This is a continuation of our exposition of the book of James, and today's text is James chapter 4 verses 7 through 10.
I'll begin by reading it, but before I do, let me remind you, beloved, that this is God's word to us.
It was written for his glory and our good.
So we would all do well to listen to it, to believe its promises and obey its commands.
James 4 beginning in verse 7.
James' original audience for this letter were Jews who had been dispersed throughout the Roman world,
who were professing followers of his half-brother, the Lord Jesus Christ.
His concern is that they understand that a saving faith in Jesus, while not earned by works, will be accompanied by works.
We have a faith that works.
He says in James chapter 2 verse 17 and 18,
Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
But someone will say, you have faith and I have works.
Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
So it is the faith that saves us, but it is the works of faith that evidence that salvation.
And it is in this context that we need to understand today's text.
James wants to be sure that his hearers understand what must be done to be restored to God.
He is pastorally concerned for anyone who might claim the name of Christ and not actually be saved.
This is a great problem of our day.
Just about anybody you'd speak to would say they're a Christian.
Living in the southeast, the trouble of ministry often is that you have to convince people that they're not in Christ
so that they can place their faith in Christ.
James here is seeking our highest good, and he does so in some really striking ways.
He says some things that just make you go, whoa.
His original audience must have known how much he loved them to receive these kinds of words.
Just previously in chapter 4, he said, you adulterous people.
He's drawing their minds back to all of the unfaithfulness of the Jewish people throughout the Old Testament.
He goes on in verse 4, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?
Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
It's a very dichotomous thing that he sets up here.
I just would ask you, would you avail yourself of such strong language this morning?
Charles Spurgeon delivered a sermon on April 7, 1878, entitled,
The Reason Why Many Cannot Find Peace.
It was on this text, in which he said, he's talking about people who can't find peace.
He said, now I fear that comfort is misplaced in these cases.
When we have endeavored to cheer such people,
I fear we may have been filming over a wound which needs a sharp knife rather than a soft bandage,
a keen lancet rather than a healing liniment.
We shall try at this time to show certain uneasy souls why they do not obtain peace
and what they must be brought to by the Holy Spirit before they can rightly claim that they are saved.
Though our words may be somewhat caustic, they will be uttered in loving faithfulness.
And may the Lord our God make them effectual to the ending of the inner strife
and the establishment of settled peace."
Now that is the great labor of the preacher,
to open up God's word to people
and to grab a hold of this ancient text,
all of its cultural complication and language challenges,
with one hand,
and to grab a hold of a people with the other
and pull them together.
How does this mean something for us today
and on into this next week
and on for forever?
But we don't all come to our gatherings in the same state of soul.
This is broad discipling that's happening right now.
Where exactly each and every person is in this room
or across the hall or perhaps listening to the recording of this sometime later,
it's very difficult to know.
I'm a fan of smaller congregations and meeting in person
because there's a greater likelihood that I might know, right?
As I pray for our members and think about you,
I may have some sense of the state of your soul,
but I'm not God.
It's hard to really know what's going on.
There are guests here.
I'm looking at faces I've never seen before.
So it's a challenge.
It's a labor of a preacher to try to do this.
So the preacher must have many kinds of people in mind
when he prepares to preach
and while he's preaching.
And so to do this,
I try to think with varied success.
I don't know that I do this very well,
but I try to think in five different categories.
Try to think of categories of people
who may come and hear God's word opened.
Number one, the weary.
Those who have suffered much this past week
or have attempted to work to earn God's favor
and are just tired.
Just come here feeling beat down,
feeling their failure,
and need to be reminded of the gospel.
You need to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Jesus' finished work,
made real for you.
I also try to have in mind the wayward.
Those who have imperceptibly drifted
from their first love
and the holiness that accompanies a pursuit of him.
They've just forgotten,
just grown a bit cold.
The anchor was taken up
and they're getting drawn out to sea.
And they need to be reminded of the gospel.
I try to have in mind the proud.
Those who believe that they have done enough
this past week.
Who come and say,
I'm alright.
I pulled it off this past week.
Enough to earn his favor,
thinking they're better than others.
And they need to be reminded
of the gospel.
They need to be reminded
there's nothing we could do.
We were utterly wretched
apart from Christ.
I try to keep in mind
the lazy.
Those who have grown apathetic
in their zeal for the Lord
and his ways.
Who just have stopped really caring
about living for the life to come.
Are consumed with the life that is now.
And they need to be reminded
of the gospel.
And finally,
try to have in mind
the lost.
Those who have never heard the gospel
or have heard the gospel
and have never placed saving faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ
for the salvation
of their souls.
And I think there's application
for all of these categories
today.
But maybe most particularly
for the last.
You came to church this morning
not just interested
but thinking that you're in Christ.
Actually thinking,
I am a Christian.
And I would just like for you to perhaps,
not that I want to cast doubt
into your souls,
but maybe just get you to stop
and think,
but what if
I'm not?
So there may be more categories.
But generally,
I think this framework
serves a congregation well.
However,
it would take too much time
and it's not ever my attempt
to sort and label you
into these categories
so neatly.
Because I don't have the power
to view and assess
your souls.
I'm encouraged that James
also doesn't seem
to try to do so.
He is concerned
for the state
of his original audience's
souls, right?
He's hearing about things
that are happening
in these churches.
He's hearing about
unacceptable things
that are happening.
The way they speak,
the way they're showing
preferential treatment
to one another,
the way they're
friends with the world.
Perhaps,
we just see in the beginning
of chapter 4,
perhaps,
somebody professing to know Christ
killed somebody.
It's quite possible.
You do not have
and so you murder.
But in James 1.16,
he simply states,
do not be deceived,
my beloved brothers.
And in James 3.10,
he says,
my brothers,
these things
ought not be so.
He assumes
their professions
are genuine,
but he is careful
to instruct them
to test
the genuineness
of said
professions.
So that's the context.
That's where our text lies.
It's in the midst
of that.
This is his mind.
It's his concern
and it's my concern
for us
this morning.
So with that context
in mind,
I want to read the text
one more time.
Right?
Maybe some of it
will begin to already
kind of be enlightened
for you as you go,
oh,
I see what James
is doing here
with them
and with us.
He says,
submit yourselves,
therefore,
to God.
Resist the devil
and he will flee from you.
Draw near to God
and he will draw near
to you.
Cleanse your hands,
you sinners,
and purify your hearts,
you double-minded.
Be wretched
and mourn
and weep.
Let your laughter
be turned to mourning
and your joy
to gloom.
Humble yourselves
before the Lord
and he will exalt you.
We see in this passage,
number one,
a comprehensive
command,
an all-inclusive,
a wide,
overarching command,
the first part
of verse seven,
submit yourselves,
therefore,
to God.
And at the end
of the passage,
we see a summary
command,
which is that
accompanied by
wonderful promise.
Humble yourselves
before the Lord
and he will exalt you.
And then I would
submit to you
that in between
those two,
a comprehensive command,
this is our two-point
summary today,
a comprehensive command
and a summary command,
there are five
explanatory commands.
Last half of verse seven
and through verse nine.
So if we're being
comprehensively commanded
to submit ourselves
to God,
how,
what must we do
to be in submission
to our God?
And I think those commands,
those five,
help us to understand
what that looks like.
So let's look first
at a comprehensive command.
Submit yourselves,
therefore,
to God.
And he says,
therefore,
so we must back up
a little bit
and to chapter four
and verse six,
where James,
right,
but he gives more grace.
Therefore,
it says,
and he's quoting
Proverbs 3,
34,
God opposes the proud,
but gives grace
to the humble.
Those who are willing
to recognize
that they are created
and then rightly
submit themselves
to their creator,
right?
And God gives grace
to those who will
submit themselves
to God.
And this is why he says,
submit yourselves,
therefore,
to God.
Submission is not a thing
that the unregenerate person
naturally gravitates toward.
In fact,
naturally,
the unconverted person
gravitates away
from submission.
Submitting is not a thing
that a regenerate person does
without an ongoing intervention
of the Holy Spirit
in our lives,
right?
Given to our flesh,
we will tend to not want
to submit to authority.
We are very inclined
to go our own way.
We are very inclined
to think that we know best
and can govern our lives best,
right?
I am me,
therefore,
I know what I need
better than anyone else.
And this is just not true.
Just think,
our entire national identity
is founded in the idea
of casting off a despot
that we might govern ourselves.
But even our founders
intended for our experiment
in liberty
to be one of ordered liberty.
And they knew
that our people
would have to have
an even higher authority
for the experiment
to find any success.
It's unraveling in our day
because so many of our nation
do not have a higher authority
that they submit to.
We as a culture
find ourselves
applauding the trailblazer,
the rule breaker,
the rogue,
right?
We love this fierce,
wild individualism,
right?
Cast off anything
that might tell you
you must look like this
or do such and such.
And I think that permeates
our very nature
and it extends
to other things
as well.
People have a difficult time
submitting themselves.
themselves.
But every created thing
belongs to its creator.
Nothing created
has any right
to declare
what it wants to do.
This cup,
when I want to pick it up
and drink water out of it,
will be picked up
and I will drink water out of it.
And the cup cannot say no.
And you might go,
well, that seems very obvious.
We are like the cup.
We have a creator
who has a right
to demand
how it is
we're meant
to act.
Our creator
has absolute
authority.
He created
all things
and he does not
relinquish
that authority.
Charles Spurgeon,
same sermon.
I don't remember
how many times
I quote Spurgeon in this.
If I do though,
it's all from that same sermon.
Spurgeon said,
common sense
teaches
that rebellion
against omnipotence,
which is absolute power,
rebellion against
omnipotence
is both
insanity
and blasphemy.
The great trouble
with mankind,
the great trouble
with us
is that we have
disregarded
this
common
sense
and it's not
a new trouble.
It was the trouble
that caused
all the trouble.
in the garden,
Adam and Eve
disregarding the good
commands of God
and seeking to govern
themselves.
It was the trouble
of Israel
before and after
the Exodus,
setting aside
the good commands
of God
for the idols
of the nations
and it remains
our trouble.
Submission to God,
James tells us,
is comprehensive.
He says,
submit
yourselves.
This is
all-inclusive.
James says,
our very being
must be placed
under the rule
of God.
every bit
of you,
body and soul,
your mind
and your affections,
your desires,
your will,
must be given
to him
in allegiance.
Every day
of your week,
every ounce
of you
must be given
to God.
Now,
at this point,
if this feels
burdensome
to you,
if this feels
in any way
oppressive
to you,
please hear me.
Submission
to God
is not
a displeasurable
thing.
God is the creator
and God
knows
best.
Those of you
who know me
know that I'm
a fairly
controlling person.
I like things
in my life
to be just
so-so.
And a lot of you
joke about
some of those things
that actually
don't really matter
to me that much.
I straighten the chairs
almost every Sunday.
And when you all leave,
I go,
I can't believe
how crooked
these chairs are.
I straighten them again.
And it's fine.
I'm at peace
with that.
It's okay.
If I didn't know
the creator,
right,
God Almighty,
the one who is
powerful to control
all things
and knows
what's best,
I would be a mess.
I was sharing
with a brother
just this past week.
I don't know
that I would still
be alive.
I don't know
that I could handle
how much in my life
is actually
out of control.
the older I get
and the more
I realize
how little
I can affect
the things
in my world
if I didn't know
the one who is
in control.
I control so little.
And that's good
when we realize
how desperately
we need
a creator
who is
in control.
It's not displeasurable
to submit yourself
to God.
God is so full
of goodness
and loving kindness
to those
who will submit
themselves to him
that he will not
command us
to do anything
harmful
or forbid us
to do anything
beneficial
and he gets
to define
those terms.
What is good
for us?
Romans 8,
28,
and 29.
You know this,
right?
It's in the zeitgeist
and we know
that for those
who love God
all things work
together for good
for those
who are called
according
to his purpose.
Those who love God
all things
every circumstance
whatever it is
we're walking through
they're for good.
Right?
And we don't have to
wonder what is that good?
What's the mystery?
Someday maybe
I'll know
because verse 29 says
for those
whom he foreknew
he also predestined
to be conformed
to the image
of his son.
This is the great good
that God is working
in all things
our holiness.
Right?
That we might look
more like Christ
and gain
more of Christ
in our lives.
It is a wonderful thing
to submit yourself
to God.
It's a wonderful thing
to give up control
to get off the throne
and let God reign
in your life.
And if God
does not reign
in your life
in an ever-growing measure
none of us
or doing this
with perfection
then you may
not be saved.
It is possible
that you've made
some mental assent
to the gospel
of Jesus Christ
but you still
love your control.
You still want
to be a friend
with the world
and this
is to be an enemy
of God.
So,
what does it look like
to submit
ourselves to God?
How might we
submit ourselves
to God?
James gives us
five explanatory
commands.
Number one,
resist the devil.
By which I believe
that James
means resist
all
sin.
I think there's
a spiritual battle
reality to what
he's saying here
but I don't think
he just means
that.
Again,
contextually,
I think he means
resist
all sin.
Whatever its source
might be,
whether it's the
temptation that the
devil brings
or our own
flesh,
we do battle
in the spiritual
realm and we
must be awakened
to this
reality.
If we are
submitted to God,
we must resist
the ways
of the devil.
We cannot
have two
masters.
We must
resist.
It takes
work.
And here
we find
a promise.
This is a
great promise.
Resist
the devil
and he will
flee from you.
Beloved,
sin has
no power
over you.
If you are
in Christ,
you have been
set free
from sin.
Romans
chapter 6.
It does not
have power
and you
should stop
living as if
it does.
Some of you
are in Christ
and you just
grant power
back to sin.
It has no
power over
you.
This will take
activity on
your part.
You will have
to hold
on to Christ.
You will have
to love the
ways of God
to resist
the devil.
It takes
activity,
but it is
accompanied
by the grace
of God.
God will give
you the power.
If you're in
Christ,
God has
given to
you his
spirit and
he will
give you
the power
to resist
and have
the devil
flee from
you.
Think
practically.
Paul says
well in
1 Corinthians
10,
13,
no temptation
has overtaken
you that is
not common
to man.
And I think
what Paul
means to be
communicating
there is
don't think
that there
are some
others,
there are
some new
temptation
that no
one else
has experienced
in life
and yet
you have
now experienced
it and it
is too
powerful for
you to
resist.
It's common.
Same stuff.
We're all
dealing with
the same
temptation.
No temptation
has overtaken
you that is
not common
to man.
And I feel
the Greek
doesn't have
it, but I
almost feel
like there
should be
a but in
here.
But God
is faithful
and he will
not let you
be tempted
beyond your
ability.
But with the
temptation,
he will also
provide the
way of
escape that
you may
be able
to endure
it, to
resist the
devil.
So there
should be
in us that
kind of
compulsion, a
hatred of
sin.
If you are
in Christ,
you will not
love your
sin.
You will
still sin.
We are
not yet
entirely free
from our
flesh.
You will
still sin,
but you've
been set free
from the
power of it
and you
shouldn't
enjoy it.
When you
sin, you
should, here
I go again.
The same
thing, Lord
deliver me
from this
body of
death.
Second, we
are to draw
near to
God.
Another
command with
a wonderful
promise, and
this is a
most excellent
promise.
Did you see
that cup of
bay?
God's
word.
I think
that James
means for
us to
understand
this
drawing
near in
practical
ways.
I don't
think this
is meant
to be
super
emotional.
I just
want to
draw.
We
write a
song about
it that
would sound
like a
love
song.
I think
he means
very
practically
study
God's
word
and
respond
in
prayer.
I think
this is
what he
means.
God has
written
for us
a book.
God has
condescended
to become
an author.
God
Almighty,
creator of
heaven and
earth.
We can't
even kind
of fathom
his
immensity,
his power.
We are
forever.
Get this,
if you're
in Christ,
you're going
to be with
God for
eternity
realizing
his
immensity
and his
power.
That's an
astounding
thing to
think about.
We are
going to
again and
again receive
new revelation
about the
greatness of
our God.
He wrote
a book
and we
neglect it.
It is a
precious book.
Every
single
word.
If you're
going to
resist,
if you're
going to
submit yourself
to God,
you're going
to do it
on his
terms.
Be careful
that you
don't have
a God
of your
own
making.
It is
incredible
to me
the number
of people
that profess
faith in
Jesus Christ
and then
in the
same breath
will say
something
about God
that is
flatly
untrue
and not
unclear
in the
Bible.
God has
spoken
to us.
We're
going to
draw near
to God
himself.
We're
going to
do it
in the
study of
his
word and
then in
response
to that
word.
Prayer does
not seek
to control
God,
but to
find us
in
submission
to him.
You ever
had a
conversation
with somebody
and you
can pretty
quickly get
that they
are not
listening
to you?
You do
not desire
to be in
any kind
of relationship
with you
at all.
An argument
especially where
they're just
not hearing
the clear
things that
you're saying
to them
and their
responses
make no
sense
whatsoever.
A lot of
us speak
to God
that way.
God's
like,
why would
you pray
that?
I've
already
told you.
I've
taught you
how to
pray.
You should
know the
things to
ask for.
You should
be directed
as you
come near
to me.
God speaks
to us by
his word
and we
respond
according
to his
word
in prayer.
Here
is another
one,
Spurgeon.
Prayer is
feeling that
God is
present and
the desire
of the
soul to
come near
to him
so as
to know
his influence,
to know
his love,
to feel
his power
and to be
conformed
to his
will.
If you
are in
Christ,
not with
perfection,
but you
should desire
to meet
with God
in his
word and
to respond
to him
in prayer.
And I
don't want
to pretend
for a
moment that
I don't
also struggle
with the
habits of
grace.
There are
days that
it's the
very thing
I ought
to do
and it's
the thing
that I
don't
do.
But in
ever-growing
ways,
I find
myself
loving
God's
word
more
and more
as its
complexity
is open
to me,
as he
comes to
alive
to me
in the
text.
And more
and more
I recognize
that I
need to
submit
myself
to him
in prayer.
I need
him for
every
single
moment
of every
day.
It should
be a
growing
reality
in your
life
if you
are in
Christ.
We'll take
the next
two together
because they
really are
intricately
connected.
Number three,
cleanse your
hands.
And number
four,
purify your
hearts.
James tells
us that the
ones submitted
to God
will desire
to give
up sin.
Both sins
external,
cleanse your
hands,
and sins
internal
purify
your
hearts.
We should
want to
give up
sin.
A refusal
to do so
is inconsistent
with submission
to God.
You can't
be a
friend
of the
world
and a
friend of
God.
If you
are to
have God,
then you'll
have him
on his
terms.
James has
made this
point in
James chapter
four in
verse
four.
Here's a
people he's
writing to.
Perhaps this
morning,
somebody he's
writing to
were trying
to commit
themselves in
two places.
He says,
you adulterous
people.
My wife's
name is
Sam,
and I've
committed to
her as
my wife.
And I'm
not to be
committed to
any other
woman.
It's my
wife,
just Sam.
Otherwise,
I would be
an adulterer.
This is what
he's calling
a person
who tries
to live
in the
world,
have the
things of
the world,
and also
have God.
And here
James calls
this type
of behavior
double-minded.
Double-mindedness.
As if you
have two
brains in
your head,
which should
be an
impossibility.
It's not
the first
time he's
used this
phrase.
In chapter
one,
verse eight,
he says
that the
double-minded
person is
unstable in
all his
ways.
Your
devotion to
God and
his ways
should be
clear,
growing in
its
clarity.
And I
think here
that James
likely has
Psalm 119,
verse 113
in mind.
If you're
unfamiliar with
Psalm 119,
it is all
about the
beauty,
the worth,
the value
of God's
word.
And here
the psalmist
says,
I hate
the double-minded,
but I
love
your law.
He
juxtaposes
that, right?
He's saying,
I'm not
double-minded
because I
love your
law.
I want to
submit myself
to your
law.
So,
cleanse your
hands and
purify your
hearts.
Fifth,
mourn
your sin.
He said,
be wretched
and mourn
and weep.
Let your
laughter be
turned to
mourning and
your joy
to gloom.
James here
is not
contradicting
all of the
Bible's
teaching about
joy.
You've
got to
place it
in its
context.
Those in
Christ have
great reason
for great
joy,
abiding,
unalterable
joy.
James is
speaking to
those who
profess faith
in Jesus
Christ,
and then
they sin
with
frivolity.
They're
licentious
in their
sinning.
They treat
lightly the
sacrifice of
Jesus Christ.
Cheap
grace.
They just
think they
can go
off and
do whatever
they want
to do,
and they
have a
great time
doing it.
They're like
the Israelites
in the days
of the
prophet
Jeremiah.
This is
chapter 6,
verse 13
and following.
For from
the least
to the
greatest
of them,
everyone
is greedy
for unjust
gain,
and from
prophet to
priest,
everyone
deals
falsely.
They have
healed the
wound of
my people
lightly,
saying,
peace,
when there
is no
peace.
Were they
ashamed when
they committed
abomination?
No,
they were not
at all ashamed.
They did not
know how to
blush.
Therefore,
they shall
fall among
those who
fall.
At the
time that
I punish
them,
they shall
be
overthrown,
says the
Lord.
We should
not sin
lightly.
All of
this effort
that James
is talking
about,
all of
these
submitting
explanatory
commands,
we will
not do
with
perfection,
but when
we fail
to do
them,
we should
mourn
our sin.
Jesus in
Matthew
chapter 5,
the Sermon
on the
Mount,
called the
Beatitudes,
he says,
blessed,
you could
insert there,
happy or
joyful,
are those
who
mourn,
for they
shall be
comforted.
We're
mourning,
we're mourning
over our
fallen condition,
even though
we've been
redeemed in
Christ,
longing for
that day
when he
will make
all things
new.
We'll put
off these
bodies of
death,
we'll be
given
resurrection
bodies,
when we
can sin
no more,
that will
be our
glorified
state.
I think
that as we
await that,
the Christian
should be
all at
once the
most sad
and the
most happy
of people,
all at the
same time.
Sad because
we know the
weight of our
own sin and
that of the
world,
happy because
we've been
delivered from
it,
and know that
one day
it'll all be
fixed.
Thomas Adams,
this is the
quotation on
your bulletin,
said,
we spend our
years with
sighing,
it is a
valley of
tears,
but death
is the
funeral of
all our
sorrows.
So we have
this comprehensive
command,
submit yourselves
therefore to
God,
and the five
explanatory
commands that
accompany it.
Second point
is a summary
command accompanied
by a promise,
and this is
brief, I promise,
so here we go.
Humble yourselves
before the
Lord, and
he will exalt
you.
If we are
submitted to
God, then the
posture of our
hearts will be
humility.
The emotional
position of
submission,
right, is
humility,
recognizing that
we are not
God, and
that he is,
that we get
our very being
and we need
everything from
him.
If we have
not come to
the end of
ourselves,
recognize that
we are nothing,
we have nothing,
and we can do
nothing apart
from God,
then we do
not deserve
his mercy
and grace,
which he
freely grants
to the
humble in
the personal
work of
Jesus Christ.
Psalm 51,
verse 17,
the psalmist
write,
the sacrifices
of God
are a broken
spirit,
a broken
and contrite
heart,
O God,
you will
not despise.
and the
humble heart
is given
this glorious
promise,
and he
will
exalt you.
So in
closing,
you can
leave James,
turn with
me to
Matthew
chapter 20,
as I
command this
cup to
wet my
whistle.
I think
this little
picture in
the life of
Jesus and
the disciples
is very
helpful and
instructive as
Jesus teaches
as well in
it.
Humble
yourselves
before the
Lord and
he will
exalt you.
I'll begin
reading in
verse 17.
And as
Jesus was
going up to
Jerusalem,
he took
the twelve
disciples aside
and on the
way he
said to
them,
see,
we are
going up
to Jerusalem
and the
Son of
Man will
be delivered
over to
the chief
priests
and scribes
and they
will condemn
him to
death and
deliver him
over to
the Gentiles
to be mocked
and flogged
and crucified
and he
will be
raised on
the third
day.
Now,
they,
as they
hear this,
they're hearing
Son of Man
from the
book of
Daniel,
a forever
king,
a reigning
forever
king.
And they
had recognized
this is who
he was,
so then he
says,
but I'm
going to be
condemned
to death
and delivered
to the
Gentiles
and I'm
going to
be crucified
and of
course the
glorious
promise of
his
resurrection.
But they're
confused by
this.
What's that
going to
look like?
Wait a
second,
that seems
backwards
and upside
down.
So verse
20 says,
then the
mother of
the sons
of Zebedee
came up
to him
with her
sons and
kneeling
before him
she asked
him for
something.
And he
said to
her,
do you
want?
She said
to him,
say that
these two
sons of
mine are
to sit
one at
your right
hand and
one at
your left
in your
kingdom.
Jesus
answered,
you do
not know
what you
are asking.
are you
able to
drink the
cup that
I am to
drink?
They said
to him,
we are
able.
Now he's
talking about
the cup of
the wrath,
eternal wrath
of God.
And they
arrogantly say
we are
able.
He said
to them,
you will
drink my
cup.
And here
he's talking
now about
the suffering,
filling up
the afflictions
of Christ.
Christ,
but to
sit at
my right
hand and
at my
left is
not mine
to grant,
but it
is for
those for
whom it
has been
prepared by
my father.
And when
the ten heard
it,
they were
indignant
at the
two brothers.
But Jesus
called them
to him
and said,
you know
that the
rulers of
the Gentiles
lord it
over them
and their
great ones
exercise
authority
over them.
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 your
slave.
Even as
the son of
man came
not to
be served,
but to
serve and
to give his
life as a
ransom for
many.
And we
know now
and in a
future coming
reality,
the name of
Christ,
every knee
will bow
and every
tongue will
confess that
Jesus Christ
is Lord.
He has
been and
will be for
eternity
exalted.
And we
will join in
that wonderful
celebration and
be glorified
alongside if
we will be
humble.
So we see
in this text
a sobering,
extremely
important,
of highest,
greatest importance,
comprehensive
command.
Submit
yourselves
therefore
to God.
And a
summary command
which is
accompanied
by a
glorious
promise.
Humble
yourselves
before the
Lord.
He will
exalt you.
Let's pray
together.
as