Open your Bibles to the book of Matthew today. Matthew chapter 20. And let's stand together for the reading of just a few verses before the message. Chapter 20 of the book of Matthew. First God, first book in the New Testament. Matthew. Chapter 20. Right above chapter 20, there is a little phrase in chapter 19. But many that are that first shall be last and the last shall be first. But many that are first shall be last and the last shall be first. For the kingdom of heaven is likened to a man that is a householder, which went out in the early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the laborers for a penny a day, he sent them in to his vineyard. Excuse me. And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace. Circle the word idle. And said to them, go ye into all the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you and they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth hour, ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, saith unto them, Why stand ye here all day idle? They said unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive. So when even was come, the Lord of the harvest, or Lord of the vineyard, saith unto the stewards, call the laborers and give their hire, beginning from the last until the first. And when they came that were hired about the 11th hour, this is an ironic and unusual verse, they received every man a penny. Those who came in the first hour, those who came in the 11th hour, every man received a penny. But when the first came, that supposed they should have received more, and they likewise received every man a penny. And when they had received it, they murmured against the good men of the house. Verse 14, Take that thine is, and go thy way, I will give thee unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do that which I will with my own? Is thine eye evil because I am good? So the last shall be first, and the first last. For many be called, but few are chosen. Verse 26. But it shall not be so among you, but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister. And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant, even as a son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give His life a ransom for many. May God add His blessings to the reading of the Word of God. I want to talk to you about becoming a servant. Father, I need fresh oil. I need a touch of the Master's hand. Thank You for the singing. Thank You for those that are here today. Thank You for Your blessings to us. I pray, Lord, You will give me liberty Help me to say that only which I need to say and what You want me to say. Leave unsaid that which does not need to be said. And Father, I'll thank You for it in Jesus' name and for His sake. Amen. May be seated. I want you to hang on every verse today, every word. It won't take long. But I do want you to listen very carefully. The Bible says that Jesus came to serve, not to be served. The King of glory, the Christ of Christ, the God of gods, the Lord of lords, who condescended down as a little bitty baby by the way of the virgin birth, born in a stable, very unlikely place for a king to be born, but he was the king of the Jews. And he came in this world by the vehicle of the Virgin Mary. He lived for 33 and a half years on this earth, ministering from the age of 12 on upwards, especially from 30 to 33 and a half. And up and down the Jordan River and across the Galilean Lake, he probably traveled no more than 200 miles in the entirety of his ministry. But up and down the river and across the hills, through the valleys, on the mountaintops, the Lord Jesus was present among us. He came in this world perfect. He left this world perfect. He was the God's Son. He was the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and glory. But Jesus was a servant. If you want to put one word over it other than Savior, I'm glad He's our Savior and all God's people will see it. But I'm also glad He came to serve me. He come to serve you. He come to serve humanity, no matter what age they were, how old they were, what condition they were in. As you read the gospel, you see that account given four times of His life in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. He touched the leper. He healed the blind. He opened deaf ears. He made the lame to walk again. He fed 5,000, then fed 4,000, perhaps upwards closer to 20,000 people in one setting because He come to serve, not to be served. He was a servant of a servant. Several years ago, well, not several years ago, several months ago, I passed out a towel, like this one, to the entire staff of our church, school staff, nursery school, and the academy staff, and I give it to all of us today in symbolic language. On this towel is my initials, J, P is in bold letters, because that's my last name, M is, James, Marvin, Paulie. Each staff member got one of these and asked them to be a servant. I can't make anybody, and I can't make anybody do anything. The only one I'm responsible for, basically, is to do the will of God in my own life, and I've failed my times. I've failed, I'm sure, times and times again. I've failed the Lord in being what I ought to be, to being like the Lord Jesus. But remember in John 13, when it was somebody's duty to wash the disciples' feet, they'd gather there for the supper. and they're getting ready to eat. And they all came in off a dusty road, dirty feet. You know who got down and took a towel and washed the disciples' feet? None other than the Son of God, the Son of Man, the Lord Jesus Christ. And he took that towel, the Bible says, and he girded himself, wrapped it around him, and then he got down on his knees, had a basin of water, and he washed every disciple's feet. that was in that room that day, including Judas. I looked at my towel this week, and I reminded myself that God called me to be a servant. He called every individual who's saved to be a servant. Let me give you a couple questions so I can sort of bring together what I want to say. What do you call a chicken crossing the road? That's a profound question. That's poetry in motion. What do you call a boomerang that doesn't work? A stick. Where do you find a dog with no legs? Right where you left him. What do you call cheese that isn't yours? Nacho cheese. What do you call a man who falls into an upholstery machine? Fully recovered. Now what has that got to do with the next question? Are you listening? I simply give the humor to introduce the seriousness of this message today because this is most important. If I get nothing else said other than what I'm going to say right now, I want you to digest it, take it down mentally or physically in notes on your paper. What do you call a Christian who isn't serving? What do you call a Christian who isn't serving? And the answer to that is a contradiction. because every one of us has been called to be like the Lord Jesus Christ. And what we do, what we do, we call a Christian who isn't serving a contradiction because that's what they're supposed to do. I'm supposed to do that. You're supposed to do that. All God's children are supposed to do that. And you'll see when I come down to the end of the sermon today and sort of give an illustration that may bring it all together. To improve, we must seek the Savior's model. And he said, I want you to come follow me. And his disciples for those years, after he called them to be part of his inner circle and inner band, traveled with him across the dusty plains and down the roads of the Jordan River and the cities around it. And he was an example to them all the time. I have come to give you an example. He, first of all, is our Savior. He, secondly, is an example to all of us to teach us. how we're supposed to live. The happiest people in this room today are those who've learned how to serve and are learning to serve. We may not do it always the right way and may not always accomplish what we want to accomplish, but the joy is found in serving the Master. Have one life to live. will soon be passed. I first was a sheep astray on my way to hell. All we like sheep have gone astray. I then became adopted in the family of God and became a son of God. But as many as received him to them give you power or authority to become the sons of God. And then I went from being a son to a servant. He said, I called you to be servants. He said, I come not in the world to serve, be served, but to serve and to serve others. And what I've called you to do is to follow me and watch my example. I'm a model. I want you to see how it does, how I do it and what I do. And I want you to become like me. You say, preacher, we don't have the same power that he had. We have the Holy Ghost on the inside of us. Do we not? Jesus had the anointing of God upon his life. The Holy Ghost came upon him in the baptism, as we know of, and he was anointed. And the Bible says the anointed Savior, the anointed one, went about doing good in the book of Acts, chapter 10. He went about doing good everywhere because he was anointed with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit lives on the inside of every God-called Christian. Because of that, we ought to be up and about in the Father's business, and that's serving. Little children, he said, suffer no children, come unto me, for such is the King of Heaven. Sometimes little children put us to shame in their willingness to want to do the will of God. We've got somebody getting baptized. They're all excited about it. I mean, they even wrote it down in their Bible. Even their salvation, they got saved here recently. But they're all excited. They even come to me and say, they're just excited about getting baptized because that's one of the first things you do after you're saved, and being obedient to the Lord. And that's building a ground table to things to come. Once you're called of God, saved, baptized, is to get involved in the work of the Lord. And I hear this all the time. There ain't nothing I can do. Phooey. That's Greek for shut your mouth. Sure it is. You say, preacher, I don't know how to do it. You can learn how to do it. Do you know most people who sing songs were scared to death when they first sang? Do you know most preachers who preached their first sermon were petrified, broke out in the cold sweat, and sometimes couldn't swallow when they got ready to preach their first sermon? because that's what God had called them to do. It doesn't have to be in the limelight, behind the scenes and things you do. And some of the greatest gifts in the world found in the Word of God, the Christians can have. And I've said this many times, and I say it again tonight, today, because I want to put the emphasis where the emphasis ought to be. The gift of helps, H-E-L-P-S, is in the Bible, along with all the other gifts that we talk about that are out front, maybe teaching and preaching and being apostles and so forth. And there may be those serving gifts that are listed for us in the Bible. But one of the greatest gifts in the world is the gift of helps. Everybody can be involved and part of the work of God, but finding out where you fit is going to be a tremendous blessing in your own life. And so you find this context of the story of a man who hired somebody and offered a penny, for the day. They go to work in the early hours, they work all day, they get a penny. And then somebody come in the eleventh hour, and they work one hour, and they get a penny. That just doesn't seem fair. Are you telling me my God's not fair? Are you telling me God can't do that? I'm telling you God can do whatever He wants to do, whenever He wants to do it, however He wants to do it, and I'm not to question His motive, I'm to question my motive. If I agree to work for one penny, what should I get? A penny. If I agree to work for two pennies to get more than the other guy, then so be it. But nobody is to be jealous, nobody is to be upset, nobody is to get perturbed. Like the story says, they murmured against the goodman of the house. Or are they mumbling against God? Why has God not called me to do this? Or why has not God laid this charge on my life? Why does God not give me more of His blessings? God is waiting for us to be willing to open our hearts and say, Lord Jesus, here I am. Take me, use me. Please, Lord, don't refuse me. For surely there's a work that I can do. And even though it's humble, my will I crumble before You. I've been all at You and humble myself down in Your presence and say, God, take my life and let it be completely. and let God use you where He can use you. You'll be amazed where you may be plugged in in the work of the Lord. You become a servant after you become a son. I'm in the family of God. I'm going to heaven. If I asked for a raise of hands, all those going to heaven, raise your hand real high. Many of you would raise your hand. Then the next point is that I'm going to be a servant for the Lord Jesus the rest of my life. And I said this the other day and I mean it to my own heart. reminded myself of this tale, reminded myself of my duty as a pastor. I'm not a priest in the sense of confessing sins to. I'm not a Pope. I wouldn't have, I'd have trouble wearing one of those garments they wear all the time. I'd get lost in my, what they call them, robes, I guess. I'm not the Pope, I'm not a priest to be confessed sins to. My position in this church as pastor of the church was a gift of the Holy Spirit of God, but it's to be a servant to you the best way I know how. I have failed some of you over the years, no doubt, without doing intently, but I'm sure I've failed many times. But if I know my heart, and I don't know it completely, but if I could say anything honestly, I want to be a servant. 24-7, I'm on call. 24-7, I'm available. 24-7, I want to do the will of God, if I can do it. I'm not saying this braggadociosly, because I don't want to come across in pride, because we're supposed to be humble. Going to the hospital yesterday was a tough one for me. Ms. Kathy was there, and I went to see her, and they told me not to come. But I decided to go anyhow, and I felt pretty good until I got to the parking deck. And then they weren't on duty at the courtesy calls, and anyhow, I took the time to walk it. I sat down three times. I got turned around trying to find the room. When I walked in, Doug said, Preacher, you want my seat? I said, I sure do. I'm just joking with him, but he got up and gave me a seat for a while. And I walked out after having prayer with Kathy. And Kathy's such a precious lady. She's like a sister to me over these many years, as many of you have been. And I said, Kathy, I love you. We're praying for you. When I walked out of the hospital back down the hall to go back to the parking deck, I said, thank you, Lord, for giving me this strength just to get here. just to be able to say a few words. It wasn't much, and it may not mean a whole lot to her, but it meant a whole lot to my Savior because I was willing to go. And when we are willing to go and do the very best we can, sometimes we can't, sometimes we'd like to do more, but we just cannot do what we used to do. And some of you that I looked at in Sunday school are getting gray-headed like me, and our hairs in our head are silvering over, and the wrinkles are coming to our brow. Where is the next generation? If God doesn't do a work in our midst, our church will die. If God doesn't ring the bell of servitude, we'll not be around the next generation. A generation is usually 40 years, and every 40 years something great usually happens in people's lives or in a nation. Forty years throughout the Bible given over and over again. And over the years, things pass, and things we've done, sometimes we see our heyday. But we don't want to close the chapter. I want the best to come for the generation to follow. When my hair is silvered over and the wrinkles are in my brow and I can go no longer, I trust the generation to come will pick up a torch and say, because I'm saved, I want to serve. And I want to serve until the day I die, do the very best that I can. I can't do everything, but I can do something. And what I can do, I surrender to God to say, here am I, send me. You see, preaching the toughest parts, knowing what to do. And I said the other night, being willing to do the will of God will help you find the will of God. This is the Word of God. Amen? It's God's message to us. It's God's instruction book to us. It tells us where we are, what we're supposed to do. It tells us where we come from. It tells us who we are. It tells us where we're going. In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. God made man from the dust of the earth, breathed in his nostrils the breath of life. Man became a living soul. That's where I come from. I come from the hand of God Almighty. He can do anything He wants to do with me. I should not grumble about it in life. If God wanted to come up here today and split this pulpit in two, he can do it, because it's not my pulpit. Larry Cox made it, but it's not Larry Cox's pulpit. Larry may think it is, but it's not. He's got his name in here, but it's not his. It belongs to God. Right, Larry? And when you're dead and gone, this pulpit, if it's still here, it can be a memorial to God Almighty that Larry Cox took the time to build a pulpit here. And he also, because the preacher kept falling off the stage, he built two rails. How many were here the night or the day the girls fell off the stage? Two girls were singing, and they got right here where there's no rail, and they both fell flat on the floor. You see, they fell flat on their face. But oh, what grace. To be able to sing and then fall was not in the program, but we should have had this up a long time ago. Larry, you waited too late. But I'm glad you got them up. If you notice, probably every time I come to the pulpit now, or every time I come down, I would slide down, but I walk slowly down. But thank God for somebody using their ability. Thank God for men and women who work diligently behind the scenes and do many things that none of us ever know they would not get done. The times that I remember years ago in the bus ministry on a cold winter day, I've seen some guys who never preached a sermon, never sung a song, never done a lot of things, but on a cold wintery day trying to get an old bus started, sometimes it was on the ground, sometimes it was under the hood, sometimes it was praying for God to get the demons out of it so it'd run. but they were out there on a cold day. While the rest of us were still getting ready for church, and that's fine, they were getting things ready for the bus kids. They have a special reward in heaven, people like that. Not everybody can do that, but thank God for those who can. And thank God for those who are willing to, but it takes too much time. Everything you do for God takes time. Don't be selfish in your time. Be willing to devote your time, redeeming the time, buying up the time, buying up the opportunities, redeeming the time for the days of evil. And if you look around, you don't have to be a workers' rocket scientist to figure out these are the most terrible, destructive, debauchery age we've ever lived in in our life, and kids are the pawns used by the devil to try to destroy a generation, and he's got many of them in his captivity already and taking them down a primrose path that will lead to nowhere except to hell. By God's grace, we serve not to keep people on the right track, that's God's business, but we serve to help people to find Jesus Christ and to grow in grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Examine your motive. Can you imagine this chapter, chapter 20, what happened? John and James were two disciples of the Lord Jesus. They were the sons of Zebedee. The Bible says the mother came. Verse 20. Then came to him, to Jesus, the mother of Zebedee's children, with her sons. Remember now, 19, 20, 30. Many shall be first, shall be last, and the last shall be first. Here's the mother coming. I'm not questioning her motive altogether, except I wonder about it. It might have been generated by her sons. But she came to him, the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons, worshiping him. Amen. Worshiping him and desiring a certain thing of him. Ask what you will of me. I'm always willing to answer your prayers if it's in the will of God. Jesus wants us to ask. And he said unto her, what wilt thou? And she saith unto him, Grant that these two my sons may sit, the one on the right hand and the other on the left hand, or the left, in thy kingdom." Wow. Who generated that conversation? Maybe the mother was real proud, always wanted her, it's like maybe a mother who wants her son to be the picture all the time. Or maybe the mother who wants her son in the lineup and he's riding the bench. I've sat on the bench many a time playing sports. Some of the greatest men and women who've ever played sports are on the bench because they're ready if they got to go in. And sometimes they do. But they got this position. I want my child to have limelight. I want this to be this and this with this way. And maybe John and James were a little bit jealous. You know, each other maybe particularly in the family feud, but both of them wanted to have a position in the kingdom, and they were looking for the Messiah, the Lord Jesus set up his kingdom, and they wanted to be a part of that, and the mother asked, one said on the right, and one said on the left, and the Lord Jesus said, verse 22, you know not what you ask. Are you able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? And they said unto him, are able. I see several problems there. One, they came asking the wrong question, but they came with pride. We're able. They had no clue what together Jesus was going to suffer. They thought he may have some persecution because he was the king on the earth. But he's getting ready to drink the cup. Remember the cup? Garden of Gethsemane, chapter 26. Jesus alone in the garden. He went to the garden alone to pray. with the burdens of the sins of the whole world upon his shoulder. He was born to die. He come to seek and to save that which was lost, Luke 19 10. Jesus Christ was going to the garden and he got on his knees and began to pray as he oft did. Father, Remember, he said, Father, at that time. Remember, a few hours after that, he'll not call him Father, but call him God. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? But in the garden, he prayed, Father, not my will. Could you pray that today? Father, not my will, but thine be done. If it's possible, let this cup pass from thee. I believe Jesus Christ knew exactly what was ahead. I don't think he was trying to renege on the cross. I don't think he was trying to get out of dying. From the foundation of the world, the lamb was slain. If there's any other way, it had all been brought up. It has never been brought to the counter. It had never been brought to the table. Jesus Christ knew he was going to die for the sins of the world. He had already faced persecution after persecution. And now he said, Father, if it be possible. I know it's not possible, but if it be possible, let this cup. What's the cup? Oh, how many times I've had to look in the cup. It was not wine as we know wine. It was the wrath of God and the sins of every individual that's ever lived was in that cup. He looked down that cup and saw me. My reflection popped up in his mind, I'm going to die for James' sins. I'm going to take his sins to the cross. I'm going to take his sins and become his substitute. I'm going to die where he should have died. I'm going to suffer his hell that he should suffer, that he can enjoy my heaven. I'm going to pay a price that James, Marvin, and Paulie cannot pay. Father, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. I believe he drank that cup to his own soul. knowing in just a few hours they'd drag him across the Via Dolorosa, up to Cobble Street, to Calvary, to the cross, to where he would die. Examination, what's your motive? What's your motive for serving God, or what's your motive for not serving God? What's your motive for coming to church? Is it just say, well, we're here? Remember, folks, if we don't get up and about the Father's business, we won't be here. And churches are closing all across America. Just talk to somebody today. They've done away with their Sunday school and done away completely with it because they couldn't get the crowd to come. They switched everything around. And that's up to them. I'm not trying to be super critical. I realize they're trying to find a way to make it work. We're changing things because things don't seem to work like they used to. But you can't improve on just sowing and knocking on doors and telling folk about Jesus. It'll work in every generation. Brother Willie and I was talking about it last night. It'll work in every generation. It'll work in our generation. If you want to find a place to serve, maybe it's just knocking on doors. You say, I'm scared. We'll go with somebody. Sometimes when you've got two or three folks, it gives you a little more courage. You ever went to a door by yourself? I've been down that road. And hope they don't answer. See everybody in there? If you've done enough soul winning, you know some days the devil just puts fear in your heart. Lord, maybe they're not home. And then you leave a track and you did something good, but you were scared somebody would open the door. What I'm always afraid of is about a seven-foot guy with muscles bigger than my body, tattoos all over his body, opens the door and says, yes, sir? Just wanted to drop by and talk to you about Jesus. I was in the neighborhood. Can I come in and talk to you for a while? He said, no, say what you want to say at the door. And I can say, God loves you. Jesus Christ down on the cross for your sins. If you were to die right now, are you 100% sure you're going to heaven? You'll say it wouldn't do any good. Some of the biggest men have gotten saved who were the roughest, toughest in town because somebody cared to knock on their door. And sometimes we get afraid because we are human. But we also got to remember the anointing of God is on our life to help us to go. May God help us. You know, pride became a factor because And he, James and John, ordered the mother, said, we're able to drink the cup if they only knew. He said, yeah, you'll drink the cup and be baptized with the baptism that I've been baptized with, but to sit on the right hand and on my left is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my father. I don't know who's going to be on the right hand of God in heaven, Jesus Christ. That's not a question I need to ask. I just want to be there. Somebody says, preacher, when I get to heaven, I'm going to look around and say, wow, impeach yourself. I'm there. I'm there. I'm here. Nevermore to leave. All trials are gone. All problems are over. All tears are shed for the last time. The victory's been won. Christ has been sufficient. I've made it from the time I was a child all the way to this destination. I'm so glad I've been saved and redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. What's your motive? Is it pride? Do you want the pats on the back? I'll tell you what, the pats on the back Jesus got was stripes. Oh, so you, yeah, I'm able. Are you? When the going gets tough, the tough get going, somebody says. In Christianity, when things get going tough, you better have the power of God on your life, because it ain't going to get any easier. You say, preacher, if you get in this Christian life, you won't have any joy. That's where the joy's at. If you want to find out where they found the joy in the book of Acts, when they come back from being persecuted, they came back rejoicing. When they got persecuted, they came back rejoicing and praising the Lord that they were able to suffer for the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said partake of his sufferings in Philippians 1 29. Be willing to suffer whatever that may mean, whatever may encounter. And I'm going to be honest with you completely. I don't want to suffer. My flesh recoils against that. But if you have to suffer for Jesus Christ, and ye, if we have to die for Jesus Christ, could not we do it as our forefathers did, who were willing to pay a price they couldn't pay? But Christ helped them to pay a price of servitude by helping them to face what they didn't want to face. And many of the Christians died, martyrs' death, 12 apostles, all of them except John on the Isle of Patmos, suffered horrible deaths. John said, I'm able to bear it. Then he didn't understand, but now he does. Banished to an island, boiled in oil, tried to kill him. John the Baptist, I mean, John the disciple. And there, that great, beautiful sight, when John was given by divine inspiration, the book of Revelation, a panoramic view of what was going to happen from the first to the end. He got all the way over to chapter 22. as we see it in our Bible in chapters. And we see it. And John saw heaven. He saw the glory of God. He saw the end of time. He saw what it was going to be like in the glory world. And John said, even so, come Lord Jesus. He was ready and willing to pay a price in this life for Jesus Christ. And even though he suffered tremendously, he was ready to go to heaven when he saw the greatness of God's program and wanted to go immediately. I think we'd feel the same way when we'd read the book of Revelation. But pride gets in our way sometimes and how sad that is. The Lord judges us and says this in 1 Corinthians 4 and 5, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. You start out being a sheep with sheep going astray and God calls you and all sheep have gone astray. And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of Saul and the Lamb of God was slain on the cross of Calvary as the sheep was shed and killed down through the annals of time. And now I'm a sheep. I'm a sheep and God's pastor. I'm either a sheep going astray or I'm a sheep under the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. And so I find that position and that sheep position goes to a son. And I realized I've been adopted in the family of God. I'm an heir of God, a joint heir of Jesus Christ. I'm a VIP, a very important person. You bragging? I'm saying because of Calvary. Because of Calvary. because Jesus loved me enough to die for me. For God so loved the world, my name's in there, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. Now it's required of me to be a steward. A steward is a manager over somebody's household. And the Lord says, I'm putting you in charge of a particular area, whatever it may be. For a point in time, a period of time, you're going to do this as your duty. Do it as long as I tell you to do it, as long as you can do it. And when you can't do it anymore, hand the torch to some next generation that they will follow through. We need to do that. We need to be preparing for the next generation if Jesus Christ is coming. But we serve our generation. Jesus said he slept with his fathers. David served his generation and he slept with his fathers. Acts 10, 42. He slept with his fathers after he served his generation. What was he? David said, I'm a servant. He was king of Israel. I'm just a servant. Oh, he got lifted up in pride a few times, as we all do. And we have to be brought back down to reality. The cup of suffering and affliction awaits us. Suffering comes because we serve him. It's not always enjoyable to the degree that you would say, ha ha, I've got to go do it. but the joy comes in seeing satisfaction in somebody else's life that you helped them. You ever had somebody say to you, I'm so glad you talked to me about Jesus. I'm glad you gave me the gospel. There's no greater reward in all the world than knowing that you were instrumental in God's hand and knowing God did it, not you, that you touched somebody's life as you passed through this world. And when the journey's over and the victory's been won completely, You get to heaven and you see somebody there that says, could I talk to you? Thanks for telling me about Jesus down on earth. Thanks for coming by on the old bus. Thanks for coming by as a Sunday school teacher and follow up on the class. I'm glad you didn't give up on me. I know I was a pill and a pain and probably a lot of heartaches and brought tears to people's eyes. I'm glad you didn't give up on me. Because you don't know what's going on in the inside of a man's life, or a woman's life, or a boy's life, or a girl's life. There is conflict and turmoil, and they're looking for answers, and they're seeking here, and seeking there, and seeking everywhere, that I could just find peace and passion and understanding. They can't find it outside of Jesus Christ, and the only place to find it is at the cross of Calvary, to the blood-stained banner of Jesus Christ. It'll bring joy. It'll bring happiness. It'll bring victory. It'll bring something worth living for. And this whole world's not worth living for outside of the people that populate this world. And we've been called to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. May God help us today. Suffering comes. James didn't suffer long. James and John, remember, brothers? James Acts 12 was killed by the sword. The Bible says, They killed James. Then they got after Peter and knocked Peter up. We're going to kill Peter. John was being preserved for a miraculous panorama of the end of time. But James didn't last long. Shortly after Jesus went back to heaven, James died. Martyr's death. I'm simply saying that the disciples paid a price. John lived to be 95 years old, but was filled with difficulty. He called him, I'm your companion in tribulation, Revelation 1-9, when he wrote the book of Revelation. Ministry can be a struggle. He said, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for your labor is not in vain. As you work, as you toil in the work of the Lord, doing what you can, Some of the greatest blessings are people who can't go out, but they pray. I've talked about it before, and I'll not try to go long with it, but there's people that I know who keep a journal. They can't go out. They can't get around and communicate with others without help. They just can't get out of the house. David Gibbs tells the story of his own daddy who was in a rest home. But he'd go to the garden every day, the weather permitted, he'd bring out missionary cards. He kept them in an album. He'd say, oh God, bless this one. What's he doing over there in the garden? He's praying for missionaries. He'd say, big deal. Could I say big deal? To be able to pray for somebody else is a great talent. Not everybody can do that and take the time to do it. Our good friend that just died, Brother Allen, If you went to his little humble shack, humble camper down at Mount Pleasant, if you ever walked in, you saw what I saw. And then he began to explain to me. All across the ceiling were prayer cards. All the way down the side were prayer cards. He said, come here, preacher. You see that over there? You know who that is? Yeah, I knew who it was. Now, the conversation never ended until he'd say, Preacher, I'm praying for you. And I'm glad to have your picture on my wall. Well, you see, that fills you up with pride, and that humbles me down about as low as I can get. And the greatest ability that a Christian has, and I need more of that, is a gift of humility, of bowing my knee down before a holy God, and revere Him, and extol Him, and exalt Him, and say He's all in all. God is worthy of praise, and the way we serve Him is by the way we answer the call of God upon our life to do whatever God calls us to do. And some people can do things better than others. I've used the illustration many times about Faye Chandler years ago. She used to feed the preacher during revival. We can't hardly do that nowadays with schedules like they are, but we'd go to people's houses and you'd eat, and I could tell you several stories about what happened on some of those meals, but Miss Faye Channard would make some of the best fried chicken you ever hung your lip on. Now there are other folks that can do that too, so I'm not weeding you out. If you get jealous of this illustration, you need to come to the altar and get Rabbi Gunn. But we was going, I was telling the preacher, Prestor used to be over at Cramerton for quite a while. Anyhow, I said, listen, she makes some of the best chicken you ever ate. You're going to really enjoy it, because she always fixed chicken. And we got there and sat down at the table to eat. And you know what she had? She had ham. We ate the ham, enjoyed the meal. It was a delicious meal, and the ham was good. I got back in church that night. I said, Miss Faye, would you stand up, please? I want to publicly rebuke you. God's call in your life is to fix good fried chickens that don't get out of the will of God anymore. You understand? Always have fried chicken. There have been many a chicken enter the ministry. And I'm grateful for folks who are willing to cook at times. And I'm willing for folks who sometimes just do little things along the way that most of us sometimes take for granted. But we're just serving each other. And I want to be your servant. I want to be a help. I trust I can be. I'll make an application. I'll be through. The other disciples got mad. Here's what you have. The motive of the mother of James and John. And James and John came and asked Jesus a question that they shouldn't have asked. But they were sincere, no doubt about it. They learned a valuable lesson. That's the whole key of learning. Because they learned. And then the rest of the disciples, they got upset because the other two disciples were begging for a position. And what the Lord Jesus was saying to these disciples and to you and me today, I'm not passing out crowns. I'm passing out crosses. I'm not looking for you to have a lot of glory. You're going to have a lot of grief. Are you willing to take that and use that in the work of God? I'm passing out something that's tough to take, but happy are those that serve with the right motive. Wherever He leads me, I'll follow. Our missionary candidate out of our church is in Fairfax, Virginia today. Been in the message conference all week long, hoping to get to Japan. They're just a young couple. They're good people. They got good in-laws and out-laws. They got a good family. But they're longing to go to Japan, if that's the will of God for their life, we leave it between them and God. They're out raising support to go. And when they get a certain percentage of their money raised, they'll be sent by their missionary board to go with the blessings of the church. I don't want to go to Japan. That's not on my agenda to go to Japan. It's not on my heart to go to Japan. But somebody's got to go. And God calls people to go. If God called me, I want to go. I want to be willing. I hope you want to be willing also. So the disciples got mad. Jesus had to do a lot of good teaching to them. He didn't get real upset with them. He knew they were human flesh. He still tried to help them. The example we ought to have is the Lord Jesus Christ, Matthew 20, 28. He was willing to sacrifice. He was willing to be a servant. He set the standard. Dave Thomas, who was the founder of Wendy's restaurant, Anybody ever ate at Wendy's or any place? We used to have a sign down there. He used to have a sign for God so loved the world right there at the counter for years. I don't know if it's still there or not. But it was always impressive to me that he put a scripture verse right there on the counter for everybody to see. But he came into a training session one time dressed in a knee-length work apron, a mop, and a plastic bucket describing the picture. He says, now, young people, listen up. I got my MBA mop-bucket attitude long before I got my GED, which is General Education Overseer, or degree. Before I got my degree, I got my mop-bucket attitude. What was he trying to say? You learn to be a servant. If you're too good to clean up a mess, you're too good to work. If you're not willing to roll with the punches and do what you got to do, Keep a good attitude the best you can. If you do fail, you should apologize quickly. Eating places are learning how to be nice to customers. A lot more than they used to be. And a lot of folks are learning the lesson of how to treat people. How much more should we as Christian people do the same? I'll give you this story and I'm through. It's really not a story. It's an old saying that goes like this. Somebody else will do it. This is a story about four people named everybody, somebody, anybody, and nobody. There was an important job to be done, and everybody was sure that somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that because it was everybody's job. Everybody thought anybody could do it, but nobody realized that everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that everybody blamed somebody when nobody did what anybody could have done. I simply leave with you today. It is your job to do what God beckons you to do. Would you take the towel today symbolically for me? And may it remind me of my responsibility as a pastor of this church. Going on 53 years I've served as pastor. Not much longer. but I want to go out serving the Lord the best I can. Would you be willing to follow your pastor as I follow Christ? Would you be willing to say, here am I, send me, take me, use me? When you fill out that little survey sheet, prayerfully bring it back in. Don't fail to do so. Not because it may only be one thing you check on there. One thing. That may be one of the most important things we need somebody doing. Or I'm willing to do this. I can help here. I can do this. I can do a puppet show. I can lead singing. I can play an instrument. We don't know how many folks can play instruments. It might be good to find out. Somebody might play a trumpet. Shane, you still play a trumpet? No. I really doubt you did. Some people can sing whose talent may have been wasted. Oh, yeah, you've got to be trained. You've got to go through procedures. And the higher you go in leadership, the higher the standard becomes. We ought to be willing to get in the towel. and say, God help me to do my best. I only have one life to live. You do too. Soon it's going to be over. My granddaddy lived to be 98 on my daddy's side. My granddaddy lived to be 87 on my mother's side. I prayed to the Lord one time to let me die somewhere between those two. Or maybe between my dad died at age 57, but his daddy lived to be 98. Maybe I'll take my granddaddy's genes. I'm not sure altogether where I'll die, but I want to die on the battlefield. Would you pray for me? And I'll pray for you. Would you say, by God's grace, I'll do what I can do, preacher? I'm limited, or I'll be willing to do whatever God wants me to do. You never know. You say, God never called me to do that. You'd be surprised what God may call you to do in the ministry. Just be willing. And when you're willing, you're in the will of God. You're willing to be in the will of God, God will lead you and guide you along and help you. And we'll try to do the same thing. Just looking, just praying, just asking God. I close today and I'm through. Are you saved? If you died right now, would you go to heaven? What's next? Serve. Just serve the best you can, wherever you can. Whenever the door opens up, Just be willing to serve. You'll be surprised of how God will bless you. Last scripture, they that honor God, God will honor them. Some way, some how. People who honor God, God honors. Maybe here, maybe there, but wherever. Whether it's the first hour or the last hour, I leave that to the God to do what He wants to do. So if you get more than somebody else or you have more blessings, than somebody else. Leave it with God. Everything's going to balance out right because He's the master bookkeeper and He knows. Let's stand together please. The examination of your motives for living and serving The expectation sometimes to expect difficulty. It's not going to be easy. Sometimes some folks will be upset. Sometimes folks will be made right. Some folks will be excited about it, but others may not. But remember, your example is the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'll read it one more time. Verse 28, Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give His life a ransom for many. Father, I have discharged my responsibility today as a pastor and preacher. Lord, I trust you'll take the frailty of the human being that stands behind this pulpit today and help me to be thankful. Help me not to grumble through life. Help me not to complain. Lord, help our people because some of the best people in all the world are pastors. And Lord, to some degree, I've been preaching to the choir this morning. There are some folks who get overly involved They just need some help. They get involved and sometimes they don't have enough wherewithal. Sometimes they need a little break or a little rest to recuperate, to get back into battle. Or just need subs and people willing to do what they can do when they can do it. It may not be great in people's eyes or the world's eyes, but it keeps the machinery running. And I pray God you'll honor your word today. I've done the best I know how, except the message, as unto you.