 We're going to be looking today at Mark chapter 10, verses 32 through 45. We're looking at the subject Kingdom Greatness. And what I'll do is I'm going to read verses 32 through 34, and then I'm going to give you a context. What's taking place? Perhaps some of you weren't with us last time, and you aren't aware of what's taking place up to this point, but it has an awful lot, gives us an awful lot of information that helps us to understand what we're looking at in these verses. And so as this is my normal way, I'm going to read the first few verses, give you a context, remind you of some things, bring you up to speed, and then move into our study. And again, the study relates to Greatness in the Kingdom of God. So beginning at verse 32 in Mark chapter 10, reading to verse 34, Mark writes, Now they were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them, and they were amazed. And as they followed, they were afraid. Then he began, rather than he took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to him. Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him to the Gentiles, and they will mock him and scourge him and spit on him and kill him, and the third day he will rise again. Now last time we were together, we saw how a young rich religious ruler had asked Jesus about inheriting eternal life. And when you look at this man, and you see the qualifications, you see the things that are used to describe him, you would at first glance at least think that such a convert would have been a great asset to the Kingdom and to the ministry of Christ, because this man was what we would today refer to as a religious rock star, as what he was, and this man, this young man's conversion may have impacted quite a number of people. You see he had a lot of influence, and if this influencer were to follow Christ, well many of his admirers would more than likely have done the same thing, but instead of welcoming him into the fold, Jesus actually did something different. He made it harder for this one to become one of his followers. He actually challenged him in a very powerful way. He challenged this man to sell his possessions, to give those things to the poor, and then to follow him. He said, if you do this, you're going to have treasure in heaven. Well when Jesus challenged him in that way, the young man went away sorrowful. Mark 6.22 gives us a reason. It says he had great possessions. He had many estates. He was somebody with great holdings. He had an awful lot of money, and in making this demand, Jesus actually did something. He revealed the man's heart. You see, in the sight of man, this young ruler was considered righteous. He was young, he was rich, he's devoted, he's outwardly good, but what was carefully hidden from man was completely known by the Lord. Psalm 90 verse 8 says it like this, you have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. When the Psalmist said you have set our iniquities, the word iniquity actually is a Hebrew word that means depravity or perversity. You have hidden our perversity. You have set rather our perversity before you, our secret. The word secret simply means that which is concealed. Our concealed sins in the light of your presence. There are things that people see in me, someone could say, that they think are wonderful, but you see my heart. You see what I really am, and that's what the Psalmist was saying. So from the outer appearance, this young man, a rich young ruler, very influential, this man was looked at, it would have been looked at as a great asset to the kingdom of God. But Jesus was looking into the man's heart and not what he had. Other people would look at the man for what he had, but Jesus saw him for who he was. The problem was this young man actually trusted in his riches, and Jesus saw through this. He challenged the man to release what he most trusted in, his life of comfort, and his dependence in his riches was just too much for this man to sacrifice, and in his unwillingness to do so, he revealed where his heart's affections truly were. Being unwilling to release his riches, he exposed his own heart. In Matthew 6, 19 through 21, Jesus said, do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, where thieves break in and steal. Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, where thieves do not break in and steal, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. His treasure kept him from heaven. The young man, very rich, the thought of giving up his riches just too much. So when challenged, he walked away, and the Scripture says he walked away grieved. That word grieved speaks about being sorrowful. It actually says with a frown. That's what the word means, to walk away with a frown. But the word grieved could also speak about him having been offended. It stumbled him. It caused him to frown, but he left Jesus and took his riches. You see, he wanted to serve two masters, but that cannot be done because we only can have one master passion. There's only one master that rules our lives. So as he's walking away, Jesus' disciples are affected. So at that time, once again, the Apostle Peter spoke out on behalf of the other apostles, and he had pointed out that they had left all and followed after Jesus. Now, he's speaking of them all. When he says in verse 28, we have left all. We have left all and followed you. Obviously, at that point in time, he wasn't aware of the treachery of Judas. He was speaking on behalf of even the one who was very treacherous and had not left all really. So he's saying, well, this rich young man didn't follow you because he's very rich. He's trusted in his riches. Though he wouldn't commit his entire life to you, Peter was saying, we did. Now, that's something the Apostle Paul would speak about in Philippians chapter 3, verse 8, when Paul said, I also count all things lost for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ. I count all of those things as refuse. I count all of those things as just trash. They're things that just weighed me down. I've suffered the loss of all things, but the excellent thing is I've gained Christ. So in all of this, Peter is asking in Matthew 1927, finishes his statement because he's saying, what shall we have? Well, Jesus spoke and said, will you have? Well, he said, you're going to lose friends. You're going to lose family, but you gain forever families and you gain eternal life. But you're also going to endure something that you're not really aware of. You're going to endure persecutions and even the hatred of the world. He said in verse 30, who shall not receive a hundredfold now and this time houses and brothers, sisters and mothers, children and lands with persecutions and in the age to come eternal life. What are you going to gain? Well, you're going to gain much, but it includes persecutions. You're going to gain these things. Now, when Jesus spoke of persecutions, I thought I would share a couple of things about that with you. I didn't touch on it last time. So let me share a few things with you. In the book of Acts in chapter seven, for example, we see persecution. Acts chapter seven records the death of the first Christian martyr, a man named Stephen, and he died by being stoned to death. Again, in the book of Acts in chapter 12, verse two, it tells us there that James, the brother of John, was killed with the sword. So we see in scripture leaders of the church suffering persecution and dying. When you look at the apostles, you can see something of them. You can see that the church tradition that we have speaks of the way that they died. And according to church tradition, it's not scriptural, of course, but it's through the written records and many have recorded this. Church tradition says, for example, that Peter, the apostle, was crucified upside down on an X-shaped cross. John was boiled in oil, but survived and ended up in Patmos, where he wrote the book of Revelation. He later was freed, becoming Bishop of Edessa in Turkey and died peacefully. Andrew was crucified on an X-shaped cross in Patras, Greece. It's recorded that after being severely by seven soldiers, they tied his body to the cross with cords to prolong his agony. His followers reported that when he was led toward the cross, Andrew saluted it with these words, I have long desired and expected this happy hour. The cross has been consecrated by the body of Christ hanging on it. And he continued to preach to his tormentors for two days until he died. Traditionally, Philip was impaled by iron hooks in his ankles, hanged upside down. Bartholomew, also known as Nathaniel, may have been beaten and crucified in India. Matthew was martyred with the sword in Ethiopia. Thomas was killed by the spears of four soldiers while preaching in India. James, the son of Alphaeus, was clubbed to death in Damascus. Thaddeus, also called Judas, not Ascariot, was martyred in Persia. Simon the Zealot has various traditions related to his death, but each states that he was martyred. Mark died in Alexandria, Egypt being dragged by horses until he died. Luke died in Greece by hanging. James, the brother of Jesus and leader of the church in Jerusalem, was thrown from the pinnacle of the temple and beaten with a club. Paul endured lengthy imprisonments and was beheaded by Rome. This young ruler, this rich young ruler would not give up his earthly wealth. He walked away in sorrow, but these men gave all that they had and the reward was eternal life. And so Jesus is speaking about this. We need to get the context here because he has just made that statement. And then Mark picks up in verse 32 by saying, now they were on the road going up to Jerusalem. Jesus was going before them. They were amazed and as they followed, they were afraid. Then he took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to him. And so these men had accompanied Jesus to Jerusalem on more than one occasion. He performed much of his ministry in the south and in the city, but this was not a typical journey to Jerusalem. Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem to complete the mission that he had been sent on. Matthew 20, 28 says it like this, the Son of Man didn't come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many because this is about to be so traumatic. Once again, he prepares his men. So he's on his way to Jerusalem. Notice verse 32 says they were on the road going up to Jerusalem. When you read your scriptures, you're going to note that it says, always says up to Jerusalem. And the reason is, is because Jerusalem is higher in elevation. So you always go up to Jerusalem. The shepherd is now leading his sheep. He's going before them. There's a crowd. So he's going to take his twelve aside. He's going to speak to them. Now notice how Mark says that he took the twelve aside again. This is the third time in Mark's gospel that Jesus shares these details with his men. And it's going to be important for us to remember this for a moment because I'm going to show you something. Again, this is the third time in Mark's gospel that Jesus shares these details. In Mark 8, 31, he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, be rejected by the elders, and the chief priests and scribes, and be killed. And after three days rise again. In Mark 9, 31, he taught his disciples, said to them, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him. After he is killed, he will rise the third day. Well, once again, he's about to teach some concerning in his death and how it's going to be accomplished. And as he's speaking to them, they're overwhelmed. They're so overwhelmed they can't react. Jesus and the apostles are traveling. He takes his apostles aside to speak privately. And as he's doing so, Mark says they were amazed. When he says they're amazed, it speaks of great astonishment. They seem to hang back as men dreading what was going to happen to Jesus. He's going to be taken violently, put to death. They need to be prepared. And so he says to them, in verse 33, he says, behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes. They will condemn him to death and deliver him to the Gentiles. They will mock him, scourge him, spit on him, kill him, and the third day he will rise again. They know that Jesus is a marked man. They know that it's dangerous for him to go into city. There's already a conspiracy that has occurred and it's been developing for some time that they might put Jesus to death. You see, Jesus had healed a crippled man at a pool there in Jerusalem, a pool called Bethesda. And the work had caused a great stir because Jesus had healed this man on Shabbat on the Sabbath and had said that God was his father. So they saw him as a blasphemer as well as a Sabbath breaker. And they began to formulate ways to put Jesus to death and the disciples are aware of this and the concerned. But Jesus now once again instructs them concerning what is going to happen. He says, I'm going to be delivered in Jerusalem. I'm going to be betrayed to the chief priests and scribes. He says they're going to condemn him to death. They're going to deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, to scourge, to spit upon and to crucify. And then he says on the third day I will rise again. Now Luke gives us some insight in Luke 1834. It says the disciples didn't understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them. They did not know what he was talking about. Their unwillingness to believe this clouded their understanding. They didn't grasp it. It would take the Holy Spirit to bring this to the remembrance later on. But at that moment they're just not understanding. And so Jesus has said this and I want you to see this again. Notice what he's saying. He's saying I'll be betrayed. I'll be condemned to death. I'll be delivered to the Gentiles. They'll mock, they'll scourge, they'll spit on me. They're going to kill me. These are heavy things to be saying. And so what is it that's on their mind? Well, verse 35. James and John the sons of Zebedee came to him saying, Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask. And he said to them, Well, what do you want me to do for you? They said to him, Grant us that we may sit, one on your right hand and the other on your left in your glory. But Jesus said to them, you do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? You don't know what you're asking for. They don't understand what's going on. He's just said, and I want to develop this, he's going to be betrayed. He's going to be tried. He's going to be condemned to death. He's going to be tortured. He's going to be killed. Then he'll be raised from the dead. How did this lesson affect them? They've heard it before. How did it affect them? Well, they didn't understand what he was saying. They were unmoved. Notice what they say. Teacher, verse 35, we want you to do for us whatever we ask. We want to ask you for a special favor. We want to be seated near you in your glory. Now this would be something that reveals both love for Christ and selfish ambition. I want to be close with you forever, but I also want the preeminence that such a thing would bring to me. Now Matthew gives us a detail that we don't find in Mark. The request is actually being made by the mother of James and John in Matthew 20, verse 20. It says, the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Jesus with her sons and kneeling down, asked a favor of him. Happy Mother's Day, Salome. We have to ask ourselves the question, who is this woman? Who is this woman coming? I want to develop this a little further now. Who is this woman that has come and is asking, who's kneeling before Christ and asking for something for her sons? That the sons chime in, but she's the one making the request. To understand this, we need to know who she is. When you look at Matthew 27, 56, Mark 15, verse 40, and the Gospel of John chapter 19, verse 25, these passages help us to understand who she is. She's Salome. She's the sister of Jesus's mother Mary, which makes her Jesus's aunt. That would make James and John, Jesus's cousins, through his mother Mary. It's Aunt Salome and his cousin James and John who are making this request. James and John are trying to secure positions of honor in the kingdom. She came with her sons, knelt before him. She's saying, I'm your aunt. These are your cousin. Surely you have a special place for them. They're attempting to pressure Jesus by virtue of the relationship to him. You know, in the early days of our fellowship. This is interesting, but in the early days of our fellowship, I had people more than once because my mom and dad were still alive and were part of our church from day one. They would come to me and they'd ask me things and they tried to actually get my mother sometimes. People would try to get my mother to influence me. You know, Bonnie, can we this? Have you talked to your son about that? My mom would say, you know, people are asking me to ask you about this stuff. And I'd say, do they think you're the pastor mom? And she'd say, apparently, I'd say, well, you're not. Yeah, you're not. Because sometimes people try to use pressure like that. It wasn't just during the time of Christ. It happens to this day. And what in the request you find is not just this desire to be close to Jesus forever, but you also see pride and selfish ambition. In Philippians two, verse three, it says, do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility, consider others better than yourselves. You see, this is a worldly tactic for achieving position. It's using pressure to get what you want. People get jobs. They get positions because of who they know or who they're related to. And we've already seen this. The apostles had a constant hunger for preeminence. Mark earlier had pointed out that the disciples argued over greatness in the kingdom. Who amongst them would be advanced to the highest position? And this is regular, it's ongoing. This is an argument they have amongst themselves. But this time they take it a step further. They heard him speak of his kingdom. They want places of highest honor. So Jesus makes a statement in verse 38. He says, you do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, be baptized with the baptism that I'm baptized with? You don't know what you're asking. You don't understand the cost. You don't know what it means in that request. You see, they had heard of the coming kingdom, but they didn't grasp the suffering that secured it. What a callous and unthinking way to respond to what Jesus had just said. I'm going to be betrayed. I'm going to be condemned. They're going to mock me. They're going to scourge me. They're going to spit on me. They're going to kill me. These men were familiar with these things. You see, during the time of Christ criminals would be crucified on the side of open roads where people would be walking, where the most traffic would be. That's where the criminals would be crucified. So they would be a warning to the people who would be passing by. These men knew what scourging was. Scourging was a beating almost to the death. You could actually die from scourging, but they knew it was something that would lacerate human flesh. It was that Jesus, when he says, I'll be scourged, it's going to be a pain that hardly anybody survives. You actually die under scourging. He's made all these comments to them. They're going to spit on me. They're going to humiliate me. They're going to be traitors. And all they're thinking of right now is how can we be great in your kingdom? They hadn't heard about this. They hadn't heard of him as he's talking about the pain. All we want to be is great. Somebody once said a request for glory is also a request for suffering. The position requires preparation, and preparation includes suffering. Can you drink up the cup that I'm about to drink? You're asking for positions of glory. Are you able to endure what it takes to receive them? Can you drink the cup? Can you be baptized with the baptism? You see, the cup in the baptism represents suffering and death that he's going to endure. The cup in Scripture has a connotation of a full experience, often unfavorable. Isaiah 51 17 says, awake, awake, rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath, you who have drained to its dregs the goblet that makes men stagger. When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, he was praying in Matthew 26 39. It says, he went a little farther, fell on his face and prayed saying, Oh, my father, if it's possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. As for the baptism, baptism is also something that speaks of suffering. The baptism is a baptism of fire. He was immersed in pain, but he emerged victorious. You don't know what you're asking for, but they said we are able. There are a lot of things that we ask for that we overestimate ourselves, our own strength in a lot of things. Some of your mama is seeing his mother's day. Let's go there for a minute. You're married and you're saying, I want to have a baby. Well, that sounds nice, doesn't it? I want to have a baby. So you become pregnant. You have these, these, these announcements, then you have the baby shower. It's your first baby. And you have announcements in every one. You have the balloons or whatever you have, you know, pink, blue, and you do the unveiling and this and that. Everybody's all excited for mama. She's going to have a baby. Then you go through labor. At that moment, mama, were you saying, Oh, this is pleasant? No. I still remember with Marie, I still remember going in with her. And, you know, she, her water had broken with our firstborn. Her water broke. We went into the hospital. I still remember going in as she was on a gurney. And right next to her is another, another woman. And the husband of this other woman was standing right there. And we're in the same room because it was kind of like you, they would bring you in there and then assign you a room and all. So I'm, I'm there with Marie and, and there's this woman and this woman's going crazy. She was further along in, in her contractions and, oh boy, she was yelling and she was yelling at her husband. And I'm just kind of sitting there looking at this. I'm going, oh, oh my goodness, she's demon possessed. No, I was, I was watching it. And, and she's, she was, you know, I don't know. All I know is I, I, I pray, thank God I'm not a woman. But as, as this was taking place, because if men, if men gave birth, we'd, we, well, we probably wouldn't have that many children, frankly. If we had one at all, we'd say, you know, that's enough. You know, I ain't going to do this again, but women for some reason anyway. So, so there's this woman screaming and she starts yelling at her husband. She says, I don't want, very dramatic. I don't want you to see me this way. And he's starting to act like when he's little terriers, these little dogs that don't know what to do. So they're kind of moving like that. And he's doing this real rapid movement. And I'm just sitting watching him. And finally she says, be gone. Go out of the room. And he scurries out. And I just freaked. I turned to Marie and I whispered. I said, thank you for not being like that. That's just crazy. This is crazy. Little did I know. And then when she was going through labor and I was watching that monitor, that meter that goes up with each contraction and watching the prolonged and all of that, they had taught us to do the he, he, ha, ha, who, who, that kind of thing in Lamas, right? And I was, I was sitting there. And, and I remember her face was, you know, I was lined up with her face and I was just kind of talking to her. And, and I'm watching them this thing, you know, and she's pegging. And I said, okay, honey, it's now it's time for the he, he. And she turns and this beautiful saint of God, this precious, grits her teeth and sit back, stop breathing in my face and just sit there. And I'm thinking, I spent money for this. I didn't, I didn't have to, I didn't have to pay for this. This happens every day, you know, for free. No, that was not my angel. It says some, something took over her body. And you know, it's weird. I mean, as you watch this from a man's perspective, as you watch the drama of it and everything, all the, all of the, all that went on, you know, the, everything, she was in, she was in labor for 33 hours for the first baby. That's a good amount of time, obviously. We didn't know. How would we know? And then she has this, this baby kind of looked like a lizard. And, and as she had this, and a bullet, you know, but anyway, you're looking at that thing and, and, and she wanted another one. I, I figured that out. Ladies, I salute you. I don't, I, I can't figure that out. We had in six and a half years, five pregnancies, five pregnancies in six and a half years, we had, we lost one of our babies in miscarriage, but Marie wanted babies and was willing to have four of them. Isn't that amazing to me? But when these women, I just went to have a baby. You know not what you're asking. You, you know not what you're asking. I just went to baby. No, okay, why? Okay, you went through the suffering of birthing them. Get ready, because now you got to raise it. And this little angel that you think is so sweet, eventually, because a little demon at the age of 13. That's how old Isaac was when Abraham was told to kill him. And I think Abraham wanted to. No, I'm, I'm just kidding. I'm just teasing. He wasn't that age. He was older. But I say that to say this, sometimes we ask the Lord for something we're not prepared for. Oh, are you able to drink of this cup? Are you able to be baptized with this? Oh, I am. I am. I want this from you. I've been pleading for it. I've been wanting it and needing it. I want it. Give it to me. Are you ready? Do you understand the cost? Do you understand that you're going to make a payment for this? That this is something that will exact something from you? Do you understand? Oh, yes. Can you drink of this? Oh, yes, we're able. Oh, you don't know what you're asking for. I want to be a pastor. I still remember my assistant, one of my assistants, Randy Walls, who pastors upland. I remember him walking into my office many years ago now. And he sits in front of me and he says, he says, David, I want you to know that I feel a call of pastor and I want to go out and plant my own church. And I was looking at him and I just folded my arms and looked at him. And I said, oh, he says, yes, I believe that God has called me to be a pastor and I want to go out and pastor a church. And I looked at him and I'll never forget this. And my eyes welled with tears. And I said, Randy, you don't know what you're asking for. You don't know what you're asking for. And he looks at me like, yeah, I do. I want to serve Jesus. Randy, you don't. And I teared. I actually cried a few years ago. He and I were talking. We're very dear friends. He's my closest friend. And a few, just a few years ago, you were talking. He says, do you remember when I came into your office and said, I want to be a pastor? Do you remember, he said to me, how you teared up and told me you don't know what you're asking for? I go, yes, of course I do. He says, you were right. I did not know what I was asking for. He says, over these years, I've learned what you were trying to tell me. There are many things that you want now that you think you're prepared for that you're not. You're ready for it. You think, oh, I can have it. I can handle it. No, you're not. You haven't understood the cost, the way that these men hadn't understood the cost. We want to be on your left hand. We want to be on your right hand. Are you able to drink of my cup, the cup of suffering and the wrath that will come upon me? Are you able to do that? Are you able to be baptized, fully immersed in the suffering and anguish of what it means to yield yourself to God, to serve Him with all of your heart? Are you aware of that? Yes, I am. We're able. Oh, you're going to. Notice how he responds to them, by the way. He says this. He goes, you will indeed drink the cup that I drink in with the baptism I am baptized with. You will be baptized. But to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared. We're able. They obviously didn't understand, but Jesus says, you're going to go through trials. You're going to go through great pain. You're going to discover the cost of following me. You see, later in their lives, both James and John would discover the price. James, as I already mentioned, was the first apostle to be martyred. Acts 12, 1 and 2. It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with a sword. In the case of John, he was exiled to the island of Patmos. Revelation, chapter one, verse nine says it like this. I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I am your brother in suffering and patient endurance. They learned these things, but Jesus says in verse 40, to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give. It's been prepared by the Father. Personal favoritism plays no part in the reception of these honors. The Father is the one who decides the place of honor. In Psalm 756, promotion comes neither from the east nor from the west nor from the south, but God is the judge. He puts down one and sets up another. It's been said when God prepares an office for a man, he prepares the man for the office. Well in verse 41, when the 10 heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John, but Jesus called them to himself and said to them, you know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them. Their great ones exercise authority over them, yet it shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. Whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all, for even the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. Now these 10 in verse 41 heard it and they were indignant. They were greatly displeased. They felt that the brothers had taken an unfair advantage of them. They're filled with selfish ambition themselves. They're competitive and so they respond with anger, but Jesus calls them and speaks to them and he begins to address this selfish ambition. He's making it clear. I'm not building my kingdom on selfish ambition, but on servant leaders. Selfish ambition does not produce unity. Selfish ambition creates division. Proverbs 1310 only by pride comes contention, but with the well advised is wisdom. Instead of pursuing a position, it's better to seek to enjoy serving. Instead of pushing ourselves ahead, we are to give place to others. In Romans 12 verse 10 it says in honor prefer one another, but Jesus speaks to them in verse 42. Notice how he speaks to those who are great amongst the Gentiles. He calls them the rulers of the Gentiles. When he speaks to these, he's speaking of the pharaohs. He's speaking of the kings. He's speaking of Caesars, but he's also speaking of presidents. He's speaking of governors. He's speaking of those who are in authority. And what do they do? Jesus says, how is it that they rule? Notice he says they lord it over them. That literally speaks of ruling down on people. They hold people down. They crush them. They oppress them. They do everything in their power to rise to the top and they squash anyone who opposes them. Notice in verse 42 he speaks of the great ones. The word great there speaks of the noble or the distinguished ones. What do they do? He says they exercise authority. They completely dominate. They play the tyrant. They pass laws they themselves will not obey. They pass mandates that they themselves ignore. I don't think I have to go any further than to say we see that every day. Human government is that way. That's the way it is. We will press down anybody that opposes me, taking this office or doing this thing. I want this power. And once you give power to someone, do they give it back? Do they say, okay, time's up. Now you can be free again? No, anything you give away is theirs forever. Keep that in mind because a lot of people gave away a lot of their freedom. And once those in authority have this power, do they give it back to you? Do they say it time's up? Now you can be free again? No, they don't. What they do is they keep it and they oppress you even further. That's where the heart of the battles have been going on in our own society recently. That's what that is because there are many of us who see this as a way to take power that will not be given back to the people. That's what we see. That's what's going on right now. And yet a lot of people fail to see or understand that, but it's absolutely true. But Jesus told us about that. He says they exercise authority. They will push you down and hold you down because for them, power means everything, but that's not to be the way you are in the church. The church has not been raised up in order for us to model ourselves after the great ones of the world. Who is the greatest in the kingdom, Jesus himself? What was he the servant of all? He came to yield himself and he laid his life down for us. And yet Jesus is speaking concerning this and he's speaking about it very clearly in verse 43. It shall not be so among you. Whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. Whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave. So he speaks in a way that they would understand. Will be your servant. The word servant there is the Greek word diakonos. It's where you get the word deacon from. It's a waiter, a table waiter. It's somebody who serves food and drink. Whoever desires to be that is going to be your servant. Whoever desires to be first is going to be a slave. He's going to be a doulos. One who has voluntarily given himself up to somebody else's will. Those whose service is used by Jesus in advancing his cause among men. You're not going to be looked at as a great one. You're going to be looking at being looked at as a servant and a slave because a true mark of a servant of the Lord is a willingness to sacrifice for others. It's the opposite of the values that we find in the world. Any man who goes into ministry expecting to be served by other people should not be in the ministry. Any man who comes in and wields an authority over people and he uses it to dominate should not be in the ministry. Any man who needs people to show him attention and constant praise should not be in the ministry because what he is is a servant of all. There should be respect for him because of the work that he does. But that man should not walk into a room expecting everybody to stand in attention when he walks in or to sing his praises out in the courtyard because that man is a servant and you don't do that at a restaurant and you shouldn't do that at a church. You shouldn't do that at a church. You shouldn't. And what we are right now is we are in a time when there are so few who are speaking on our behalf that we look to someone to be our hero. We already have a hero. His name is Jesus Christ. Let's keep our eyes on him. And I'm telling you that we're in a time in the history of the church and I can speak with authority on this. I've been in ministry 48 years. I can tell you this with authority that it's a dangerous time in the church when the sheep are expecting the shepherd to do all their fighting whereas the shepherd has been called by God to equip the sheep for the work of service so that we all together serve Jesus Christ and nobody's the superstar except for Christ. But we're living in a time when we say, oh, that guy, he almost walks on water. No, he doesn't. He's just like you. I am just like you. I wake up and I put my shoes on and I go to war every day, every day. And you want to know why? Because that's what I'm called to do and we do together. That's what the body of Christ is. It isn't ruled by a man. It is ruled by a Lord, a Savior who showed us what it means to be great. Be careful who you give your admiration to. And if you say, well, I don't need to admire you either, fine with me. I don't care. Admire him. That's what ministry is supposed to do. That's what ministry is supposed to do. Serve the Lord. These men want places of prominence. They want to be the preeminent ones. And he says, can you drink of my cup? Can you be baptized in my bath? Oh, yes. You will be. You don't know what you're asking for. You will. And the affliction is going to humble you to dependence on me and you will be godly. That'll happen. But don't be like the world. Don't be looking to Christian superstars. I can't say that strongly enough. I really believe that the church, the church in general, it's got to put our highs back on Jesus. You know, when I got saved, I'll say it quickly. There was a man named Chuck Smith. God used him in a mighty way. But I learned from him. He was my pastor and he always pointed me to Jesus Christ, never to himself. Never to himself. I was talking to him when I first became known to him and he said, I'd say, Pastor Chuck, and he'd say, Dave, call me, call me Chuck. Call me Chuck. And he would, he'd say, I'm like you, you know. You know, I, and I learned that from him. And I, you know, I may be speaking to myself. Maybe this is a lesson for me. Be careful who you put in a place of honor. There's only one who deserves it. There's only one who will never, never let you down. And that's Jesus Christ. Every man you put your eyes on is capable of hurting your feelings sometimes without even knowing it. I don't know how many people I've injured over the years. I'm sure many. Did I do it intentionally? No. Did I do it? I'm sure I did. Why? Because I'm not perfect. I'm not a perfect man. Because I can say something that hurts these feelings. I can, I can, I can, I'm a human being. So I've never wanted anybody to look at me as anything other than a brother who's been placed in a position of equipping. I try to be the best man I can. I try to follow the things I teach you. Do I fail? Yeah, of course. When I fail, do I repent and say, God, help me? Yes, I do. Do I say, God, fill me with your spirit. Without you, I'm nothing. Yes, I do. That's what's kept me serving him all these years. I'm only saying that you can do the same. We should do the same. And Jesus is speaking to these men, and he's saying to them, no, no, no. You're arguing amongst yourself who's the greatest. That position is my father's decision. It's not yours. And I'm not going to grant that. You just need to know that I came not to be served, but to serve and to give my life as a ransom. Notice he says that. He says in verse 45, and we'll close, even the Son of man didn't come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom. For many, I have come to give my life voluntarily yield myself as a ransom, paying what is called a redemption price. When you speak of the redemption price, the redemption price is the price paid for a slave who is then set free by the one who bought him. And so this emphasizes substitution. You see, unbelievers are slaves to sin, but Jesus redeems them. And his death on the cross satisfies God's holy justice. And the cost was the blood of Christ. Ephesians one seven says, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace. So to give up your life for the good of others, he's saying it's the highest form of servanthood. And in John 15, Jesus said it like this in verses 12 and 13. He said, this is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this that a man laid down his life for his friends live in a sacrificial way. And in John 3 verse 30, John the Baptist said it best, he said, he must increase, but I must decrease. If you want to be great in the kingdom, become the servant of all. You guys want places of position? It's prepared by God. He's the one who places them there. But you, you follow me. And I guess that that I'd have to close by saying, that's the best command that we could follow, follow him completely. Because when you follow him, he takes you to places that you would never have been able to get on your own. I walk outside and I, and I look around this place and I say to myself, I say, God, you're, you're too much because I can remember back to 1973 when I sat in a house with four or five people teaching Bible studies. That's where it began. I can remember being in the little house just down the street over here off of East End and Philadelphia. There's a house that's made of rocks there. And I used to live in that place. I used to do a Bible study there. It cost me $25 a month to rent that place there. Think about that for just a minute. But we had to split it between four. It was actually a hundred. And I used to teach Bible studies there. I used to teach a Bible study in John's house. His mom and dad opened the house up for me to teach a Bible study in Montclair in the early days. And then I walk on this campus and I looked at everything the Lord has done. And I remember when we first moved here back in 92 and there was a barn here and there was a stable there and there was blacktop here and a field there and grass and and now I look around and I say, God, John sometimes will walk with me out there. And I'll just and you'll say, you must blow your mind when you walk around here. Don't you? I say, I really do. I really do because I remember all the work crews that came, all the things that were done, all the building that occurred. This was no vision of mine. It was a gift from God. And I've had some great people who served the Lord with a humble heart, Jose Vera, who did so much of the tile. When I go to the chapel and I look at the mosaics there, the beautiful mosaics, that's something he did. When I walk up the steps, when I go up into the patio area over here, going towards the banquet hall, if you've noticed there, if you look there, you'll see tile there on the steps as you go up. That tile is a special tile. He got it specifically from Queretaro, Mexico, where my family comes from. And he says, I got this for you so you could have something from your family to remember where you're from. Those things humble me. Those things speak to my heart because that's what matters, those things. So it's not, it's forgiving. It's not, it's not being called great. It's serving a great God. And that's what we need to understand today. We have to take our eyes off of men and we have to put them back on Jesus Christ because a man didn't die on a cross for you. Jesus, the Son of God did. And he bought you. He paid for you. He yielded himself to you. These men couldn't understand that. He said, I'm going to be scourged. I'm going to be beaten to an inch of my life. I'm going to be hanging on a tree in front of people. I'm going to do that for you. And you're asking for places of special position. No, I didn't come to be served, but to serve. To give my life as a ransom for you. And if the gospel will ever be successful in reaching this society, it's when God's people stop being so mad at everybody and learn to love the sinner and to remember that we were once just as lost as they are. I don't want you ever to walk out of this church angry at a president. I want you to walk out of this church in love with the Savior. That's what matters today. And you'll understand that. And you'll understand that. And Father, I ask that you would work in our