How to Be Great in God's Kingdom | Mark 9:30-37 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series)

What a blessing. What a blessing indeed.

And what a joy last week's service was.

Would you agree if you were able to be here for the baptisms?

And if you were with us, you hopefully remember that we

discussed briefly about the greatness of God.

The greatness of God. Not in a complete or exhaustive

way, of course. We just skim the surface of His

supremacy as we meditated on the God, the God, the God of all

comfort. But even though we're returning

back to Mark, we can still keep that theme in mind because we

will continue to behold the greatness of God, the glories of

God in the person of Jesus Christ and the Lord Jesus

Christ. Where we're at today who just

finished teaching His disciples about the necessity of depending

on God through prayer, exercising your faith in that

privilege of supplication is now going to continue to give His

attention to these disciples and teach them more very important

things. In fact, what we're going to see

is these interactions. These intimate interactions

become more common as Jesus increasingly distances himself

from public ministry in order to disciple His own in preparation

for His near departure. That's what the Lord is doing as

he is now ready to make way to Jerusalem in order to do what He

came to do for the world and the text that we're going to read

today. I've read it over and over this

week, and the one dominant thought that came to mind and

warmed my heart was the obvious observation of the strong and

enduring patience of Jesus. You just look here and you

realize, and you're going to realize that I hope today, the

the considerate and the careful and the constant patience of

Christ as he coaches his disciples.

You know why that's comforting? It's comforting because the

attitude that the Lord has toward His 12 here is the

attitude that you can expect for yourself as you follow Him, and

the example that Jesus presents us in dealing with his 12

disciples who were very slow in understanding things, very

stubborn even in their slowness. Christ presents us a model, lest

we succumb to the temptation of becoming wearied by the slowness

and the dullness of others around us.

And so my prayer is that you would leave with that impression

in your soul just to be swept up by the steadfastness of Christ,

and more than that, to also be impressed by the very truths

that he is patiently trying to instill in the hearts and minds

of His 12 disciples. And so we're going to read today

in Mark Chapter 9, beginning in verse 30.

Mark 9 · chapter mention

And if you want to take anything away from this message today, it

is this How to be great in God's Kingdom, how to be great in

God's Kingdom. Jesus is going to qualify what

true greatness is in His Kingdom.

And these disciples were very, very much excited and invested

in their greatness. And we're going to see how the

Lord teaches them about that. Let's look at verse 30.

They went on from there and passed through Galilee.

And he did not want anyone to know, For he was teaching his

disciples, saying to them, the Son of Man is going to be

delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him.

And when he is killed after three days, he will rise.

But they did not understand the saying, and we're afraid to ask

him. And they came to Capernaum, And

when he was in the house, he asked them, what were you

discussing on the way. But they kept silent, for on the

way they had argued with one another about who was the

greatest, And he sat down and called the 12.

And he said to them, if anyone would be first, he must be last

of all and servant of all. And he took a child, and put him

in the midst of them. And taking him in his arms, he

said to them, Whoever receives one such child in my name

receives me, and whoever receives me receives not me but

him who sent me. Let's pray.

It is our sincere prayer, O Lord, that the Holy Spirit would

help us today. Help us Lord, be who you want us

to be. Help everyone here to see Jesus.

We want to see Jesus in Jesus name.

Amen. This is now the second time, the

second time that Jesus in great detail and emphasis turns to his

disciples and tells him about his coming death.

He wants him to know what's about to happen and so this is

the second time. It won't be the last time, and

the details are very similar to the initial moment that he had

introduced this to them. But what's amazing is how Luke,

who parallels the same account, gives an extra detail of Jesus

teaching of what we just read in the opening verses of this

message. So turn with me, Luke Chapter 9,

Luke 9 · chapter mention

very quickly and look here at verse 44 and Luke 944 and notice

what the physician by the Spirit adds that is rich with

instruction. Luke 944.

Here's how Jesus opens this teaching.

The same teaching that we just read.

Let these words sink into your ears.

The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.

That phrase is profound. Let these words sink into your

ears. You know when a preacher says

pay careful attention. Listen to what I'm about to say.

That's what Jesus is doing here. But what does this mean exactly?

To let the words of Christ to sink into one's ears implies

that we are to take his words and to set them in a certain

way, to put them in a certain place.

The charge that He is making here is that when you hear what

Christ has to say, you must be careful to assess it, and you

must be careful to evaluate it. Unfortunately, what tends to

happen, and God forbid that it is happening as I'm speaking

now, that the words of Jesus skip over our ears like a rock

on a calm face of water instead of sinking deep within.

And what this tells me here is that you and I have the

responsibility to let the words of Jesus sink into our ears.

And what that essentially implies is that if we're going

to truly benefit from the words of Christ, you and I have a duty

to receive His words cautiously, and to receive it attentively.

Revelation does not come to those who are in a rush.

Yeah, we want everything in a rush.

Revelation doesn't come to those who are hasty.

Revelation doesn't come to those who do not have the discipline

to shoo away distractions. True reward when it comes to

insights concerning the Spirit, concerning our faith, comes to

those who make an effort to let the words of Christ sink into

your ears. You know what it means to have

the words of Christ sink into your ears.

It means you have to think about the words of Christ for them to

sink. You have to think, and you have

to think about what you got to think about its meaning.

You got to think about how that truth that you just heard, the

truth that you're about to hear this afternoon, How does that

truth relate to other truths that I know?

How does this truth either confirm or deny other things

that I believe wholeheartedly? What are the applications of

this truth? What?

What is it that Jesus is saying here in Mark 930 down?

What does this mean for me? What are the implications of

that truth? That's how you let the words of

Christ sink into your ears. It's to audibly, in a sense,

chew on the words of Jesus. Did the disciples do that this

time? Did they let the words of Christ

sink into their ears? We're going to find out if

that's true, but one thing that is for certain at this point is

that their reaction to Jesus teaching about his death and

resurrection was much different than the initial interaction

they had with it. You remember what happened early

in Mark chapter 8 when Jesus, after Peter had that amazing

Mark 8 · chapter mention

revelation of Christ being the Messiah, Jesus being the Christ,

and Jesus from there goes on to elaborate about what it means

for him to be Messiah that he's going to also suffer.

What does Peter do? He foolishly rebukes him.

But this time there is no hostile reaction, right?

There is no retaliation. There is no argument.

There is no debate. What you and I read here in

verse 32 is quite interesting, but they did not understand the

saying and were afraid to ask him.

They're afraid to ask him. Afraid of what?

Why are they fearful? Could it be that in asking

questions follow up inquiries that they would prove their

ignorance? Further, could it be that

including Peter, maybe more Peter than anybody else?

In asking a question, they might receive another rebuke?

Or could it be that this was a defense mechanism?

And then in refusing to ask further clarification, they're

essentially not wanting what Jesus said to be true.

In other words, they don't want to entertain what Jesus just

taught because they don't want to confirm what he just said to

actually be what he said it would be.

I believe that these disciples are very uncomfortable to pursue

this further because they don't want to be proven wrong, and

that makes sense, doesn't it? Because they had a perception of

the Messiah so ingrained that they were so stuck on.

And here's Jesus now presenting a different picture of the fate

of this Messiah. Not interested.

And they were fearful, they were distressed, they were disturbed

by this. And so they just wanted to

cancel it. They wanted to remain in

ignorance, gladly. And I looked at it and I thought

to myself, you know, there are many today who are experiencing

spiritual paralysis for the very same reason that these disciples

are, and maybe that's you today. Ask yourself this question.

Do you refuse to put yourself on the path of an honest

investigation of your belief system because you have adhered

to something for so long and those beliefs have shaped your

convictions and your outlook for years?

Have you ever, have you ever been confronted by a a truth

claim and its veracity demanded you to abandon something that

you've believed? The worldview that you've had

since as early as you can remember, Something that's

almost intrinsic to your reality, A reality that you have

cozied up to and has provided a sense of security because of

familiarity. And whenever anybody or an idea

or a sermon or a conversation or a blog or an article or even

your own reading of the scriptures has challenged that

belief, you you defend it. You defend it because it would

cost you too much to believe. It what you see here is the

disciples doing just that. And I'm not just speaking about

those with alien beliefs. That's even true for those who

are within Christendom, people who have held on to certain

doctrines and traditions, maybe even generationally.

And they see something that's so clear in the word of God, they

heard it expounded to them, and they just they they are afraid

to embrace it. And perhaps there are some

people who, in embracing that, know that they will forfeit a

membership in some denominational club or some

circle or some arena of fellowship where your friends

and family are supremely loyal to.

In some sense, the fear that the disciples are experiencing here

is not just out of ignorance. It's a stubbornness within their

ignorance. They want to hold on to what

they believe to be true about the Messiah.

They don't want to let it go and listen to me very carefully.

There's some people who will not pursue truth, who will not

accept truth for one simple reason.

They don't want it to be true. They don't want it to be true.

I can't tell you that now, Peter.

If you people who are in different expressions of

Christianity and you present the Bible to them, you've probably

had those conversations and the Bible has no authority because

they're comfortable where they're at.

That goes for traditions within evangelicalism.

That goes for secondary and other kind of doctrines within

those who are Protestants. Even if you and I want to know

what it means to be in truth, if you want to know how you can be

protected from any form of deception, here's what you and I

have to endeavor to do. It's very simple.

Love the truth. Love the truth.

What a Paul prophesied concerning the last days that

there's going to be a strong deception that's going to

permeate the earth and it will capture those who do one thing,

who refuse to love the truth, Who refuse to love the truth,

and if that's true negatively, then see it positively.

That if you love the truth, if you want the truth, no matter

what, if you want to be in the light as much as possible, then

you have created for yourself a shield from great deception.

Love the truth no matter what it means for you, no matter what it

will demand from you, no matter if it shakes your world.

I'd rather be in the truth than anything else.

These disciples, at this point in their walk with the Lord,

can't really embrace that, and it might be frustrating.

But let your frustration be met with comfort, because you see

the patience of the Lord with these men.

How profoundly touching that Jesus, in more than one attempt,

tries to get this across. And Jesus the one who's never

spoken a lie, There's no deceit found in his mouth.

Everything that he has ever said was purely and perfectly true.

And these guys don't want to embrace it.

They don't want to accept it. And what does the Lord do isn't

kick him to the curb and say, you know what you guys are.

You guys are exhausting. He endures.

He sits down and he brings them close.

What a master, what a friend. And yes, he is giving us another

reason to adore him, but he's also giving us an example.

Because you and I, even as believers who have the truth and

love the truth and pursue the truth, are also called to a

level of forbearance and steadfastness with others who

are wrestling with what to believe with.

One of the most challenging verses about that is a found in

Second Timothy 4/2, where Paul tells Timothy how to be a

preacher. Preach the Word in season and

out of season. That's important for us to

understand. No matter how crazy politics get

right, no matter what conspiracies are out there in

season, out of season, what must the church do?

Preach the Word. The Word.

Preach the Word. Yes, give biblical answers and

clarification to current events, but don't let the substance of

what you have to see say be void of the Word.

And then he goes on to say how the Word should be preached, and

he says at the end of it with complete patience and teaching.

Why would Paul have to tell Timothy with complete patience?

You know why. Because people don't get it

right away. As fiery as you might preach it,

as simple and as slow as you might deliver it.

You need patience. Timothy believers, we need

patience too. You need patience with your

children. You need patience with your

spouse. You need patience with your

cousin. You need patience with your Co

workers because of the heart is is a very stubborn thing.

The word can overcome it. But there is a realistic

application to that and how we be changed by the word of God.

And so these disciples are afraid.

Notice what happens here. If you are moved by the patience

of the Lord, at this moment, only gets better and it gets

more impressive. In verse 33.

And they came to Capernaum. So they left Galilee.

Now they're going to Capernaum. They found themselves in a home,

and it's believed to be Peter's house.

He lived in Capernaum. They enter into this home and

Jesus turns to his 12 companions and he asked them the question.

Hey guys, what were you talking about?

On the way we know this about Jesus, right?

Jesus is not ignorant here. He's not in the dark.

He's not asking for information. He knows very well what they

were talking about. And if you have any doubt about

that, then let me read to you Luke 9, the same passage that we

read from earlier in verse 47. Notice what Luke says about

Jesus in this moment. And Luke 947.

But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, he already

knows. He even just know what they're

saying with their lips. He knows what's in their hearts.

Knowing the reasoning of their hearts took a child and put him

by his side. And so the Lord is aware He's

just giving the invitation to his disciples to come into the

light and to be honest with him. And so Jesus asked them what

were you discussing on the way? And the the the reaction of the

disciples is quite telling Verse 34.

But they kept silence, for on the way they had argued with one

another about who was the greatest.

So the Lord looks, and he says, hey, boys, from Galilee to here.

What were you guys arguing about?

What were you guys discussing? And the air was sucked out of

the room, and these disciples just stood still.

Why? Why were they signed?

Because they're embarrassed. This was a shameful silence.

So shameful that they didn't want to even open up about it.

And there is a shining jewel tucked into that one little

truth. Just just this, this one

historical brief moment. You see something that is

universal and timeless. Notice the reaction of disciples

right when they clued in that Jesus was aware of their

conversation. Their attitude about the very

thing that they were discussing completely changed.

In other words, when they were among themselves and they

thought perhaps they were at a distance with Christ, and from

Christ, they were passionate about who was the greatest.

They were very much consumed and even combative about who is

going to be of greatest prestige and status in the coming

Kingdom. And when Jesus found out, or

actually is about to let him know as well, that he found out,

the very thing that they were so bold and courageous for is now

something that they're shrinking in shame about.

You know what that means? Here's what that means.

The awareness of Christ changed the attitude of these disciples.

And when you and I believe that Jesus Christ, pay very close

attention, let these words sink into your ears.

When you and I live with the acknowledgement that Jesus

Christ's presence in our lives is uninterrupted and persistent

and knowledgeable, that's going to change us.

That's going to change you. Yeah, How you talk, what you

watch, what you listen to, what you converse, how you search,

how you treat those things will be gloriously altered when you

and I make the effort to believe.

Like the Psalmist who said you search out my path and my lying

down, and are acquainted with all of my ways, do you see what

the active presence of Jesus did to these disciples when they did

not acknowledge His presence, and probably didn't even believe

that He was aware? They were fighting with each

other when Jesus asked What were you guys doing?

Do you want to know steadfastness in your

sanctification? I'll give you a simple dare I

say Sunday school like principle and application.

Here it is. Whatever you do, ask Jesus if he

likes it. That's it.

Ask Jesus if he would be pleased with it.

You will know growth. You will know strength.

You will know a level of integrity and commitment.

Just ask the Lord, Lord, do you delight in this?

Brothers and sisters, please be holy.

Be holy. See Christ in a relational way.

Love him in everything that you do.

Honor him. He's acquainted with your ways.

For some people, that's a very fearful thought.

That's unfortunate for me. It's a reminder that I have a

love relationship with the Savior, and though I may not

perceive with my eyes or with my touch or with my ears, I believe

that he sees and knows. And that's enough for me to say.

Lord, every step that I take, I want you to be happy.

A lot of believers would get free from a lot of trouble if

they live like that. But unfortunately, Jesus to some

is just a doctrine. He's just a theology.

No. He's a friend and he's close and

he can be commune with and he can communicate with you.

The acknowledgement of the presence of Christ altered

something in these disciples. It would do us good to

acknowledge Christ as well. He's worthy.

They had argued with one another about who was the greatest.

This almost seems comical. Who does that?

When was the last time you had a lunch with friends or family?

Talk about who's the best? Best at what?

Greatest at what? Well, it makes more sense when

you understand what these disciples lived for.

They abandoned everything to follow this Messiah because this

leader, this rabbi, showed great promising signs that he was

indeed the conquering Messiah that they were awaiting.

And they on top of that know not only do we believe that this is

the Messiah, we believe that we are the chosen ones.

We are the closest ones to this Messiah.

And so you can imagine, right? Here's this king, his coming

Kingdom. We're closest to him, but

there's twelve of us. And so let's determine here who

is going to win the best seat, the greatest authority, to be

the closest associate, to know the greatest accolades and

privilege and status in this Kingdom.

That is what they're debating about.

And if you need proof of that, look at Mark 1036, just the

chapter later, because unfortunately this is not the

only time they're going to have this debate in Mark 103637.

A couple of men, the brothers James and John, thought, you

know, why are we going to debate about this?

Let's just go straight to the source.

And so they go to Jesus. And they asked him for something

in verse 36. And he said to them, what do you

want me to do for you in verse 37?

And they said to him, grant us to sit one at your right hand

and one of your left in your glory.

So this is this is what's in their hearts.

Lord, when you come, give us the best seats in the House.

Give us the most glistening chairs, the heaviest crowns, and

Jesus perceives this. And what makes it even more

unpleasant is back in Mark nine when they are having this

debate. They did it immediately after

they learned about Jesus dying. They did it immediately after

Jesus told him about his humiliation.

I, the Messiah, I'm going to die.

I'm going to suffer. Yes, I'm going to rise, but I'm

going to be handed over to evil men.

And they were afraid to ask. They didn't understand.

They didn't let the words of Christ sing into their ears.

And then they make their way to Capernaum.

And here's what they're talking about.

I'm going to. I'm going to win it.

I'm going to get it. He loves me more than you.

He invited me to that event. He didn't invite you to that

event. How do you do that after you

hear Jesus open his heart about his passion and be very careful

criticizing these disciples? Because in my desire to

criticize them, I realize that what they are doing here is

often what happens to believers from Sunday to Monday, right?

A truth is given that is undeniably applicable and it

almost becomes totally irrelevant by the evening.

What a painful reminder of these disciples of how quickly we can

lose sight of Christ and become so self absorbed.

We can hear profound truths about His service, His humility,

His glory, his commands, and like these followers of his make

it about us and be so consumed with ourselves by Monday

morning. How does that happen?

You know what most people would say?

Human nature. It's human nature.

OK, listen, I know human nature. We can't blame everything on

human nature. OK?

You know why? Because you are a new creation,

that's why. It's human nature.

I know it's human nature, but what are we?

Are we stuck here? That's it.

So, OK, let's just blame everything on human nature.

No, I'll tell you why these disciples did this.

Because they didn't let the words of Christ sink into their

ears. That's it.

This amnesia is a symptom of our unwillingness to take the words

of Christ seriously. And unfortunately, this is not

going to be the first time that it's going to happen, because

this is really the symptom, the fruit of a root.

And that root is pride, and that root of pride will not be

immediately removed. And if you read carefully, the

pride in the disciples here in this verse is actually showing

the very effects of pride in the same verse.

Look back at verse 34. But they kept silent.

For on the way they had argued with one another about who was

the greatest. They had argued with one

another. Here's the lesson for us from

this one verse. Pride will always produce

disunity. Pride will always produce

disunity. Pride will make brothers and

partners into enemies. And here's the lesson for us as

a church family. If followers of Christ within a

community are driven by self exaltation, then strife and

division is just around the corner.

It's just around the corner, guaranteed.

That's not a prophecy. When I sense my heart justifying

self promotion, self importance, my needs and my desire above all

else, the satisfaction of my dreams and my goals at the

expense of others, what we see here is is bound to happen,

whether that's your friend group or whether that's a

congregation. And it's it's devastating to

even think about that. The enemy only needs a heart

that thinks of self above all else to do damage to a body of

people. And as devastating as I thought

is, it's especially devastating here because you are talking

about the 12 apostles who are going to be used to lay the

foundation of the Church. And already they're they're

getting at each other's necks, arguing about this stuff.

And so the Lord obviously knows the danger of this.

And so he's going to address it immediately, which is good

practice for all of us, because you and I should the moment we,

we sense our hearts being inflamed, bloating in this area

of pride, go to war with it right away, just kill it in its

seed form. And one of the darts that you

can use to shoot against this very ugly thing is the very

truth that Jesus is about to present here.

And what is that truth? Well, let's see it Verse 35.

He sat down and called the 12 and he said to them, if anyone

would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.

Here's the Lord. He understands the threat of

this pride because the deterioration of relationship is

destined to take place when any party is poisoned by pride.

And so the Lord wants to now remove that pride.

He wants to suck it out, and it's going to only happen

through the force of a truth that comes from him.

And here's the truth that he brings to the disciples.

You want to be great. You want to pursue greatness in

my Kingdom. Let me show you how the king

qualifies greatness. Let me explain to you what you

must do in terms of your ambition to be significant in my

world. And he says two things.

If anyone would be first, he must be one last of all, two,

servant of all. And you can't separate those two

things. Really.

What does it mean to be last of all?

What does it mean for Jesus that you must be last of all?

Well, it's simple. Your pursuit for prominence and

praise is totally forsaken. You're not looking for first

place. You're not looking to be the

primary object of people's respect and love and

appreciation. That's not what you're doing.

You want to be first in my Kingdom, seek to be last, seek

to do something with no expectation of something in

return. Be last the same way in last

place. I mean, these days you give

rewards for everybody, even those in last place.

There was a time where if you were last, you didn't get

anything. Now everybody gets something.

You're in last place. What happens in last place?

Well, you don't get to step on the highest platform and you

don't get the shiniest medal. Be last.

You want to be great. Look for last place.

This is so countercultural. And on top of that, don't just

be last place. Be a servant.

Now, he could have said be a servant.

And our hearts are so clever. We know what we can even do with

that and make it about ourselves.

No, he says. Be servant of all of all.

And he's going to explain what he means by that.

And I'll give you a heads up. What he means by being servant

of all is just really emphasizing what I just said.

Seek to serve people, including the people that can't give

anything in return. Church, This is incredible.

This is what Jesus measures as greatness in the Kingdom.

What comes to your mind when you think of spiritual greatness?

Revivalist. Those who have a supernatural

ability to expound and explain scriptures, profound prayer

life. The missionary who has seen

miracle be worked through their hands.

The author, the conference. What's greatness and

spirituality according to Christ?

You know what it is being a servant of all that challenges

us, isn't it? That's the point.

And the Lord loves to use illustrations to get his point

across, so he's going to use a very real illustration.

Here he is in a home, most likely Peter's home, and he

finds a child, maybe one of Peter's children, and we're told

that he brings this child into his arms and he sets this child

in front of the disciples. And now he qualifies what he

means by being last of all and servant of all.

Verse 36 And he took a child and put him in the midst of them.

And taking him in his arms he said to them, Whoever receives

one such child in my name receives me, and whoever

receives me receives not me, but him who sent me.

What is the Lord trying to say here?

So he brings this child as analogy.

He brings this child as again an illustration and think about

children. They can be overlooked in so

many ways, in so many ways. Yes, they can be cared for, but

they can also be overlooked because we look at children and

we think, well, they don't offer much in terms of conversation,

at least serious conversation. They don't offer much in terms

of participation and significant functions.

And all of us are aware that the nature of a child is weak and

dependent. And so when we have a certain

responsibility to invest in those children, there is nothing

that crosses our mind. I hope that you're going to

expect some return on this investment.

They have nothing to give back. They are so vulnerable and needy

that at that stage in their life they can only take and they need

what you have to offer. And what Jesus is saying here is

not if you want to be great, it means be a servant.

So then, you know, serve in the Sunday school ministry with the

kids. That's not what he's saying.

It can include, yes, looking after children, absolutely.

But again, this is an analogy. The vulnerability of a child,

the status of a child, The lack of power and significance,

worldly speaking, in a child. It can also be understood for

some of the children of God that there are some believers who are

also like that they haven't accomplished much.

They don't have an impressive resume.

They don't have significant intelligence or education.

They're not famous. More than that, they might not

have even the most impressive personality.

And what the Lord is saying is this.

To embrace this child is a representation of our call, to

be willing to embrace and receive the lowliest among the

children of God. Those who again don't have any

achievements, those again who in a crowd, they tend to disappear,

not stand out when they walk into a room, when Jesus speaking

on being a servant of all, He wants us to understand that

these are the people that I want you to serve.

These are the kinds of people that I want you to give

intentional attention to. Come on, church, what do we

want? We want to be great in the

Kingdom of God, right? Well, this is what it looks

like. And so the main point of the

Lord is this. You, as a servant of all, if you

want to actually make that of your ambition, then you'll be

willing to give your attention to those who have no affluence,

no status. I'm talking about the shy one.

I'm talking about the poorly dressed one.

I'm talking about the one who doesn't have anything to give

you. Do you know why?

Because this is how evil our hearts are, man.

Our hearts are so corrupt that we are willing to go above and

beyond. But we tend to make our targets

clear, right? I'll go above and beyond.

I'll make extra time. I'll do certain things because

so and so might give me an opportunity.

I can see a potential partnership here.

They have something that I can see maybe, maybe they can open

up my world that they're very known that maybe there's

networking that's available through them.

Or it can be as simple as this person really entertains me.

And so they have something to offer.

And so we determine where our service goes, where our

attention and our attendance will be targeted towards those

who might be able to give something back.

That's not what it means to be a servant of all.

That's why Jesus brings a child. He says I want you to look after

these ones and my Kingdom and when I see you going after these

ones, then you will be great in my Kingdom.

And he. He gives extra motivation just

in case that wasn't enough. He says what whoever receives

one such child in my name receives who me receives me.

I remember I told you earlier that if there's anything that

would straighten us, it's to acknowledge the presence of

Christ in all things, right? In all ways and all activities

in all places. And here's another thing to add

now, if you want to now go beyond that and achieve

greatness, see Jesus in everyone.

More importantly, how you and I go about treating those who seem

insignificant or unimpressive is actually how we treat Christ

according to Jesus. That's what he said.

When you receive someone like this, you're actually receiving

me. Lord, open our eyes to see as

you see. Open our eyes to see how you

want us to see. You actually receive me, and you

go to Matthew 18. He elaborates on what that

means. Because this is the exciting

part, right? I mean, you're telling me, Lord,

that if I, if I look after these ones, if I, if I give time to

these ones, if I serve these ones, I'm actually serving you.

Yes. And then there's actually a

warning with that same truth. Let me give it to you.

In Matthew 18, verse five, whoever receives one such child

in my name receives me. That's what we just heard.

But look at this in verse 6. But whoever causes one of these

little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him

to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to

be drowned in the depths of the sea.

The analogy of children for those in the Kingdom of God is

still continuing here. He's not just speaking about

little children physically, He's speaking about little children

spiritually. Those in my church who are

humble, those who might in my church who are weak, who are

vulnerable. And this is the warning, because

this is how closely associated the children of God are to God

himself. If anybody intentionally

persuades one of these little children that belong to God into

sin and away from the will of God, it's better to suffer a

horrific death. Not my words.

I'm just the messenger. I'm just giving the message.

That's what Jesus says. To to be in a conniving and

manipulative way. Pulling somebody away from their

walk with the Lord is dangerous. It's really dangerous.

And this needs to be heralded for wolves who come into the

church, because they know that they can take advantage of

Christians who have been called to love and sacrifice and to

give people a chance. That's why Jesus gives this kind

of strong warning, because there are those who don't care.

And instead of being moved to repentance through the light and

love of God's people, they see it as an opportunity to take

advantage, to satisfy themselves.

And Jesus says it's better to take a giant rock.

Tie it around your neck, jump. Off a bridge into the heart of

the ocean than to do that. Why?

Because that Christian is God's child, and that Christian

doesn't just belong Jesus. Jesus lives in him.

Jesus lives in her. Thank God for the gift of

repentance that no matter what we've done, we can come to him

and he is willing to forgive and cleanse us and wash us.

He's even willing to receive a false teacher who was broken

about their false teaching and all the damage that they've done

to the Kingdom of God. He is willing even to receive

such a one. That is the mercy of God and the

patience of God even for sinners, not just his disciples.

I'm challenged today, challenged early this morning, because like

the disciples, we can hear something that's be moved by it,

but return to that same way of thinking that true greatness

looks like this and true greatness looks like that.

You know what Jesus saying? You know what true greatness is

to me? You taking two hours of your

time during the week to call somebody from the church who has

difficulty interacting with others because of insecurities

and having lunch with them. That's true greatness If you

willing to go above and beyond for the one who struggles in

different ways, it may seem like a burden or may seem like they

draw strength away from you. Don't give anything in return,

that person when you I do even something small, that's

greatness to me. Isn't that?

Isn't that amazing? So I don't have to go to

seminary? No, you don't have to go to

seminary for different reasons. So I don't have to be this order

and this eloquent, passionate presenter.

No, Just be a servant of all. Will the disciples get it?

No. But we can learn from that.

We can get it. We can let the words of Christ

sink into our ears. I hope more than anything else,

this would motivate you to realize that goal of

acknowledgement and commendation from Christ is just before you.

You can reach out, and it's right there.

You don't need the following. You don't need the channel.

You don't need the accolades. You just we need to find some

people to serve. Lord, we thank you that all of

us can achieve this no matter who we are.

Thank you for the reminder, Father.

Thank you, Lord, that you desire us to put what we believe into

action. Help us do that.

We pray that the words of Christ would sink into our ears and may

that birth in us a fresh motivation to say, I want to

serve, I want to serve God's people.

Lord, show me who to serve. Show me how to how to be, who

you want me to be. And Lord, we just ask that even

today this, this church, if it would be competitive in

anything, it would be a competitive church in the place

of service. Not for self exaltation, not to

be the most liked and the most popular, but to be last place.

Would you help us engrave that ambition in our hearts, and

would it get into our blood and maybe lived out with your power?

Lord, we thank you for being so patient with the disciples.

Indeed, you are patient with us. Even if we we don't get it, you

will still fight for us. Sit with us and teach us.

Help us for leaving this place to live with a growing sense of

your immediate presence. We want to walk with you in this

life. We want to know communion with

you in the most intimate way possible.

In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.

Amen. Let's stand and worship the Lord

together.