The singing of the doxology by the PCC student body begins Pensacola Christian College Chapel. At each chapel service, students have an opportunity to receive spiritual exhortation and enrichment during a time of music and meditation on God's word. This podcast shares selected recent chapel messages from guest speakers, faculty, and staff. Welcome to the PCC Chapel Podcast. Mark chapter 10, here's a question. Have you ever been humbled? Well, we know the answer to that question is absolutely yes. We have all been humbled. The disciples in our text this morning are about to be humbled. Notice with me Mark chapter 10, beginning in verse number 35. And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come unto him, saying, Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatever we shall desire. And he said unto them, what would ye that I should do for you? they said unto him, grant unto us that we may sit one on thy right hand and the other on thy left hand in thy glory. For just a few minutes this morning, let's look at this truth from this text, me first. Me first. Have you ever been humbled? Well, of course, again, the answer is yes. I'll give you a quick story of a time that I was humbled. I was a student here on the campus of Pensacola Christian College, and on one particular day, I decided to go to the library. Now, back then, the library was on the second floor. just the second floor. And so I was on my way to the library, I was walking up the steps, I had my backpack over my back, and I had my hands in my pocket. As I was nearing the top of the steps, I could see a table on the second floor, as I was nearing the second floor, and there was about five or six girls sitting at that table. And so I decided to start walking in a cool way. Now I will not demonstrate that for you this morning because I found that it was not very cool But I put my hands in my pocket and I began to saunter up those last steps However, when I got to the last step I tripped Now that normally would not be an issue. I had tripped before and just gotten through just fine. I knew all about tripping however, have you ever tripped with your hands in your pocket and I don't know what it is, it is some sort of law of physics, but it is absolutely positively impossible to pull your hands out of your pants when you're in the middle of tripping and I landed flat on my face. I mean, picking carpet remnants out of my teeth right in front of that table. You talk about being humble, truly pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit. before a fall. In our text, the disciples are about to be humbled. Notice with me just three simple points this morning from our text. First of all, we see a selfish motive. A selfish motive. Notice with me verse 35, and James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come unto him saying, Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire. Now Matthew 20, we won't take the time to look there, but Matthew 20 tells us that their mother was in on this as well. Now that should not surprise us in the least bit. You can almost hear mom saying, now Jesus, they're good boys, they really are. It also says in Matthew chapter 20 that they come worshiping Him. That also should not surprise us. Many worship with false motives. I remember when our boys, the Lord has blessed us with five boys. I have five boys and no hair, and that is why I have no hair, is because of those five boys. But I remember when they were young, I told them one time, privately, I said, listen, after dinner tonight, I, before you ask to be excused, I want you to look at mom and say, mom, thank you for the delectable meal. Now, they were really little. They could hardly say that word, but after dinner, right before they asked to be excused, mom, thanks for the delectable meal. Yeah, mom, thanks for the delectable meal. You know what her response was? What do you want? What do you want? Well, hey, Jesus asked the same question. Look at verse 36. And He said unto them, what would ye that I should do for you? They said unto Him, grant unto us that we may sit one on thy right hand and the other on thy left hand in glory. Now you know this from the whole of Scripture, from the context of Scripture, that that is the position of royalty. We see that throughout the Old Testament. We see it in the New Testament. Jesus was so exalted at the right hand of God. This is a position of royalty. Notice with me verse 38. But Jesus said unto them, you know not what you ask. Can you drink of the cup that I drink of and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? And they said unto Him, we can. What was Jesus talking about? Well, just to reference it, in verse 33 and 34, Jesus is preparing his disciples for what is about to come. And Jesus tells them that he's about to be condemned and delivered and mocked and scourged and crucified. And when that took place, the majority of the disciples did what? They fled. They fled. And Jesus, verse 39, said unto them, And by the way, the disciples were They all gave their lives for the cause of Christ. Jesus speaks truth, obviously. Verse 40, but to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared. Verse 41, and when the 10 heard it, they began to be much displeased with James and John. Hey, here's a question. Why were they displeased with James and John? Here's the reason. They wanted to be there first. They wanted to sit where they were asking to be sitting. They wanted to be first. Listen to Mark 9, 33. At the same time, or Matthew 18, 1, at the same time came the disciples under Jesus saying, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? We could go back to Mark 9, 33 through 37, and they're arguing over Who is going to be first or the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Here's the point this morning. This is the me first attitude. It is an age old question. The question did not originate in the book of Mark or Matthew. We find the question in the book of Genesis. When the serpent said to Eve, ye shall not surely die. Genesis 3, 5, for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof that your eyes shall be open and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. We know the story. Before Eve took or partook of the fruit, she contemplated the question, who is the greatest in the kingdom? Who's more important? Am I more important or is God more important? Who am I going to please? Am I going to please myself or am I going to please God? And Eve chose the me first decision. The question goes back even further than Adam and Eve in Isaiah 14. Verse 12, how art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? Before Lucifer fell from heaven, he entertained the question, who's gonna be greatest in the kingdom? Is it gonna be me or is it going to be God? Who's more important? Who am I going to please? Am I gonna please God or am I gonna please myself? And Satan made the me first decision. Isaiah 14, I will be like the most high yet thou shall be brought down to hell to the sides of the pit Not only is it an age-old question, it's a question that has not gone away. The question is alive and well in 2025. We find this question has mutated a bit. It has morphed in its appearance, but it is still very much alive. While the particulars have changed a bit, the premise is the same. Who is the greatest? It's a question you and I can see constantly in people's lives. For example, we see it in marriages today. Who is the greatest in the marriage? And marriage is often destroyed when two individuals fight over who is the greatest. Now they don't say it that way. I had the privilege of pastoring for 15 years and I had the opportunity to do marriage counseling and I never had a couple sit down in front of my desk and say, we can't decide who's the greatest in the marriage. No one says it that way. But whenever there is conflict, mark it down. They're vying for position. Who is the greatest? We see it in families today. Every member of a family has a certain role, a certain responsibility, and a family that is in constant conflict, chaos, and controversy, it takes place when they rebel against those responsibilities and argue and fight over who is the greatest in the family. Sadly, we see it in churches today. Every church split comes about when individuals plot and strategize over who is the greatest in the church, and we see it in our text. It can even happen in ministry. It could happen on the staff of Pensacola Christian College. It can take place in the dorm room. Who is the greatest? It can take place in your field of work on campus. It can take place in the collegian. Oh yes, the question still exists. It's an age-old question that is alive and well in 2025. The bottom line is it's pride. And there's pride in each and every one of us. I heard a story one time about a missionary that led an individual to the Lord and began to disciple him. This was on the continent of Africa somewhere, and after some time, this new convert decided to buy — he saved and saved and saved and bought a new pair of shoes. The man that made the shoes said, listen, the shoes will squeak for a couple weeks, but after they're worn in, they won't squeak anymore. He loved to wear those shoes to church. After two weeks, he came back to the man that made his shoes. He said, I want new shoes. He said, well why do you want new shoes? He said, they don't squeak anymore. He said, whenever I go to church and they would squeak, everybody would look at my brand new shoes and compliment me on my new shoes, but they don't squeak anymore. I want shoes that squeak. Listen, there's a little bit of squeak in each and every one of us. We want the attention. We want to vie for position. We want to argue and have conflict over who is the greatest in its pride. We see in our text a selfish motive. And that leads us to number two, a spiritual moral. A spiritual moral. Look at verse 42 of our text, if you will. But Jesus called them to Him and saith unto them, ye know not what, you know not that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship or authority or dominion. In Matthew, they use the word tyrannize or oppress over them. and their great ones exercise authority upon them. Notice verse 43, students, but so shall it not be among you. It shall not be among you. What's the point? The point is this, there is no place for ambition in the body of Christ. That what is ambition? It's an ardent desire for rank, for fame or power. There is no place for ambition in the body of Christ. Not only that, listen students, there is no place for competition in the body of Christ. It shall not be among you. C.S. Lewis said, pride is essentially competition. We say that people are proud of being rich or clever or good looking, but they are not. They are proud of being richer or cleverer or better looking than others. If everyone else became equally rich or clever or good looking, there would be nothing to be proud about. It is the comparison that makes one proud. And Jesus says it shall not be among you. There's no place for ambition or competition in the body of Christ. When I was a kid growing up in New England, I grew up in Maine and New Hampshire, and we would receive a lot of snow, not as much snow as you all have had here recently, but we would get a lot of snow. And in the parking lots of our church and our Christian school, they would plow the snow into these 15-foot piles. Some of you know what I'm talking about. And after school, a bunch of us guys, we would play something called King of the Mountain. And we would fight and punch and kick and claw and scramble to get to the very top of that snow heap, only to be there for just seconds before someone tossed you off the top. And we would just play that constantly. Many people go through their life that way. And according to the word of God, there's no place for competition in the body of Christ. Jesus said, it shall not be among you. We see in our text a selfish motive. We see a spiritual moral, but then lastly, notice with me, a supreme model. A supreme model. Look at verse 45. For even the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give His life a ransom for many. Notice, students, the word even. Even God's Son. even God, even deity, came not to be ministered to, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. Truly a supreme model, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of man. Being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. And Paul, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, says this to you and to me. He says, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. We see a supreme model. We will not take the time to do so. But we could go to John 13 where we see Jesus, the supreme model, served during a difficult time. He washed the disciples' feet not long before He goes to the cross. Not only did He serve during a difficult time, He served regardless of His authority and who He was. God in the flesh washing the disciples' feet. And then we see in John 13 that Jesus even served his enemy because he washed Judas' feet. Truly the supreme model. In conclusion, look at verse 43 once again. but so shall it not be among you." We need to emulate service, not selfishness. We need to promote others, not self. We need to exercise a humble spirit, not a haughty spirit. And let me leave you this morning with three questions. Three questions to help us look inwardly to take spiritual inventory, to see where we stand regarding the authority of God's Word this morning on being a servant leader. Three questions I leave you with this morning. Number one, do you have conflict in your life? According to Proverbs 13.10, only by pride cometh contention. Does that describe you? In your dorm room, in your collegiate, in your classroom, with your dating relationship, is there constant conflict? Oh, mark it down. It comes from pride and we need to start serving others. How about this number two? Am I experiencing joy in my life? Joy is an awesome thing to study about. Joy is an emotion of excitement based on something we have or something we look forward to. I believe that only a Christian can experience true joy because the greatest thing we possess is Jesus, amen? And the greatest thing we'll look forward to someday is spending eternity with Jesus. If anyone ought to have joy, it's a Christian. And yet so many believers have lost it. Well can I say this? There's joy in serving. There's, there's joy in serving Jesus. If you look at your joy meter, if it's low, just start serving. Stop fighting for the top of the heap and start serving others. Do I have conflict in my life? Number one, am I experiencing joy in my life? There's joy in serving. And then number three, am I content to be treated like a servant? We Christians can be funny people sometimes. We love to say this, and I'm guilty. I'm just a servant of Jesus Christ until we're treated like a servant. And then we don't want to identify with being a servant of Jesus Christ. We love to say, well, I'm just a servant of Christ. I'm just a bond slave until we're treated like a slave. Then we don't want to associate with Jesus anymore. Three questions. Is there conflict in your life? Is there joy in your life? And then number three, are we content to be treated like a servant? In closing, Samuel Bringle. Samuel Bringle graduated top of his class as a preacher boy. He was offered two of the biggest churches in America at that time, right out of college. He was a phenomenal preacher. He was a phenomenal administrator. He was charismatic. People flocked to him. And yet, he decided to go over to England and sign up to help William Booth with his Salvation Army. When he arrived, he asked William Booth, what do you want me to do? And William Booth said this. He thought for a moment. He said, every night when my soldiers go to bed, they leave their boots out in the hallway. I want you to stay up all night shining their boots. Well, Samuel Brangle was discouraged. Didn't William Booth know who he was? He was one of the greatest, youngest preachers. He had been offered two of the biggest churches in America. Don't you know who I am? And then he had this thought. God spoke to him and said this, I washed the disciples' feet. And Samuel Brangle said this, he said, Lord, you washed their feet, I. will shine their shoes. Young people, let's work on not having the me first attitude. students let's work on serving others. You've been listening to a message from Pensacola Christian College Chapel. You're welcome to pass this sermon along to others. Please don't charge for it or alter it without written permission from Pensacola Christian College. For additional information about PCC, visit us online at pcci.edu. Pensacola Christian College, empowering Christian leaders to influence the world for Christ.