Who Is the Greatest - Part 2

Christian going to church to worship and learn is good, but it's no substitute for silver if you want to be more Christlike crusted around Turning Point of the general model to the connection between slavery and brightness in God's kingdom with an illustration that the Lord use reveal the truth is the start with the conclusion of this message is the greatest is diving and thank you for joining us today. We are studying the life of Jesus from the last part of the gospel of Mark finishing up our exposition of Mark.

This is part three. By the way, it takes a long time, but all of these studies together for some of the longer books of the Bible Mark is one of my favorite it's not really one of the longest Gospels. In fact it's short in the sense that it's very fast-moving.

I always tell people the reason I love Mark is because the best word and mark the most often use word is the word immediately. Mark moves quickly along with the influence of Peter to give us the story of Jesus life right now were answering some very important questions today will get back to who is the greatest in just a moment before we do that I wanted to mention to you that there is an acronym for this in some circles as they talk about who's the greatest I never realized this before but I just read it. They call it goat GRAT. Greatest of all time who is the greatest of all time.

This is a first for the answer to this and you know what I want to help you with it.

I went to the greatest is and how you can become great. According to his plan for the bottles together to the ninth chapter Jesus does not tell his disciples to cease trying to be great. Instead, he redefines the meaning of greatness. He doesn't implore us to stop pursuing greatness demands that we pursue a specific form of greatness he is encouraging us to desire to pursue to crave a certain kind of greatness that serves all so let me just run through the Scriptures quickly. If I were you taking notes just write down the address and you can look him up and fill them in later, but here's just a sampling of what this is in the Bible. Matthew 2016 so the last will be first in the first last.

Many are called, few are chosen. Matthew 2026 and 27 whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.

And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave.

Matthew 2311 but he was greatest among you shall be your servant Mark 1043 and 44 you shall not be so among you but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant and will review desires to be first shall be slave of all.

Luke 948 whoever receives this little child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me, for he was least among you all will be great. Luke 1330 and, indeed, there are last who will be first in their first two will be last.

Luke 2226 but not so among you. On the contrary, he was greatest among you, let him be as younger and he who governs as he who serve. That's a sampling vessel. That's a sampling of the many times when Jesus taught this core basic principle of the Christian life. Isn't it interesting we hear almost nothing about it in our culture today. Most people are quite surprised when they hear this back the principles of leadership for believers is exactly the opposite that for those who live in the culture. The basic concept of serving is found over 300 times in the New Testament hundred and 30 times in the Gospels in 170 times in the epistles so the Lord did not save us to be sensations he saved us to be servants and is giving us this principle, so we will know how to function not only in the church, but in our culture so that we can know the joy of Christ likeness.

Here's the difference between what Jesus is saying here and where most people are in their understanding of leadership today was to start with the triangle. If you start out in the business world today, men, women graduate from college. Maybe grad school degree ready to go. You enter into the company at the lower level. Nobody starts appearing to start out here and if the lower level of your company are the most people are more people down here on this level than anyplace else.

The entry-level if you stay there and you progress in your career.

Little by little, you move out and at every level where you move up there are fewer people. The next level. Fewer people all of a sudden. If you work hard you know the bosses family. You get to the top you get to the top and all of a sudden you're at the top of the triangle and people say it's such a good thing to be able to serve under him in the world today.

I serve under in the military I serve under we serve under people.

That's the way the world views leadership with the triangle and the one at the top.

At the pinnacle looks out at his world and he makes this observation.

Look at all the people who are serving me.

Jesus is will that's all right if you want to live that way, your culture, but that's not my way. Jesus says you have to turn the triangle upside down. Jesus says he will be the greatest among you, let him be the least that doesn't mean that least indignity the least in popularity, the least and the ability it means you understand that in the biblical sense of leadership. It's not how many people are serving you. It's how many people you are serving that is servant leadership. That's biblical leadership that Jesus kind of leadership. Jesus says if you want to be great in the kingdom of God. Don't ask the question how many people are serving me asked the question how many people has Almighty God allowed me to serve and we began to understand the joy of serving as we began to institute this principle in our lives. Greatness is waiting on believers in the form of common and simple tasks. The more common and humble task. The greater the deed. So Jesus said in Luke 2227 I am among you as one who serves. No please notice that Jesus is not teaching this principle in classroom. He's teaching it on the road and where's that road taking him you guys it's taking him to Jerusalem. It's taking him to the cross, Jesus is walking out the lesson that he's teaching his disciples. He said I did not come to be ministered to but to minister, and to give my life a ransom for many. What is he doing is walking toward Jerusalem is walking toward the cross. He saved by his attitude. I'm not going to stay here and be here came with the crown because I understand it before I can be your King with a crown. I have to be your King with the cross and in his servant attitude. He's giving himself up. The Bible says he gave himself up for us so that we might be saved.

That's what services and Jesus is living it out as he is teaching it to his disciples.

Everyone of us who are parents every one of us as we teach our children and our friends about humble service.

We should never do it without living it out ourselves and we should never separated from the teaching of our Lord as we teach others about humble service. We should also be modeling at the impracticality and tangibly before them.

I read a lot of commentaries to prepare these messages in one of the best historic writers for New Testament literatures. A man by the name of William Barclay is a bunch of little tiny commentaries and you have to have good eyes to read his work has a paragraph about this that I think we will all find very interesting. Today, as we look out on a broken world that seems to be getting more broken every day.

Listen to what he wrote every economic problem would be solved if men lived for what they could do for others and not what they could get for themselves. Every political problem would be solved if the ambition of man was only to serve others and not to enhance their own prestige.

Can you imagine my friends what would happen if Washington could get a hold of that if they would really understand that we elected them to serve us instead of serve their own political ambition. The divisions he wrote and the disputes which tear the church apart would be for the most part never happening. If the only desire of the church was to serve the church and not to care what position as long as the service was given gone would be the phrase I don't go there because I don't get my needs met. We would be so busy meeting everybody else's needs. We wouldn't have time to calculate that ourselves. When Jesus spoke of the supreme greatness in value over the man whose ambition was to be a servant. He laid down, said Barclay, one of the greatest practical truths in the world. Glenda Moody once said the measure of a great man is not how many servants he has, but how many men he serves thirsty instruction. If you want to be great. The question you have to ask is who my serving, let me tell you that that's a principle that would work even if you were to Christian you have to be a Christian. With this principle of operation.

There's a whole genre of literature, now called servant leadership that's growing up in the business world. Everybody's beginning understand that this works and why it works because all truth is God's truth came from the Bible. Even people who try to use it who don't know God will find that it works. We had the inauguration of all of our new deacons. As you know, deacons are servants. That's what the word means darkness means to serve and I have a question and answer time with our deacons and they were asking me questions and Donna and I as you know, I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary. So one of the questions was what is the secret to a good marriage. While he says take the answer that like I'm supposed to be some expert on but I guess if you survive 50 years must be in some right so I don't mind that. So I was thinking about this principle and I remember telling the men something like this. The secret to a good marriage is to learn what it means to serve one another. The Bible says were to serve one another doesn't say wives are to serve their husbands. It's as wives are to be submissive to their husbands, but there to serve their husbands and husbands are to serve their wives. Can you imagine what would happen in marriages across the nation. If everybody got all last week. How do you keep a marriage together and they're asking me as a man's arms going to give you my answer figure out how to serve your wife.

You see, was that mean well figure out what you think she needs and do it before she asks you how profound is that I remember when the day I began to understand that several years ago and I just begin to look at Donna and say okay when what I can do to help her today and trying to figure out what it is before she asked me to do it.

It's kind little game I play with myself to help workers practical illustration in our kitchen right by the kitchen cabinet. There's a little trash container in surreal sophisticated one. It's all silver and nice trash down here and you push for petal opens up well periodically I would hear Donna say how you need to take the trash out, so I decided I'm not every letter say that to me again.

I am never going to let her say that to me again. I'm always do it before she said another time I walk by the thing I push that button look in there and see if it's looking like it's full. I got up to get on a grudge vertically when in that I find so much joy in doing that is just a silly little illustration is is not how it works. You guys it's the simple task. It's the easy things that we can do to bear somebody else's burden, and of course sweet woman I been married to for all these years she served me in so many ways. When I think about it sometimes almost embarrassing to me.

How do we serve one another. Jesus says if you want to be great if the learn to serve for greatness in the kingdom is not where you stand on the hierarchy, but it's where you stand and serving other people.

Now that's his instruction and finally he gives us an illustration in the illustration is in verse 36 and 37 then Jesus took a little child and he set him in the midst of them, and when he had taken up in his arms, he said to them, whoever receives one of these little children in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives, not me, but him who sent me, so we believe that in this situation Jesus was in Peter's house. The probability is Peter Jesus went got one of Peter's children.

By the way, that's a shock to everybody that Peter was married, but the Bible tells us he was.

He wasn't celibate.

He was married. He had some children. I was telling you so Jesus gets one of Peter's children and brings them into the center of the circle.

All the disciples are in the Bible says when he got him in the center of the circle.

Jesus picked this child up in his arms and he said whoever receives this little child receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me was going on there. Men and women was this in that culture. Child was considered to be the furthest down on the hierarchy of important people in their culture. Women were second from the bottom, and men were everything in the Bible says Jesus took a child this little child, but didn't seem to have any significance to anyone, even though it was Peter shot any took this child up in his arms and he said whoever receives this little one. This one who has no status. This one who doesn't have any standing. This one who would be considered expendable. Whoever receives this little one receives me, and whoever receives me receives the father who sent me one author I read said in that moment, the Lord taught us that we can literally shake heaven with what we do in our service on this earth by reaching out to those who are unserved and undeserving of service. According to the culture in which we live, and ministering to them and touching their lives. Something happens in heaven that's triggered by something that happens on the earth.

Jesus receives us and God receives us because we receive them when we serve. We enter into a kind of intimacy with God. That is well insulated in many respects than prayer and fasting and all the other disciplines. It puts us instantly in God's favor because that's who God is and that's who Jesus is. They serve. So the question we have to ask ourselves as we fumble along in our Christian lives. Are we connected in heaven because were serving on earth. What are we doing all you say pastor when you mean I come to church a week. I love to come here you teach.

That's what I do serving as learning serving is what you do to help. What you do to minister you say well what can I do what I can promise you, you can do something if you're Christian Almighty God's given you a gift so you have a special gift that makes it possible for you to serve so I don't know what it is will find out what it is but there's no excuse for being a Christian in the kingdom of God and not having something to do that serves others.

If I understood this completely, and I wasn't serving God rush to the nursery and say how can I help because the Bible says there's more insignificant thing in the kingdom of baby do to help a church not a thing. When we serve these little ones. These infants who don't have anything to offer back to us. The Bible says when we receive them. We receive Jesus. And when we receive Jesus we receive the father, what an incredible promise when we welcome them.

When we receive them. That means we look out for their needs. We try to help them in the areas where they have worked.

Jesus himself gave us his own commentary on this practice read this to you from the book of Matthew when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory, and all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd divides the sheep from the goats and he will set the sheep on his right hand but the goats on the left and the king will say to those on his right hand, come, you blessed of my father inherited the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, for I was hungry. Jesus said and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you took me and I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me in the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, did we ever see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink. When did we see he was a stranger and take you winter naked and clothe you when did we see you sick or in prison, and come to you and the king will answer and say to them. Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren did to me. Jesus says when we minister to others. We minister to him and hear something else is really in my estimation, the only way you can ever minister to him say will I come to church and I worship him must worship, but the only way you can serve Jesus is by serving other people. Some of us I love Jesus and I want to serve, but other people, you gotta be kidding me. Only when you serve Jesus to serve other people and in serving other people. You get hurt. It won't get disappointed and discouraged, but so did Jesus. If you want to be Christlike you have to serve other people. I will ask you again, this point the question what do you do to serve Jesus to host a Bible study work in the Sunday school parked cars. Whatever it is that you do. But are you serving and there is nothing we can ever be asked to do that is beneath the dignity of a servant of Christ. If he knows he's doing it for the Lord large group of European pastors came to one of Dr. DL Moody's Bible conferences in the late 1800s and following the European custom of the time each guest put his shoes outside his room to be cleaned by the whole servants overnight, but of course they were in America and then have all servants in America and so Moody was walking to the dormitory that night and he saw the shoes, and he determined not to embarrass his brothers from Europe and he mentioned the need to some of his ministerial students who were there and they didn't seem to be all excited about helping with the project.

So Moody went back to the dorm gathered all the shoes into his room and alone. The world's most famous evangelist began to wash and polish the shoes of his European guests. Only the unexpected arrival of a friend in the midst of this work revealed the secret and when the foreign visitors open their doors. The next morning.

The shoes were shined and they never knew by home. Moody never told anybody but his friend told a few people and during the rest of the conference. Different men volunteered to shined the shoes of the European delegates in secret. Perhaps the episode that I just told you is a vital insight into why God used DL Moody so powerfully. He was a man with a servants heart and that was the basis of his true greatness please and gentlemen, let's just say the first time you see Jesus walking on this earth. The first time you see them visiting this earth is in a poor, humble cradle surrounded by shepherds and sheep. The last time you see him before he goes back to heaven. He's broken on the cross cruelly massacred by the Romans, all of those humiliating humbling pictures of our Lord simply to remind us that he came to serve. Somebody said how do I know if I'm serving the answer that question is easy by how you respond when somebody treat you like a servant.

That's how you know and it isn't interesting when the Lord wanted to reach this world. He reached us as a servant. He came as a servant to reach us and it's in order to help us understand that if we are to reach the world. We have to reach the world the same way I want to encourage us all to find something we can do to serve the Lord find something that God has enabled you to do and do it with all of your heart, for I'm telling you right now looking back over the life of serving the Lord. There is no greater joy outside of becoming a Christian and waking up every morning knowing I get to spend my life today serving the King of Kings and Lord of lords. What joy there is a man. Thank you for listening today.

Thank you for being a part of the study and I will encourage you to get to church this weekend.

I want to make sure that you watched report on television.

If it comes into your community as I know it will end outlets together here on Monday continue our study in search of the Savior Monday and Tuesday women talk about leadership from David Jeremiah was to be your teacher and host and thank you for your support and your prayers and your encouragement unless you have a great message you just heard originated from shadow Mountain community. Dr. David Jeremiah as senior does not have Turning Point keeps you spiritually strong point about the I 38 San Diego, CA 92163 or visit our website at Jeremiah.old/writing you a copy of the Bible. Jesus revoked for gift of any amount which is the Jeremiah study Bible and the English standard version, new international version and the new King James version with hopeful notes and articles. Jeremiah visit David Jeremiah auto/radio Gary who join us Monday as we continue the series in search of the Savior Turning Point