ be not raised up, your
faith is vain, and you are yet in your sins. If He be not raised
up, if we're not raised up in Him, Thank God He ever lives
to make intercession for us. Look at the last part of verse
23. He said, But to sit on my right hand, my left is not mine
to give, but for whom it is prepared of my Father. The kingdom of
heaven or salvation is given to those for whom it's prepared.
The kingdom of glory He's already prepared to be given to those
covenant people. We're going to see that. Turn
to Matthew 25. I'm almost through. Give me a
few minutes. Matthew 25. Matthew 25. Do you remember verse
31? Matthew 25. It's going to be
given to those for whom it's prepared. Talking about His elect,
His chosen. When the Son of Man, Matthew
25, verse 31, The Son of Man shall come in His glory, and
all the holy angels with Him. Then shall He sit upon the throne
of His glory, and before Him all shall be gathered, all nations.
He shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd divides
his sheep from the goats. He shall set the sheep on His
right hand, the goats on the left. Then shall the king say
unto them on his right hand, come ye blessed of my father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. God has a people, a kingdom that's
prepared for his elect. And it's prepared from the foundation
of the world. A kingdom of glory prepared totally
by the sovereign will and grace of God. A kingdom of glory that
is for all eternity that will never end. It's given to those
for whom it's prepared. Remember he said in John 6, all
that the Father hath given to me, they will come to me. And
those that come to me, I'll never cast them out. He has power over
all flesh and He should give eternal life to as many as the
Father has given to Him. Thank God we have a substitute
who has accomplished salvation for us. And He gives that unto
us because He's made us heirs of God and joint heirs with the
Lord Jesus Christ. It's all prepared. It's all done. What did He say on Calvary 3?
It's finished. It's finished. It's done. Now,
in verse 24, When the other apostles heard what James and John were
up to, they were angry. They were mad. They were moved
with indignation against those two brethren. Now, let's just
read the rest of these verses and I'll let you go. But Jesus
called unto them and said, You know that the princes of the
Gentiles exercised dominion over them, and they that are great
exercise authority upon them, but it shall not be so with you." It shall not be so among you. Whosoever will be great among
you, James and John, you want to be great? Be a servant to
Peter. Be a servant to Andrew. Be a
servant to one another. If you would be great in the
kingdom of God, be a servant. How do we serve the Lord? By
serving one another. Whosoever will be chief among
you, you desire to be the chief, the chief, the leader, let him
be your servant. Be a servant. That's a high title. A servant. That's what I want
you to put on my tombstone. A servant of the Lord. A servant
of the Lord. Whosoever will be chief among
you, let him be your servant. Even as A son of man came not to be ministered
unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many.
I want you to find, I'm going to close with this, but I want
you to find Philippians chapter 2. Here we see the prime example
of what servitude and love is all about. Philippians chapter
2. Philippians chapter 2. Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians,
Colossians. Philippians chapter 2 I want. Philippians chapter 2. Look at
verse 5. Philippians 2 verse 5. Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus. You want to be great? Here's
greatness. Who being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself
of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and
was made in the likeness of men. and being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself, became obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross. Wherefore, God also hath highly
exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that
at that name every knee should bow, of things in heaven, things
on earth, things under the earth, and that every tongue should
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God, God
the Father. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
supreme example of humility. Humility and love. Hereby perceive
we the love of God because he laid down his life for us. We
ought to lay down our lives for one another out of love.