#77 Lu. 9:46-48 TRUE GREATNESS Introduction: In our text last Sunday Jesus gave His disciples a second warning that He would soon be put to death. In our text today He speaks to them about achieving true greatness. His words to them become a challenge to us today. They challenge us to strive for true greatness. I am not talking about greatness as the world would see it, but greatness as God would see it. I. The disciples striving for the top position V. 46, "Then there arose a reasoning among them..." That was an understatement, to say the least. Mark tells us that they got into quite an argument. I mean here were these grown men---these saved men---these preachers in an argument. They were in this heated argument. What do you suppose that preachers would argue about? Judging by preachers of today you might think they were arguing about when the rapture is going to take place whether it will be before the Great Tribulation, in the middle of the Tribulation, at the close of the Tribulation or just when. But that was not what these preachers were arguing about. You might think then that they were arguing about who will make up the Glory Bride, who the Two Witnesses are going to be, whether the wine of the Lord's Supper is to be fermented or unfermented or what constitutes Scriptural baptism of about some other doctrinal or prophetic issue. . They were not arguing about any doctrinal issue nor any prophetic issue. What they were arguing about was who is going to be the greatest. Luke puts it this way in verse 46, "...which of them should be greatest." Matthew says that they were talking about who would be the greatest in the kingdom. That is, they were arguing about which one of them would occupy the greatest position under Jesus when Jesus becomes King. Now in view of that you might think that they were talking about who would be the greatest under Jesus during the millenniel reign. Not so. You see, they did not know anything about the millenniel reign at that time. They would soon be going to Jerusalem to observe the Passover and what they were hoping was that Jesus would be so popular with the people by that time that He would be crowned as king. Jesus had already told them twice that He was not going to Jerusalem to be crowned as king. He was going there to die. But somehow He had not gotten the message through to them. They were still hoping that He would be crowned king at that time and they were hoping it so strongly that they were actually expecting it. They were expecting it so strongly that they got in an argument over which one of them was going to be the greatest under Jesus, the Kingdom. I get the impression that it must have been a rather heated argument. It seems that too many of them wanted to be top gun and they wanted it badly enough to contend for it. They were already contending with one another trying to get the top position. They were not contending for the faith. They were contending for the top position. It seems to me that they already had too high opinion of themselves. They were already thinking in effect, "I am the greatest of the available men. I am already the greatest person of the twelve. I have the best qualifications for the top position. I deserve to get the job." It was either that or they thought, "It doesn't matter to me who is the best qualified. I want the job and I intend to get it if I can." The greatest flaw in their thinking was that it did not matter to them whom God had in mind for the job. They wanted the job and that was more important to them than the will of God. II. Jesus knowing the thoughts of the heart V. 47, "And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart..." These men had freely voiced their desire for the top position to one another. Each one who was jockeying for position had strongly argued his case before the others. But while they had freely discussed the matter before one another they had been careful not to say a word about it within earshot of Jesus. It seems that they knew down deep within that He would not approve of their overly zealous self promotion. Otherwise they would have discussed the matter with Him. At least they would have discussed it in His presence. But they had not uttered a word about this matter in His presence and presumably they thought that He knew noting about their argument. They should have known better than that. They should have known that they could not keep secrets from Him. He knew all about it. He not only knew every word of their conversation with one another, but He knew the very thoughts and intent of their hearts. Jesus knows the thoughts and actions of every man. He knows not only about His apostles, not only about His preachers. He knows not only about His Christians, but He knows about everybody. Jesus knows every deed and He knows every thought of every human being in all the world. III. Jesus using a child to teach the lost how to be saved (V. 47), "...took a child, and set him by him." The word, set, as used in this verse means "placed." He placed a child beside Himself. The original language here does not tell us whether He placed the child in a seated position or in a standing position. According to Mark after placing the child right by His side so that they could not help but see the child, He then took the child up in His arms and talked to them about that child. Matthew tells us one thing He said about the child that neither Mark nor Luke mention. Matthew said that He said that except a man become humble like a little child that he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Jesus was not indicating that the most of these men were unsaved and still needed to be saved. was one of them, however, who was unsaved and who especially needed this counsel. That man was Judas Iscariot. However, all the others were already saved. So Jesus did not bring up this matter in order to persuade them to be saved. What Jesus was trying to emphasize is that God wants men to humble themselves. God does not want men to exalt themselves. These apostles should have learned this from the very plan of salvation. Getting saved requires a man to humble himself, repent of his sin, and trust in Jesus Christ. If he exalts himself, denies his guilt of sin and insists that he is good enough to go to heaven as he is, then he will not get saved. Knowing that God requires humility in order to get saved ought to teach us that God wants us to remain humble even after we are saved. IV. Jesus using a child to teach the saved to serve others Matthew did go on to tell us a second thing that Jesus said about the little child. This second thing is also recorded by both Mark and Luke. V. 48, "And said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me receiveth him that sent me." Now when Jesus was talking about humbling oneself as a little child, Jesus was talking about how to get saved. However, here He is not talking about getting saved. He is talking about one serving the Lord after he is saved. Jesus spoke about one receiving a little child in His name. That is, Jesus is talking about a saved person receiving a little child for Jesus' sake. He is doing it for Jesus. He is not doing it just for the child; he is doing it for Jesus' sake. He receives the child and helps the child. If one does this for Jesus' sake, then Jesus counts this as though that person had done it for Jesus Himself. In whatever what he helps the child, Jesus counts it as though he had helped Jesus in that way. This is the way that Matthew records the explanation made by Jesus. If they do for a little child in the name of Jesus or for Jesus' sake, Jesus counts that as though they did it for Jesus and God, the Heavenly Father, counts it as though it was done for Him. Why a child? Why did Jesus not say that if you do something nice for anybody He will count that as though you did it for Him? Why a child? The answer is that a little child requires a lot of help. There is a lot of work involved in taking care of a child. Whoever receives the child has to take care of the child while the child is in his care. Mothers and fathers know that, especially mothers. The mother practically becomes a servant to the child. It is a lowly work. It is a dirty job taking care of a child. One can understand a parent doing these things for their child, but if one who is not the parent receives a child and takes care of him it is not because he has exalted himself. Rather it is because he has humbled himself and is seeking to be of service to others. He is not trying to get the top position. He is not trying to be top gun. He has become willing to be a servant. He is willing to serve rather than asking to be served. V. Service the way to greatness And this is the whole point that Jesus is making. (V. 48), "...for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great." Jesus told those apostles that if any of them wanted to become great he could do so. But he must stop trying to exalt himself. He must rather humble himself and become a servant to others for Jesus sake. He must be willing to do the lowliest tasks for Jesus' sake. He must be willing to serve without so much as a thank you. Those who serve children do not expect the child to say, "Thank you." He must be willing to sacrifice in order to serve. Neither should those who serve others serve just in order to get the praises of men. He ought to serve for Christ's sake. To put it another way, he ought to serve because he knows that is what Jesus wants him to do. Now let me repeat what I said in the beginning. This is not the way to be recognized as great by the world. But this is the way to be recognized as great by the Lord God of Heaven. This is true greatness. Conclusion: Now let me ask you a question: Are you interested in becoming great? I do not mean: Are you interested in gaining the top position? I am talking about true greatness. Are you interested in becoming truly great? Here are the steps you must take. First, you must be saved. Are you saved? Have you been truly born again? Do you have the assurance that if you were to die you would go to heaven? If so then you have already taken the first step toward true greatness. If not, then you need to get saved today. Not in order to become great, but in order to stay out of hell and to go to heaven. The second step is to stop trying to promote yourself. That may be a good way to get to the top of the ladder in worldly affairs, but that will get you nowhere with God. The third step in becoming truly great is to dedicate yourself to serving God and others. If you would serve God then you must serve others. You cannot truly serve God without serving others. So in order to better serve God serve your fellow man. Serve your fellow Christians. Serve your church. Serve your neighbors. Serve the young people of your community. Serve the older people. Serve and your service will make you a truly great person. And don't ask praises for your service. Just ask for the privilege of serving. Serve and you will receive a satisfaction and joy within that is worth more than all the money in the world. Serve because the more you serve the more like Jesus you become. Thank God for salvation and thank God for the privilege of serving.