Let us turn in our Bibles today
to Mark chapter 10. We're going to be looking at
verses 32 through 45, Mark chapter 10. And they were in the way going
up to Jerusalem, and Jesus went before them, and they were amazed. And as they followed, they were
afraid. And he took again the twelve
and began to tell them what things should happen unto him, saying,
Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be delivered
unto the chief priest. and unto the scribes, and they
shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles. And they shall mock him, and
shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill
him. And the third day he shall rise
again. And James and John, the sons
of Zebedee, come unto him, saying, Master, we would that thou shouldest
do for us whatsoever we shall desire. And he said unto them,
what would ye that I should do for you? They said unto him,
grant unto us that we may sit, one on the right hand and the
other on thy left hand in thy glory. But Jesus said unto them,
you know not what you ask. Can you drink of the cup that
I drink of and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized
with? And they said unto him, we can. And Jesus said unto them, you
shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of, and with the
baptism that I am baptized with, all shall you be baptized. But
to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give,
but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared. And
when the ten heard it, they began to be much displeased with James
and John. But Jesus called them to him
and saith unto them, you know that they which are accounted
to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them. And their
great ones exercise authority upon them. But so shall it not
be among you. But whosoever will be great among
you shall be your minister. And whosoever of you will be
the chiefest shall be servant of all. For even the Son of Man
came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his
life a ransom for many. We're going to consider these
verses today, taking the last verse, verse 45, as our guide. There are two things that the
Lord Jesus Christ said that he came into this world to do. First, he came to minister. And
second, he came to give his life a ransom for many. So first,
he came to minister. That is, he came to serve. Two of his disciples, James and
John, asked for places at his side in his glory. Well, this
tells us that they still believed and thought that the Messiah
was going to set up an earthly kingdom of glory. And they desired
to be ministers, but not the kind of ministers, not the kind
of servants like the Lord Jesus Christ came to be. In the parallel
passage in Luke's gospel, in his answer to them, he said,
I am among you as one that serveth. The Son of Man came to serve,
to minister. In the Gospel of John, of course,
everyone is familiar with this, but we have a beautiful passage
of scripture which shows us the Lord Jesus Christ ministering
unto his disciples when he washed their feet. That, from what I understand,
was the lowest service. I mean the servant who was the
lowest in a house. It was his job to wash the feet
of those who came into the house. And you know the scripture tells
us that the Lord Jesus Christ took a towel and took a basin
of water and went to each one of the disciples, Judas included,
the man who he knew would betray him. And the Lord Jesus Christ
washed each of their feet. And then he said this unto them.
know you what I have done to you. You call me master and lord
and you say well for so I am. He is the master. He is the lord. He's the lord of lords and the
king of kings and he told them you say well when you call me
master and lord. It's one reason that I Very seldom
ever just say Jesus. No, he's the Lord Jesus. He's
the Lord Jesus Christ. We live in a day when people
have very little understanding and almost no respect for the
Lord. They take his name in vain. Something
happens and they use the name Jesus. That name is a name which
is above every name. That name is a name at which
every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that he
is Lord to the glory of God. He said to his disciples, you
call me Lord and Master, and you say, well, for so I am. But
now listen, if I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your
feet, You also ought to wash one another's feet, for I have
given you an example that you should do as I have done. In other words, the Lord Jesus
Christ, in our passage today, tells us He came into this world,
first of all, to minister, to serve. And those of us who bear
His name, who call ourselves Christians, then we too should
recognize that our place is a place of service. It doesn't mean that
we are to literally wash one another's feet, but that was
something that was needed, something that was helpful in that day,
and we are to minister one to another. The Lord Jesus Christ,
he came to minister, to serve. Even we should follow his example. Now, he's our savior. if we know him this morning,
and he's our example, and so we should follow in his steps. John and James, when they asked
the Lord to sit on either side of him and his kingdom, they
were thinking of being a minister, but it was more like a prime
minister, a prime minister, not someone that would wash one another's
feet or anything like that. A place of authority, in other
words. A place of preeminence. That's
what they were seeking. Now, I have five very practical
things that I want to bring to us from this passage this morning
under that heading that Christ came to minister. Number one,
we have a lesson about prayer. a lesson about prayer. You know,
in the letter of James, we have this scripture, the apostle James,
not this James, not this James, who was a brother of John and
asked for these places of preeminence, but another apostle who was named
James and was a pastor of the church in Jerusalem, evidently,
and wrote the small epistle of James. He said, you ask, In other
words, you pray, you ask and receive not because you ask amiss
that you may consume it upon your own lust. The Lord Jesus
Christ told John and James here when they asked, he said, on
either side in his glory, you know not what you ask. I say we have a lesson on prayer
because how often do we pray? Do we make requests unto the
Lord? And our Lord could say the same
thing unto us. You know not what you ask. One
of the prime examples, I guess, of this is when someone that
we love is sick and maybe on the border of death, and we're
praying for them to be healed, to be raised up. And the Lord
Jesus Christ, he prayed and said, Father, I will. that those whom
thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold
my glory. In other words, he's praying
that one of his children may come home to behold his glory,
and we're praying contrary-wise. We're praying that they may stay
here. We know not what we ask many times. In fact, the Apostle
Paul tells us that's one of our infirmities, and we have many. But that's one of our infirmities
because in Romans chapter eight, he said this, that we have this infirmity. We don't know many times what
we should pray for as we ought. But thank God, according to the
apostle Paul, Even though many times we do not know how we should
pray or what we should pray for, God the Holy Spirit lives in
us, just as we sang that hymn just a few minutes ago, Christ
liveth in me, and he makes intercession for us. We have the Lord Jesus
Christ on high at the Father's right hand, ever living to make
intercession for us. And we've got God the Holy Spirit
living within us who too makes intercession for us. For we know
not, many times, what we should ask, what we should pray for. But this we do know about prayer. Now listen to me carefully. This
we do know. No matter what we ask, It must
always be according to God's will. To pray as our Lord prayed. Father, if it be possible, let
this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but
thy will be done. And we should always submit our
will. We wouldn't want him to do anything
that's not his will, would we? And he's not. He worketh all
things after the counsel of his own will. Then there's a lesson
here about the disciple's old nature. That old nature that
every child of God has. The Apostle Paul refers to it
in Romans chapter seven as a body of sin. Oh wretched man that
I am, who shall deliver me from this body of sin? You see, when
the Lord saves an individual, We receive a new heart, but the
old nature is not eradicated. We still, we have both an old
nature, an old man and a new man. And I say this because what
else could have prompted these two disciples of the Lord Jesus
Christ to seek these places of preeminence? What else could
have caused them to do that? It wasn't a new nature, it wasn't
a new heart, because a new heart and new nature that God gives
us is poor and lowly, the scripture said. Blessed are the poor in
spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. It had to be the fact
that they still had an old nature. You know, believers seeking preeminence
has caused a great deal of trouble in churches over the years. In
fact, usually when there's a problem in a church, a local church,
it can usually be traced to the fact that someone, maybe the
preacher, but someone is seeking preeminence. In other words,
we're not doing like the Apostle Paul admonished us to do, to
everyone look on the things of others. We're just looking at
our things, how this is going to affect what I want, my will. It's usually preeminence. And
we have a prime example of this in the Word of God. If you'd
like to turn to 3 John, this is not something new. It's been
going on from the very beginning. And I'd like to say this. You
said, well, preacher, are you, are you referring to someone
in this congregation? No, no. And I give God the thanks. But
I know this, that none of us are above it. None of us of seeking
preeminence. And usually when that happens,
that causes division, dissension, in the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Here in 3 John, the apostle,
writing in verses 9 and 10, he said, I wrote unto the church,
but theotrophies, who loveth to have the preeminence among
them, receiveth us not. Can you imagine that? that here's
a believer, a child of God, evidently, in the congregation, the local
church, and here's an apostle, the Apostle John, and he writes,
and this man, because he loved to have the preeminence, did
not receive even the apostle, the Apostle John. Wherefore,
if I come, I will Remember his deeds which he doeth, pratting
against us with malicious words, speaking evil of the apostle.
And not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren,
and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church. So I see a lesson to us here
by James and John asking for the place of preeminence. On
the fact that all of us, every child of God, we still have a
fallen nature, an evil, sinful nature that we carry with us.
And we'll carry it until we drop this body in the grave. As long
as we're in this flesh, the flesh is going to lust against the
spirit. The old man is lusting against
the spirit, the new man. And the new man against the flesh. So that we cannot do that which
we would. If we could, we would live every
day and never sin. Wouldn't we? Isn't that our desire? That our thoughts would always
be pure and holy. There'd never be any evil thought
come into our mind. No blasphemous thought. or anything
like that, that the words that come out of our mouth, they would
always be loving and kind and considerate, and that our actions
would always be whatsoever we do, we do for the glory of God. But we know that's not the case.
That's what we would. That's the new man, the new nature,
but the old man, Just the opposite. Just the opposite. And third,
a lesson about the cup and baptism that Christ alone would experience. In verse 38, He said, you know
not what you ask, can you drink of the cup that I drink of and
be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? Now
he's clearly speaking of his sufferings and his death under
the emblems of the cup and baptism. And if I had no other verse in
the scripture to prove or to show, to convince me that sprinkling
ain't baptism, this would be enough. Because the Lord Jesus
Christ, his sufferings, his death wasn't just a little sprinkling.
Oh no, he was engulfed. He was baptized into suffering. He speaks of his sufferings and
death under the emblems of a cup and baptism. And he tells James
and John that they would indeed They would drink of the cup and
they would experience the baptism. In other words, as all of the
apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ did, they would suffer. They
would suffer for the gospel sake that they proclaim or preaching
the truth. They would suffer persecution.
And as far as we know, all of them would suffer martyrdom and
This very one who's asking, James, along with his brother John,
he was the first of all of the apostles to be martyred. Read
about that in Acts chapter 12, I believe it is, when Herod,
with the sword, destroyed James. I want you to notice that the
Lord Jesus Christ speaks in the present tense. He doesn't say
the cup that I shall drink of or the baptism that I shall be
baptized with, but he speaks in the present tense. The cup
I drink of, the baptism that I am baptized with. From the
time the Lord Jesus Christ, really from the time he came into this
world, but especially from the time he entered into his public
ministry, when he went to John and was baptized of him in Jordan,
he became a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. His whole
life was a life of suffering, continually drinking of the cup
that the Father gave him to drink. He was now on his way to Jerusalem
where he would, and this is so important, he would trod the
wine press alone. Yes, he told James and John,
you will drink of the cup and be baptized with the baptism.
But the Lord Jesus Christ had a baptism to experience alone
that no one could enter in and be any part of his cup of suffering
and his baptism because he was to bear the punishment of the
sins of his people alone. He was to trod the winepress
alone. And he alone could bear the punishment
for the sins of his people. He alone is the propitiation. People say, well, what does that
word mean? It means to appease God. That God is angry with the
wicked every day. People like to think, well, God
is such a God of mercy and grace and love. He would never be angry.
I beg your pardon. God hates sin. He's not indifferent
to sin. And men and women, we are sinners. Yes. Lord Jesus Christ had to
propitiate God. His anger, His wrath, and His
blood, His atonement is the only thing that does satisfy and propitiate
God. A lot of people, you know, in
this world, they say, well, I'm just going to cast myself on
the mercy of God. Well, let me tell you something.
If anyone's here this morning with that false idea, the mercy
of God, the saving mercy of God is found in Jesus Christ and
in him alone. Yes, God is a God of mercy, but
his mercy for sinners is only in Jesus Christ, in his blood. He alone is the propitiation
and the one and only atonement the one sacrifice which allows
God to be both just and justifier of those who believe in Jesus. And number four, a lesson about
a person's place in the kingdom of God, the kingdom of glory
as they refer to it here. There's no such place as James
and John were asking, not in the kingdom of God. There is
no such place. that they were asking for. Everyone
in the kingdom of God, the kingdom of glory, were equally all saved
by the same grace. And that's the only way anyone
is saved, for by grace are you saved through faith. And that
not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works, lest any
man should boast, for we are his workmanship. Everyone in
the kingdom of glory is saved by the same grace. Everyone in
the kingdom of glory is forgiven because of the same blood, the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're all on the same level. Everyone in the kingdom of God,
we're all justified by the imputed righteousness of Christ. Everyone
in the kingdom of God is equally justified. just as justified
today as the Apostle Paul, or as the Virgin Mary, or anyone
else, because we're all justified freely by His grace through the
propitiation that is in Jesus Christ our Lord, through His
righteousness. And we're all equally adopted
into the family of God. There are not some children of
God over here in one corner and some over in another corner and
some live in a big mansion and some live in a little old shack
on the other side of the railroad track or anything like that.
Don't ever believe that. All of that is based on works. All of it. No. We're all equally adopted into
the family of God. You would never say you love
one of your children more than another, would you? You love
each one equally. And you love them. Well, if you
being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children, how
much more your Heavenly Father gives good things to them that
ask Him. He loves all of His children
equally. And my, what a love that is,
right? What a love that is. loved you
so much that he spared not his own son, but delivered him up
for you." Now, when the Lord said it was
not his to give, some people have looked at those words and
they've tried to teach, well, you see there, the Lord Jesus
is not equal with the Father, that he's not one with the Father,
because he says here, it's not his, not mine to give. But the truth is, at this time
when they asked for this, the kingdom of heaven was prepared
for them from before the foundation of the world. He wasn't just
now setting up the kingdom of God in the sense of bringing
people into the kingdom. No, he said in Matthew 25, then
shall the king say unto them on his right hand, right hand,
come you blessed of my father. Now listen. Inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world. The kingdom of
God had been prepared from old eternity when God chose his people
and that everlasting covenant of grace. And here's the last lesson, a
lesson about forbearance. When the other disciples heard
what James and John and their mother was along with them, I
might say, But when the other 10 disciples, when they heard
what James and John had done, Mark tells us they were much
displeased. In fact, Matthew writes, they
were moved with indignation against the two brethren. And remember,
Matthew was one of them. He was one of the 12. And he
said, this was our reaction. We were moved with indignation
against the two brethren. Now, it wasn't like they were
against someone having preeminence. What moved them to indignation
was they thought they were the ones who should have the highest
place, the places of preeminence. You notice here in the Gospel
of Mark, they were much displeased and then the Lord, it indicates
that Had the Lord not intervened, had the Lord not intervened at
this time, this would have developed or
escalated into a very serious quarrel among the disciples. And I say we have a lesson about
forbearance. We must all learn not only to
recite, to quote, but to practice what has come to be called the
golden rule. Do unto others as you would have
them do unto you. As children of God, a lesson
on forbearance. We should forbear one another. Be you kind, tenderhearted, forgiving
one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven
you. All right, here's a second. I'll be very brief here. He came
to give his life a ransom for many. What is a ransom? It's a price paid to free captives. Now that's just a very simple
definition. Nobody can argue with it. A ransom
is a price paid to free captives. He came to give his life a ransom
for many. The many for whom he gave himself
the ransom are the many that are mentioned in several scriptures. In John 17, in his prayer, he
said that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast
given him. He gave his life a ransom for
as many as the Father had given him. Another verse of scripture in
Acts chapter 13, as many as were ordained unto eternal life, believe. He gave his life of ransom for
as many as were ordained to eternal life. Another verse is in Acts
when the apostle said, to as many, to as many as the Lord
our God shall call. The promise is unto you and to
your children and to all that are far off, even as many as
the Lord our God shall call. The many are those in John chapter
one, he gave his life of ransom for the many who received him. To them gave he power to become
the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. I cannot believe in a ransom
that does not ransom. I just can't do it. I cannot
believe in an atonement that does not atone. Not when I know who he is. Not knowing that he is God, a
very God, who came in the flesh. I cannot believe that anything
He did will fail. I just can't believe that. He paid a ransom, and everyone
for whom he paid the ransom is ransomed. If the Son shall make
you free, you shall be free indeed. There's a verse in the Old Testament
of Job that says, then he is gracious unto him. That is, then
God is gracious unto him and saith, deliver him. Deliver him from going down in
the pit, to the pit. I have found a ransom. God provided
the ransom. God ordained the ransom, and
for everyone that Jesus Christ paid the ransom will never go
down into the pit of eternal damnation. Why? Because Christ paid the ransom.
That's why. That's the reason, you see, in
heaven, everybody there is praising him. Seems like there's a circle,
you know, there's a throne. And on that throne, as it's described
in the book of Revelation, I know this may not be literally so,
but there's a throne there and the throne is the center. It's
right in the middle. And all of the believers are
round about the throne. The 24 elders represent all of
God's elect, all that he redeemed. And each and every one, we're
all singing the same song. Worthy is the lamb that was slain
and hath redeemed us under our God. How? By his blood, his precious
blood. I pray the Lord would bless these
words and thoughts to those of us here today.