We Must Not Be Blind

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Sermon by Josh Rice from Mark 10:32-45.

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Mark 10 32 through 45 and they were on the road going up to Jerusalem and Jesus was walking ahead of them and they were amazed and Those who followed were afraid and taking the 12 again he began to tell them what was going to drew up to Jerusalem and the
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Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priest and the scribe and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the
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Gentiles and they will mock him and spit on him and flog him and kill him and after three days he will rise and James and John the sons of Zebedee came up to him and said to him teacher
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We want you to do for us whatever we ask of you and he said to them What do you want me to do for you?
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And they said to him grant us to sit one at your right hand and one at your left hand in your glory
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Jesus said to them you do not know what you're asking Are you able to drink the cup that I drink or to be baptized with the baptism with which
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I am baptized and They said to him we are able and Jesus said to them the cup that I drink you will drink and with the baptism with Which I am baptized you will be baptized
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But to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant But it is for those for whom it has been prepared and when the ten heard it
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They began to be indignant at James and John and Jesus called to called them to him and said to them
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You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and their great ones exercise authority over them
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But it shall not be so among you But whoever would be great among you must be your servant and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all
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For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many bow your heads
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God, thank you so much for the state of worship you to read your word to learn about it God, I pray over this congregation.
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I pray that they would have open hearts and open minds God to just Desire to to know more about you so that we can glorify you in so many more ways as we walk on this earth
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God, we are so thankful for your son God. We're thankful that you sent him to this world God we're thankful for this book that So much of his teachings are in God and that our hearts would just be drawn to you and not to this world
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We pray that we pray over Josh Pray over his time up here God that he would just teach us well
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God that you would continue to use him and God just so many other men right now It's so exciting to see that you've offered him rest from the pulpit
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With David and Joel and Cory and God, we are just so excited about those men becoming elders in this church continue to pray over them and their families and that you would continue to just Guard them from spiritual and physical attacks so that they can just do this job
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Well, we pray all these things in your son's awesome name. Amen. I want to I do want to put it on the record and thank my my friend one of my best friends
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Josh shader and and Drew Cox and and Joel for giving me some reprieve the
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Joel one is Joel sermon is trying to push the mission of the church here as we as we grow men
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As elder candidates for the other two good friends I they they did a great job and I'm glad that you got to hear that and they they also serve the greater
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Project of partnership between churches, which is something that is that we've been intense about from the beginning
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So when we look at this passage I will I will tell you that when when Bart and I looked back last year
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And where we were gonna go after first Samuel and Mark came up This is the text that was the reason
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I wanted to do the book of Mark I think that encapsulates so many of the main ideas and I think that they will leap off the page because of the work that's been done already in This book and and Joel continued that last week as we're seeing the themes emerge and it is a counterintuitive
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Theme it's the theme that the men that are going to start the church the men who are going to be the
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Apostles The pillars of faith the ones that delivered the teachings that we follow today
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We're totally and utterly blind When they were following Christ and so many of us face spiritual blindness today
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And so the title of the sermon is we must not be blind We must not and then and I will tell you to to begin with the end
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We don't have to be blind Because if we pray to God that he would remove our spiritual blindness
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That is something that he will do that is a prayer according to God's will he wants us to walk in the light he wants us to walk in his
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Statutes and he will illuminate that path for us because his word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path
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And so as we as we dig in and look I want to point your attention to several counterintuitive things going on in this text
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But before we do that, I want to bring us here in context so what we've seen in the last few weeks is number one that the kingdom of God will belong to those who are kind to Those who have no status
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Jesus taught his disciples that you must be kind to those who can offer you nothing Those are children children offer adults nothing especially in the
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Jewish world where it was about pomp and circumstance It was about material blessing. It was about learning the
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Torah. It was about showing your righteousness on your sleeve children offered nothing In that culture and Jesus said to inherit the kingdom of God.
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We have to be kind to those like children number two We understand that the kingdom belongs to those who have faith like a child faith like a child is a simple faith
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It's a dependent faith It is believing what God said simply because he said it and that has defined what we would say quote
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Fundamentalist Christianity for a long time and I will accept that label of fundamentalist gladly
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That I believe what God said because he said it and Because he is worthy to say it and because he gave us his word and I believe it on its face
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And I believe it with no qualifications That's the kind of faith that goes like a child number three
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The kingdom requires counting the cost and relying completely on the Son of Man now I choose that title specifically because it's going to come into play today.
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We have to believe Completely in the person and work of the Son of Man The Son of Man and the kingdom requires counting the cost we saw that last week
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That the rich young ruler was not willing to count the cost He would give a lot but he wouldn't give everything and everything was exactly what was required
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Because we don't come into the kingdom of God holding on to what makes us feel safe We latch entirely on to the author and the finisher of our faith
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Number four repetition is not enough and you're gonna see more repetition today over and over again
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The lesson is taught and over and over again. It's missed by the disciples understand this you can sit under preaching
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You can teach your kids every day all day and salvation belongs to the Lord You will not you cannot repeat enough
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Your way into the kingdom of God because the kingdom of God is not knowing Theological propositions the kingdom of God is spiritual and it is spiritually discerned
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So it's a spiritual battle that we're in it's not a battle of memorized propositions and intellect You can memorize the whole
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Bible and profit nothing if you lose your soul number five even the most faithful followers can be blind and With blindness comes pride and that will be the gut punch at the end of the sermon today
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The first I want to look at verse 32. It's interesting We want to look at a new King and there's a counterintuitive
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King going on as we look at verse 32 that Cooper read There is amazement that the
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King the Son of Man is going ahead Jesus has turned his face towards Jerusalem and this is critical.
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He is marching to victory and it's victory through death Right victory through death and as Jesus marches the people are following behind him and they're amazed
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What are they amazed at they're amazed at counterintuitive thing number one he has just told them that it is almost impossible for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God and They're marveling over that and they're stewing on it and they're thinking what in the world can this possibly mean and Jesus didn't preach as one
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Of the Pharisees in the temple Jesus preached as one with authority. We saw that in Mark 1 So there's amazement on what authority and what conviction?
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Jesus preaches these things and he teaches these things and it blows their mind. They don't understand They don't have a context for it.
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And so they're amazed at the counterintuitive nature of Jesus's teaching And then we see a thing that is the mystery.
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It's it's right on the verge in this text If you see it There's a mystery and that mystery is the gospel and it's the new covenant and that mystery is that the doors are gonna open to The Gentiles and we're starting to see it really unpack.
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I want to read this section. This is the third repetition of Jesus's prophecy about his death and resurrection we get one in Mark 8 31 and Mark 9 31 and Then we have one in Mark 10 and each one gives a little bit more detail
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But the detail that this one gives is I think important to understanding what Jesus is doing in this teaching
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Let me read it. And again, he took the 12 aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to him
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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 will deliver him over to the
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Gentiles and they will mock him and spit on him and Flog him and kill him and three days later.
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He will rise again So as this event draws near Jesus is talking about a thing that would have blown their minds.
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We miss it because we know the story, right? We've known this story many of us since our childhood and many in the world know this story and we'll so we'll see spiritual blindness
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Number one being a Christian is not about knowing that Jesus died on the cross and rose again. It's not about knowing that It's about what does that do in faith because many worldly people will claim?
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Yeah, Jesus was the Savior and then they don't they don't follow him with their life. They've not counted the cost They've given up nothing.
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And so they know a proposition that while true does not bring salvation The disciples hear this and they're blind to it
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They don't understand what he's saying and we would look and go how can they not understand what he's saying?
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He just told them he's going to be killed Who he's going to be killed by what that's gonna look like and then he's gonna raise again on the third day and they go
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Well, I don't what does that mean? Can we be at your right and left hand in Jerusalem? I mean that's that's where we're at right and we've seen it over and over again
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The disciples don't understand what he's talking about and this is hard for you if you're a Christian But I want to tell you something very clearly if you're a
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Christian and you follow Christ today, it's because Jesus Regenerated your heart you were not convinced into the kingdom of God It's not because you randomly believed one day that he died on the cross for your sins
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It's because the Holy Spirit convinced you and convicted you of that reality and he turns you not into a smarter human but into a new creature a new creation and So the disciples can hear this and they don't understand because the truth is spiritually discerned
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It's counterintuitive. And then we see with extra detail that he says something's going to happen in some manner of speaking
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Jesus would say that the leaders of the old world are going to hand me over to the oppressor that we all hate and they're gonna make a deal with him and Then he's gonna kill me and what that's gonna do is let all of this guy in and shut these guys out
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Do you understand? This is the movement of the Covenant is that the chief priests and scribes are the holiest people of the day
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They're understood to be the religious elite Everyone is trying to follow what they say for temple access and to be right with God They hold in a manner of speaking the oracles
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Okay, and so what happens is Jesus is saying this old guard is going to hand me over to the
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Roman oppressors Who we all hate and who they hate also But they're gonna make a deal
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With the Roman oppressors and they're gonna hand me over because they hate me more
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They hate me more than Rome and they're gonna hand me over and counterintuitively What's going to happen?
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Is that when Rome? Embarrasses me by flogging by spitting by mocking me
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What's going to happen? Is it's gonna open the door to the Gentiles and they're gonna come in how crazy is that and Could the disciples have seen that?
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No way many of us today don't see that Right, and we've lived it for 2 ,000 years and we have church fathers who have told us but we're too lazy to read
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Okay, and the reality of the situation is it's counterintuitive because one covenant is ending and a new one is beginning and this new one is
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More marvelous than any that came before it. It is the full culmination of God's plan from the very beginning
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More on that on Wednesday. The Gentiles are going to be the executioners But through this execution it opens the door to the
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Gentiles and we've seen traces of that through mark I know David preached on the on the woman who was a
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Gentile was praying right and and Jesus is saying Well, you're a dog right
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But she still has faith and she comes in and that's that's the the movement that this is going to happen that the door is
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Going to open We also get extra details in this passage because of the key part of this whole deal the key part of this whole deal is what does it look like to be great in God's kingdom and The spoiler is to be great in God's kingdom you are going to have to taste the cup and the baptism that Jesus is going to drink and that Jesus is going to be immersed in and This gives us a taste and understand when
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James and John say yeah, we'll do that Do you see what they're agreeing to?
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What they're agreeing is that they would be handed over to the oppressor that they would be mocked flogged spit -on and that they would die at the hands of an executioner and they say oh, yeah, we can do that and We will throw stones, but I think we should not so let's move on number one
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We have a new king and the new king is going to go to victory through his death But he's going to raise again and life comes out of death and that is the hope of all humanity
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That we can live because he died Section 2 we're gonna look at verses 35 through 37.
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I've entitled this one. You still don't get it You still don't get it. Then James and John the two sons of Zebedee the sons of thunder
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Came up to Jesus saying to him teacher We want you to do for us whatever we ask of you and he said to them
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What do you want me to do for you? And they said to him grant that we may sit one on your right and one on your left in glory this follows the great reveal of Jesus's work on the cross and their response is similar if you look back and you see the other two times that Jesus has
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Prophesied his death. We've seen two reactions We saw one Peter rebuking Jesus and Jesus saying get behind me
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Satan and rebuking him in the harshest possible terms And then we get the next time the disciples quietly discuss.
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Who's the greatest? So something about Jesus prophesying his death and resurrection leads to his people jockeying for position
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Are we so different today? Are we so different? Let me ask a question and let's be real
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Do we ask these questions who is the greatest in the church today? Who is the greatest living preacher?
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Who's your favorite of all the Reformers? Who's the best one ever? How can
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I become greater in my platform? How can I become an officer of the church so that more would respect me?
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How can we grow this congregation bigger? Presumably so the ministry would go forth but let's be real so more people can listen to This characterizes the people of God in our pride and in our blindness from the very beginning is that the revelation of the
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Gospel when not properly understood and with spiritual blindness leads to jockeying for position among God's people
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So have we ever changed or are we still glory hogs today? Adam was do you remember why
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Adam took the fruit? It was because of the promise of being like God There was one thing
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God had in Adams estimation that Adam didn't have and that was knowledge right knowledge and So he took and he sinned against God because he wanted what
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God had and what belonged to God And so it is today that we will take glory in the cross and we will boast in the cross
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While subversively boasting in ourselves and it should not be so it should not be so and so this text is going to tell us that we should not be blind because Greatness in the kingdom of God is humility in the face of Jesus That's the counterintuitive nature to be great in the kingdom of God is to be utterly
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Humble by understanding who Jesus is and what he has done and what his plans are for you
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If Jesus served Understand the context of James and John and these disciples.
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They're walking with Jesus. They're seeing all of his miracles He is declaring over and over again. He's calling himself the
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Son of Man all the Jews knew what that meant, right? They knew that it went back to the prophecy in Daniel that the
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Son of Man would rule all the nations Right, this would be him that he would be the Empire toppler and that he would be the greatest mountain that covered the whole horizon
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He would be the tree that all the birds would nest under that's him and we've seen it in the parables
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Have we not and so what happens is these disciples who are in the presence of God every day are?
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Jockeying for position and what we should do is we should look at that and rightly say that's weak
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That's really weak How can you gain position next to this man who is walking with you who is
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God? Understand your place in this world as a disciple you're walking with the man who is
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God You will never be greater than a grasshopper in his presence and we should understand that do you know why we're here?
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We're here because God himself Adopted us Called us his sons and daughters and brought us into his kingdom and it's not based on our merits whatsoever
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What did we offer God? What did he need that we have and if he did need something that we have then he's not
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God at all Because God has everything God needs nothing God lacks nothing
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He has all the plans all the purpose and all the power to carrying them out to the uttermost to the completion
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He is perfect in every way He is perfect in all his works and he lacks nothing And so when his followers begin to puff ourselves up as if God needs our talents to further his mission
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Then we just look stupid It's really that simple and there are many
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In the pulpit there's been I Will confess in my life that I have at times in my pride and my foolishness have thought that God needed me to progress his work
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What a blasphemous thought what a foolish thought what a blind way to be and so we should look at James and John in a cautionary way
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See what they still don't understand is what they're asking is they're starting to mix the worlds and they're starting to say when you come
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Into your glory, but they still don't understand because what they think is going to happen is they think yeah Jesus might die in Jerusalem, but he's going to set up his throne there
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He's going to throw off the Roman oppressors and he's gonna set up his kingdom And I want to be number one and number two so that we can dispense justice to all of our people and be great
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That's what they want they think it's still an earthly throne that he's going to sit on because they don't understand the glory of his promises and Really mark does them a favor in this text.
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I don't know if you've read the cross references Okay This story comes up in Matthew 20 also and mark is nice to the boys
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Because do you know what they really did it would have been one thing if they had come and asked Jesus But they didn't they sent their mommy
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All right So these sons of thunder big bad boys who's gonna be greatest in the kingdom of God sent their mother
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To ask Jesus on their behalf if they could be his main homeboys right number one and number two
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Dispensing all the wisdom from the great throne wisdom that comes from their absolute folly At the same time the
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Pharisees who are trying to kill Jesus the chief priests and scribes who are going to Deliver Jesus over have the same conception about what
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Jesus is doing that the disciples do the disciples think that he's trying to set up an earthly throne and overthrow the priests and the
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Pharisees The priests and the Pharisees think that Jesus is trying to cause a political uprising To throw them off of their power so that he can take their position.
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That's why they want to kill him It's all jockeying for position. This whole thing is
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People who claim to love God jockeying for position and totally missing the first commandment
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As you have no other gods before me. That's what the rich young ruler missed. Is it not?
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He was in the presence of God and he didn't know it because he was blind He knew he was talking to a great teacher
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He knew he was talking to a miracle worker But what he didn't comprehend was that he was talking to God and the lesson comes back
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What does it profit a man to gain the whole world if he loses his soul and the rich young ruler would have said to?
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You it profits him nothing What good is it if you gain the world and you lose your soul your soul is the only thing of eternal value
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But the problem is even though he would ascribe to that and every one of us would too if you miss who
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God is You've missed the whole thing it's worthless and So the
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Pharisees and the disciples at this point are in the same place and we should remember James and John are great Are they not how many of you guys have been blessed by the writings of John?
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man, I Love the Apostle John. I hope someday that while I'm a worm in heaven that maybe
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I can shake his hand someday I would wait in line to do it. Okay, James Was the elder and the pastor of the
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Church of Jerusalem who sorted out? Some of the earliest controversies with his wisdom in the church and these men fought with each other, but they listened to each other
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They were great but they weren't great here and it recalls that the reason they became great is because they trusted in Jesus and he gave them
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Greatness and they would drink of this cup. So let's get to the main thing Jesus has been telling us over and over again that there is a cost to discipleship.
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You better count the cost We don't just jump into this thing and it's all fun and games. It's not it's not gonna be fun and games
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There's going to be a cost and I'm gonna read this and I'm gonna try to get through it And I think you guys know what it means.
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This is a central passage for me It's one that I go back to you often in Scripture verse 38
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Jesus said to them You do not know what you're asking Are you able to drink the cup that I drink or to be baptized with the baptism with which
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I am baptized? and they said to him we are able and Jesus said to them the cup that I drink you shall drink and You shall be baptized with the baptism, which
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I am baptized But to sit on my right or my left. This is not mine to give but is for those to whom it has been prepared
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Did you know I I know I've been here and a lot of a lot of the sermon is pointing straight at me
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We often boast of our faith and our conviction even if it's internally only
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I would never deny Christ I'm with him to the death. I would always be your man
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Jesus and internally We say these things and sometimes when we're incredibly foolish We say him out loud and it's like it's just like the brothers here of course,
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I would drink the cup that you would drink Jesus and Then Jesus does not harshly rebuke them.
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Does he know he says you will Drink the cup and you will be baptized
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So what is the cup? I think we know right, but I think there's a covenantal thing going on here
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And I hope to bring that out not with theological nerd stuff, but to hopefully show you what has to happen
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We know that the cup is the cup of God's wrath against sin that it's in full measure.
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It's frothy. It's potent a Cup of it would get you drunk
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It is as potent as you can possibly get because God's wrath had been stored up for all time in his long
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Suffering according to Romans 3 that he had let the sins of the forefathers Pass that he had held on to his anger in his judicious patience over them knowing that there would be a perfect sacrifice that would work backwards and forwards to save all of the elect and This cup was potent indeed because it held all of the sins of the elect all of the offenses against God that he had held on to that he had
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Let go not because of injustice but because of his patience and justice was demanding that this cup be drunk and that it be drunk to the dregs all the way down and it's gonna be a
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Vicious cup to drink and Jesus knew the cup that he was drinking when he prayed at Gethsemane and he said father
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Would you take this cup away from me? But in Mark, he knew that he was gonna drink the cup
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Psalm 75 8 for a cup is in the hand of Yahweh and the wine foams
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It is full of his mixture and he pours from this surely all the wicked of the earth must drain and drink down its dregs
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Isaiah 51 17 awaken yourself Awaken yourself arise.
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Oh Jerusalem You who have drunk from the hand of Yahweh the cup of his wrath the chalice of reeling you have drained to the dregs
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Do you understand that? Everyone's drinking the cup? Everyone the wicked will drink the full measure of the wrath of God and when
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Jesus came and he drank this cup and he died and he satiated and he propitiated the wrath of God that means he
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Absorbed all of God's wrath against sin on himself and he made away when Jesus did that He took the cup of the wrath of God away from his people
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We don't have it anymore It's gonna be drunk through our federal head
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Jesus Christ who drank the cup on our behalf or if we're outside of Christ We will drink that cup ourselves
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And it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God He is a consuming fire and he will by no means by no means let go the iniquity of those who are against him
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So Jesus says they're going to drink the cup and Jesus would drink the cup at full strength
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Can you imagine? Christian, can you imagine all of the sins all the sins of your teenage years?
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All of the sins of your 20s if you've gone past that all of the sins of your life
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Mixed up in a cup with all the other sins of the elect that God would love and Jesus drink it all the way
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He gulped it all the way down for us and so how do we drink this cup because he says
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James and John will and I want you to understand this that the cup that Jesus drank would then become the only way to endure the wrath of God See we take and we drink the cup in remembrance
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We embrace the wrath that comes against us from the evil one While communing in the cup of Christ We trust in the cup that Christ drank and when we come to this table
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This is why it should never be in an unworthy manner because what we do is that we trust in the suffering of Christ in the cup of wrath that he drank and when we come
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Up, and we drink this cup and when we drink the wine and we taste its bitterness and its gall
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And it kind of burns going down your throat We remember the horrible foaming wine that Jesus drank on Calvary and What we do is we depend and we put all of our faith
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Independence that that's the cup that we're drinking and we're identifying in his suffering and we're remembering it and that's the only hope we have
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You see we don't want to drink the cup of God's wrath. We can't stand it. It's death. It's eternal death
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But Jesus gives us a different cup because there's no way there's no way to come to the
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Father But through Christ and what Christ did with this cup was he set a table for his people and it is temporal
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Here just like the Passover was but it's also eternal that we will drink it with him in glory forever and The cup is emptied of its wrath and glory because sin will be no more
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It's covenantal language that Jesus is conveying to James and John and I assure you they didn't know what he was talking about then
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But they would soon they would soon and then Jesus would be baptized wouldn't he?
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He was baptized by John the Baptist, but I think this is a different kind of baptism that he's talking about He's going to be baptized just like just like Moses and the
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Israelites were in the Red Sea in the flood So James and John would escape into the land of milk and honey by the baptism of Jesus Christ That Jesus would be immersed in the judgment of God just like the
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Egyptians were immersed in God's judgment in the Red Sea where they drowned and perished because every
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Jew knew that the Sea was death that the sea was mystery. The sea was God's wrath and it was anger
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That's why in Revelation the beasts come out of the sea right because the sea is a mysterious thing
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We were there a couple of weeks ago, and I can tell you we didn't really want to venture too far out there Okay, it's a swirling dangerous thing and nothing makes you feel more small than being in the ocean
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All right You are a tiny speck on this terrestrial ball as the song says and so Jesus is telling them you will be baptized
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With the baptism that I'm being baptized I but unlike Moses who walked clear through the
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Red Sea Jesus was going to walk through the parted sea of God's judgment and the waves were going to collapse and crush him in and kill
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Him and he would die for all of the people that would come in behind him You see
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Joshua stood in the Jordan and it parted as the people went into the promised land Just as the
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Red Sea had parted when Moses led the people across and the enemies of God died behind But Jesus was a different kind of prophet than Moses and Joshua because he was a greater man
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He was a greater King a greater prophet and a greater priest and what he was going to do is he's greater because get the
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Whole point of this text you see it right? You've seen it at the end Jesus is a greater King Because he would die for his people and he did die for his people.
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He didn't say he would die for his people He did die for his people and he was baptized with the immersion of God's wrath against sin
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But also the baptism of deliverance and so we remember with baptism that our old man is
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Buried under the water just like the Egyptians were flushed under the evil of the
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Egypt was flushed under the water that it was buried Under the sea that it was annihilated. It was killed and what rises up out of it is
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A new creation a new man. That's the baptism that Jesus would give See this cup and baptism had to be taken on by the
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Son of Man No other man could do it See James and John are foolish when they think that they would take the cup because they couldn't take the cup
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They're not God. They're not the Son of Man only he could make this sacrifice only he could institute these sacraments
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Only he could be the better Adam because he wasn't conceived in iniquity only him and Adam were naturally good but Jesus didn't fall like Adam because over and over again
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Jesus mimicked the words of his father and Subjected himself to the father and trying to take instead of trying to take what was not his even though he lawfully owned all of it
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It was the suffering of Christ that made a way and so this cup had to be taken on by Jesus so that others could drink of the same cup and be whelmed by the same flood of baptism that gives us the strength to fight and The peace of hopes that are certain we have certain hopes in the
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Christian faith not a wing in a prayer certain hope the evidence of things unseen the conviction of God's promise and Their request itself is foolish, isn't it to sit at the right and left hand of God because they couldn't do that See this kingdom is one that Jesus is going to deliver back to his father
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First Corinthians 15 28 and when all things are subjected to him then the son himself
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Also will be subjected to the one who subjected all things to him so that God may be all in all do you understand that the kingdom of God is going to be delivered to Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ will reign and he will execute judgment for the elect
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It will be the basis of his work for the unelect for those who are lost who have neglected so great a salvation
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Jesus himself appointed them and he will give them the cup of God's wrath that he drank for his people
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That's what's coming. That's what's waiting but at the end of the day There's not a position for James and John to sit at because this kingdom is going to be delivered back to the father and these
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Positions were already ordained before the beginning of time. We know this passage and we've probably never seen it this way
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Ephesians 2 10 We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works Which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them
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These thrones were already pre ordained to be filled by whoever God had filled at his pleasure
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And these are mysteries of God that are not for us Did you know that God has many mysteries that are not for us?
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See God has many Incommunicable attributes those are things that we don't understand and things that we do not ascribe to where they're transcendent
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We don't understand the mind of God who can understand his ways He is so far beyond it.
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He is not a bigger better version of yourself He's a completely other thing
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His divine nature is incomprehensible to us in his ways inscrutable so James and John They're not chastised and we learn the patience of the teacher
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He does not harshly rebuke them, but instead he will teach them and he will continue to teach them
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I think we learned from this it's good to aspire to leadership It wasn't a terrible request.
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It was a blind request and they still don't understand what's going on So let's look at our last point today and that is counterintuitive royalty counterintuitive royalty
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After hearing this the ten began to feel indignant with James and John. Do you do right to be angry ten?
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You guys have all been talking about this for days Which one of us is the greatest? James and John's mother just had the courage to ask
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Be mad at their mother. I Don't know if they put him up put her up to it. It's even more shameful if they did and Calling them to himself
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Jesus said to them you know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lorded over them and That they're great men exercise authority over them, but it is not this way among you
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Whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all
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For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many
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There's a great division in blindness and pride There always has been and until glory there always will be when the people of God get together blindness and Pride is going to cause division on what should be unified
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See the disciples were all debating this over and over again And they're mad at the two who asked the question that they all wanted to know the answer to Do you understand the hypocrisy?
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Do they think that they're sending that way? No, they're blind. They don't understand They want to jockey for position to be great in the eyes of men
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There is a desire to Lord authority over others and this must not be the marker of the true
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Israel It was the marker in the day of the Scribes and Pharisees was it not who will be the greatest?
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Who is going to rule who's going to be the one that delivers us from the Romans? Hey, who is going to be the greatest of the priests that gives us all the prophecies?
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Who's that going to be that is a marker of what the Gentiles were doing? What the Gentiles would do is they would get a king and he would live fat in his palace and he would issue
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Edicts to everyone and everyone would serve him and fan him with fans, you know, it's like a typical day in the
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Americans life Right. We just sit around and bask in our comfort and go about the whims of every desire that we have
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It should not be so it should not be so See the Old Covenant leaders are lording this authority even as he speaks.
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They are plotting There's a double meaning in Christ's words Do not be like them who are plotting murder and malicious deeds right now
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You can't be like them, but then he doesn't say does he say it's bad to want to be great in the kingdom of God No, he doesn't say that he says in order to be great in the kingdom of God.
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You have to be the slave Well, how does that work out? well see What happens is the great the great man in authority is the man who pours out his life as an offering for his people?
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That's the great father is The one who puts the needs of his family in the mission of his family above his own personal preferences
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It doesn't mean he doesn't have personal preferences. It means that those are not guiding the ship It's the mission
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Do you see what Jesus is modeling right here in the midst of strife among the people that are closest to him?
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He will not take his eyes off the mission No matter what they say no matter what opposition comes from the
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Scribes and the Pharisees No matter what anyone believes or doesn't believe Jesus is going to Calvary even though he knows what's waiting for him there
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He is single -minded to the mission and that's what defines leadership
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See we have a cultural problem of servant leadership. We don't like hierarchy in America We don't like it at all.
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But guess what hierarchy is natural Hierarchy is in is unavoidable. It's going to happen
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The cream is going to rise to the top whatever the culture of society values that is going to be what rises to the top
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It's unavoidable. It's how God created things And so what we shouldn't do is recoil from the idea of servant leadership
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What we should do is understand what it is servant leadership is not just about serving people Bowing to the preferences of everyone else around you
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Servant leadership is doing all the jobs and loving all the people to progress the mission
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It's always about the mission The mission is to make disciples The mission in the home is to raise them up in the way that they would go the mission in the home is to be
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Submissive to your husband, but for your husband to love you more than himself to love you as Christ loved the church
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These are the marching orders and when we follow the mission, it's not about preference anymore
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It's about performance. It's about getting the job done and the leader takes the shots
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Lewis describes it very perfectly with King Loon of Archenland says what does the
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King do? he's the first one into every desperate battle and He's the last one to leave because he gets his people out before him
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He's the one who has to eat a meal while his people are starving Because he has greatness to him
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See The master has claims on the servant Right. The master has a claim on the servant.
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The boss demands work of his people the elder demands the gifts of the
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Spirit and following in the teaching of the members, but members have a claim on the elder and Servants have a claim on the master
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This is a two -way street where we have to love each other and we have to understand that hierarchy exists But hierarchy is not domination its
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Dominion and Without it. We can't have anything See Jesus demonstrates his kingship by his steadfast love towards his people, but make no mistake.
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Jesus made the laws Jesus demands obedience to his law He also provides the means of obeying his law and the blessings for doing so See Jesus didn't become a servant leader in the sense that we get to tell him what we're gonna do
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No, Jesus is the leader he is the king He does set up the law and he does demand obedience to his law
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But he gives us the way to do that and he empowers that he demonstrates his kingship that way
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And I want you to take this away The greatness of leadership the greatness of authority is best demonstrated not in pettiness or tyranny
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But it's instead in his magnanimity and his greatness of those around him
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It was very helpful to look back at first Samuel this week and look at King Saul King Saul is such a missed opportunity
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King Saul could have been the greatest king the world had ever seen think about what he had set up He had the anointment of God through Samuel and he had the throne
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He had a son who was great was Jonathan great He was absolutely great and he had undivided loyalty to his king and to his father
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The throne was in good hands With Jonathan with a successor so that's in place
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Do you know who else Saul had he had the man after God's own heart as his right -hand man and his captain?
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Probably the greatest military leader the world has ever seen and there's been a lot of great ones But King David I think stands tall as the greatest one.
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He was feared by his enemies but he was judicious and he was
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Undividedly loyal to Saul and what Saul did is in his meanness in his small tyranny and his pettiness
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He threw away his kingdom to try to make himself great by being envious of those who are great around him
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Too long as this characterized the church Too long has it been characterized by?
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the preacher being threatened by talent around him It can't be that way if we want to have greatness in the kingdom of God We have to serve others and we have to not be threatened by others who have gifts that might surpass our own in leadership
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See it's about gravitas This is the idea. Okay. Here's what gravitas means
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You guys know a great man when you see him, right and here's what it does Gravitas is it's a word that talks about piety right that he's sanctified that he's holy that he is virtuous but also that he has a weight to him when he enters the room people stop being foolish and They start listening.
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They perk up at the words They listen to his wisdom and his counsel and a great leader has that Jesus has it
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Do you notice what's not going on when Jesus is speaking? We're not getting a bunch of Petra Petra Petty bickering they leave his presence to do that Okay, they're not gonna do that around him because they would be embarrassed to do it around him because Jesus has this kind of magnanimity
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He is great. He is self -attestingly great Everyone around him knows he's great are the
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Pharisees trying to kill somebody who's no threat. No, he's a huge threat to them And so they want to kill him because he is dangerous.
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He's very dangerous. So fathers elders elder candidates magistrates
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All of these in hierarchy they show their greatness by a few things Number one, they lead those around them to be great greatness is large.
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It's not petty and it's not managerial. It's not a bureaucracy greatness is about Dedication to the mission and people following the mission greatness knows its place in the hierarchy
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Greatness is first in battle and leaves no one behind greatness lays down life for those he loves Greatness is known in the simplicity of the commands not in micromanaging
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Men do not lay down their rule as they lay down their lives But they do lay down any preference and selfishness that interferes with the mission man
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It's not our prerogative to go boating anytime. We want to or to go golfing anytime we want to You can hold me to that it is
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It is about something bigger Right. It is about laying down your life for those who you have been given to steward
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See the whole section of this part of mark is showing that Jesus is on a mission that's going to require him to lay down His life he is going to give us the greatest object lesson in leadership that the world has ever seen and it is counterintuitive
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That he wins by dying that he's great by being laid low and what was laid the lowest and put in the ground dead
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Comes out of the grave and doesn't stay there. Does he he doesn't merely come out of the grave, but he ascends in the sky
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With witnesses watching him into glory to where he sits At the right hand of the ancient of days ruling and interceding for his people today
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Friends are we blind? Have we lost it? Have we let pride lead the way to division?
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Where we make ourselves look small and petty by the way that we deal with those around us.
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I hope not But we have to pray specifically for God to reveal our blindness We all have it you have it and I have it and let me leave you with this
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When you pray to God that he would reveal your blindness, you know how he's probably gonna do it You're not gonna like it
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He's gonna have someone tell you the means that God uses our people
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So someone's gonna come up to you and they're gonna tell you hey, I saw you doing this or I saw that you said this
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And I think you're blind I think you're on a bad path here in our in our flesh
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Our reaction is going to be to get defensive really quick But do you understand friends that God is answering a prayer when we do that?
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If you pray that God will reveal your blindness The means that he is likely gonna use is somebody coming up and telling you so be ready for it.
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And did you know? Did you know that there is greatness in being humble and repenting?
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It is a gift of God to repent and it is sweet When God restores the fellowship between you and him through the gift of repentance because he will forgive you
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The consequences are not what you think When you repent, do you know what Christians are gonna do?
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They're gonna accept you with open arms and they're gonna hug your neck and it's gonna be over Who else can say that?
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Can the world say that do you know why our politicians never admit fault ever? It's because we are a wicked evil people and they know that if they admit fault that it's gonna be drug in their face every single day
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That is exactly contrary to what Christ teaches If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive our sins
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The prophet says or the the writer of Psalms says that our sins are gonna be as far as the East is from the
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West That means they'll never meet again. They're gone Micah says that they will be bundled up in a sack and thrown into the deeps never to be found
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That's how it is in the church. If you fear repentance don't Don't it's the counterintuitive economy of God's grace is that he will forgive our sins
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And you know what his people because we look like him we forgive sins, too So is this stupidity held against James and John or did they indeed become great
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They did they became great greater than you and I will ever be Far greater and they said something probably stupider than I've ever said
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In the face of their Lord and he forgave them and he taught them and he's patient and he will be with you, too
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Let's pray Lord I I Pray that you would give conviction how your people need it or that Even as even as we place our faith in you
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Even as we know that you have died to take our way our sins that you have risen to life showing that the sacrifice has been acceptable
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And Lord that we know that you reign on high and so as the king you have given us a verdict that we are innocent
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Because our sins have been paid for and Lord even still Even still we will hide iniquity in our hearts
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Or we will sin against our brother We will be petty we will be tyrants
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We will not trust the promises that you've given us And Lord all the while what's so insidious about it is that we don't even know we're doing it
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Lord I pray that That you would give us sight Or that you would reveal the blindness that we have and that we would be receptive
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Lord. I know it's gonna hurt It hurts every time But Lord on the other side of that we find we find a father who is so patient and loving
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Or that you delayed your wrath Against sin until you provided a way for us because you desired us to be your people
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You are our God and we are your people and you dwell among us
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In a way that's hard for us to imagine So Lord may it be said it may it be known of us that we are not a people that hide iniquity in our hearts that our transgressions that they burn as they grind in our bones
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Lord and that we we Desperately desire that we would be made right with you Lord help us to recall help them to come up that we
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Before we even take this communion Lord that we would understand that we would see the blindness in the ways
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That we have not walked according to your path And according to your statutes
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Lord, we love your statutes and we believe them but help our unbelief We think that we will walk in a holy way
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But we also think we have the strength to do it and you only you have the strength Lord help reveal those areas to us
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Lord help us to stay steadfast on the mission that you've given help us to give up ourselves
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For what you called us to understanding that you reward us with riches that we cannot possibly imagine in glory
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That it's all worth it here Or to help us not regard the world that we would lose our soul, but instead to count the world as rubbish
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Not that it's not important Lord but as far as the eternal riches and treasures of your kingdom Lord that we would place our hope there and That we would walk in the things that you have prepared beforehand that we would do it willingly and lovingly and that we would gain the
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Blessings from it knowing that your will will be accomplished That it is finished
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That you have done it. So we trust in you. We trust in your goodness. We trust in your sovereign grace on your people