 Matthew chapter 20 now what we're going to do today is we're going to be actually taking verses 17, 18 and 19 together and then I'm going to move into chapter 20 verse 20 through 28. In the past I actually just concentrated an entire study on verses 17 through 19. This time I'm going to actually have two installments if you will verses 17 through 19 will serve to be the context for verses 20 through 28. You're going to see that the Lord Jesus Christ in verses 17 through 19 is instructing his disciples concerning his upcoming death you know and we will read that in a minute. But we're also going to see how his disciples responded to that kind of news and so it's interesting how that Jesus would be speaking concerning something that is about to take place that is very serious but it's interesting to note how that affects those who are listening and so let's begin reading together at verse 17 here in Matthew chapter 20. I'll read to verse 28 we'll get into our study. Matthew chapter 20 beginning at verse 17. Then Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the 12 disciples aside on the road and said to them behold we are going up to Jerusalem and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the scribes and they will condemn him to death and deliver him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify and the third day he will rise again. Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to him with her sons kneeling down and asking something from him. He said to her what do you wish? She said to him grant that these two sons of mine may sit one on your right hand and the other on the left in your kingdom. But Jesus answered and said you do not know what you ask are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with they said to him we are able. So he said to them you will indeed drink my cup and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with 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 by my father. When the 10 heard it they were moved with indignation against the two brothers. But Jesus called them to himself and said you know that the rulers of the Gentiles lorded over them those who are great exercise authority over them yet it shall not be so among you but whoever desires to become great among you let them be your servant whoever desires to be first among you let them be your slave just as the son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. As we look at this passage here this gives to us in verses 17 through 19 it gives to us another instance of Jesus speaking of his upcoming death. Now he'd already made mention of this to the disciples in you know recently it's recorded that he had done so in Matthew chapter 16 as well as Matthew chapter 17 and so he's already been teaching them concerning these things but now once again he's going to remind them of the events that are about to transpire. You see he's about to be put to death so his desire is for them to understand what is about to happen and he knows that they're going to be shaken to the core therefore he prepares them for these upcoming events. Now we need to remember that the suffering and death of Jesus Christ was not an afterthought it certainly wasn't an accident. His suffering and his death was a reason that he came in the first place and it's repeatedly stressed in the Gospels. Now it's been said that the heart of the Gospel is John 3 16 and 17 all of us have heard those scriptures many of us have memorized them God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life for God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved. That's the heart of the Gospel salvation that has been given to us through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You see God sent his son his mission Jesus's mission was to be born in order to die. He was the Lamb of God who takes away the the sin of the world and so Jesus came in order that he might voluntarily lay his life down for sinners that's basic we already know that and yet when you look at the scriptures it seems to be repeated over and over again and Jesus tells us why he came Matthew 18 verse 11 the Son of man has come to save that which was lost Luke 532 I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance and so Jesus made it very clear I came to seek and to save that which is lost when you partake in that when you understand that then you can give a testimony concerning that in other words you speak concerning what you have experience you're able to speak concerning what salvation is so that's why Christianity isn't just a system of philosophy or creeds we certainly have philosophy we certainly have our creeds of course we do our declarations of faith we have them placed in a in categorical ways so that we can say these are the things we most surely believe God loves us God sent his son we can speak concerning creedal statements you know I believe in God the Father Almighty Creator of heaven and earth in Jesus Christ his only son we can speak concerning creeds like that which contain the elements of our faith so Christianity isn't something that is just something we feel it's something that is built on fact and and as we look at that and we begin to partake in that and actually as we by faith receive those gifts and those promises and and all in our born again then we can like Paul make declarative statements related to how they've affected us personally this is a faithful saying worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners Paul said of whom I am chief 1st Timothy 115 and we know we know that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners Jesus said that's why he came and so that's something that is very important for us to remember and understand but his disciples need to be reminded of that and appears constantly you see Jesus is about to be taken violently from his disciples so once again we see him instructing them concerning this they need to be prepared for this in order that when the time of testing comes they can remain faithful to him you see the Lord intended his disciples to carry on his work into the future so they need to remain strong and be instructed and so that's what we're watching here take place as he once again begins to instruct them so in verse 17 here in chapter 20 of Matthew it says Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the 12 disciples aside on the road and said to them something you'll find interesting when Jerusalem is spoken of when you're approaching it it is always going up to Jerusalem because Jerusalem is the city that's on a higher elevation and so they're always going up to Jerusalem and that's what's happening right now Jesus is going to Jerusalem going up to Jerusalem notice in verse 17 how as they're going up to Jerusalem he takes the 12 disciples who are also the apostles he takes the 12 disciples aside so Jesus and his men are traveling with him but there are others who are part of that group so he wants to instruct his apostles privately that's because some things that he has are for their ears only so he takes them aside and he says in verse 18 behold we are going up to Jerusalem and the Son of man will be betrayed to the chief priests to the scribes they will condemn him to death deliver him to the Gentiles the Romans to mock scourge and crucify the third day he will rise again and so again he had mentioned this to them in chapter 16 he reiterated it in chapter 17 he repeats it now in chapter 20 when he says we're going up to Jerusalem that causes the disciples concerned because they know that Jesus is a marked man in the city of Jerusalem when he was up in the north he was a bit safer but down south where it was the religious hotbed they knew that Jesus was in danger that's something that was recorded concerning him all the way back in the Gospel of John in chapter 5 when Jesus was there and there was a man by the pull of Bethesda and Jesus had healed this man on the Sabbath and had told him to rise and to pick up that mat that he was on and to walk and it created tremendous problems because in doing so Jesus was declaring himself to be the Son of God which was blasphemous and also instructed the man to carry his mat which to the Jew on the Sabbath you didn't carry anything because that was called working so they believe that Jesus Christ was a blasphemer and according to John 5 16 it says for this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill him because he had done these things on the Sabbath and so the disciples know that Jerusalem is a dangerous place for for Jesus to go they knew it and yet his face is set to go to Jerusalem they're concerned for him and he's even speaking to them concerning what is about to happen and that causes them great concern Mark tells us in chapter 10 verse 32 they were on their way up to Jerusalem and Jesus leading the way and the disciples were astonished while those who followed were afraid again he took the 12 aside and told them what was going to happen to him so they were astonished and they were afraid Jesus's joy and his determination to go there and embrace this cross actually confused them how is it possible that you would have such a disposition when you're on your way or marching on your way to death and you're bringing us along with you so his determination confuses them but Jesus in Luke 12 50 says I have a baptism to undergo and how distressed I am until it is completed and so he said no this is why I came I have a baptism to be baptized with and I desire this to take place and so he is determined to go to fulfill the plan of salvation well on their part they're so overwhelmed they don't know how to react and so Jesus is walking before them he's their shepherd he's their leader he needs to lead them in but they're walking behind him and they're confused and they're concerned but they have to go with him now Luke records that Jesus tried to instruct them in order to calm them but they still didn't understand in Luke 18 31 it says he took to him the twelve and said to them behold we go up to Jerusalem and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the son of man shall be accomplished so what he's doing and I want you to notice this is he is bringing to them calmness at least wanting to by use of the scriptures the word of God is intended to bring them comfort you see the the disciples didn't understand that what the scripture said about their Messiah so they're concerned and again they're confused and so as Jesus is speaking to them he tells them exactly what's going to happen verse 18 we're going up to Jerusalem the son of man which is a title for Messiah the son of man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the scribes they will condemn him to death deliver him to the Gentiles the Romans to mock and to scourge and to crucify which was the Roman means of death and the third day he will rise again so he's giving them details once again there's going to be a trial is what he's saying I'm going to be betrayed to the chief priests and the scribes we know who betrays him man by the name of Judas he says they're going to condemn him to death and that occurs on the night that Jesus was betrayed he says we're going to be I'm going to be delivered to the Gentiles they're going to mock and scourge and crucify me and that's because the Jews didn't have the legal right to put a man to death but Rome did and then he goes on to conclude by saying on the third day I will rise again now with all of this that's being said how did they respond well according to Luke chapter 1834 the disciples did not understand any of this its meaning was hidden from them they did not know what he was talking about again some things are only understood later after things unfold I've said it to you before Jesus said it like this what is occurring now you don't understand but you will later there are some things that you learn later you just trust the Lord and go through it and then you discover so that's why he did that and that's how that worked and so that's what's taking place right now now that's to set up this he's talking about his impending death and all that relates to it and then how did they respond verse 20 the mother of Zebedee's sons came to him with her sons kneeling down and asking something from him and he said to her what do you wish she said to him grant that these two sons of mine may sit one on your right hand and the other on the left in your kingdom Jesus answered and said you do not know what you ask are you able to drink the cup that I'm about to drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with they said to him we are able so he said to them you will indeed drink my cup and be baptized with the baptism that I'm baptized with but to sit on my right hand and on my my left is not mine to give it is for those for whom it is prepared by my father and so let's look at that for a moment what we have here is notice the mother of Zebedee's sons she comes to him she kneels down and she makes a request of the Lord Jesus Christ what we have an opportunity of seeing at this point is how deeply his lesson affected them and how it affects the way that they think everybody who leads everybody who teaches anybody who communicates knows that the listeners don't always hear listeners don't always hear we know that if you're a parent a parent will share with their children thinking that they're learning the first time that we speak but they don't they'll they'll sit there nodding their heads when you're speaking to them do you get it do you understand oh yes I get it they're not listening I can still remember I was 17 years old and my dad was upset at me as was kind of normal in our home and I had done some stupid things and and he had me seated across the table with him and he was he was really attempting to get through to me and I still remember as my father was looking at me and and trying to lecture me I was thinking of something else I don't know what I was thinking of but it certainly wasn't my dad my dad was looking at me and his mouth was moving and I heard those sounds but I don't know what he was saying and and it was obvious that I was just kind of like zoning I was just kind of looking around and then I'd look at my dad and finally I still remember my father looking at me and saying you haven't listened to a word I've said have you I said no I've been listening to everything okay what did I just say so I made something up he'd said the same things for so long I just repeated what I heard in the past well you were saying this this isn't that and my dad had this shocked look in his face I still remember it he goes yeah that's what I was saying I was looking because I I don't I know what he was saying he was just I was like he was mouth was moving and other sounds were coming out I didn't get it see so I know I was that way I know none of you in here were but I was that way and as a parent I have spoken to my kids and I have said to my kids this this this this and and I'm really trying to communicate and they're just but they're not listening so just because somebody is is listening to words they're not hearing what's being said and that's what happens very often in the spiritual life how many times can I hear a Bible study and still not get it still not get it I can be well trained I could be in the word of God every day I can be prayer meditation but there are some things I still have yet to understand or to get why because I may be looking at one story and I might be pulling a piece from that and I'm not seeing the meat of something else it's in the same story and that happens all the time so we all know that repetition will teach and that's how Jesus repeats himself and that's why he keeps on saying the same kinds of things related to his death very own resurrection they need to hear this but how is it affecting them are they listening while we see he's spoken to them he's saying this is going to take place and the first thing we see after that at least recorded Matthew is the mother of Zebedee's son's coming up and saying I have a question to ask you I have a favor to ask of you what is it well I want my sons to be seated one on the left and the other on the right in your kingdom so these men who have just been instructed concerning Jesus being betrayed and and killed this shows you how they're affected by those things I have a request of you and what's interesting is the Bible tells us that she may be presenting a desire shared with her sons James and John because in mark 1035 mark records James and John the sons of Zebedee came to him saying teacher we want you to do for us whatever we ask so it seems that there's a conspiracy here it's not just James and John not just mother it's together they're making this request of the Lord now in order for us to understand what's going on let me give you a couple of thoughts some things to think about the question you have to ask yourself and it seems interesting in verse 20 how it begins simply by saying the mother of Zebedee's sons came to him the question I have to ask is who is this woman who's this woman who takes it upon herself to come and speak to Jesus Christ well we're told that it's a mother of Zebedee's son so that tells me that she's a mother of James and John because James and John were the sons of Zebedee so okay this is their mom James and John who are apostles this is their mom but who is she to come and speak in such a way well when you compare various scriptures if you take notes you might want to note this Matthew 27 verse 56 mark 15 verse 40 and John 19 verse 25 when you compare those scriptures you actually come to find out who she is her name is Salome she was the sister of Mary the mother of Jesus in other words she was his aunt and James and John are Jesus's cousins and so she is using her family relationship with Jesus to try and obtain favor through nepotism and that's what's taking place here she's the one making the request of Jesus but it reflects her son's ambitions I want you to remember with me we saw this in chapter 19 verse 28 that Jesus had told them that they would have places of honor in his kingdom so it's interesting to note how his promise of honor had been heard but his suffering had not been heard they didn't understand that the way of way to honor was actually on a road of suffering the way to honor I'm going to develop this with you when I when I do pastors classes leadership classes here in the church and I do them every year or two I'll I'll invite some of the men in the church you have a desire to to grow in leadership and all I will have classes and I do this all the time as well as sharing these things with other pastors when I have opportunities to do that these are simple principles of ministry but when I do that I like to remind the people of what we're called to because these are the things that relate to your service to God these are things that matter in the kingdom of God I'll show you that in just a moment and so one of the things that every minister of the gospel needs to understand that is that the road to honor is actually a road to suffering if you want to be great in the kingdom of heaven you are going to go through things that are going to work on your character I'll show you that in just a moment there's nothing wrong with being ambitious for the right kinds of things there's nothing wrong with having a desire to be be used mildly by the Lord awtozer one of my favorite writers spoke to a man who has had a pastoral authority in his life and and said that he wanted to be and this is just kind of like a paraphrase that he wanted to be a man who loved God more than any other man who ever lived and the man said you realize of course that you are asking for suffering if you want to be great in the kingdom of God you need to understand that the road to greatness is paved with sorrow you need to understand that not everybody does a lot of people think yeah I'd like to be this and I'd like to do that and I'd like to be known that's that's part of human nature and on and on one hand there's nothing wrong with the desire to be used mildly by God you know as you look at church history you'll see that there were great numbers of people with that tremendous desire somebody by the name of John Knox once said something that is as lodged in my heart he he was on a ship in the harbour in Scotland in Edinburgh Scotland and he simply made a prayer that is very famous John Knox prayed Lord give me Scotland or I die now that's a great prayer Lord give me give me Scotland or I die I want to reach these people with the gospel give me Scotland when you see men like Charles Spurgeon in in 1859 Charles Spurgeon wrote a book called The Soul Winner and in the book The Soul Winner Spurgeon said as Rachel cried give me children or I die so may none of you be content to be barren in the household of God cry and sigh until you have snatched some brand from the burning and have brought at least one sinner to Jesus Christ banned from preaching in the early 1700s in the church of England for his preaching an undiluted gospel George Whitfield was an eminently useful tool in God's hands he was said to have preached to the majority of the people in the 13 colonies in the United States Whitfield had a constant prayer on his lips give me souls or I die Whitfield coupled his prayer with no less than 30 transatlantic voyages often preached twice a day all week long traveled on horseback regardless of weather conditions and received rotten eggs and manure as gifts thrown to him by detractors John Hyde was an American missionary to India desperate to change the face of the country where he lived along with a state of fruitlessness in his own ministry his biographers tell of calloused knees nights in prayer and they dubbed him praying Hyde the prayer on his lips was give me souls first one a day then two then four or I die again fervent prayer coupled with sacrifice marked his life these are ministers these are ministers of the gospel that the church has yet to forget because they sought first the kingdom of God and so that ambition that they had is a proper one their ambition was for the kingdom it wasn't for their own glory and that's the ambition that God intends for his children to possess not that we might be known as great but that the God that we present is known as being great and that's what he wants that's what he commands of us the mindset that they have is is a natural tendency the natural tendency to to desire the attention and recognition from man I mean when you look at the bible you see there's a group of religious leaders called the Pharisees who did everything to be seen by man and that's a natural inclination in people's hearts but that isn't the way we're to serve God in Philippians 2 verse 3 it reads do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit but in humility consider others better than yourselves you see they reveal that they have yet to understand how the kingdom of God really works and what they're doing is they're attempting to apply pressure on Jesus by virtue of the relationship to him they want position based on their being his cousins and so it says in verse 20 she came with her sons and knelt down before him basically she's saying it like this I'm your aunt these are your cousins surely you have a special place for them but the bible teaches us that the kingdom of God isn't made up of special interest groups well he says what do you want and she says I want them to be on your right hand and on your left you see that's a worldly tactic for greatness using pressure for what you desire people get jobs and they get positions because of who they know or who they're related to but not so in the ministry not real ministry the bible tells us in Psalm 75 verse 6 promotion comes neither from the east nor from the west nor from the south God is the judge he put down one he sets up another and so it's up to the Lord and that's what Jesus is saying here you're asking for something that I I can't grant you I'm not the one who puts you in those positions my father does we need to understand that you see in this request we see both good and bad we see good in that she trusts that Jesus is able to grant her petition but we see bad and that she's attempting to use her influence in a selfish manner and so I want to develop this with you in verse 22 Jesus answered and said you do not know what you ask you don't know what you're asking for you don't realize the implications of your request a request for glory is a request for suffering in Philippians 129 it has been granted to you on behalf of christ not only to believe on him but also to suffer for him do you want to be great in the kingdom of god you're going to go through deep things as you progress I honestly believe that that's the reason why many people are content being lukewarm and hardly used by the Lord because they realize that there is a cost some in this room understand exactly what I mean when I say this you said to the Lord we'll say one day in one of those moments of fervor you said God used me in any way I just want to be used and all of a sudden you start going through trials that you've never experienced before you start going through things that you've never experienced before and you get upset and you say you know I don't want to be used that much I mean if this is what that's what it means to be used by the Lord you know I'm content going to church once in a while because at one time you had a desire to be used by the Lord in a mighty way you even felt perhaps called by God into a full-time place of ministry but one thing after another after another began to accumulate in your life and and rather than learning that by going through those things God actually has a way of removing from you the things that don't matter in order to replace them with the things that do you didn't understand that and as a result of that you started thinking God's hand was upon you not for good but for ill and because you didn't like that you said you know what kind of God is this listen when you ask the Lord to make you into a servant he will when you ask God to reduce you to nothing so that he can be everything he will and when he does it it may not be pleasant I promise you many times it's not because let's face it dying is not a pleasant thing and yet we're to die to ourselves in order that we might live to Christ and if we learn that you will learn God's gracious hand how he's with you no matter what valley you're walking through though I walk through the valley of the shadow of the death of death I am not alone you are with me is what you learn and when you learn that you're able to help others who who are going through that valley I when I was a young man I went to one of my professors Dr. Moore he was I loved him with all my heart he was my professor at Biola was going through a trial and I spoke to him and I said to him this Dr. Moore I said I'm going through some some tough times right now I don't I want to turn around and walk away from the Lord I'm at that point where where I'm hearing God say you know you want to go away and I said and I'm at that point where I want to and he said to me David he said you need to understand that this is part of how you are being purged to be used by God you need to go through this in order that you could help others who will go through this you've been there you can speak as somebody who has gone through there you can speak to them and say God is faithful he'll take you through and if you don't learn your lessons now these are lessons that are repeated through your whole life learn them now I was 23 years old 24 I'm still learning those lessons because it's true do you want to be used by God listen we're in church right now this isn't a show of any sort this is church do you want to be used by God if you do you will die to yourself to live unto him you will discover that and you will discover that in the moments when you're weeping and crying and thinking nobody understands where you're at there is a God who does and though all forsake you he never will forsake you and you learn that that's what you learn and these disciples did not understand that they didn't understand it are you able to drink of the cup are you able to be baptized with the baptism yes we are no you're not you don't understand what you're asking for you're wanting positions of honor but you haven't gone through the purging that makes it proper for you to have those places you don't understand what you're talking about that's a fact in ministry there are those who've never taught a bible study who want to correct me in mine it's a fact I get the letters I think Facebook is good but it's filled with gossip too filled with gossip it's unfortunate to see so many Christians have got nothing else to talk about other than other Christians isn't that sad we got to redeem that I have pastor friends of mine who said why you go on Facebook man it's just a gossip page and I said you know I go on Facebook to try and bring the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ because Christians will will read it and that's why I'm on but yeah it's a fact and you know this and who wants to see what you ate today by the way I mean Facebook unless you invite me I'm not interested but the bottom line is that's ministry that's ministry you know what's happened to the church today I'm going to be very honest with you as I speak I always am I'll say this bottom line we are not looking for godliness in the pulpit anymore we're looking for entertainment we're looking for somebody who makes me feel good about myself or gives me information that I could get from a newspaper or from the news we're looking for somebody to speak to me that way so he can instruct me on how I'm supposed to think listen I'm not good at doing that what I want to do is point you to Jesus Christ this is what the word of God says it'll change your life and if you read the word of God you will change you will change you will change you will change because you start reading God's word and he said this is what I want this is what I don't want and when you begin to see what Jesus went through what makes me think that I'm not going to go through equal kinds not equal similar things what makes me think that I will not suffer persecution what makes me think that everybody's going to like me what makes me think that I'll always be successful what makes me think that every morning I'm going to wake up and I'm going to say oh it's a happy day listen there are times I wake up in the morning and I say I don't even want to get out of bed I don't want to get out of bed so Marie drags me out throws me out and says go because life can be difficult purging is not easy but it's God's way and these these men oh we want to be on your right hand we want to be on your left so that when people are looking at the throne they'll see us too and we're there you don't know what you're asking for you don't know what you're asking for you don't and sadly many don't because he's speaking concerning what it takes you see you're asking for positions of glory but are you able to endure what it takes to receive it he speaks of the cup and he speaks of baptism the cup in baptism represents the suffering and the death that he will endure in scripture a cup has a connection very often with a full experience and often it is unfavorable an example would be found in Isaiah 51 17 where it says in the Old Testament book of Isaiah awake awake rise up oh 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 so that speaks of the wrath of God the cup can speak of wrath we see in Matthew 26 39 Jesus went a little farther fell on his face prayed saying oh my father if it is possible let this cup pass from me nevertheless not as I will but as you will let this cup of suffering let this cup of of wrath pass are you ready to be baptized with the baptism I'm baptized with you see drinking the cup would reveal Jesus's act of obedience but being baptized was his passive and he had said in Luke 12 50 again I have a baptism to undergo and how distressed I am until it be completed they didn't understand so what do they say well we're able people have a desire for position but they don't understand the cost they don't it's like you walk into the we'll say a kung fu studio you walk in and it's your first day working out and you ask the instructor for for a black belt it's my first day listen I watched I've watched I've watched a lot of UFC and and Bruce Lee is one of my heroes and I'm pretty certain that I'm I'm a black belt already a lot of people have that attitude I want to have a black belt well the bottom line is you start with a white belt and over time you begin with your basic experiences you learn certain things and before you know it you're moving up into the different kinds of experiences that come with those experiences come with bruises and a lot of a lot of pain and then years later you would advance in your skills to earn something called a black belt I have spoken to young young men over the years who will say things like yeah I'm going in the military I'm going in the army I said well you know well congratulations yeah yeah I'm going to be a ranger really they're going to just give you a ranger patch when you going in the day that oh no no I'm going to be a ranger and I look at them and I think you know not what you're asking for you don't know what you're asking for it's not something you get just by signing up and putting your name down I'm going to ranger school I've had them say oh I'm going to be airborne really you're going to be airborne yeah you know not what you asked for see I went through airborne training so I can speak on that and I can so really you're ready to get up at six in the morning you're ready to do PT for three hours you're ready to run three miles in the beginning of the day and go seven hours of PT throughout the day every day until you jump out of a plane you're ready to do that yeah I'm ready well as I look at you you may be you may be an athletic strong guy but you don't know what you're asking for because you haven't stood at a door yet you haven't looked at a red light waiting for it to turn into a green light you haven't heard a black hat when the black hat says stand in the door stand hook up shuffle to the door check your body's equipment you haven't heard any of that you haven't you don't know what it's like to stand and see it in a jet and see them open up a windfoil and hear the sound and the look and they say I'm jumping out of this you come on you know I am and then you have people push you out the door because you're ain't going on your own that's a fact that's a fact I'm going to be a ranger really I'm going to be special forces really you may be and I hope you are and I'll be proud of you if you make it but you don't get the patch by just signing up and you don't become known for being a servant of God until you've gone through the road and that's what develops credibility you know not what you're asking for Jesus says and a lot of people will say yeah I want the crown but I don't want the cross the only way to the crown is a cross it's the only way but you know what you won't want anything less and yes when you are in the valley of the shadow of evil and death and all of that when you're walking through it it's something in your mind I'm just walking through I'm not living here though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for God you are with me I walk through it I don't camp out there I don't live there I pass through and I'm not alone you learn that in in your walk with God and that's what makes you that's what makes you into a minister of a gospel that speaks of a suffering messiah do you see that do you see that we want this if you don't know what you're asking for no no no yeah we're able are you able oh we're able right now you are but you'll discover something later on you're not you will indeed drink my cup in other words you will suffer for my sake all who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution second Timothy 3 12 tells us you see James would be the first apostle to be martyred according to Acts 12 1 and 2 John ultimately was exiled to the island of Patmos according to Revelation chapter 1 verse 9 you're asking for a position but it is for those according to verse 23 for whom it is prepared personal favoritism plays no part in the reception of such honors you see when god prepares an office for a man he prepares the man for that office well as this is taking place notice verse 24 when the 10 heard it and they were moved with indignation against the two brothers that got them angry the other 10 how dare you cut in line how dare you use your mother and your relationship to Jesus Christ to get positions of honor because after all that's what we want one of my friends was speaking how that he was at a conference once and and he said there I am at a pastors conference with all of these various pastors and Billy Graham was addressing the pastors and he says as I looked around and I saw all these men I felt so sorry for him because he said because they thought they were going to be the next Billy Graham he said and I knew I was the next Billy Graham it is a position that God places you in it is in a place that you fight for unfortunately we have a tendency today in the church world to reward the most fleshly there are many many ministers of the gospel today who are very great in the sight of God who are pastoring and ministering in cities that that have a small population in the church has 15 20 30 people but they're faithful these men are faithful I have a friend of mine very dear friend of mine who lives in another state and he lives in a resort area not as if he lives in luxury because he doesn't he's in his 60s and he just recently was given opportunity to stop working so that the church could could minister to him so he's free to minister to the church it's a very small congregation this is a man who's a pastor this is a man who loves Jesus Christ this is a man that I've seen in his life a dear calling of God to care for the saints nobody knows his name but except for one and the only one that really knows his name well it's Jesus he serves the Lord Jesus not for attention and then you see sometimes unfortunately whether it be on television or whether it be on radio people who are speaking things that are nonsensical not even scripturally solid or true and yet they have so many people who are saying oh he's a great I've listened to so many people over the years and I said but there's no gospel there he's funny there's no gospel there there's there's no Jesus where's Jesus in the midst of all these stories of your success and yet the people they are sure you know and it's a fact sometimes we just honor the wrong people and we want that attention so Jesus is dealing with this and then finally as we go into I'll show you the conclusion it says in verse 25 Jesus called them to himself and said you know that the rulers of the Gentiles lorded over them those who are great exercise authority over them yet it shall not be so among you but whoever desires to become great among you let them be your servant whoever desires to be first among you let them be your slave just as the son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many instead of selfish ambition he's saying you are servant leaders because selfish ambition this desire to push ahead of others creates division Proverbs 13 10 says only by pride comes contention but with the well advised is wisdom you see this is not to be true for the church because greatness is the fruit of humility desiring to be well known and powerful in the body of Christ isn't what we're supposed to be desiring in Romans 12 10 in honor prefer one another in 1 Corinthians 3 verse 3 Paul said you are yet carnal for whereas there is among you envy and strife and division are you not carnal and walking as men so Jesus uses an illustration here in verse 25 he says you know that the rulers of the Gentiles lorded over them when he says rulers he's speaking of the pharaohs the kings the caesars the mayors the governors even today the presidents he says that they lorded over you the word lord it speaks of ruling down on people they hold you down they crush you they do everything in their power to rise to the top they squash any who oppose them they're what we would call today the bully bosses they they seek to stay on top to diminish others who have talent they actually harm production rather than increase it because they because they become the standard of excellence the best leaders encourage people to use their gifts and are not threatened by their gifts listen real quickly here here's a principle that you find in scripture that i can illustrate in this way there's a man that we all know who is a richest fellow in the united states bill gates i don't know how much money he really has nobody does 60 billion dollars is what i've heard more than once maybe more maybe a little bit less i can't get my mind around it anyway number billion is so far beyond me i mean i i failed senior math in high school so a billion i don't know what that is but it's a lot i know that but he was asked what is the secret of your success you know what he said he said i hire people who are smarter than me isn't that interesting i hire people smarter than me that is a real good principle because you know what happens you know this you work and perhaps you're working in a an office or for a company where a person who's in charge is not as talented as some of the other people and yet he or she tells everybody what to do and instead of encouraging the more talented ones to rise to the top and bring their their gifts to the company's good they squash them because they don't want to be threatened by this person who could take their job in our ministry here i have met with my my staff for many many years and i have said this to them especially some of the key staff members i've said listen do not be afraid of bringing in somebody who is better than you because as the pastor and the leader of this fellowship i will admire your skills in the ability you have to bring somebody in who improves your ministry the credit goes to god but i will admire your ability to lead and to take a second seat do not be the one who squashes everybody because you want to keep your position if you're a leader be a person who sets people free so that they might bring excellence to the entire company here in my ministry i want the next pastor who steps into this pulpit i want them to be so much more talented more gifted better preach it's not hard to find them and and to bring them in here so that this church until jesus comes moves forward i certainly don't want to bring somebody in who's going to reduce your walk with god i want somebody to come in who's going to enhance your walk with god i'm looking for that person to put in here why because i don't care about my name i care about his glory and i want god to work in your life that's how it works that's what god wants to do and yet here we are restricting the movement of god and saying who's going to move who's the next billy graham who's the next next chuck smith who cares they're in heaven they don't care right now it's not them at all we're looking to is jesus christ he's the lord of the church you see and that's what he wants he wants us to understand this is so basic so basic but it's lost on so many i want greatness in the kingdom really what is that describe it to me what greatness is oh while when you walk in a room everybody stands and gives you that's greatness kings do that empires do that no who's the greatest in the room the servant the servant strive for that father reduce me to be like you jesus you were wounded you were a wounded savior a suffering servant you used yourself as an example you said if i then being your lord and master washed your feet you ought to wash the feet of one another you taught us that the greatest in the kingdom is the servant of all and yet you have disciples after an announcement that you're going to die who are arguing about who's the greatest in the kingdom who wants to be on a right hand who wants to be on the left god help us god help us we're living in a time that that's been lost on people those who are great the word great speaks of noble or distinguished exercise authority they completely dominate they play the the tyrant their insecurities drive them to hurt others he says no it's not to be that way amongst you instead of seeing the rich and powerful as a model of greatness look to the servant the word servant when he uses that word servant speaks of of a waiter one who serves food and drink the greek language it's diaconas the slave is the doulos the one who gives himself up to another's will and this is the one whose service is used by christ and extending and advancing his cause amongst men you see the surest mark of a true servant is a willingness to sacrifice for others and it's been said that god thinks most of the man who thinks himself least and then he closes by saying this as the son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many taking the lower seat is a way of thinking it produces a way of life it is a voluntary way of humility and it produces peace in the body of christ here's a question for you how many churches split over people wanting to be the greatest servant in the church how many marriages have broken up because a wife and the husband were fighting about who the biggest slave in the house was how many families have been broken up because a son wanted to be a servant in his home or a father wanted the son to know that that father was going to serve that house how many you just don't see that what happens in division in churches and what happens in homes is we usually will argue about who's more important my wishes my desires my needs the things that matter to me those things matter and the things that matter to you don't and that's what causes the division that's why we we butt heads and that's why we end up saying i can't love you anymore i don't because it was about me when in fact i have never heard of a church split over people wanting to serve jesus together and be the great servants i haven't heard that and i know you haven't either jesus gave his life as a redemptive price for us a ransom for our sin he was our substitute and the ransom was paid to the lord and he satisfied god's holy justice so give up your life for the good of others that's the highest form of servanthood and we remember the words of john the baptist when he said he must increase but i must decrease who is the greatest in the kingdom the servant of all is that what we want to be no i would rather own the restaurant than work in it and yet i've been to restaurants where the owner of the restaurant actually comes out speaks to us asks how things are going spends time with us and i appreciate that i think this guy knows who his customers are this guy made himself available i appreciate that i don't give him a tip i give the servant a tip the waiter because they made sure that i ate so may we learn beginning here may we learn to serve one another to see what greatness really is there was only one there was only one person i'll close with this and i'm very serious when i say this this is only there's only one person that's worthy of all my attention and thankfulness and that's jesus christ and i appreciate those who serve him may we serve jesus together may we learn to love jesus and one another and be servants in the kingdom of god