to 50.
Before I read and preach, let me pray and ask God for help.
Heavenly Father, as you spoke on that mountaintop
and told the disciples of your son Jesus to listen to him,
Lord, we have gathered as disciples of Jesus today,
again, to listen to him from your word.
So won't you speak to us?
That we might be captivated by that glorious vision of Christ
and live our lives aligned with the glorious Christ
who suffered and died and was raised for our redemption.
Please shape us in the likeness of Christ this morning.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Luke 9.
On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain,
a great crowd met him.
And behold, a man from the crowd cried out,
Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child.
And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out.
It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth and shatters him
and will hardly leave him.
And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.
Jesus answered,
O faithless and twisted generation,
how long am I to be with you and bear with you?
Bring your son here.
While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him.
But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy
and gave him back to his father.
And all were astonished at the majesty of God.
But while they were all marveling at everything he was doing,
Jesus said to his disciples,
Let these words sink into your ears.
The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.
But they did not understand the saying,
and it was concealed from them so that they might not perceive it.
And they were afraid to ask him about the saying.
An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest.
But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts,
took a child and put him by his side and said to them,
Whoever receives this child in my name receives me.
And whoever receives me receives him who sent me.
For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.
Jesus answered,
Master,
we saw someone casting out demons in your name,
and we tried to stop him,
because he does not follow with us.
But Jesus said to him,
Do not stop him,
for the one who is not against you is for you.
This is the word of the Lord.
As humans,
we obsess over the concept of greatness.
We pursue greatness
and admire those whom we perceive to be great.
For example,
professional athletes openly strive to be the greatest of all time.
You guys have probably seen this debate rage all over the place,
often shortened to G-O-A-T,
GOAT,
and posted on social media with this little GOAT emoji,
of the actual GOAT, right?
And greatness is mentioned everywhere,
but it's hard to find it defined clearly anywhere.
It's an evasive concept because,
at its heart,
the concept,
the worldly concept of greatness,
is comparative and competitive.
In order to be considered great,
you need to be perceived to be superior to others
in some kind of significant way.
There is no objective level of achievement
that qualifies you to being great.
You must achieve something that others have not achieved.
As soon as everyone else reaches your level of wealth,
success,
fame,
beauty,
or power,
you cease to be great.
Because greatness is essentially comparative and competitive,
as the world perceives it.
You're only great if you're better than somebody else.
Everybody else, really.
The pursuit of so-called greatness
is really,
biblically speaking,
an unbridled expression of human pride.
Because it brings so much focus on the self
and the public perception of the self,
it produces deep anxiety,
insecurity,
and because it thrives on comparison and self-promotion,
it erodes community and destroys camaraderie.
God's not impressed by such greatness.
Psalm 147, 10 to 11 says this,
His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,
but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
in those who hope in his steadfast love.
We are deluded if we think that our human feats
and accomplishments can impress God.
A toddler might draw something for her dad,
as often happens in my house,
and present her artwork to him
with beaming eyes and a wild smile on her face.
And the loving dad will surely do it on her
and pay some lavish compliments for her artwork.
But I can assure you that that dad
is not then going to turn around
and then frame that artwork
and hang it on his living wall
as if it's the masterpiece that it's not.
He's not impressed by the daughter's artwork.
He's pleased by her love for him
and the fact that she used her limited skills
to draw something for him.
That pleases him.
That impresses him.
But the disparity between our heavenly father and us
is far greater than the disparity
between a dad and a toddler.
So yes, God's pleased when we work hard for him,
for his glory,
when we write poems and novels for his glory,
when we run fast for his glory,
when we study diligently for his glory,
when we compose and arrange songs for his glory,
when we build houses for his glory,
and when we explore nature
and make scientific discoveries for his glory.
He is pleased by all of that.
He's not impressed
by our great accomplishments themselves.
Rather, he's pleased by the way we relate to him,
by our desire to glorify him,
by our humble orientation toward him.
That's true greatness.
And that's the greatness model for us here
by the suffering son of man
that we ought to pursue.
That's the main point of this passage,
that we should pursue the greatness model for us
by the suffering son of man.
And first, we see the greatness of God
and then the greatness of Christ
and then the greatness of disciples.
First, let's look at the greatness of God.
Despite Peter's desire
to prolong the transcendent mountain-type experience,
Jesus comes back down from the mountain
with Peter, James, and John.
This fits the pattern we saw earlier
in Luke 6, 12 to 19,
where Jesus, as here,
goes up to the mountain to pray,
but then returns shortly thereafter
to minister to the crowds.
Jesus does not retreat permanently
into a secluded monastery like a monk.
But always returns down from the mountain,
down from his community with the Father
to serve the people of God.
And it says in verses 37 to 38
that a great crowd met him.
And behold, a man from the crowd cried out,
Teacher, I beg you to look at my son,
for he is my only child.
And behold, a spirit seizes him
and he suddenly cries out.
It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth
and shatters him and will hardly leave him.
The seizures, the sudden cries,
the convulsions, and the foaming
lead many people to identify the boy's condition
as a type of epilepsy.
And in a parallel account in Matthew 17,
he actually uses the Greek word
that is sometimes translated as epilepsy.
But back then, it was more a name
for a set of symptoms
and not the technical medical term
that the word is today.
The World Health Organization identifies
two different types of epilepsy.
The first type is symptomatic epilepsy,
which has known causes,
which is why it's called that.
It has symptoms.
It's caused by some kind of brain damage,
brain defect, or brain tumor.
And interestingly, there's a second type of epilepsy,
which is the more common kind.
It's called the idiopathic epilepsy,
which literally means that it's an epilepsy
without known causes.
There's no way to discern from physical evidence
for what's actually happening.
And this is the more common type
with no identifiable cause.
It's certainly conceivable
that some of these cases
are actually instances of demonic oppression,
though probably not all of them,
as is the case in our passage.
So it's a terribly desperate situation.
The father tells Jesus
that this is his only child,
which helps us get a sense
of the man's desperation.
And he further says
that a spirit's oppression of his son
shatters him and will hardly leave him.
These episodes of demonic oppression
leave the boy completely broken.
And it's not an occasional thing.
When it happens,
the evil spirit will hardly leave.
The oppression is persistent.
And then in verse 40,
the father of the boy adds this,
and I begged your disciples to cast it out,
but they could not.
Since the crowds met Jesus
as he was coming down from the mountain
with James, John, and Peter,
it's presumably the other nine disciples
who were left behind
that had tried to cast out this demon and boy.
But to the father's disappointment,
they were unable to exercise the demon,
and so the father waited for Jesus
to return from the mountain.
And Jesus answers in verse 41,
O faithless and twisted generation,
how long am I to be with you
and bear with you?
Bring your son here.
So Jesus speaks generally
about the entire generation,
but there is certainly an implicit rebuke here
for the disciples themselves,
because earlier in chapter 9, verse 1,
Jesus specifically called the 12 apostles
and together and gave them power and authority
over all demons and to cure diseases
and to send them out to proclaim
the kingdom of God and to heal.
So their inability to drive out demons here
is a sign of faithlessness
and twistedness, Jesus says.
Faithlessness is a lack of dependent trust in Jesus.
They were commissioned with the power
and the authority of Jesus himself,
but they didn't exercise Jesus' power
and authority through faith.
But they sought in vain
to exercise the demon in their own strength,
their own power and authority.
The word twisted literally means crooked,
being turned away from a straight path.
So instead of following the straight
and narrow path of God,
the disciples and the generation at large
had gone astray from God and his ways.
And that's Jesus' assessment of why
the disciples weren't able to exercise the demon.
And the man tries to bring his son to Jesus.
As the man tries to bring the son to Jesus,
verse 42 says that the demon threw him
to the ground and convulsed him.
But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit
and healed the boy and gave him back to his father.
So the boy's convulsions,
even on his way to Jesus,
shows just how severely tormented he was.
But once he's with Jesus,
there's no prolonged struggle,
no fight, no resistance.
Jesus simply rebukes the unclean spirit
and heals the boy
and gives him back to his father.
And after this, it says in verse 43
that all were astonished at the majesty of God.
This verse really sets up the rest of the passage
because the word translated here as majesty
has at its root,
the word that is translated great
later in verses 46 to 48.
It's basically the noun form of the adjective great.
All were astonished at the greatness of God.
Surely if anybody is great,
God is great.
And here is the demonstration
of his unparalleled authority and power.
And all the crowds are astonished
at the greatness of God.
That's the first point.
And then we see the greatness of Christ.
Instead of basking in the praise
and adoration of the crowds,
Jesus tells his disciples to settle down
in verses 43 to 45.
Even though the disciples had failed
to drive out the demon,
through Jesus' success,
they kind of feel a little vindicated probably.
And it became their triumph.
But Jesus does not let the disciples
get carried away by people's admiration.
It says here in verse 43,
but while they were all marveling
at everything he was doing,
Jesus said to his disciples,
let these words sink into your ears.
The Son of Man is about to be delivered
into the hands of men.
Let the crowd's astonishment and marveling,
let the admiration that they heap on you
and on me,
let all of that go in one ear and out the other.
But let these words sink into your ears.
The Son of Man is about to be delivered
into the hands of men.
Jesus is adjusting his disciples' expectation here.
All this public acclaim surrounding Jesus
is feeding the disciples' egos
and making them think that Jesus
will soon declare himself to be the king of the Jews
and overthrow Roman oppressors.
That was the popular expectation
of what the Messiah would do.
But Jesus tells them,
the Son of Man,
the one who has come to represent humanity
and to save humanity,
that Son of Man is about to be delivered
into the hands of men.
The expression,
delivered into the hands of men,
refers to being subjected to
men's authority and power,
being left to their cruel discretion.
It's an echo of what Jesus predicted
earlier in Luke 9, verse 22.
The Son of Man must suffer many things
and be rejected by the elders
and chief priests and scribes
and be killed and on the third day be raised.
This was so contrary to the popular expectation
that it says in verse 45,
they did not understand the saying
and it was concealed from them
so they might not perceive it
and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.
I mean, it doesn't mean that they didn't understand
the words that Jesus was saying.
The words are perfectly clear.
The Son of Man is about to be handed over to these men.
They understand that,
but he's the messianic king.
He's the one that should be welcomed
and hailed as king by the Jews.
Instead, he will be rejected
by the Jewish elders, chief priests, and scribes.
He's the one that should victoriously
vindicate God's people,
but instead he will be killed by them
and handed over to their power.
The Son of Man will be killed
by the men whom he came to save.
That's the greatness
that he's redirecting his disciples' attention to.
In Mark 10, 42 to 45,
when his disciples were at another point
bickering again over who will be more
improminent in the kingdom of God,
Jesus said this to them,
You know that those who are considered rulers
of the Gentiles lord it over them,
and their great ones exercise authority over them.
But he 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 a slave of all.
For even the Son of Man
came not to be served,
but to serve,
and to give his life as a ransom for many.
That's the true greatness
that Christ modeled for us.
And that's why Paul uses the example of Christ
to teach us in Philippians 2,
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit,
but in humility count others
more significant than yourselves.
Let each of you look not only to his own interests,
but also to the interests of others.
Have this mind among yourselves,
which is yours in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not count equality with God
a thing to be grasped,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a servant,
being born in the likeness of men,
and being found in human form,
he humbled himself by becoming obedient
to the point of death,
even death on a cross.
If anyone in human history
deserved to look out for his own interests,
it was Jesus.
He was the messianic king.
He was sinless.
He deserved all the praise and admiration
that people heaped on him,
and more.
He also had every right
to strike dead on the spot
anyone who opposed him,
because he was the perfect son of God,
the king,
and wicked men deserved to be punished
for their rebellion.
If anyone was entitled to anything,
it was Jesus.
Jesus is the second person of the Trinity,
and he had every right
to count himself
as God the Father's equal.
But instead,
Jesus submitted to the Father
and obeyed him.
He emptied himself
by taking the form of a servant,
being born in the likeness of men.
And still further,
he humbled himself
even to the point of death,
death on the cross.
Instead of selfishly seeking
his own interests,
Jesus sought the interests of others.
Instead of letting sinners die
and be consigned to hell
as their sins deserved,
Jesus died to bear the penalty
for their sins,
so that he might save them
and give them eternal life.
That's true greatness.
Christian pastor and author,
C.J. Maney,
puts it this way in his book
entitled,
Humility,
True Greatness.
As sinfully and culturally defined,
pursuing greatness looks like this.
Individuals motivated by self-interest,
self-indulgence,
and a false sense of self-sufficiency
to pursue selfish ambition
for the purpose of self-glorification,
contrast that with the pursuit
of true greatness
as biblically defined.
Serving others
for the glory of God.
This is the genuine expression
of humility.
This is true greatness
as the Savior defined it.
We are so easily seduced
by the world's perverted definition
of greatness.
And my prayer is that we,
as the church,
will be captivated
and consumed by the greatness
that Christ modeled for us.
God's word does not teach us
to count others
as significant as ourselves.
God's word teaches us
to count others
more significant than ourselves.
Because that's what Jesus did for us.
When your child is nagging you
and testing your patience,
count her more significant
than yourself.
When both you and your spouse
or both you and your roommate
are exhausted,
but there's still a mountain
of household chores
to be completed,
count others more significant
than yourself.
When another church member
is hurting
and needs your care
and needs your prayers,
look out for her interests
more than your own interests.
Set aside your time
and resources to help her.
That's the path of service.
That's the path of sacrifice.
That's the path of love
and carrying our cross
as Jesus carried his cross for us.
That's the way to true greatness.
That's the greatness of Jesus Christ.
And that brings us
to our final point,
the greatness of the disciples.
In light of the true greatness
that Jesus demonstrated,
this is what his followers
ought to pursue
and this is what they should look like.
Read verses 46 to 48 with me.
An argument arose among them
as to which of them
was the greatest.
But Jesus,
knowing the reasoning
of their hearts,
took a child
and put him by his side
and said to them,
whoever receives this child
in my name
receives me.
And whoever receives me
receives him who sent me.
For he who is least among you all
is the one who is great.
It's not a little ironic
that immediately after Jesus
speaks to them
about the kind of greatness
that will lead him
to the cross
that his 12 apostles
are arguing about
their relative greatness.
And they got into
an argument about it.
Luke omits the details,
the embarrassing details,
but it's not hard
to imagine their arguments
for greatness.
I'm the greatest
because Jesus called me first.
I'm the greatest
because I'm the best preacher.
I'm the greatest
because I'm the best organizer.
I'm the greatest
because I cast out that demon.
Remember in that town?
Oh yeah,
I healed the lame person.
Well, I opened the eyes
of the blind.
And then you could hear
James, Peter, and John saying,
well, while you guys
had trouble casting out
that demon,
we were beholding
the glorious Son of God
on the mountaintop.
Their Lord is on his way
to die on the cross
to save them,
to save his people
as the ransom price
for their freedom.
But the 12 are embroiled
in petty arguments
about who among them
is the greatest.
And Jesus doesn't need
to hear them
arguing out loud.
He knows their thoughts.
It says that he knew
the reasoning of their hearts.
And so he takes this opportunity
to teach them patiently.
And he uses a child
as an object lesson.
Children are the least
in any given society.
They contribute the least
to society.
And they have yet
to accomplish anything
worthy of note.
in terms of their ability
to contribute
to the economy,
they're just not there yet.
They haven't arrived.
They're cute.
And that's a good thing
because otherwise
they might be
even more neglected.
And especially
in the ancient world
where mortality rates
among children
were much higher
than now,
many people
simply didn't consider
it worth their time
to deal with children.
So in Judaism,
children under the age
of 12
could not be taught
the Old Testament law.
So spending time
with them
was considered
spiritually unfruitful
and wasteful.
For example,
in the Mishnah,
which is the collection
of Jewish oral commentary,
on the scriptures,
it says,
morning sleep,
midday wine,
chattering with children,
and tearing in places
where men
of the common people
assemble,
destroy a man.
Chattering with children
was considered
beneath the station
of dignified men.
But Jesus brings
a child to his side.
And he tells his disciples,
whoever receives
this child in my name
receives me,
and whoever receives me
receives him
who sent me.
For he who is least
among you all
is the one
who is great.
This is a remarkable
statement.
It's often misunderstood.
Jesus is using
the language
of representative authority.
According to
Jewish custom,
a messenger
functioned with
the full legal authority
of the sender
whom he represented.
And using this analogy,
Jesus takes a child
who has literally
zero status
or esteem
in their society
and says that
even this child,
should he belong
to Jesus
and represent him,
will carry with him
the full dignity
and authority
of Jesus himself.
Whoever receives
this child in my name
receives me.
And since Jesus
is himself sent
by God the Father
as his authorized messenger,
he continues,
and whoever receives me
receives him
who sent me.
This is a wonderfully
liberating teaching.
Jesus is telling us
that greatness
does not reside
within us.
Greatness does not come
from our own attributes
or our own accomplishments.
Greatness comes
from Christ
who is our Lord
and Christ
what he has done
for us.
If you are a child
of God,
you might be
the least
in this world.
The world might
falsely accuse you,
persecute you,
and save all kinds
of evil against you
because of Jesus.
People might ignore you.
They might snub you.
But Jesus is telling us,
don't you mind
what they say
about you.
Your heavenly Father
will have a word
with them.
The King of Kings
will deal with them.
The Lord of hosts,
the Lord of armies,
say this about you,
that you are a child
of God.
And those who receive you
receive Jesus himself.
And those who receive Jesus
receive God himself.
And those who reject you
then,
when you stand with Christ
and speak for him,
are rejecting God himself.
some of us
frequently experience
existential crises.
Everything we say
and do,
it seems,
is to validate
our own identity
and to justify
our existence.
We want to prove
ourselves
to our parents,
to our peers,
to those who didn't
see our potential,
to the world.
We don't feel
successful enough,
so we are always
looking to beef up
our resume,
to go shopping
for status symbols.
We don't feel
beautiful and
desirable enough,
so we do diets,
get plastic surgery,
and look for
someone to date.
We do and say
things to make
ourselves look good.
We want to attain
greatness.
We're like
Harold Abrams
in that Academy Award
winning film,
Chariots of Fire.
Abrams is a talented
Olympic sprinter
who runs for
his own glory
and desperately
fears losing
and he's consumed
with being the fastest
sprinter in the world
and he plays
literary foil,
a contrast to
Eric Little
who is a Christian
Olympic sprinter
who runs for
God's glory
and therefore runs
with great freedom
rather than fear.
In a reviewing
dialogue before
one of the last
races in the movie,
Harold Abraham
says this,
And now in
one hour's time,
I will be out
there again.
I will raise
my eyes and
look down that
corridor four feet
wide with ten
lonely seconds
to justify my
whole existence.
But will I?
He runs hard
to justify
his existence.
He fears
losing.
He fears that
he will be
mediocre,
just average.
He fears that
he will be
a nobody.
Some of us
live our lives
this way.
But if you have
renounced your
sins,
if you've repented
of your sins,
you've turned to
Jesus with faith
and you believed
in him,
his life,
death,
and resurrection
on your behalf
for your salvation,
you are an adopted
child of God.
God.
You don't need to
justify your own
existence.
For Christ has
justified you.
You have been
united with Jesus
by the Spirit
of God.
He is your
right to
existence.
He is your
worth.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
comments on this
in his book,
Life Together.
This question of
the greatest,
it is a struggle
of the natural
man for
self-justification.
He finds it
only in comparing
himself with
others,
in condemning
and judging
others.
Self-justification
and judging
others go
together.
As justification
by grace
and serving
others go
together.
those who
are secure
in their
identity
in Christ
don't need
to engage
in one-up
manship
in their
conversations.
They don't
need to
measure themselves
up against
everyone around
them because
they have
already the
full measure
of Christ
as their
possession.
Instead of
using other
people to
elevate
themselves,
they can
now freely
serve others
without worrying
about how
they're perceived
because they
are fully
secured in
their identity
in Jesus
Christ.
That's what I
would hope
for all of
you.
A Christian
pastor whom
I have the
privilege of
knowing,
Dave Harvey,
wrote a book
called Rescuing
Ambition.
He says this
in his book,
my search
for approval
is over.
In Christ
I already
have all
the approval
I need
because Christ's
righteousness
has been
transferred to
me all
the time
and energy
I once
squandered
trying to
be life
or praised
or to
achieve
something
to validate
my existence
can now
be redirected
toward doing
things for
God's glory.
I no longer
live for
approval.
I live
from
approval.
That's why
Jesus says
at the end
of verse 48,
he who is
least among
you all
is the one
who is
great.
If you
try
to attain
greatness
for yourself
apart
from Christ
by how
smart
you are,
by how
athletic
you are,
by how
talented
you are,
by what
college
you went
to,
by how
many
degrees
you have,
by how
much
Bible
you know,
by how
moral
you are,
by how
much money
you earn,
by how
many social
media followers
you have,
by what
people say
about you,
by how
many good
works
you have
done,
then you
will never
attain
to your
greatness.
And you
always
feel like
a fraud,
like you're
falling short.
But if you
become like
a child,
if you
become the
least,
if you
renounce
all your
pretensions
and boast
of nothing
but Christ
crucified,
then you
will be
great.
because the
greatness
of Christ
is now
fully
yours.
That's
what that
means.
For he
who is
least
among
you
all
is
the
one
who
is
great.
And
notice
Jesus
intentionally
doesn't
say
the least
among
you
is
the
greatest.
This
is not
yet another
competition
to try
to become
the
lowliest.
There
is no
competition.
There
is no
comparison
because
if you
are in
Christ,
you are
great
in
him.
The
least
among
you
is
great.
There
is no
longer
need
for
these
horizontal
comparisons
to
others
because
of
our
vertical
connection
to
Jesus.
And
this
truth
has
far
reaching
implications
not only
for how
we
perceive
ourselves
and how
we
live
but
also
for
how
we
view
our
Christian
brothers
and
sisters
because
this
means
every
church
member
is
united
with
Christ
and
is
his
representative.
what you
do
for
the
least
of
us
what
you
do
for
the
least
accomplished
among
us
what
you
do
for
the
poorest
among
us
what
you
do
for
the
smallest
among
us
what
you
do
for
the
least
likable
among
us
all
of
it
you
do
for
the
one
no
one
less
than
Jesus
Christ
himself
Christ
sees
it
all
no
one
else
might
notice
it
Christ
sees
it
all
and
he
will
without
fail
reward
you
that's
what
Matthew
25
31
to
46
is
talking
about
it
says
that
at
the
final
judgment
of
Christ
the
king
will
say
to
those
on
his
right
come
you
who
are
blessed
by
my
father
inherit
the
kingdom
prepared
for
you
from
the
foundation
of
the
world
for
I
was
hungry
and
you
gave
me
food
I
was
thirsty
and
you
gave
me
drink
I
was
a
stranger
and
you
welcomed
me
I
was
naked
and
you
clothed
me
I
was
sick
and
you
visited
me
I
was
in
prison
and
you
came
to
me
then
the
righteous
will
answer
him
saying
Lord
when
did
we
see
you
hungry
and
feed
you
or
thirsty
and
give
you
drink
and
when
did
we
see
you
a
stranger
and
welcome
you
or
naked
and
clothe
you
and
when
did
we
see
you
sick
or
in
prison
and
visit
you
and
the
king
will
answer
them
truly
I
say
to
you
as
you
did
it
to
one
of
the
least
of
these
my
brothers
you
did
it
to
me
those
who
have
God
as
their
father
will
love
and
serve
their
Christian
brothers
and
sisters
and
what
you
do
for
them
the
king
himself
will
reward
as
if
you
have
done
it
directly
unto
him
that's
the
privilege
but
this
lesson
of
true
greatness
is
not
easily
learned
and
right
after
Jesus
teaches
them
to
receive
even
the
least
of
God's
people
in
his
name
the
disciples
tell
him
well
actually
we
just
kind
of
excluded
one
of
God's
people
from
ministry
John
answers
Jesus
in
verse
49
master
we
saw
someone
casting
out
demons
in
your
name
and
we
tried
to
stop
him
because
he
does
not
follow
with
us
this
is
not
a
pagan
exorcist
that's
in
view
John
says
clearly
that
this
man
was
casting
out
demons
in
Jesus
name
he
is
a
follower
of
Jesus
but
the
twelve
still
tried
to
stop
him
because
he
does
not
follow
with
them
this
is
an
example
of
elitism
we
are
the
twelve
apostles
and
he
is
not
one
of
us
this
is
also
an
example
of
exclusivism
Jesus
commissioned
us
with
authority
and
power
to cast
out
demons
so he
should
not
be
doing
it
there
is
rivalry
here
and
possibly
envy
too
since
this
man
was
doing
successfully
exactly
what
the
disciples
couldn't
do
earlier
for the
boy
with an
unclean
spirit
but
Jesus
responds
in
verse
50
do
not
stop
him
for
the
one
who
is
not
against
you
is
for
you
Jesus
reasoning
is
pretty
straightforward
there
are
only
two
sides
in
this
world
either
you
are
for
Christ
or
you
are
against
Christ
there
is
no
neutral
ground
and
in
this
case
this
man
was
casting
out
demons
in
Jesus
name
and
apparently
successful
in doing
so
and
shows
that
therefore
they
were
on
the
same
team
as
the
twelve
apostles
so
instead
of
trying
to
stop
him
they
should
have
encouraged
him
and
exhorted
him
and
they
should
have
appreciated
what
he
was
doing
so
this
is
actually
a
good
diagnostic
test
for
us
for
determining
whether
or not
we are
serving
and
ministering
in
pursuit
of
our
own
greatness
or
with
the
greatness
of
Christ
in
our
possession
do
you
get
envious
when
others
are
successful
or
recognized
in
their
service
to
God
are
you
envious
of
the
spiritual
gifts
that
others
possess
if
your
answer
to
that
is
yes
then
you
are
still
pursuing
your
own
greatness
not
serving
out of
the
greatness
of
Christ
because
the
worldly
greatness
as I
said
at
the
beginning
of
the
message
is
essentially
comparative
and
competitive
you
begrudge
others
gifts
and
successes
because
their
successes
dim your
own
chance
of
attaining
greatness
but
if
you
already
have
Christ's
greatness
in
your
possessions
then
you
can
genuinely
enjoy
other
successes
and
bless
them
because
you're
happy
as
long
as
God
is
being
glorified
this
is
an
important
lesson
for
us
corporately
as
well
as
the
whole
church
when
we
launched
our
public
services
for the
first
time
two
and
a
half
years
ago
we
were
the
only
gospel
preaching
church
in
East
Cambridge
now
there
are
at
least
two
others
that
I
know
of
and
as
this
area
continues
to
get
built
up
and
as
the
population
grows
there
will
be
more
and
more
that
come
plant
churches
here
and
that
join
but
other
believers
and
churches
that
are
serving
around
us
they
are
not
our
competitors
they're
teammates
now
by that
I don't
mean
that we
should be
uncritical
in how
we
partner
with
every
kind
of
ministry
and
church
there
are
important
theological
philosophical
and
methodological
differences
among
various
Christian
groups
and
it's
important
to
safeguard
those
things
but
still
when we
find
another
Christian
or a
church
ministering
and
serving
in
what
we
deem
to
be
a
less
helpful
way
we
shouldn't
stop
them
or
dismiss
them
we
should
encourage
them
and exhort
them
we
should
do
what
Priscilla
and
Aquila
did
in
Acts
18
26
when
they
took
Apollos
who
was
preaching
and
took
him
aside
and
explained
to him
the way
of God
more
accurately
he says
Acts
18
26
because
we
want
them
to be
successful
I
love
our
church
I'm
very
proud
of
so
many
things
that
we
do
well
and
love
all
of
our
members
but
this
is
not
about
us
it's
not
about
Trinity
Cambridge
Church
it's
about
Christ
and
his
glory
we
can't
live
like
this
through
the
exercise
of
sheer
willpower
the
disciples
of
Jesus
clearly
failed
over
and
over
again
and
we
will
too
and
that's
why
Jesus
reminds
them
again
of
this
lesson
before
his
death
but
after
Jesus
death
and
resurrection
and ascension
and after
Pentecost
when the
Holy Spirit
descends on
his people
with power
there is
a decisive
shift
the
disciples
are no
longer
seen
posturing
and
jockeying
for position
amongst
themselves
instead
each
of
them
embraces
the
life
of
a
Christian
disciple
and
carries
his
cross
to
follow
Jesus
and
many
of
them
die
shameful
inglorious
deaths
Peter
is
crucified
upside
down
James
is
stoned
to
death
the
world
discarded
them
like
refuse
but
they
were
the
great
ones
because
they
were
pursuing
the
greatness
modeled
by
the
suffering
son
of
man
and
my
hope
and
prayer
is
that
we
see
how
glorious
Christ
is
when
we
see
with
our
eyes
of
faith
what
Christ
has
done
for
us
how
precious
he
is
if
we
get
our
sense
of
value
and
self
worth
not
from
what
we're
doing
and
what
we
accomplish
ourselves
but
in
what
Christ
and
what
God
the
father
said
because
what
he
gave
to
save
us
speaks
to
our
true
worth
and
value
and
he
gave
his
most
precious
son
Jesus
Christ
his
beloved
son
to
adopt
us
as
his
own
if
we
derive
our
identity
from
that
from
Christ
and
it
is
then
and
only
then
that
we
can
live
in
freedom
we
conclude
with
a
verse
from
one
of
my
favorite
hymns
Jesus
I
my
cross
have
taken
says
Jesus
I
my
cross
have
taken
all
to
leave
and
follow
thee
destitute
despised
forsaken
thou
from
hence
my
all
shall
be
perish
every
fond
ambition
all
I've
sought
or
hoped
or
known
yet
how
rich
is
my
condition
God
and
heaven
are
still
my
own