In your Bibles this morning, Luke chapter number 9. Luke chapter number 9, we'll begin reading in verse number 46, and today's message is titled this, Greatness God's Way. Now I'll have you know, there's some folks who have an idea of what greatness is, but if your greatness is not God's greatness, it doesn't count. And we should determine, with God's help, to be great in God's eyes. And what the Lord thinks should be of utmost importance to us, don't you think? And in this passage of Scripture, we're going to read it today, and we're going to meet up with Jesus' disciples, the very people that God is going to use in a mighty way to start the church and change the whole world. But we're going to meet them in a moment where they are really struggling with their flesh. And they're really struggling with envy and pride. And they're struggling with this desire in their own hearts to be better than their fellow disciple and be great in their own eyes and kind of make their spot in this world. And the Lord Jesus is going to use this passage of Scripture and this story and some things I'm going to share with you. He's going to use this to help them understand what greatness really is in God's eyes. I want you to know Greatness in God's eyes is not proud. Greatness in God's eyes is not arrogant. Greatness in God's eyes is not envious. Greatness in God's eyes is the Spirit of Christ Himself. The Bible said of Jesus that He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. The world's idea of greatness and God's idea of greatness are two different things, but I'll have you know something. If you aspire to be great God's way, you indeed will find greatness. A life that counts. A life that makes a difference. A life that can change the lives of other people. Great. I love greatness. I want to be great. I want to be great, but I want to be great God's way. And may the Lord help us to learn from some of the mistakes of the disciples on a day like today and aspire to have greatness. I have a picture. on my phone and I don't use my children as examples very often because you know they're not heads, they're preacher's kids, they're trouble, it's just how it is. But I've got a picture on my phone and it's been on there for years and Ian, he had a great time playing high school sports and we had a great time watching him. But I've got a picture on my phone, it's my favorite picture from all of his sports and it's been on there for years. I'll tell you what it looks like. It's Ian on the bench. It's Ian on the bench. And Ian's on the bench, and I happen to know the setting there, that he was on the bench because he'd not played very well previously. He's on the bench, and the picture is Ian on the bench, but he's standing behind his coach with his arm in the air, cheering on his team. And I save that, and I show it to him occasionally just to remind him of what matters most to me, what greatness really looks like, in my opinion. And we need to know that the spirit of Christ and great in God's eyes is what matters. I was watching a football game, the Chill Howie Warrior football game on Friday night, and we made a run, a rally against Holston, and we love beating Holston. It's just wonderful to beat Holston. Not as good as beating Marion, but it's wonderful to beat Holston. And I know we've got some Marion folks here, so I had to jab you just a little bit. It was wonderful that we had made a run and there's a chance and It was sweet and I was watching the game, but there was something else I was watching that really showed greatness to me. There was a kid on the sidelines I know him very well and He doesn't get to play very often But when the team was rallying he was running up and down the sideline cheering on the team cheering on the crowd I was like hallelujah. That's great That's great. And you know, I Greatness in God's eyes is not something that only the talented can have. It's not something that only the brilliant can have. Greatness in God's eyes is something that all of us can have when with God's help and God's Spirit we determine to do God's will with our life. greatness God's way. Let me read this passage of scripture to you. The disciples, they're going to mess it up. They're full of pride, and so often we find ourselves in the same situation. May God remind us today of what great looks like to God. Verse 46 of Luke 9, the Bible says, then there arose a reasoning among them, which of them should be greatest. And Jesus, perceiving the fault of their heart, took a child and set him by him, and said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me, and whosoever shall receive me receiveth him that sent me. For he that is least among you all, the same shall be great. And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and we forbade him, because he falleth not with us. Jesus said to him, Forbid him not, for he that is not against us is for us. And it came to pass when the time was come that he should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers before his face, and they went and entered into a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him. And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. and when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, even as Elias did? But he turned and rebuked them and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of, for the Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. another village. Greatness God's way. This is an interesting story. And there's got multiple parts. So the first part is the disciples are kind of fussing among each other, who's the greatest? So they get up enough nerve to ask Jesus, who's the greatest? And Jesus says, whoa, hold on. And he pulls a child to his side. And he points. He says, if you receive this child, if you'll learn from this child, and you'll have the spirit of this child, I'll show you what greatness is. If you'll learn from this child, you'll learn from me, and you'll learn from God the Father. He says, childlike. Then the next scene changes, and it's kind of interesting, because John, one of the disciples, speaks up, and John, he's feeling really proud of himself, because there's a guy out there that's no doubt put his trust in Jesus, and he's out doing the work of the Lord, and he's casting out devils in the name of Jesus, and John saw fit to rebuke him and tell him, you need to stop doing that, because you're not with us. And Jesus said, whoa, don't do that. Don't do that. He said, if he's not against us, he's for us. Don't do that. And John was full of pride. So John wanted to make his strong stand. But it was proud. The Lord says, no. And then the last thing is Jesus has set his face. And the picture, the word picture there is Jesus is determined. He's going to Jerusalem. He's going to Jerusalem to die on the cross for our sins. He's set his face, and he goes by way of a Samaritan village. There's some people who go ahead of him to host him in the Samaritan village, but Jesus is preoccupied with going to the cross. When he gets to the Samaritan village, he's so consumed with going to the cross that the Samaritan people get aggravated at him because he's not paying them the kind of attention that they thought He should pay them. And so his disciples, being the disciples that they are and the proud mindset they're in at this moment, they say, Lord, do you want us to just call down fire from heaven like Elijah did and consume all these Samaritan people? And Jesus is like, whoa, no. He says, you don't even know what spirit we're of right now. He said, this is not the spirit that I want us to have, that I want you to have. This is not greatness. He says, I've come to save people, not to destroy them. And those three scenes make up our message this morning. Greatness, God's way. Let's consider this number one. Greatness is childlike. Greatness is childlike look at the text says in verse 46 then there arose a reasoning among them Which of them should be? Greatest now this begins the scene and it's kind of fascinating to see because there arose a reasoning among them Have you ever been a situation or in a room? Maybe around a dinner table or at a family reunion or something and there arose a reasoning there arose a fuss about this that or what have you and that's what's going on with among the disciples at this moment. There are rows of reasoning. They're beginning to fuss with each other because they want to know who's greatest. I think that they're probably a little bit aggravated because a few things have been happening lately. One speculation is this. Peter had just recently been with Jesus, and Jesus paid Peter's temple tax, and I wonder if the other disciples are aggravated because Jesus didn't pay their temple tax. You know, sometimes we get pretty upset about silly little things, right? Sometimes we get pretty petty about things that are petty. Another thought is you got Peter, James, and John, often referred to as the inner circle. And even in this chapter, they've actually been called on and set apart and done some very specific, special things with Jesus. And I can't help but think that some of the disciples are a little aggravated because it seems like Peter, James, and John are getting all the attention lately. I want you to know the devil loves for us to be upset at each other. The devil loves it when we squibble and squabble and fuss. And I'm just going to tell you, 99% of fussing among people, especially among Christian people, is something designed by Satan to dissolve our unity and keep us from being effective for the glory of God. And God's people need to learn that we need to just humble ourselves and have the spirit of Jesus because greatness is, as we'll see in our text, childlike. The Bible says in verse number 46, there arose a reasoning among them which of them should be greatest. Verse 47, and Jesus perceiving the thought of their heart. I love verse 47. Jesus perceived the thought of their heart. That's kind of struck a chord in my heart. You know what? Jesus knows our motives. If he already knows them, we might as well confess them and get them right and straighten it out with the Lord's help. Jesus perceived the thought in their hearts. He took a child and set him by him. He takes a child and he says of the child, he said, unto them, whosoever shall receive this child. He said, this word receive is this idea of you receiving to understand. You're trying to learn something from a child. How many of you have been around a child? A child taught you something. Sometimes a child will bring you right back to earth. Have you noticed that? He says, if you'll receive this child, he says you'll receive me. And if you'll receive me, you'll receive him that sent me, the Father. He said, you need to learn something from this child. And he says, I want you to know something, that he that is least among you, the same shall be great. Greatness is childlike. Greatness you're the first thing that must cross Jesus mind as he's dealing with this it with all that's going on Jesus is getting ready to go to the cross and Here we've got the disciples. They're fussing and fuming and fighting about who in the world is greatest among them Who cares? Who cares let me ask you a question if you are the greatest person in chill Howie? What do you really have? If you're the greatest person in Smith County, what do you really have? If you could aspire and become the greatest person in the state of Virginia, what do you really have? I dare say that if you aspire to be the number one person in all the world, what do you have? I'll tell you, you may have a little flash of fame for a moment, but it won't be long until nobody knows who you are. You see, greatness by the world standard is something that has no lasting value, but greatness by God's standard is something that lasts forever. So what are we aspiring to? We aspire to be great in God's eyes. Number one, greatness is childlike. He points to the child. What's the emphasis of the child? Let me tell you a few things about this child. There are some things about children that are not righteous. Have you noticed that? You know, my children lied. I know your children probably didn't, but my children lied. Their mama must have told them because I sure didn't. My children, they learned how to say the word mine. And they weren't all perfect. But there are things about childlike faith that's really important. I think the emphasis here in this illustration, Jesus brings this child. And this child is some person, is someone that cannot on their own stand. It's somebody that has no aspirations for greatness in the crowd of people that they were surrounded by. It was a child of somebody who said, when Jesus had come here, he just came here. When Jesus said, sit here, he sat there. When Jesus said, I'll take care of you, he says, all right, that'll be great. We think about being children. Some folks say, boy, if I could only go back to being a child. I don't ever say that because I don't want to go back to being a child. But when we say that, I understand why. I mean, isn't it sweet when your bills used to have your parents' name on them? That's awesome right there. I understand what it's like to be a child and some of the freedom of being a child, but there's a sense even this moment that as children of the Most High God that we can rest in Him and determine to do His will and trust and believe in the Lord. And we can have this childlike spirit that says, you know what? God's going to take care of me. I'm going to do my best, but God is going to take care of me. And Jesus says greatness is the spirit of this child, helpless, dependent, without status, living by faith. I pray the Lord will give us a childlike spirit when we live our lives. One that says, I care about others. One that says, I don't care about getting an advantage on somebody. I'm not rank and sick with envy and greed. May the Lord help us. Greatness is childlike. He took a child. Greatness is childlike. Are you trusting in the Lord? I'm going to tell you, if you'll have the spirit that says, I'm going to trust in God, you're going to find out that it's great to be a child of God, to trust in the Lord, to rest in Him and His benefit. Greatness God's way. Greatness is childlike. Number two, greatness is not envious. Greatness is not envious. We move from scene one when the child comes and Jesus says, the least among you will be great. We move to the next scene where John says, huh, I want to tell you what I did. I did something for you, God. I did something for you, Lord. I did something for you, Jesus. He says, I put some guy in his place who's casting out demons in your name. Have you ever said something out loud, and when you heard yourself say it out loud, you said, man, that wasn't as good an idea as I thought it was. Here he says, he comes to Jesus and he's like, I'm feeling really proud of myself. I'm gonna tell Jesus how good I am and what I just did. He said, there's a guy casting out demons. I'm like, man, that's good. In Jesus, I'm like, wow, that's real good. And he says, and I rebuked him and that's real bad. And so here's John. John's like all full of pride because he's doing so good and he tells Jesus what he's done. And Jesus says, whoa, that's not how it works. You know what John was motivated by? John was motivated by his own envious spirit. He was motivated by, I've got to be the only person that's right. If I'm going to be right, other people have to be wrong. You know what we get in the habit of? And Christian people are terrible about doing this. We get in a habit that if we're going to be something and be great, that we feel an obligation to beat other people down in order to make us feel greater than we really are. I'm so glad. When I was in college, our pastor made this emphasis. He says, you do not build anything for God by tearing other people down. It just don't work like that. It don't work like that. I'm so thankful that I don't get up on Monday morning thinking I'm in competition with other churches in this area. I'm not. I don't have that spirit. I don't want to have that spirit. I want you to have that spirit. I want to see what God can do, and I want to cheer on folks who are preaching God's Word, and I want to cheer on folks who are standing up for the truth. I want you to know that I'm not going to excuse or accept error, but I'm also not going to be so foolish that I think I'm the only person on the planet that's doing anything right. I'll never forget, and I love that it's right. Pastor Chuck always said, my mind is as narrow as that book right there, and I agree. wholeheartedly. I believe that God's Word is our authority. I want you to know we're going to apply God's Word. We're going to do it right. We're not going to fight and fuss with other people who are trying to do something for the glory of God either. Greatness in God's eyes is not envious. Greatness is not against the work of the Lord and against other people. Greatness is for the glory of God and for the work of the Lord and for the people of God. Greatness. Great in God's eyes. Greatness is not envious. Finally, number three. Greatness is doing God's will. This third section is a little bit interesting. It can be a little confusing, but it's not too hard because Jesus is determined to do God's will with his life, which is what we should determine. What settles everything? God's will settles everything. What are you aspiring to do with the rest of your life? I think you should aspire to do whatever God wants you to do with the rest of your life. And we should ask, Lord, what is your will for my life? What can I do to serve you? What can I do that matters for eternity? And Jesus, his purpose was to come and die on the cross. And so in verse 51, the Bible says, it came to pass when the time was come that he should be received up. He steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem. Now, Jesus was determined to do the right thing. I like the Spirit. We should, of course, like the spirit of Jesus, but Jesus had the spirit that he set his face. He was going to do what was right no matter what. I like that spirit. I pray that God will give us that spirit. Now, the Lord was not being mean. He wasn't being mean-spirited, but he set his face. He set his face, and he was going to do what was right no matter what. I pray the Lord will give us that kind of resolve. Look, I'm going to do what's right. With God's help, I'm going to do what's right. And you can see the expression on the Lord's face. He's thinking about the cross. He's going to follow through. and do what God's given him to do. In the book of Isaiah, it's prophesying what Jesus was gonna do. The Bible says that he set his face like a flint, like a stone toward the cross to do the work that God had given him to do. Now look, so Jesus is determined to do God's will. Now, here's what's gonna happen. The disciples, they don't really want Jesus to die on the cross. What they want is they want Jesus to go into Jerusalem and they want Jesus to become a king and a ruler and they want to be like governors around him. But Jesus is going to do what Jesus has called to do. Jesus is going to die on the cross for the sins of the whole world, for the rest of the world. And so Jesus sets His face, verse number 52. and sent messengers before his face and they went and entered into a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him. He's going to make his way through a Samaritan village and folks were preparing for that. Verse 53, and they did not receive him because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. So Jesus goes into the Samaritan village and he's not really paying attention to the Samaritans the way they want him to pay attention to them and he's determined, he's fixed on making his way to Jerusalem and he's just at this moment he's not the best of company. I'm not saying he was wrong. No, he's not wrong. He was right. And the Samaritans get upset because they don't get the attention that they want. How many of you, how many of you have ever felt like God didn't give you the attention that you deserved. And because of that, you turned Him away. Can I tell you something? God knows what you need better than what you know what you need. And I'm telling you, it's not always easy for me to accept that. Because I really do think I know what I need most of the time. But God knows better than me. I heard this story this week, and it really helped me. It was encouraging. There's a missionary girl, lady, and I just drew a blank on her name. Anyway, I should have written it down. It might come to me in a minute. I'm going to tell you the story anyway. She ended up being a missionary to the Indians in India. She was a little girl that early on had great faith in the Lord. Her parents had taught her and taught her that she could pray and that she could expect that when she prayed God would hear and answer her prayers. A little girl with childlike faith who put her trust in Jesus, she looked in the mirror one day and noticed how brown her eyes were. She hated her brown eyes. She liked blue eyes. She loved blue eyes. As a matter of fact, she got to thinking about it. She thought, you know, I've been hearing that if I'll ask God, He'll hear and answer my prayers. God answers my prayers. One night in great faith, nothing wavering, she gave testimony that she prayed and asked the Lord, to turn her eyes from brown to blue. Surely God that created everything could turn a little girl's eyes from brown to blue. She prayed and believed. She said the next morning, I woke up and I knew in my heart that God had turned the color of my eyes from ugly brown to beautiful blue. She told the story of still in her nightgown, climbing up onto something so she could look in the mirror and much to her dismay and disappointment, she looked in the mirror and sure enough her eyes were still, in her opinion, ugly brown. She started to get upset and blame God. I prayed, I believed and all those things were true. She said, it's like the Lord told me. I did answer, but my answer was no. She thought to herself that mom always answered her prayer, and sometimes mom told her no, and dad always answered her prayer, and sometimes dad told her no, and it must be because dad and mom and God know better. Well, the story continues. The missionary girl's name is Amy Carmichael. And Amy Carmichael ended up answering the call in her heart to go to India to be a missionary, but she was very white and pale-complected. And this was a hard thing. She had a burden in her heart to be able to go into the Indian temple. But they wouldn't let folks that were not of their ethnicity in the Indian temple. And so she wanted to go in there so she should perhaps minister. So she started trying to disguise herself, and what she did was pretty fascinating. She started taking coffee, and she'd pack coffee on her skin to turn her skin a little bit darker shade. She worked on it, she worked on it, and one of her friends, she'd got her outfit on, her Indian clothes, and her darkened skin, and she dressed herself like an Indian, trying to disguise so she could go into the temple and be a witness for the Lord. She asked her friend, she said, How do I look? How do I look? And her friend said, you look great. It's going to work. And her friend out of the blue said, boy, it's a good thing you've got those brown eyes. Because if you didn't, you could never do what God's given you to do. And I'm so reminded and so thankful that I think I know what I need. But God's looking years in advance. God's looking way in the future. And God has a plan that's better than my plan. And at this moment, these disciples, man, they wanted to be great, but God says, I'm going to make you the kind of great that can matter in your life and for eternity in the lives of other people. You just trust me. You just trust me. You see, great God's way looks different. These disciples, in this last story, In the last part, they said to Jesus, they said, do you want us to call down fire from heaven? It just shows how cold their hearts were. You want us to call down fire from heaven and lick up and kill all these Samaritans? And Jesus said, whoa, no. He says, the Son of Man has not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. He said, we've got a purpose that's greater. than you feeling really proud of yourself. We've got a purpose that's greater than you being really comfortable in your position and your title. We've got a purpose that far exceeds fulfilling the desires of your flesh. Jesus says, I've come to save people and you're my disciples. Let's determine to be great God's way. Let's return to Great God's Way. Great God's Way is childlike. It's not envious. And Great God's Way is this determination to do God's will, God's way, and just trust Him with the outcome. Have you thanked Him lately for the situation you're in, good, bad, or ugly? You thank Him and trust Him and believe Him and you'll find out that a great God can do great things with not so great people. Greatness, God's way, it works. Let's pray.