And they're kind of struggling here in Luke chapter 9 trying to figure out exactly what it looks like.
! And I think that we can relate to that. I know I can.
I know the Lord wants me to do things, but sometimes I'm like, Lord, how do I do this? Where do I go?
And it's been a help to me, and I hope it has been to you.
And we're going to see the disciples, Jesus is laying his heart out, and they completely miss the point.
You ever been there?
You're like, all right, Lord, I'll do that.
You know, sometimes I just lay my heart out to my kids.
They're like, yeah, what are we going to have for dinner?
I'm like, good talk, guys.
That's kind of the disciples right here.
That's where we pick up our reading in verse 46.
We're going to read just a few verses here.
The Bible says this,
Then there arose a reasoning among them, which of them should be the greatest?
And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child and set him by him.
And said unto them,
Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me,
And whosoever shall receive me receiveth him that sent me.
For he that is least among you all, the same shall be great.
It's kind of one of those things, okay, Jesus lays it out.
And John answered him and said,
Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and we forbade him, because he followeth not with us.
And Jesus said unto him, I can see Jesus almost just shaking his head,
Forbid him not, for he that is not against us is for us.
What I want to preach a message this morning entitled this,
The Road to True Greatness.
See, the disciples think they're on that road, but they're on the completely wrong road.
And Jesus wants to recalculate their life, so to speak, and say,
This is what true greatness looks like.
It's not about being great in the world's eyes.
The least among you will be the greatest.
So let's have a word of prayer, and then we're going to jump right into it this morning.
Father, thank you for this opportunity.
Thank you for this wonderful time that we've had to lift our voices together.
Thank you for the wonderful special.
Lord, we have so many things that we could say, but thank you seems just not adequate,
but it's all that we have, Lord.
We're so thankful for what you've done for us.
And Lord, I pray that if there is someone here this morning that does not know you as their Savior,
that today would be that day.
Lord, I pray for those that do and claim to follow you,
that, Lord, we would be living a life that you call us to,
that the greatness you have laid for us.
Lord, I pray you would just be with me now.
You would empty me of self.
You would cleanse me of sin.
Fill me with your spirit, Lord.
I need you.
I need you to guide my words and my thoughts, and we ask it in Christ's name.
Amen.
Thank you so much for standing.
You may be seated.
I love the sports debate of the goat.
The greatest of all time.
Every sport pretty much has this, and you turn on the TV, some of you sports people,
you turn on the, and they just are always arguing about who's the goat.
When it comes to basketball, you know, is it Michael Jordan?
Is it LeBron James?
Is it Kobe Bryant?
It's Michael Jordan, right?
Yeah, okay.
Or it's Dirk Nowitzki, actually.
It's actually Dirk, but that's just my own personal opinion.
You know, when it comes to football and quarterbacks especially,
it's kind of really what it comes to.
Is it Tom Brady?
Is it Joe Montana?
Is it Peyton Manning?
Is it down the list?
And maybe it's Uncle Rico in your book.
I don't know really who it is that it could have been.
Hockey, you're like, the only name I know is Wayne Gretzky.
Same here.
Let's just move on.
I was going to ask about the greatest college football team,
but Brother Jonathan's already mentioned from the pulpit what it is,
and so we're not here to cause a church division.
We're here in the unity of the Spirit,
so we're just going to move right along.
But it really doesn't matter if it's sports.
I think that we all have that desire to be great at something.
And there's nothing wrong with the ambition to be great at what you do,
and I think there's things in life that we do crave recognition.
We want to matter.
I think that lives in our hearts.
I mean, you don't wake up in the morning.
You don't wake up tomorrow morning to go to work and be like,
I'm setting out to be the worst of all time.
Now, you may work with that person, but hopefully that's not your mindset.
And just to say this right here, as a Christian, you should strive to do great things for the Lord.
But here's the problem that every human heart wrestles with pride.
You go all the way back to the Garden of Eden, you're going to find it there.
You're going to find it before the Garden of Eden.
It's what caused Satan to fall, that he will be like the Most High,
that he wanted the throne, that he wanted the preeminent.
And inside each of us lives a relentless worshiper of self.
Sometimes we hide it, but it's in there.
We like ourselves, and we naturally want to be first.
We want to be noticed.
We want to be applauded.
Humility, on the other hand, is not natural.
Humility is something that is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit.
I do love when I watch the end of the game, and I mean, sometimes you want to know how good somebody is,
just at the end of a football game, interview them.
They'll tell you how good they are.
I mean, you know, I'm just faster, I'm better, I'm stronger.
Oh, yeah, I want to thank my teammates and my coaches, too.
But it's always, it's just out there, it just kind of creeps out.
But the Bible does call us to humility.
It calls us to, if we are following the Lord, to walk after him.
Micah told us, he has showed thee, O man, what is good.
And what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.
The Bible tells us, we're going to see it in Luke 14, he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
The book of James reminds us that we are to humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift thee up.
We want to be lifted up, but there's a way that that comes about, and humility,
while it might be alien to our fallen, to the way that we live, it's essential to our Christian walk.
But just because it's essential doesn't mean that we do it all the time.
And as we come to our text, that's kind of the rub that we see here.
Is it really, as we've looked over the last few weeks, Jesus is really from this moment on,
and especially in verse 51, his face is set towards Jerusalem.
He came for the cross of Calvary.
He's always known this.
In fact, before the foundation of the world, there was a lamb that was slain.
Jesus, the cross did not catch him by surprise, but at this moment in history, he's really moving towards it now.
And he's starting to lay these things out and tell the disciples things like,
hey, the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of the Pharisees, he's going to be killed.
And they're thinking, nope, we're not doing that.
And he tells them, if you want to follow me, here's what it's going to look like.
You're going to have to take up your cross daily.
You're going to have to deny yourself, and you're going to have to come after me.
And what's taking place there is they're struggling with that because that's not the plan they signed up for.
When they kind of got wind of who this Jesus was, they're thinking, I'll follow that guy because I can see great things in my future.
If this man can do these things, if he can cause all these fish to come in the boat,
he can feed these people and heal these people.
Well, I'm all in on that.
I mean, if he can do this, no doubt he can overthrow Rome.
That's kind of where the disciples were.
And they thought greatness, much like we think today, is about being recognized.
That they would walk through the streets of Capernaum.
They would walk through the streets of Jerusalem.
Why did you, that's Peter over there.
Yeah, it's me, I'm Peter.
I'm the leader over here, guys.
And they were struggling.
Many of these men were probably late teens, early 20s.
They were craving that.
But Luke 9 and these passages we looked at was a shock to their system.
Jesus predicting his death.
Really, the disciples couldn't even comprehend it.
They were still picturing this earthly kingdom.
They had visions of thrones and crowns and power and prestige.
And they were thinking, man, I remember that guy in school making fun of me for being a fisherman.
Watch this.
That's where they were.
That's what they wanted.
And that's what they kept striving after.
And so right after Jesus speaks about a cross,
right after Jesus is showing them that what's going to take place,
and he's telling them, you're going to suffer too.
Instead of dwelling on that, they start arguing about who's the greatest.
They start worrying about, hey, I'm the goat.
Peter said, listen, everybody knows this, guys.
I'm the greatest disciple of all time.
I'm the leader.
I'm the one that's going to say things.
You remember when I said, thou art the Christ?
That was me.
You don't read your Bible like this?
The disciples were trash talking with each other.
They were excited about their possibility of being there
because that's what's taking place in verse 46.
Then there arose a reasoning among them,
which of them should be the greatest?
You remember just a few weeks back,
Peter, James, and John were on the mountain of transfiguration.
They saw Jesus kind of pull back his humanity and saw his divinity,
and yet they're still arguing about who's the greatest.
That's a picture into our heart and our mindset as human beings
because really all the things he's been saying,
Jesus is talking about humility,
and they're focused on the hierarchy.
That's where their mind is.
Jesus came not to be ministered unto,
but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many.
Jesus is talking about serving one another
and loving one another and suffering for others,
and they're focused on status.
Well, I just want to at least be in the top three.
And James and John thinking,
we already got that covered.
Sorry, Bartholomew.
You know, it's Peter, James, and John.
Everybody knows that.
But before we're too hard on them,
I think we need to stop and look in the mirror
and realize we do the same things often.
That we do compare ourselves one with another.
We can come and we can say,
well, at least I'm better than so-and-so.
I mean, you know, I can do better than them.
I mean, we have all these things.
We compete with one another.
We crave importance.
And Jesus knew this was taking place.
So what he does is he kind of sets his disciples down,
and he shows them.
And he shows us what true greatness looks like.
He lays out the road map to it.
He said, this is the road you have to walk
to really experience greatness.
Because if we follow the world's definition of greatness,
we're going to be frustrated.
We're going to be just beat up.
We're going to be so upset.
We're going to realize this.
It's empty.
Solomon told us in the book of Ecclesiastes,
he sought everything the world had to offer,
and here's what he found out.
It was worth nothing.
It was vanity of vanities.
Emptiness of emptiness.
And the disciples are seeking and searching for that.
And Jesus says, here's where true greatness comes from.
Humility.
That's where it's found.
And he wanted the disciples,
and he wants us to see a few things,
and we're going to walk through this text here.
I think, number one, he wants us to see this,
that humble disciples value insignificant people
in serving Jesus.
Humble disciples value insignificant people.
You know, I've been married long enough now
where I just think things,
and she looks at me and just says, no.
I can't have any fun.
I can't do anything I want to do.
She just knows everything that's going on in my brain,
it's not fair.
And I just, but I'm like, but come on.
No.
You know, anybody like that?
Any people in that situation?
I mean, you just kind of get that look on your face,
and no, we're not doing that.
The disciples, they're kind of reasoning among themselves.
They're not arguing out loud in front of Jesus.
You know, maybe they're over in the corner,
and Jesus said, hey, what y'all talking about over there?
But he knows their heart,
and that's what the Bible says,
that he begins to, he reads their heart.
They hadn't really said a word in front of him,
but he knew their thoughts,
and here's what he found.
They were full of pride.
And he calls them out.
Not like we would, like, hey, stop doing that, John.
No, he says, hey, guys, come here.
I want to tell y'all something.
I want to teach y'all a lesson.
Everybody come here.
Verse number 47,
And Jesus, perceiving their thought,
the thought of their heart,
took a child and set him by him.
Maybe this was one of the disciples' kids.
You know, they would travel maybe in a group,
and maybe it was one of their children.
He came and said, hey, why don't you come sit down next to me?
Why don't you come hang out with me real quick?
And he's there, and with that simple gesture,
we can kind of read over and say,
okay, well, you know,
Jesus loves the little children of the world.
We know that song.
Everybody knows that song.
But with this simple gesture,
here's what Jesus is doing,
redefining what greatness looks like.
You know, because in our day,
children are celebrated, and they should be.
Children are a wonderful, beautiful gift from the Lord.
Lord, sometimes I have to remind myself of that.
You know, we went down and saw my parents
and were on a road trip.
You know, road trips just bring the best and worst
out of families.
Like, I'm going to pull this car over.
I'm the only person that's ever threatened to pull the car over.
No, I didn't think so.
But we celebrate our children.
We love our children.
But in the world of the first century,
children were way down the rung of the ladder.
I mean, they had no rights.
They had no rank.
They had no reputation.
And since they were dependent,
they were powerless,
and they were viewed as insignificant.
Many of the, even Jewish leaders of the day,
they would have thoughts that,
hey, don't waste your time with kids.
They have nothing to offer you.
They're not going to help you in your business.
They're not going to help you move forward.
So, hey, there's nothing that they need from you.
Don't waste your time.
So by Jesus bringing this little child up
and setting him next to him,
you know, because they wanted,
here's the problem,
Peter wanted to sit there.
James and John wanted to be on the right and left hand.
He said, you know what?
I got somebody that can take this spot.
Why don't you come here?
Brings this little kid and sets him next to him.
And what he's doing is he is shattering
their value system.
Because in their heart, they're arguing.
In their heart, they're saying,
I want to be great.
And as Jesus is sitting next to him,
he says, you want to be great?
This is what it looks like.
This little kid.
And they're thinking, what?
A kid?
What can he do?
He doesn't even have a bank account.
He doesn't even have a job.
You know, he's always bugging me.
What are we going to have for lunch?
Like kids do.
And husbands do too sometimes.
I hope it's good.
But I want us to really understand what he's saying.
Jesus is teaching us this.
To welcome the least
is to welcome the Lord.
To serve the small
is to serve the Savior.
This took everything that they had been taught,
everything their society says,
this is what greatness looks like.
And he turns it on its head.
And he tells them,
greatness is measured by service,
not status.
That in this simple, single act
of just bringing a child next to him,
that he turned their world upside down
and flipped the definition of greatness.
That this is what it looks like.
As a follower of Christ,
serving others,
serving the insignificant
is what greatness really does.
So what does it look like today in our life?
How does it look like
in your walk with the Lord?
Maybe it's at home,
as a parent,
serving your children in love
is greatness.
Now yes,
there's a hierarchy
and there isn't a
order that God has set it up in.
But listen,
we are to love our children.
We are to train them up
in the nurture
and the admonition of the Lord.
That they're not our servants.
That they're not there
just to give us what we want
and hey,
give them something
just to get them out of our hair.
But on the other side,
kids,
teens that are in here,
you know what it looks like?
It looks like honoring your parents.
Obeying your parents.
That's what God has called us to do.
Because I know you know this sometimes,
sometimes your parents
have no idea what they're doing.
Just pray for them.
They need it, okay?
They're trying the best they can.
But there should be that mutual love
and respect
that we're to serve each other.
That we're not to prefer others above.
No,
that we're to look at ourselves
and say,
Lord,
how can I be a help?
Maybe at work,
are you the person
that's known for helping others
or known for stepping on them
to get to the next level?
It looks like service.
That God calls us to that.
Maybe at church,
the question we need to ask ourselves
is,
are we a participant
or just a spectator?
I'm thankful everybody is here this morning.
But God calls us into the church family
to serve one another.
That we're not just to come
and get and get and get and get.
I hope you get something.
I hope you get something from the message.
I hope you get something from the songs.
I hope you got something
from the Sunday school hour.
I know you got the donuts.
And there's certain things
you should get.
But when you come into the church,
are you looking,
what can I get?
Or what can I do?
How can I serve?
How can I show others
the love of Christ in this place?
You know,
sometimes it's areas
that you don't want to be.
You know,
I'm so thankful
that we have people
that greet you when you walk in
that smile.
Maybe you could do that.
You think,
what can I do in the church?
Maybe be a greeter
and just show up and smile
and say,
hey, we're glad you're here.
If you don't smile,
don't sign up for that.
I'm thankful
for our nursery workers.
I'm so thankful for them.
I'm thankful
for our Sunday school teachers.
I'm thankful
for our children's church workers.
I'm thankful
for those that are willing
to drive a bus
and to do the things
and come a little bit earlier
and stay a little bit later.
Why?
So people can hear the gospel.
That's what it's about.
That's what it is.
I'm thankful for those
that take time
and effort
and clean
and mow the yard
and all the things around her
so when you show up on Sunday,
hey, it looks like,
hey, we take care of this place.
Those are important things
and God calls us all.
It's simple things.
Sometimes we think ministry
is standing behind a pulpit.
No, it's just serving people.
How do you view people
in your world
that you come across
every day of the week
as interruptions
or invitations
to love them like Jesus?
Because you're going to run
into somebody tomorrow
and you're going to think,
man, I wish they would
just leave me alone.
I'm trying to get my work done.
Maybe God keeps allowing them
to interrupt you
because they just need to be loved.
Maybe you can just serve
in that aspect
because Jesus says,
that's what greatness looks like.
For he that is least among you all,
the same shall be great.
That's what he is calling us to do.
And see, Jesus' example,
I can imagine they're kind of
looking around thinking like,
oh my goodness.
Like, how did he know?
How did he know
we were talking about this?
And he kind of silences
their argument.
But I'm sure you found out
in your own life,
as I have,
that pride doesn't die easily.
It likes to rear its ugly head.
I think, okay, okay.
I'll serve people better.
I'll serve them.
And you know,
I'm going to do my very best,
but what about these people
over here?
This is what John
kind of brings up
there in verse number 49.
Kind of like right on cue.
Because there's another kind of pride
that we deal with,
not just that we think
of ourselves higher
and that maybe we shouldn't serve,
but this spiritual superiority.
That's a deadly type of pride.
That, hey, you know,
I go to this church
and I've been saved this long
and we wouldn't maybe
say that out loud,
but sometimes we deal
with it in our heart.
Like, man,
I wish they'd just get
their act together
like I have.
We'll just move right along.
But here's the thought,
that humble disciples,
number two,
appreciate others
who serve Jesus.
So humble disciples,
they value those
that are the world
consider insignificant
because we all are,
by the way.
That none of us
are significant
to be honored by Jesus.
No, he came and he loved us
despite who we are.
But John, I love John.
I bet John thinks
he sounds so spiritual.
Verse number 49,
he comes and says,
and John answered
and said,
Master,
we saw one casting out
devils in thy name
and we forbade him
because he follows not with us.
He comes up
and he said,
Jesus,
I just want you to know,
yes,
we're going to serve
other people,
but we had some jokers
over there in the other town.
They were trying to serve you
and they're not one of us.
So I told him,
don't even think about it.
That's what he's saying.
You know,
and John's so happy
and he's popping his lapel
and he's very excited
about what God
has called him to do
and don't forget
that the disciples
just a few verses ago
failed miserably
to cast the devil out.
You know,
it's easy to see
others' problem
and miss our own.
But have you ever noticed
how envy hides behind
discernment sometimes?
We criticize others
to make ourselves
feel righteous?
John's got his chest
all puffed out
and Jesus said,
man,
forbid him not.
Like,
he's doing a great work.
He's doing a great job
and Jesus said,
for he that is not
against us
is for us.
In other words,
here's what Jesus is saying.
Don't stop someone
from doing good
in my name
just because they're not
in your group.
That's what he's saying.
Listen,
this kingdom,
God's kingdom
is bigger than
our circle,
our style,
our label.
It is.
I know it's hard
sometimes to think that
and that's what Jesus says,
that they're not against us,
they're not for us.
True greatness
does not compete.
It celebrates,
it rejoices
when Christ is glorified
no matter
who gets the credit.
that's what Jesus
is teaching us.
That's what Jesus
is reminding us.
The apostle Paul
gives us a great
biblical example of this.
In Philippians chapter
number one
and the church
at Philippi
and others
were worried
that people
were kind of
piggybacking off Paul
and they were glad
he was in prison
because they finally
got to be the preacher
and they finally
got to preach
the gospel.
Paul could have said,
you're not the apostle Paul,
what are you doing?
You know what he said?
He said,
I'm thankful
the gospel's going forward.
I'm thankful
somebody's hearing the truth.
He said,
whether in pretense
or in truth,
Christ is preached
and therein
do I rejoice.
That's what Paul
was about.
He didn't care
who got the applause,
he cared
that Christ
got the glory.
That's what God
has called us to do.
God didn't call us
to build our kingdom.
God didn't call us
to build the Central Baptist
Church kingdom
of Gainesville, Texas.
No, he called us
to build his kingdom.
But there are other churches
in this county
and in this city
that preach the gospel
of Christ
and here's what we should say,
praise the Lord.
Because I'm looking out,
yeah,
all of Gainesville
is not in here.
We're not the only church.
We're not the only church
that preaches the gospel
and we need to have
that kingdom-minded humility.
That we,
even towards other churches,
we need that,
we're not competitors,
we're co-laborers.
I love this thought,
we can be brothers
and not twins.
That's okay.
That's what Jesus is saying
toward other believers.
We don't,
we need to stop comparing gifts
and start celebrating
the grace that God
has given us the gifts.
Paul deals with this later.
Not everybody in this church
has the same gift.
You know,
some of you are encouragers.
You should be greeters.
Some of you are just
truth tellers.
You don't need to be a greeter.
You wore that today?
Oh man,
come on in.
I'm just saying.
We can't say,
well they get to get up here
and they get up here
and they do this
and they sing.
Listen,
God gave them the ability
to sing.
Some of you
sing a joyful noise
in the Lord.
I get it.
I do.
But sometimes we get so worried
and we're so focused
on comparing one another
that we don't realize,
hey,
the gospel's going forward
and we miss it
and we're not excited
about it.
How does it come
towards differing ministries?
I just want to say this,
if they preach the gospel,
praise God.
Don't misunderstand
what I'm saying.
Appreciation doesn't mean
compromise.
It doesn't.
It means humility.
Because there's others
that we may not agree with.
But God didn't call us
to make that known.
You know what God
called us to do?
Just run the race
He's called us to.
To appreciate the others
that are there
in doing the work of Christ.
So Jesus is teaching here
that greatness
looks like humility.
It values others
that,
it values people
that others overlook.
It appreciates the people
that others envy.
But He has one final layer.
And really we find it
in Mark chapter 9
and Matthew chapter 18.
The synoptic gospels
that men's this,
when you hear that word,
they're to be seen together.
Because sometimes
each gospel writer,
they take different lenses,
but especially in Mark's
account of this text,
Jesus reminds us of this,
that humble disciples
remove anything
that hinders them
from serving Jesus.
And that's what He does.
If you have your Bible there,
why don't you flip over
to Mark chapter 9.
We'll read just a couple
verses here.
It's in the same context,
it's in the same story
as He's brought
these children here
and He's kind of laying out
what humility looks like.
And Jesus kind of shifts
from this illustration
that this is what humility
looks like,
this is how it serves,
this is what it does,
it appreciates.
And He gives a very stern warning.
He shows that humility
isn't soft.
Sometimes we look at humility
and meekness and we think,
the world's going to walk
all over us.
No, it's a very serious thing.
Jesus was humble.
He was, you know,
Jesus describes Himself
one time,
He is meek and lowly.
Meekness does not mean weakness.
Moses, the Bible says,
Moses was the meekest man
on the earth.
You think Moses was a pushover?
You read the Exodus,
you read what he did
and the millions of complainers
that he dealt with.
I think he knew what he was doing
and he was trusting the Lord.
Notice what the Bible says
in Mark chapter 9,
verse number 42.
And whosoever shall offend
one of these little ones
that believeth in me,
it is better for him
that a millstone
were hanged about his neck
and he were cast into the sea.
Sometimes we read these verses
and think,
what is Jesus talking about?
He wants us to understand this,
that the little ones
are not just children per se,
not just young children,
but all of those
that are vulnerable,
young and vulnerable believers.
That sometimes we,
sometimes we've been saved
a long time,
we've been serving Jesus
a long time,
that we think,
man, what is their problem?
You know what he's reminding us?
We used to be there too.
And sometimes we might have
grown in our faith
in some things
that we were very staunch on
and very just matter of fact
and dogmatic about.
It's okay to have preferences,
it's okay to have
some of these things,
but we can get so hung up
and say,
well, if that offends them,
then that's their problem.
You know what we have to do sometimes?
Sometimes we have to set aside
our pride and our preferences
and our certain kind of things
that we like to do
for the good of the kingdom,
for the good of the gospel.
You can do whatever you want.
All things are lawful,
Paul says,
but it doesn't mean
everything's good to do.
It doesn't mean it's always
something we can do there.
And here's what Jesus
is saying in this verse.
Don't be the reason
somebody trips up.
You say,
well, it's not my problem
they're doing that.
But maybe you're the one
that God's placed in their life.
And maybe they come
and they're looking at you
at work.
They're looking at you
in the church
and how you do things
and how you serve
and they're thinking,
well, why does he do that?
You know,
well, I don't think
that's what should be
taking place.
And Jesus is reminding us
that our life
should lift people up,
not trip them up.
That's why a follower of Christ,
we're to be the light,
we're to be the salt,
we're to bring others to him.
And not stick our foot out
so they trip over and say,
what's your problem, man?
That's what Jesus is saying.
See, his warning is severe.
But he takes it a step farther
in that next verse.
Verse 43 of Mark 9.
And thy hand offend thee,
cut it off.
It is better for thee
to enter into life maimed
than having two hands
to go into hell
and to the fire
that shall never be quenched.
Where the worm dieth not
and the fire is not quenched.
Verse 45,
and a knife foot offend thee,
cut it off.
Verse 47,
and a knife eye offend thee,
pluck it out.
What is Jesus saying here?
Listen, he's not calling
for literal amputation.
You know what he's saying
the disciples do,
humble disciples?
He's calling them
to radical repentance.
That if something causes you
or something causes others
to stumble,
get rid of it.
That's what Jesus is saying.
If your hand,
what you do offends
other people,
here's what Jesus says,
stop it.
It's not worth it.
If your foot,
where you go
and where you visit,
if it offends,
avoid it.
If your eye,
what you watch
and what you desire,
if it offends others,
turn from it.
He's saying if there's an issue
and it's causing others
to stumble,
it's not worth it.
Don't try to patch it up.
If you walked in your house
and there's black mold
everywhere,
say, let's get the air freshener out.
If you find it in your house
and you know what you do,
rip it out.
Because it's not healthy.
It's deadly.
And Jesus is saying,
listen,
a disciple,
a true follower of Christ
is not living for the here and now.
It's not living for the crowns
and the power
and the prestige
this world has to offer.
No,
humble disciples live for eternity.
That's the goal.
Listen,
we're living,
God has called us
to make heaven crowded.
That we are the ones
that call others
to who he is.
And that's what he says.
It's better to enter into life
maimed
than have two hands
and go into hell.
That it's better
to lose temporary comfort
than eternal life.
And a true,
humble disciple of Christ
values eternal reward
over earthly reputation.
And Jesus is trying
to weed this out
of the disciples
because guess what's
in our heart and our mind?
We want prestige.
Is it really worth
that co-worker,
that family member,
that church member
to miss heaven
because they were so focused
on how you lived
and you weren't pointing to Jesus,
you were pointing to yourself.
Jesus didn't call us
to bring disciples to us.
He called us
to bring it to him.
That's what he's showing here.
Humble disciples,
they live for eternity
and they live salty lives.
Verse number 49,
For everyone shall be salted
with fire
and every sacrifice
shall be salted with salt.
Salt is good.
Some of you,
that's your life verse right there.
Especially Brother Garrett.
He likes salt.
But,
if the salt
hath lost
his saltiness,
wherewith
will ye season it?
Have salt
in yourselves
and have peace
one with
another.
Listen,
salt,
it preserves
purity.
It preserves
peace.
And Jesus
calls us
to be a
preservative,
not a pollutant
to the world
around us.
Is your life,
are you living a life,
you know,
salt creates thirst.
Is your life,
the way you live for Christ,
is it causing somebody else
to thirst
for him?
Or,
if you're living so much
for yourself
that it's just kind of like,
oh man,
you've been around somebody
that kind of thinks
very highly of themselves,
it's very off-putting,
isn't it?
Like,
man,
he likes himself.
You don't want to be around
people like that.
Jesus says,
like,
when people are around us,
it should be salty.
It should point others
to him.
That's what he calls us
to live like.
Just some practical examples.
Where all,
a lot of us are on social media.
Maybe you should ask yourself this,
right before you're about
to send something,
post something.
Will this post draw people
to Christ
or push them away?
That's a good question
to ask.
Because just because
you can type it
and just because you can't
send it
doesn't mean you should.
At work,
will this conversation
you're going to have
around the water cooler,
will it honor Christ
or will it bring
reproach to his name?
Because it's easy
just to get caught up
in the conversation.
At home,
will your children
see Jesus
and your patience
and your priorities?
Listen,
we all fail,
but we should be striving
for our children
to see who Jesus
really is.
At church,
will my words
build unity
or stir division?
If any of those things,
if we're thinking,
hey,
get rid of it.
Ask the Lord
to help you.
See,
humble disciples
say this,
if it causes another
to stumble,
I'll lay it down.
Because you know
what true greatness does?
It's going to cost you
something.
Jesus is going to
lay it all out
next week.
If you're going to
follow me,
this is what it's
going to look like.
You're going to
follow him wherever
and whenever
and whatever
he asks you to do.
And sometimes
it's going to be hard.
See,
Jesus didn't call us
to be the greatest
of all time.
You know who he called
us to be like?
Him.
A suffering servant.
That's what Jesus was.
See,
true greatness
is not about
applause or recognition.
It's about humility
and obedience
and love.
Greatness is
walking the path
that Jesus walked.
How do you find
greatness?
You have to descend
to it.
The way up
in the Christian life
is actually down.
That's what
Philippians chapter 2
is all about.
Read it.
That Jesus descended
to us.
And that greatness
has found the same
path that Jesus took.
And I just want to
remind you,
if you know Christ
as your Savior,
that he calls you
to that same
type of service.
And I ask you this
as we close.
What is the Holy Spirit
speaking to you about?
What is he calling you to?
Maybe he's revealed
an area of pride
that needs confession.
An attitude
that maybe in our minds
says,
I deserve that.
Instead of,
Lord,
what would you have me
to do here?
How can I serve others?
Perhaps you failed
to value someone
the way Jesus does.
Aren't you thankful
Jesus values you?
He loves you.
Do you value people
the same way?
Maybe you've been
comparing your ministry
and you've been
craving recognition.
You've been
clutching something
that's a stumbling block.
If you belong to Christ,
the question is not,
will I be great?
The question is,
will I be humble?
That's what he calls
believers to.
Right now,
I think we should all
ask the Lord,
Lord,
would you help me
live that kind of life?
Would you help me
live a life that values
the people others overlook?
Would you help me
live a life that appreciates
the people God is using?
Would you help me
live a life that removes
anything that hinders
others from seeing
Jesus in me?
What he's called us to do?
That's what true
greatness looks like.
Maybe you're here
and you're just not sure
where you stand with Jesus.
You love him.
You enjoy the songs.
You want to follow him
and you've been searching
for meaning and truth
and peace.
You've tried everything
the world says.
Hey, do this
and you'll be great.
But you found this
to be true.
You're empty handed.
Because the world
has nothing to offer.
It's just going to fade away.
It's not lasting.
And I just want to remind you
here this morning
of That's You
that the greatest act
in history
wasn't performed
in a stadium.
It wasn't performed
on a stage.
It was performed
on the cross of Calvary.
The Son of God,
the only great one,
the true great one,
humbled himself
and took our sin
upon himself
and he died
in our place
so that we might
be forgiven.
The Bible tells us
in Romans 5,
but God commendeth
his love toward us
in that while we were
yet sinners,
Christ died for us.
That's why he came.
That's what he's teaching
his disciples.
This is what it looks like.
But he's not on that cross
anymore and he's not
in that tomb
because three days later
he walked out alive,
proving that death
and sin
are defeated forever
and he offers
that life to you,
not rules,
not religion,
but a relationship
with the creator
himself.
That's where
greatness is found.
I see these things online,
who's the most famous
person in your phone
and these people,
oh yeah, yeah.
Listen,
you realize you have
a direct connection
to the God
of the universe?
That he knows your name,
that he loves you,
that he cares about
what's going on?
That problem in your life
right now,
he wants to help
with it.
And here's the beautiful
thing,
you can come as you are,
broken and burdened
and beaten down
and in need of grace
and he'll meet you there.
You don't have to
clean yourself up.
No,
he's running towards you.
Would you come to him
today?
Would you turn to him
from,
turn from your sin
and turn to him?
My time is up
but I just want to say
this church,
may we be the people
who walk the road
that Jesus walked.
because the world
is saying,
you want your life
to mean something,
do this,
go here,
take this job.
No.
Follow me
is what Jesus says.
Would we be
those kind of people?
Would we be
the kind of people
that serve
when it's inconvenient?
That love
when it's undeserved?
That surrender
when it costs us something?
Because he humbled himself
and became obedient
to death,
even the death
of the cross.
that's the road
to true greatness.
It begins with humility.
It leads to the cross
and it ends
in glory
with Christ.
That one day
we're going to stand
before him
and I want to hear
well done
thou good
and faithful servant.
You know how you hear that?
You walk the road
Jesus called you to.
Not the road
the world is calling us to.
That's what true greatness
looks like.
Would you stand
with your heads bowed
and your eyes closed?
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