bringing our message today from
Luke chapter 9 from verse 46 down to verse 51 of Luke chapter
9. And the title of the message
will be taken from the last part of verse 48. And there we see,
the Lord declares, for he that is least among you all shall
be great. The same shall be great. Now, here's the title, the least
shall be the greatest. The least among us is the greatest. Now, it's certainly true in the
spiritual kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ that the lowest
seat is the best seat. The lowest seat is the greatest
seat. The lowest servant, the Lord
says, is the greatest servant among us. He that is the weakest
is the strongest. You see, the Apostle Paul said,
when I'm weak, that's when I'm strong. Now that is totally contrary
to the way of this world. In the flesh, in the natural
kingdom, in the fleshly carnal ideas of man, the greatest is
the strong, the mighty. The greatest are those who are
wealthy. Those who are wealthy and powerful,
they are considered to be great men, but not so in the kingdom
of Christ. The weakest babe in Christ that
is totally dependent upon the Lord Jesus Christ, He's the greatest. He's the greatest. You know why?
In the Lord Jesus Christ, we are all one. We're one in Him. I'll show you that. Hold your
place there. in Luke 9 and find John 17. John 17. And while you're turning there,
let me read you another reference that's found in Galatians chapter
3. You turn to John 17. But in Galatians
chapter 3, you see we're all one in Christ. He said, you're all children
of God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. For as many of you as
have been baptized into Christ or put into Christ have put on
Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek.
There's neither bond nor free, male or female. You're all one. We're all one in Christ Jesus. And if you be Christ, Then are
you Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise, the
promise of salvation in Christ. Now we're all one in Him. You've
got John 17 there. Look at verse 21. Here we see
this idea and this Bible truth of union with Christ. John 17
verse 21. They may be one, as Thou, Father,
art in me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us, that
the world may believe that Thou hast sent me. And the glory which
Thou gavest me I have given them, that they may be one, even as
we are one. I in them, thou in me, that they
may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that
thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me."
You see, the believer being vitally united and in union with the
Lord Jesus Christ, we're all one in Him. We're all perfect
in Christ. In Him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and in Christ we stand complete in Him. Now back in Luke 9, in verse
44 and verse 45, the Lord had just declared, In the ears of the apostles,
the greatest message and the greatest lesson any sinner could
hear, how that the Lord Jesus Christ must suffer, remember
He's the Son of Man, and how that He must die. according to
the Scriptures, and how that He must be raised up again from
the dead, for He was delivered for our offenses, and raised
again for our justification. And He did all that to accomplish
our salvation by His redeeming blood. In Luke 9 verse 22, the
Son of Man must suffer many things, be rejected of the elders, chief
priests, and be slain, and be raised again the third day. Why?
For our salvation, that's the only way God can be just and
justify the ungodly, is through the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Now, having heard that great
message, they did not understand it as it says in Luke 9 verse
45, they perceived it not and they didn't want to ask the Lord.
Then, it says, verse 46, there arose a reasoning among them
who would be the greatest, the biggest, in the kingdom of God." Who would
be the greatest? The disciples we read a moment
ago in Mark chapter 9, where they were disputing and arguing
among themselves who's going to be exalted to the place of
preeminence and dominion in the kingdom of God. In Matthew 18
we just read, and they're saying unto the Lord, who should be
greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Now, look at verse 47 of Luke
9. Luke 9, verse 47. The Lord Jesus Christ, knowing
their heart, knowing and perceiving the thought of their heart, took
His child, called this child to himself, and set this child
in the midst of them, and said to them, except you be converted
and be like this little child, you're not even going to enter
into the kingdom of God, let alone be the greatest in the
kingdom of God. Now, the thought here on verse
47 is this, He knew their heart. The Lord knew that they were
disputing, and He asked them about this disputing, to find
out what they were disputing about because he knew that, but
to hear them confess unto the Lord what they were arguing about. Now, the Lord knows the thoughts
and the hearts of all men, including me, including you, right now. Turn to John chapter 2. Let me
show you that. He perceived their heart, the
thoughts of their heart. In John chapter 2, look at verse
23, In Jerusalem, at the Passover, in the feast day, many believed
in His name, and when they saw the miracles that He did, John
2, 24, Jesus did not commit Himself unto them, because He knew all
men, and He needed not that any should testify of man, for He
knew what was in them. One other reference in John 5,
turn there, John 5, verse 39, Search the scriptures, for in
them you think you have eternal life. They are they which testify
of me. You see that? John 5, 39. And
you will not come to me that you might have life. Now, how
do you know that? He knew their heart. I receive not honor from
men. You will not come to me that
you might have life, salvation. I receive not honor from men,
but I know you. Now, he's directing his thought
to the Pharisees, the self-righteous. I know you that you have not
the love of God in your heart. If any man loved not the Lord
Jesus Christ, let him be accursed of God. He knew their heart. We read in Psalm 139, O Lord,
Thou hast searched me and known me. Thou knowest my down sittings
and my uprisings. Thou understandest my thought
afar off. Thou compassest my path, my lying
down, and are acquainted with all my ways. There is not a word
in my tongue, but O Lord, Thou knowest it all together. You've set me behind and before.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me." The Lord knows our heart. He looks not on the outward countenance,
but He sees the thoughts and perceives the notions of our
heart. Now, having said that, look at
verse 48 of Luke 9. And the Lord tells us here and
gives us a warning about pride and then about humility, what
humility is. Whosoever shall receive this
child in my name receiveth me. Now that's humility. Get right
down on the ground of that little child and receive him, and that's
a picture receiving Christ. Receiveth me, and whosoever receiveth
me, receiveth him that sent me. For he that is least among you
all, the same shall be great. shall be great." The Lord tells
us here what true humility is all about, and then he gives
us a warning about pride. Now these simple fishermen were
chosen by the Lord Jesus Christ in that eternal covenant of grace.
Remember John 15, he said, you didn't choose me, but I've chosen
you, and I have ordained you. He redeemed them by his precious
blood justified them by His grace, justified freely by His grace
through the redemption that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. They
had the privilege of walking with the Lord Jesus Christ and
seeing His many miracles, raising the dead, giving sight to the
blind, healing the crippled, forgiving sins, casting out demons. They experienced His saving power. And yet, we find these men demonstrating
just how sinful we truly are. They demonstrated their old evil
nature and sin that still lurks within their hearts and our hearts. They were seeking their own selfish
glory. Weren't they not? Were they not?
Who's going to be the greatest? Peter. John saying, Peter, you
just sit over here, I'm gonna have the preamble. Peter said,
uh-uh, not you, me, me, Peter. Who's going to be the greatest
in the kingdom of heaven? As I said earlier, what a terrible
question. What a terrible question that
just reeks, it just reeks with pride, doesn't it? Who's going
to be greatest? A better question would be this,
Lord, Would you include me in that kingdom? Isn't that what
that dying thief said? That's humility. Lord, would
you remember me when you come into that kingdom? Not, am I
going to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? You see how
that reeked with pride, pride, pride. What arrogance and what a covetous
spirit they demonstrated in that day. Let's point out their error,
but let's not be too hard on them, because let's point our
finger right back here. We still have so much of this
in us. Pride, pride is a dangerous sin. Religious pride will keep a sinner
from seeking salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what
keeps them away. Their righteous self. It's not
their sinful self. It's their supposed religious
pride. That'll keep a sinner from seeking
the Lord. We read in Proverbs 6. Proverbs
chapter 6. Six things the Lord doth hate,
yea, seven, are abomination unto Him. You know what number one
is? A proud look. Pride. Pride. I think preachers
are the worst offender in this area of pride. get lifted up with pride, pride,
Lord put it down. And then in Proverbs 16, pride
goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Better
it is to be of a humble spirit with the lowly than to divide
the spoil of the strong. Pride, think about it, pride
is a total polar opposite of humility. They're poles apart.
Pride and humility, poles apart. Pride is nothing more than self-love,
self-promotion, self-righteousness, and religious pride. Now, get
a hold of that. Religious pride is the worst
sort of pride. There is an example, a great
example in the Scriptures, I want us to turn and read it one more
time, in the book of Luke chapter 18, of what religious pride is
all about. In Luke chapter 18, notice verse
9, Luke 18 verse 9, And he spake this parable unto
certain which trusted in themselves." Now get a hold of that. What
is that? Pride. Pride. They trusted in themselves
that they were righteous and they despised others. Now why
did they do that? Religious pride. Religious pride. Two men went up to the temple
to pray, the one a Pharisee, full of himself, and the other,
one full of humility. The Pharisee stood and prayed
thus with himself, God I thank you, I'm not as other men are,
I'm certainly not an extortioner, I'm not unjust, I'm not an adulterer,
boy I'm not even like that publican, I fast twice a week, I give tithes
of all that I possess. Now what does that sound like
to you? Not humility is it? It's religious pride. gloring in self before God, and
he didn't even pray not one time. Now here's humility. The publican
standing far off would not lift up so much his eyes to heaven,
but smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, and it's
a definite article in the original, the sinner. The sinner. That's humility. Look at the
difference. I tell you, verse 14, this man
went down to his house justified. The man who justified himself
was condemned. The man who condemned himself
was justified. Rather than the other, for everyone
that exalted himself shall be abased, and he that humbles himself
shall be exalted. Lord, humble me. Humble me in
thy sight, in thy sight. You remember from our study in
1 Peter 5, God resisteth the proud, He gives grace unto the
humble. Psalm 34 says, He is nigh unto
them of a broken heart. Save us such as be of a contrite
spirit. Now, you might be thinking, well,
I'll have a problem with pride. You just demonstrated you do.
We all have a problem with pride. This evil is in all of us. Because
all of us have a sinful, fallen nature within us. That's exactly
what got Adam in trouble. The devil, he believed the devil's
lie. You'll be like God. Pride. Sin. Oh, may the Lord
be pleased to humble us like the publican, and that we might
cry out from the dust and are prostrate at the throne of the
Lord Jesus Christ, crying for mercy, have mercy upon me, the
sinner. There is no reason for any believer
to be proud of place, face, or grace. No room. Who made you to differ
from another? What do you have that you didn't
receive of God? You see, everything we know,
He taught us. By nature, we're ignorant of
these spiritual things. Everything we know, He taught
us by the revelation of God the Holy Spirit through His Word.
Everything we have, He gave it to us. We didn't earn salvation. We're blessed with all spiritual
blessings and heavenly things in Christ as a gift of God. Everything
we'll ever be is by His sovereign grace, love, and mercy. We can
say with the Apostle Paul, I am what I am by His grace. Beloved, Now are we sons of God,
and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but when He shall
appear, we shall be like Him. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called sons
of God." Now the second thing, the Lord gives us an example
of what true humility is all about, and true greatness, an
example of this little child. Now turn back to Matthew 18.
Matthew 18. At that same time, verse 1, the
disciples came unto the Lord Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest
in the kingdom of heaven? And they were disputing among
themselves who would be the greatest. And the Lord called a little
child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, and said,
Verily I say unto you, Except you be converted. Now you take
this personal, Peter. Except you be converted. Put
your name in there. Except you be converted, and
become as a little child, you shall not enter into the kingdom
of heaven. Whoso therefore shall humble
himself as this little child, the same shall be great in the
kingdom of heaven." Now, a couple of things here. He says, except
you be converted. And that word there means changed
by the power of God. And to come as this little child,
humbled in His sight, we're not even going to enter into the
Kingdom of God. There must be a conversion, there must be a
work of God in the heart. Without conversion and regeneration
by God the Holy Spirit, there is now no salvation within us. God in Christ had done a glorious
and great work of redemption for us, but there is also a necessity
of the work of regeneration within us. Christ in you is a hope of
glory. Except you're born again, Our
Lord said in John chapter 3, except you're converted and become
as a little child, except you're born again by the Word of God,
by the power of God, you're not going to enter into the kingdom
of God, you're not even going to see the kingdom of God. How
important is this thing of regeneration and conversion? Conversion is
a change in you by the almighty power of God. It's a change of
nature. That is, He gives us, we still
have this old nature to deal with, but He makes us the partakers
of a divine nature, a new nature. If any man be in Christ, he is
a new creation. All things are passed away, behold,
all things have become new. It's a change of masters. A change
of masters. God had made that same Jesus
whom you crucified, God had made Him both Lord and Christ. We
bow to His Lordship. We submit to His Lordship. It's
a change of motives. His love constrains us. It's
a change of attitude, submission. It's one of surrender unto the
Lord. That's what Saul of Tarsus did
that day. You remember, Lord? What will you have me to do?
I'm your servant. It's a change of action like
a little child totally dependent upon the Lord. My God shall supply
all your need according to His riches in glory through the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, this thing about being a
little child, now all of us can relate to what the Lord is illustrating
here. When He takes this little child,
probably three, four, five years old, and calls him to Himself,
and put his arm around him and said to Peter, except you be
converted and be like this little fellow, you're not going to be
in the kingdom of God. Now all of us can relate to what
the Lord is saying here. When we think about a little
child, a little child is one who is totally dependent upon
someone else to care for him, isn't he? A little child can't
do a thing for himself. I'm talking about a three-, four-,
five-year-old. He is totally dependent on mom
and dad, or he's totally dependent upon someone else to feed him,
bathe him, house him, educate him. He's totally dependent. Every child of God, born of the
Spirit of God, is totally dependent upon the Lord Jesus Christ for
all salvation. He must clothe me with His righteousness. He must feed me with His bread. He must house me. He must make
me an heir of God and a joint heir with the Lord Jesus Christ.
He must provide all things for us. Believers who have been humbled
by the grace of God, stripped and laid in the dust by the Sovereign
Lord, do not seek great things for Himself." We call that vain
glory. The Apostle Paul said, God forbid
that I should glory, boast, or rejoice save in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now you remember what John said
right before he had his head removed? The Lord must increase,
I must decrease. You see, the way in the kingdom
of God and of our spiritual growth is not one of up, but down. Spiritual growth is one of humility. It's growing in humility. The
opposite of that is growing in pride. Spiritual growth is one
of growing in humility, growing downward. As my preacher friend,
Donny Bell, used to say, growing in grace is like a cow's tail.
He used to, I think he still does, raise some cattle on his
farm. Growing in grace is like a cow's
tail. The longer it gets, the more
it grows, the closer it is to the ground. And that's what growing
in grace is. It's not, oh, I'm somebody, oh,
I'm getting along, oh, I'm this, look at me. No, it's, woe is
me, I'm the chief of sinners. I'm the chief of sinners. Now,
a prime example of growing in grace, our esteem of ourselves
grows lower and lower, and our thoughts of the Lord Jesus Christ
grow Greater and greater. Higher and higher. The Apostle
Paul is a good example of what growing in grace truly is. What humility truly is all about. He called himself many times
the servant of the Lord. Now, I want to be... Remember
what our Lord said? He that is a servant is greatest
in the kingdom of heaven. He called himself a servant of
the Lord. But notice his testimony as he grows in grace. In 1 Corinthians
15, verse 9, he says, For I am the least of the apostles, that
I am not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted
the church of God. And then later on in Ephesians
chapter 3, he writes, Who am less than the least, of all the
saints. You see, his growth is not down
here, isn't it? Down, down, down. And later he
says in Romans 7, Oh, wretched man that I am. And then later on, he said this
is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that the
Lord Jesus Christ came to save sinners. Oh, by the way, I'm
the chief one. I'm a chief offender. That's
humility. Lower down, one old preacher said, lower down. The lower down, the higher up. In a certain sense, the way to
heaven is downward, down in our own esteem. That's what true
humility is all about. Now let me give you another example
of that the Lord gives us here in Mark chapter 10. And here
we find the disciples once again disputing about the same thing.
Now look at this carefully, Mark chapter 10. Mark chapter 10 verse
35. Mark 10, 35. James and John,
brothers, sons of Zebedee, came unto him, saying, Master, we
would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire. You've got that? Look at it carefully
now. Mark 10, 35. And he said unto them, Well,
what would you that I should do for you? I mean, what do you
need? Righteousness? You need redemption? You need
forgiveness? Pardon of sin? Look what they
say. They said unto him, Grant unto
us that we may sit the one on the right hand and the other
on the left in glory. Can you believe that? What about Bartholomew? What about Matthew? Now read
on. And the Lord said unto them, You know not what ye ask. Can
ye drink of the cup that I drink of, and be baptized with the
baptism that I am baptized with? Talking about his crucifixion,
talking about the wrath of God. And they said unto him, We can. Wow! You see that pride? And the Lord said unto them,
You shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of, and be baptized
with the baptism that I am baptized with. You shall be baptized,
that is, identification and union with Christ, crucified in him.
But to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give,
but it shall be given to them to whom it is prepared, that
is, all of his people one with him. And when the ten heard that,
When the ten heard what James and John wanted, they began to
be much displeased with James and John. And the Lord called
them to him and said to them, You know that when they which
are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over
them, and their great ones exercise authority upon them, but it shall
not be among you. Whosoever will be great among
you shall be your servant, your minister. And whosoever of you
will be chiefest shall be the servant of all. For, because,
and here is the prime example. How high is the Lord Jesus Christ? He is the eternal mighty God
and yet He stooped To be made like unto us and to be made sin
for us. For the Son of Man came not to
be ministered unto, but to minister and to give His life a ransom
for many, for many. That's humility. That is true
greatness. before Almighty God. He that is least among you shall
be the greatest among you. Now look at verse 48 again. Luke 9, Whosoever shall receive
this child in my name receives me. And whosoever shall receive me,
receiveth him that sent me. For he that is least among you
all, the same shall be great. Now, those who are humbled to
esteem others better than themselves and receive each other humbly
without pride and without ambition for his name's sake is likened
to simply and humbly receiving the Lord Jesus Christ Himself
and even God our Father. Now, this is most interesting
and this goes together in verse 49 and verse 50. Now this is
why verse by verse Bible study and preaching the gospel is so
beneficial to us. John answered and said, Now,
the Lord just rebuked him for being full of pride and self-glory
and self-serving, and John answered and said, Master, we saw one
casting out devils in thy name, and we rebuked him. Now, what
is that? Pride, isn't it? Because He didn't
follow with us. He followed not with us. And
the Lord said to him, Forbid him not, for he that is not against
us is for us. Now stay with me just a minute.
John, upon hearing what the Lord Jesus just said about humility
and abasement and receiving others with a spirit of humility and
acceptance, now John starts telling the Lord of something that the
disciples had done. Maybe they were seeking not to
make the same mistake or seeking for guidance. We stopped one
from doing what was the right thing because he was not part
of our group. part of our circle, part of our
church, or our denomination. That is, we didn't recognize
him as being part of us. Therefore, he cannot do anything
over here in the name of the Lord apart from our approval. So that is what John and Peter
and them were trying to censor other people and to stop their
ministry. The all-knowing and wise Lord
replies, He that is not against us is for us. Now, before you get upset, the
Lord is not teaching that we should compromise the gospel
in order to get along. The Lord is not teaching that.
That would be contrary to the plain teaching of the gospel.
We are to contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints.
If someone preaches any other gospel than what we have preached,
Paul said, let him be anathema. Heresies must be exposed and
lies must be exposed and condemned. But this man, whoever he was,
John said, we saw one casting out demons in thy name. Evidently he knew something about
the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'm sure the Lord knew him.
The Lord knew him. I'm sure the Lord has many of
his servants planted around this world who we know absolutely
nothing about. Now, are we supposed to censor
their ministry and try to shut them down? No, sir. I thought about this. On that
sermon audio ministry, we've been on sermon audio going on
12 years. And when we first started, there
was less than a thousand preachers on sermon audio on the internet.
Now there's over 23,000 preachers. I have no idea who
most of them are. Now I know about a hundred of
them. Some of the greatest preachers that we know of. I don't have
an idea who most of these men are. But the Lord does know,
and He does use them as He sees fit." I'm going to leave it right
there. The Lord does know. Now, I thought
about this. In the days of Elijah, he had a very narrow thought
about the ministry of the Lord. Matter of fact, when he was hiding
in a cave and running from Jezebel and Ahab who sought his life,
remember? And he was running for his life
and hiding in a cave and the Lord keeps saying to him, Elijah,
what are you doing in that cave? You better get out there and
start preaching on the hillside. And the Lord said to him several
times after sending message after message, what are you doing in
that cave? Remember what he said? What Elijah
said? He said, Lord, I'm the only one
left. Here's what he said, I've been
very jealous for the Lord, God of hosts. What does that sound
like to you? Pride. He said, for the children of
Israel have forsaken their covenants, thrown down thine altar, slain
the prophets with a sword, and I, even I, am only left, and
they seek to take away my life. or he condemns everybody else
but Elijah. Doesn't he? Here's what the Lord
answers back to him. Yet have I left me, Elijah, you're
not the only one left, I have seven thousand in Israel, all
needs which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath
not kissed him. Elijah, I have 7,000 you know
nothing about. May the Lord be pleased to humble
us and make us to know the salvations of the Lord. And may He keep
us humbled at His throne as His servants. And may we give Him
all the honor and glory. May we take our place before
Him as mercy beggars. And let us make our headquarters
in the dust. and cry unto the Lord for mercy and salvation. Let us not be eaten up with pride,
vainglory, and arrogancy. Lord, keep us from it.