So our text this morning is Matthew 20, 20-28. Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him, came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. And he said to her, what 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. He said to them, you will drink my cup. 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. Dear Heavenly Father, we want to come right now and bow down at Your feet. We want to bow down at Your feet, Lord Jesus, who has given us these words of truth, this teaching of authority. Lord, help us to take pleasure in worshiping You, even through our submission, through our surrender, absolute, total, and complete to what Your Word says. Lord, we all stand here, all of us equally, under this authority. And so I would pray that as I preach, that I would feel in my heart my sin and what this means for me. And that as I preach, that we would all feel it. And that as a result, you would be more glorified in our lives this week. Pray it in Jesus' name, amen. Before I start, I just want to prepare you, alert you to the fact that there's going to be three points to this message, kind of unrelated, they all flow from the text at some level or another. The last point we get to is, I believe, the main point of this passage, but there are two others that I think are important enough and that flow clearly enough from the text that we're going to look at those as well. The first one is the most indirect, but it's there, and it's something I think that we need to look at. So, watch for three things. Matthew 20, 20-21 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. So, picture this in your minds, just be a bystander and watch it all unfold. And he said to her, What 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. And before we get to acknowledge the point that this is very annoying to all reasonable people, right? Before we come there, let's just explore for a minute. Let's just unpack for just a minute. In Mark's gospel, he actually portrays James and John. They are the two sons of this mother. He actually portrays James and John as the ones that ask Jesus this question. Now Matthew tells us that it was actually their mother that asked the question. But Mark brings the two sons in and portrays them as asking the question because it was also they. It was also James and John that were behind all of this. I don't think they put their mother up to it. I think as a proud mother, she probably made the request very willingly. But James and John were the ones who really wanted this. And we'll see that later on when it's James and John that Jesus responds to, and it's James and John that the other disciples get angry and indignant with. So, the mother of the sons of Zebedee comes up to Jesus with the full support of her two sons, who are probably standing around in the near vicinity, and kneeling before him, she asks him for something. And Matthew tells us later on that this mother of James and John is actually one of those who had been following Jesus all the way from Galilee. So when Jesus left Galilee, this mother of James and John was traveling with him all along the road, one of those who was ministering to his needs. So, she wasn't an outsider. She was very familiar with Jesus. Her two sons were one of the inner three disciples of the twelve. So, she was very familiar with Jesus, with the disciples, and with the ministry. And yet, here she is, kneeling before Jesus. We should have the idea of bowing before and kneeling before, not just as an expression of respect, but of worship, of kneeling as a subject before, in your handout, before a monarch. It's kind of a strange picture, if we imagine it. She kneels before this powerful monarch, as though he were the king of some earthly kingdom. And she says, please grant me my request. And Jesus said to her, what 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. Now there are two ways to look at this. There's the annoyed way. But remember, when you start to get annoyed, try to look at it differently. And that's what I tried this week. On the one hand, there's not one bit of evidence. to say that Jesus is about to become the powerful monarch of an earthly kingdom. Look around you. There's no evidence for that. It's just Jesus, it's the 12 disciples, as usual, walking down the same road as everyone else, going to Jerusalem the same as everyone else. If you looked at the picture, there's nothing to set them apart. There's nothing to say, why is she kneeling before Jesus saying, oh great monarch, please grant me my request. And my request is that in your kingdom my two sons can sit at your right and left hand. But somehow James and John and their mother are able to see past all of this. All of these mundane circumstances, they can see past it all to a day when Jesus is sitting on a throne in Jerusalem with his twelve disciples sitting around him on their own thrones. That's what Jesus just said in Matthew 19, 28. Luke tells us that because Jerusalem was now so close, the disciples were getting a little more excited. They were beginning to think that the kingdom would appear immediately. That Jesus was about to take up his seat there. But what about the fact that Jesus just predicted his betrayal, his arrest, his death, his burial? What about all that? Are the disciples, as I thought about it, are the disciples just in some fantasy dream world? No, they're not, because Mark tells us that as they were walking along the road, the disciples were following behind Jesus, amazed and fearful. So get into the minds of the disciples. They're fearful because they're going to Jerusalem. They're excited because they're going to Jerusalem. There's no visible signs in your handout that the promised kingdom is about to come. None at all. Look around you. Look around you. There's nothing. Nothing to say it's about to happen. Not only that, there's the prospect of suffering ahead. Jesus said he was. You know what the leaders in Jerusalem think of Jesus. And yet, in spite of these things, James and John and their mother are still able to believe that the kingdom is just around the corner. Now, you can say that's one of two things. You can say that's delirious dreams, and they're in some fantasy world of their own making. Or you can say, that's faith. Which is it? What do you think? I think it's a mix. Because this belief is based not just on wishful thinking, but on the disciples' understanding of who Jesus is. Who do they understand Jesus is? He's the Messiah. I believe, say James and John, you are the Messiah. And then they read their Old Testament, and they know Jesus is going to be the king on the throne, and they say, okay, I don't see any evidence for it, but I believe in who you are. We're going up to Jerusalem, so. I'm going to express my faith by asking for those seats at the right and left hand. It's based on the disciples' understanding of who Jesus is, and therefore it's based on their faith in the promises of God. That's really an amazing and commendable faith. So before we get all annoyed and exasperated and frustrated with the disciples, because here they go again, let's look at this and say, would we have had a faith as strong as theirs? Think about that. Would you have come up to Jesus and bowed before him and said, it doesn't look like anything here, but I believe in who you are. I believe in what's to come. And so then you would put your faith out there on the line by asking for seats on the right and left hand. Would we have been that full of faith? I wonder. In your handout, if only. We could have a faith like this. Okay, but yet, side by side with this Commendable faith and this belief in who Jesus is and the promises of God is a spiritual blindness that's shocking. Have the disciples not heard anything? Now let's let that anointment come out, right? Have the disciples not heard anything Jesus has said? Over and over and over again, we hear James and John are lobbying for the highest positions in the kingdom, when Jesus has just told them that the last will be first, and the first will be last, and that the greatest in the kingdom are those who assume for themselves the status of little children. He's just been telling them that! And now they're saying, I want to be the greatest in the kingdom after you, Jesus. So on the one hand, we have amazing faith, a faith that I doubt many of us would have had in those circumstances. On the other hand, you have what appears to be total and complete lack of understanding about what true greatness in the kingdom really is. And so in your handout, what we're left with here is James and John are a living what? Any guesses? What? Contradiction. They are a living contradiction. Here's a powerful faith side by side with total blindness. Here's a deep spiritual understanding because how many other people in that day had yet recognized Jesus to be Israel's promised Messiah? Truly. And then therefore committed their lives to Him as His followers and disciples. They were among the few who had that deep spiritual insight and faith. And yet alongside of that deep spiritual understanding is a total and complete lack of comprehension. And, you know, I look at that and I say, well, James and John couldn't really have existed then. I mean, this is impossible. Here's a lesson for us. This is the first lesson that I saw here. We need to be careful that we don't think of James and John at this point as we are tempted to think of them. Again, here's a passage where we get there and we say, oh, bad James, bad John, and yet we miss then the shining example that they are. I can't believe they were even asking for seats. That shows faith. Their amazing example of faith should be obvious to all of us, shouldn't it? Don't you think so? Are you convinced yet? Have I convinced you yet? The amazing example of faith should be clear to all of us, but for how many of us has it been anything but clear? Why is that? Why did we miss it every time? I think it's because it's hard for us to believe that this kind of dense spiritual blindness can exist side by side with a faith that's actually worthy of our imitation. And that comes back to then what I believe about myself. I believe that if I have a true faith and if I have a true understanding here, and as Christians we all do at some level, Well, then at the same time I can't be so utterly deluded and blinded over here. Those two ideas don't go together. And so we look at ourselves and we lull ourselves into complacency because we see growth, we see spiritual growth, we see understanding, we see faith. And yet alongside of all those wonderful things can exist a blindness of the most shocking kinds. And if we don't recognize this, we'll go right down the path towards further blindness and further deception. We deceive ourselves. James and John were just such an example. And so I suggest here to all of us, in light of this example, in light of what we know about ourselves, it is possible for you and me to be living contradictions. At this point, I'm not talking about being carnal Christians. I don't believe there is such a thing. That's for another message, maybe. I'm not talking about people who are just sinning away. I'm talking about being deceived and blinded to a spiritual truth, to the way I'm living and not really seeing it. And so it's possible for us to be living contradictions, just like James and John. This should cause us then to be truly humble, even when we see great spiritual growth in our lives. Because we can see, and in your handout, and we can not see even at the same time. Think about that. I can see, and then I can be totally blinded and not see at the same time. This is who we are so often. We can be full of faith, and yet full of unbelief. at the same time, and of the most shocking kinds. I mean, was James and John's unbelief and their blindness, like, shocking to us? Yes. Jesus has been hammering it into them and they still are totally blind to it. And yet their faith was amazing. Their faith puts many of us to shame at some level. This is who they were. Dare we think we could be the same. We can understand deeply and lack all comprehension. at the same time. And perhaps to get it practically, we can give a needed rebuke to our brother and at the same time be in desperate need of that very brother's rebuke. Desperate need. This should teach us humility, but it should also remind us, and I want us to think about this too, that when we see a brother out there, or a sister out there, and we are aware of a way that that brother or sister has struggled, or is self-deceived, or is blinded in an area that just seems shocking to us, don't forget that that very brother or sister, that you see that blindness, may be just the example of faith that you need in your life at that moment. This is the kind of grace that we ought to deal with. that we ought to express and show towards one another. It's the same kind of grace that Jesus is about to show to James and John. Because Jesus sees in them a faith that pleases God. And he also sees in them a blindness that needs to be repented of. Can we have both in our lives? Let's be humble. So James and John want to sit. One at Jesus' right hand and one at Jesus' left when he sits on his throne in the kingdom. Jesus answered, you do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink? Jesus on his cross said, they don't know what they're doing. Father, forgive them. They don't know what they do. And so in the same way he says to his disciples, you don't know what you're asking. Can you drink the cup I drink? What's the cup? It's the cup of suffering. It's the cup of his sufferings on the cross. And so Jesus implies here, watch this because this is going to be important, that the path to those two seats is the path of what? Suffering. So you want to sit at my right hand, you want to sit at my left, but are you willing to suffer with my sufferings? That's the question. They said to him, we are able. And once again, James and John are not stupid. I don't know how else to say it and say what I mean. They know their Old Testament. They know that the cup means suffering. They know this is suffering we're talking about. But somehow in their own minds, just like Peter later on, they think they're going to be up to the challenge. They sincerely do. Even though they're fearful and they're afraid and they're following behind Jesus and they're amazed, they still think, we can do that. I'm determined to persevere through the sufferings. They're sincere, but they're naive. The response is too quick, it's too easy. Jesus knows that James and John are gonna flee from him in the moment of his own suffering, that's what's gonna happen. But Jesus is patient and he says to them, okay, you will drink my cup. Look at the gentleness of Jesus. 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. He doesn't jump all over him, he just says, well, you're right, you will, ultimately, suffer with my sufferings. But, I cannot give you this request because it's only for those whom it's already been prepared by my Father. What does this mean? And this is where we come to our second point, before we get to the main one. Does this mean that there are going to be different positions of status and authority in the Kingdom? Is that what this means? And this is going to have practical significance for the church. Are there special seats in heaven for special people? Jesus seems to be saying that. If there are, then what's the basis for these special seats? How do I get them? Is it obedience? Is it that I was better than you were? Is it that you were better than I was? Is that how we get them? Is it good works? And are there really only two spots open? Is that all? I mean, you mean two people get them and all the rest of humanity, Christians, don't? Just two guys, two women, a guy and a woman, is that all? How does this fit, then, with Jesus' parable of the laborers in the vineyard, right? Where he said that they all got the same money at the end of the day. He was basically saying to Peter, Peter, is it going to bother you to know that there are many people who are far less worthy than you, who are going to receive a reward equal to yours? And that bothers, frankly, many of us. Equality in the kingdom? Shouldn't there be some respect to persons? Shouldn't there be some acknowledgment of the fact that I was more faithful? than some? So what about those seats that Jesus is right in left hand? What do they mean? How do they fit with grace? There's one commentator that says this. Chris Austin, a guy from long ago, he believes that the criterion for the Father's assignment of these seats is good work. So if you are good enough, you get the seats. But Matthew's record here leaves the matter to the mystery of the sovereignty of God. Look what Jesus says. It is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father. That does sound mysterious, doesn't it? That does sound mysterious. And it's especially mysterious because no one knows who's gonna get these seats. But yet the reason for the Father's assignment may not be as mysterious as we think. On the one hand, are we agreed? Who's going to get the seats? Is it the ones who performed more good works in their lifetime? I don't think that fits with grace. I don't think that fits there. On the other hand, Jesus very clearly implies in your handout that at least one criterion for these special seats is suffering. He says, you don't know what you're asking. You want those seats, but can you drink the cup I'm going to drink? For whom are these feet prepared? I think perhaps for those whom God has appointed to share most fully in the sufferings of Christ. Have you ever thought to yourself, well, it's not really fair. You know, some people as Christians, they suffer like crazy. I mean, they're tortured for the gospel, and then we go through life with not a bit of suffering like that, not even close. Well, that's a matter not of chance. That's not a matter of, oh, it just turned out that way. That's a matter of God's appointment. It's a matter of His sovereignty. And so also are these seats a matter of God's sovereignty and of His appointment. Notice that Jesus never says there will only be one seat at His right hand and only one seat at His left hand. James and John were probably assuming that. But Jesus isn't concerned with correcting every last little detail that James and John were wrong about. My guess, and I'm saying it's my guess because commentators, it's tricky. My guess is that there's going to be a multitude of seats at Jesus' right hand and a multitude of seats at Jesus' left hand. I mean, are we saying that his right hand is more preeminent than his left hand? Again, I don't think that's the point. There's going to be seats at his right and left hand. And these special places of glory and honor have been prepared for who? We don't know their names yet. But they've been prepared not as rewards for those who've been more faithful, but rather as comfort and vindication for those whom God appointed to share most fully in Christ's sufferings. Can you drink the cup? that I am to drink." They said, we are able, and he said, you will. So in one sense, all will be equal in the kingdom of God. Why? Because all is of God's free, sovereign grace. That's why. But there's another sense in which we can say that all will not be equal in the kingdom of God. Why? Because all is of God's free and sovereign grace. God can do what he wants. So let me ask you this. What do you think? When we get to heaven and we went through our lives without suffering persecution like many of our brothers and sisters do, and we don't get a seat there, and we see all the ones that are sitting there in those special seats, are we going to look at them and say, that's not fair. I'm envious. I feel second rate in heaven now. Is that what we're going to say? Far from it. What are we going to do? What do you think we're going to do when we see those people in those special places, seats of honor? What are we going to do? We're going to rejoice with those who rejoice. And brothers and sisters, think about it this way. This very rejoicing as we look at them in that glory and honor that God has given them for their sufferings. We're going to look at that and we're going to say, praise the Lord! Praise the Lord for His comfort. Praise God for His vindication. We're going to rejoice with them as they rejoice. And then what's that rejoicing going to do? It's, if possible, only going to add to our own eternal bliss and happiness. Right? Because what gives us so much bliss and joy in heaven? It's the fruits of the Spirit. And one of the fruits of the Spirit is rejoicing with those who are rejoicing. So the very place that they have at Jesus' right hand is going to be the source of our greater happiness who aren't getting those seats. It's the source of our greater bliss for all eternity. Isn't that a crazy thought? And yet it's a thought that works because it's God's ways, not man's ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. See, here on earth, we'd see someone with that special place of honor, and we'd think, well, how could my rejoicing with them increase my own happiness? But that's the way the kingdom works. That's the way heaven will work. And so we will rejoice greatly with our brothers and sisters who were appointed by God's sovereignty to so much suffering. and yet whose sufferings are now being so richly rewarded and compensated. Romans 8 and 1 Peter 4 both tie sufferings with glory. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him. But we all don't suffer to the same level, do we? And what I take from Matthew 20 is that it seems to me that varying degrees of suffering will result in varying degrees of glory in terms of comfort and vindication. 1 Peter 4 says, But rejoice insofar as, or as the NASB says, to the degree that you share Christ's sufferings. We have not shared it to the degree that many others have. Why do we rejoice? That you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed. So, even as we pray for the persecuted church, for our persecuted brothers and sisters around the world, we need to also rejoice with them and the indescribable glory and honor and comfort and vindication that God is going to give to them in the kingdom that comes. And what about us? to whatever degree we have been appointed to share in Christ's sufferings. And we don't know yet. Our lives are not over, do we? We don't know what God has appointed us to yet in His sovereign will. But whatever degree of sufferings He's appointed you and I to, let us to that degree even rejoice in the coming glory that will be revealed in us. That ought to comfort us and give us fortitude in the face of the prospect of suffering. which prospect is always reality. Now then we come to the last and main point. So far Jesus has not dealt with the sinful attitude of James and John, has he? The one that flows from their blindness. So far he's just explained why he can't give them these seats or appoint them. God's already taken care of all that. So why does Jesus wait? to get to the root problem in James and John. I think he was waiting for this. When the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. That's what he was waiting for. Have none of the disciples heard anything Jesus said? Has it all, everything gone in one ear and right out the other? In their indignation, don't we see it? The disciples are just proving that they're just as dense and just as spiritually blind as James and John are. But how can this be? How are we to explain this kind of denseness? Isn't the answer easy? The answer is pride. Pride explains everything that doesn't make sense. Pride explains everything perfectly that doesn't make any sense. In fact, pride explains our own astonishing blindness to our own what? To our own pride. Why are we blind to our pride? Why are we blinded to it? Because of pride. That's why we're blinded to our pride. That's why James and John can be so, and we do not use this as a name to call others, but our own Bibles have the word stupid in it, so I'm going to use it. It means fool. That's why we can be so stupid. Because we are so proud. That explains James and John. And so J.C. Ryle writes this, Pride. Pride is one of the oldest and most mischievous of sins. By it, the angels fell. Through pride, Adam and Eve were seduced into eating the forbidden fruit. They were not content with their lot and thought they would be as gods. From pride, the saints of God, that's us here today, it's from pride that we receive our greatest injuries. after our conversion. Well, says Hooker, pride is a vice which cleaves so fast under the hearts of men that, think about it, if we were to strip ourselves of all faults, take away all faults in your life that you know of one by one, we should undoubtedly find it that the very last and hardest to put off is pride. That explains James and John perfectly. It explains the ten disciples. It explains their blindness. It's a quaint but true saying of Bishop Hall that pride is the inmost coat which we put off last and which we put on first. In your handout, pride is the source of all our other sins. What are the sins that you struggle with? What are the sins that I struggle with? Behind them all is pride. Even the sins that seem the least prideful, like insecurity, like self-pity, even those are manifestations of pride. And in all of our sins, the things that seem least prideful to the things that are most obviously prideful, they all flow from pride. Pride is the sin in your handout of self. Pride is the sin of me. And so pride is that one sin, the one sin that is equally common to all Christians, though it may be more or less subtle in its expression. from one Christian to another. So maybe you wear your pride a little more obviously or demonstrate it in a bigger chip on the shoulder. My pride, though, maybe I demonstrate a little more subtly. I've finessed it enough so that I can make my pride appear a little more spiritual. But the reality is that we struggle equally with pride, all of us in the room. Pride is that besetting sin in my life. that leads to all the others and explains perfectly the blindness in your handout, The Blindness of the Disciples. Calvin puts it this way. Our Lord intended to seize on this occasion. He said, oh, this is good. Let's wait for the other disciples to chime in and show their indignation. And then He seized on the occasion to lay open a disease which was lurking within the disciples. A disease that lurks within all of us here. That's scary. You know, that's really scary. It lurks within me as I talk here. It's there. 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. See, now I thought he just said there were seats at his right and left hand. And if there are seats, why should I not be striving for them? But Jesus says, Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave. What does that mean? Calvin sums it up, I believe. He says, Jesus shows that the primacy, which was the occasion of dispute among them, they wanted to be prime, they wanted to be the greatest, that it has no existence in his kingdom. I thought there were seats there, right? But Jesus says, however we're understanding those seats, if we think those seats are a sign of the greatest, we're mistaken. If we think those seats are a sign of the highest status and the highest power and the highest authority, then we're not understanding the seats rightly. Because that kind of stuff doesn't go on in the Kingdom. It doesn't exist in the Kingdom. So, the kind of status that the disciples were thinking about doesn't even have any existence in the Kingdom of Heaven. No matter what you think about seats at the right and left hand. Now that phrase, lord it over, that implies an arrogant abuse of authority. The Gentiles lord it over. But really, the disciples' problem is not that they want those seats so they can lord it over and arrogantly abuse their authority. That wasn't what they wanted. That wasn't. They desired the seat because they thought that would be a good thing in the kingdom, and because they were proud and wanted to be the greatest. The disciples' problem was not that they wanted to be abusive. Their problem was that they thought those positions existed at all. They thought those positions of power and status existed at all in the kingdom. That was their problem. So we could translate Jesus' words like this, and maybe this will bring it to life and clear for us. You know that the rulers of the nations, we can translate, exercise lordship over them. That's perfectly legitimate. That's expected. It's what they're supposed to do. And their great ones exercise authority over them, because there are positions of status and power in worldly governance, and that's as it should be. But James and John and all the rest of you ten, it shall not be so among you. That's not how it works in the kingdom. So you see, it's not just those sinful attitudes. Jesus says, it's not just your sinful attitudes. We must not transfer into the church. It's the very structures of the world, which are legitimate in their place. Leave them there, though. Leave them there. It's all right there. But don't put them here. Don't put them here. We must not transfer them into the church. And so, the whole hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church can't work with this. A proper understanding of biblical eldership does work with this. Positions of status and power in the world, no matter how biblically exercised, have no true equivalent in the church of Jesus Christ anywhere ever at all. Never. It shall not be so among you. It shall not be so in my church. But whoever would be great among you, Jesus says, must be your servant. And whoever would be first among you must be your last, must be your slave. And I'll quote Calvin for the last time. He says, Let the only greatness, the only eminence, the only rank which you desire be this, to submit to your brethren. And let this be your primacy, your greatness, to be the servants and slaves of all. Even as the Son of Man came, not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. over and over and over again. We know this. All of us were children once. We had our parents do it to us. Now as parents, if we have children, it's with our children. Don't you say the same thing over and over again and they don't get it? Is God ever like that with us as His children? He brings the same thing to us over and over again and we don't get it. That's what's going on here. He said last first, first last. He said you should be like children in the kingdom. He said this, but James and John, the ten, didn't get it. They didn't hear it. So what's left for Jesus to say? You know that feeling, right? I'm not saying Jesus felt it, but we feel it. How can I get this across? What do I do next? How do I instill in them that this pride, this way, this status, all this, it's not in my kingdom. J.C. Ryle says this, what else can Jesus do, right? The Lord God has mercifully provided His people. And again, I want to say to us, maybe we feel it sometimes. Maybe we feel it, I just can't get it, I can't get it. I read the teaching, I hear it, I assent to it in my mind, but I just don't do it, I don't get it. What do we do? The Lord God has mercifully provided his people with everything necessary to their sanctification. He's given those who follow after holiness the clearest of precepts, there's the teaching, the best of motives, and the most encouraging of promises, but that's not all. He has furthermore supplied us with the most perfect pattern and example, even the life of his own son. By that life, he bids us frame our own. In the steps of that life, he bids us walk. I know it's been far overdone and probably many times wrongly applied, but it is worth asking, what would Jesus do, right? How did Jesus live? How did he live? That's how we are to live. And Jesus said, whoever would be great among you, here's the teaching, which they haven't got yet, but let's do it again. Whoever would be great among you must be your servant. I said it before, I'm saying it now. And whoever would be first among you must be your slave. I said that too, and I'm saying it again. And then he says, but let me tell you something else. This, my teaching, is rooted in this, my life. This, my exhortation and command to you, is rooted in this, that you see. What you hear is what you are seeing in me and will see in me as I go to the cross and lay down my life for those I came to serve. How can this not cause us to be ashamed of our pride? We've heard, we've listened, but our heads have been so thick. Now Jesus says, let's do more than hear, let's look. Look at me. and be ashamed. What could possibly be more opposed to our pride? Think of our pride. What could stand in greater opposition to every thought of self than the simple example that we all know of Jesus, who came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for you and me? in your handout, what could possibly have, if we really think about it, a more cleansing and a more purifying and a more empowering influence upon our sinful and prideful hearts, than if we actually take the time to think about what Jesus did, about the example that he left for us. This should be the death of our pride. And so I want to conclude in this way, There's only one besetting sin, let's just know this, that's common to all of us here. Equally common. It's the sin that makes us blind to our sin. That's scary. It's the sin that explains anything and everything about you and me that doesn't make sense. It's the sin that explains the contradictions in us all. And that sin is the sin of pride. It's the sin of self. It's the sin of me. And so every day, I desperately need to be reminded of not only the teaching of Jesus, what He told us, but of the example of Jesus, what He did. He gave us His example so that we could have that victory. that we don't get just by having it drummed into our heads day after day. If He came not to be served, but to serve. Think about it. If He came to give His life as a ransom for many, then what other greatness could we possibly wish for or want than to be the servant and even the slave. Think about that. Slave of all. and especially the slave of all of you sitting around in this room. But then if the Holy Spirit is doing that work in our hearts, we feel it, don't we? We still feel it. We say, okay, I've got the example, and I've got the teaching, but it's still there. It doesn't go completely away, and I still struggle with it, and I know that I'm gonna go home today, and I'm gonna have self-promoting thoughts. Because it's there in my nature as a sinner. And we fail day after day. And so now that example of the disciples reminds me that it's my pride that blinds me to my pride. I don't even know where I'm proud. It's my pride that makes my pride so subtle and so careful and so maybe even looking spiritual. It's my struggle with pride that's never ending. It's never ending. It never goes away. I think of all the victory I'd like to have with all the other sins in my life, but pride, pride, it's never ending. It's the struggle with self, it's the struggle with me. And as I was thinking about it, I just thought of Paul's words in Romans, O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? Have you ever felt that as you deal with your pride as I do? And it's at this point we just praise God that he came not just to set us an example. He came not just to be our perfect example, but first and foremost, before all else, to be our perfect sacrifice. And so here's the beauty of it all. Just revel in this for a minute. Just be satisfied in this. And even as you're satisfied in it, may you find your pride leaving. Even as Jesus was setting for us the perfect example of humility, He was dying for my what? For my pride. Even as He was setting me the perfect example of humility so that I could have it before me and be better enabled to do it. Even as He was giving me that example, He was dying for my pride. He was giving His life as a ransom for many. So that by His death in my place, in my place, in our place, we could be set free from, in your handout we see, from the penalty of our pride, which is what? Eternal, everlasting death in hell. From the power of pride, which has otherwise such control over our lives. And ultimately one day, think of it, think of it, we'll be set free even from the very last remnants of even the presence of pride. You struggle with it today, and I do too. If the Holy Spirit opens your mind to it, we'll see it, and it will frustrate you. And we strive against it, and we turn our eyes to the example of Jesus. And though we cry, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death, we can continue on with Paul. Thanks be to God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died to set us free from our pride. So then let this be our only greatness that we could ever wish for, that we could ever desire, and it's just this, to be the servants and the slaves of all. Let that be it. Dear Heavenly Father, For every self-promoting thought that we've had, we ask your forgiveness. I confess to you that I've had many this last week. Please forgive me. For not taking every thought captive to the obedience of our humble example and Savior, Jesus Christ, please forgive us, all of us, for our sin. Thank you, Lord, for the patience of Jesus. Thank you that he just repeatedly taught it, and even when the disciples didn't get it, he just taught it some more. And thank you that he didn't just teach it, he lived it for us, so that we could listen and we could lift up our eyes and see, see what he did, and then model our own lives after what he did. And then thank you most of all, that after all this, though we still sin and we still fail, that Jesus was a sacrifice for our pride so that we can be forgiven. Lord, we've heard a lot in Matthew 18. We've been preached to by Your Word from Matthew 19, Matthew 20. Over and over we've heard it, and yet we fail. So now help us to lift our eyes to His example and be more faithful. We pray it in Jesus' name, amen.