LUKE 9:46-48 WHO IS THE GREATEST2012 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Luke 9:46-48 Who Is The Greatest

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You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2012.

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Well this morning as we look at Luke chapter 9 verse 46 through 48, we're going to be answering the question or looking at the question, who is the greatest? It was something of a dispute and a discussion amongst the disciples and so we'll be considering it together with three points that we'll be looking at as we consider this subject of who is the greatest in the kingdom of God.

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Now Matthew and Mark also record this account for us and so if you want to get a little bit of different insight or perspective, I would encourage you to write these down and check it out later on. Matthew chapter 18 is where Matthew records this and Mark records it in Mark chapter 9. So Matthew 18 and Mark 9, you can get some more insight and perspective in this account on being the greatest that we'll be looking at this morning.

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But before we get started looking at the points, I want to step back for a moment and just cause you to remember and consider those things that we studied last week. Because it kind of goes right along with what we'll be looking at this week in that it's counterintuitive. It's not what we would think on our own. It's not what we would naturally understand. We're

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We saw last week, I shared with you last week, that God's ways are not our ways. And he says in Isaiah 55, as the heavens are higher above the earth, that's how far his ways are above our ways. Now we considered that last week as we looked at the subject of suffering. And in the subject of suffering, we learned, we saw that we really do not understand God's ways very often.

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That is, we saw the account of the boy being healed, but Jesus telling his disciples, that's not the most important thing. The thing that you need to pay attention to, let it sink down into your ears, is that I'm going to be betrayed.

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And we considered if you were to be given the choice, you could, you know, be given the ministry of healing or you could be given the ministry of being betrayed. Which would you choose? And of course, we would choose the healing because, you know, who wants to be betrayed? Who wants to suffer? None of us do. And yet it's through suffering that God can do his greatest work. It's contrary to what we would think. It's not the way that we would do it.

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But suffering is more important than miracles if it is God's will. We saw this in the apostle Paul as he learned this lesson from God. We also saw it in the example of Joseph and his life and how God did such a great work, but Joseph suffered along the way in order to accomplish that work.

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And so we needed to let it sink down into our ears. We don't understand God's ways and we need to ask him to help us to see things as he does because it's counterintuitive. It's contrary to what we would think. Well, in the same way, as we go on into this passage this morning, we're talking about greatness in the kingdom of God. And there is a reality to this idea of greatness in the kingdom of God.

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But greatness in the kingdom is not achieved the way that we would think. It's going to be counterintuitive. It's going to be contrary to what we would normally understand. God's ways are not our ways. Who is the greatest in the kingdom of God? It's probably not who you think. How do we become great in the kingdom of God?

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And it's probably not the way that you think. And so we need to allow God to readjust our thinking and our understanding as we explore the scriptures together. So three points this morning as we consider this question, who is the greatest? The first point we find in verse 46, which is the greatest dispute. Here the greatest dispute in verse 46, it says this,

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Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest. So the disciples are coming away from this experience where Jesus heals this boy. He casts out the demon from this boy. He announces to them that he's going to be betrayed and put to death and resurrected. And they're walking away from this event and the disciples are having a heated discussion.

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A little bit of a controversy, a debate, a dispute. Now in their minds, Jesus was about to set up his earthly kingdom. That's what they were expecting. You and I as believers today, we know that Jesus will establish a kingdom here on this earth.

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But that wasn't for his first coming. That was for the second coming when he comes as the conquering king and he will rule and reign on the earth for 1,000 years. That's going to happen. But the disciples were expecting that to happen right then. They were thinking that Jesus was going to throw off the Roman Empire and establish his kingdom and rule and reign right there in Jerusalem. And so in their mind, they're thinking this is going to happen any moment and

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And who's going to sit on his right hand? Who's going to be on his left hand? Who's going to be prominent in this kingdom that he is about to set up? And so they're walking away from this experience, having this discussion, thinking, man, at any time he's going to do this, which one of us is going to be the greatest? Which of us is going to get the honor and the glory right there next to Jesus as he rules and reigns here upon the earth?

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Can you imagine this dispute? How do you think that it would go? What kind of things would be going on? Do you think that the disciples were suggesting other people as they were going to be the greatest as opposed to themselves? I really don't think that's the case. I don't think Peter was saying, well, I think John's going to be the greatest. Now, who do you think Peter was suggesting was going to be the greatest in the kingdom of God?

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Peter was suggesting that Peter would be the greatest. John was suggesting that John would be the greatest. They were disputing amongst themselves about who would be the greatest, each of them thinking, surely it must be me. The word disputed also used in Mark chapter 9 verse 33.

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means to bring together different reasons or to add up the reasons. And so the idea is that, you know, Peter's saying, I'm the greatest. And John says, no way, you dummy, I'm the greatest. And then James says, you guys are both crazy. I'm the greatest. That's not what this word is describing. It's describing James saying, I'm the greatest. And let me give you four reasons why.

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Because I'm this, because I'm that, because I did this, and because I accomplished that. And Peter said, yeah, well, I've got seven reasons why I'm the greatest. And John speaks up, I've got ten reasons why I'm the greatest. They're adding up the reasons. They're telling each other, this is why I'm going to be the greatest. They're disputing, bringing together the different reasons. Perhaps Peter, James, and John, you know, they were just on the mountain with Jesus. They experienced this glorious time as he's transfigured, and the Lord told them,

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Not to tell anybody what happened, but maybe they were just kind of giving hints. You know, hey, we just had this glorious time with Jesus and surely we're going to be the greatest. We're closest to him. You other nine, you were down the mountain. You weren't even praying or ready for the boy that was demon possessed. Surely we're the greatest because we were with Jesus on the mountain. Maybe Judas said, hey, I'm going to be the greatest because I'm the one that God entrusts with the money.

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And who's more important than the one who has the money? So surely I must be the greatest. We don't really know. That part's not recorded for us. But they were disputing. They were bringing their reasons together why they thought they would be the greatest. This isn't the last time that they will have this debate. We'll find it again in Luke chapter 22 verses 24 through 27. Where again, they will have this heated discussion.

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Which one of us is the greatest? Which one of us is going to have that place of glory? You know, I really like this aspect of the Gospels and of the Bible as a whole. Because we get to see the humanity of these disciples. You know, they were the ones that God had chosen. He was going to establish the church through them.

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The Lord was passing on the ministry to them. And here we get a glimpse and we get to understand they're just regular people. They had faults. They messed up. They were egotistical. They were full of themselves. They were arrogant. God uses regular people. It's good to know because you and I are regular people. And God can use us and pass on the ministry of the church to us just like he did with the disciples.

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You see, the reality is, well, God uses people who are not always diligent in their devotional time. We saw that last week. Remember the other nine were down the mountain. They weren't able to cast out the demon. They said, how come? Jesus says, well, this kind comes out by prayer and fasting.

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You guys weren't praying and fasting. You weren't prepared. You weren't diligent in your devotional time with God. And so you were unable to handle the task at hand. But God uses regular people who, they're not always faithful. They're not always diligent in their devotions. God uses regular people who dispute about their own greatness and promote themselves and tell everybody how great they are. And we know how foolish that is, but

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Yet that's how we are many times. And God uses those kinds of people too. And we could go on and on. The point is, we get to see here, the disciples are just regular people. They make mistakes. They mess up. And yet, we are the ones that God has entrusted with His work. I like what John Corson brings up regarding this portion. He asks the question, when did the disciples start arguing about their greatness?

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Think about that for a moment. When did they begin this argument? When did it happen? What prompted this argument? And he points out, after a failure. After they messed up, they were unable to cast the demon out of this boy. He goes on to say, you can always tell when a person is aware of his shortcomings by his telling you how great he is. When a person is aware of their failure or their lack,

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They will often tell you how wonderful they are. How great they are. And that's just what the disciples are doing here. They're telling each other, I'm the greatest. No, I'm the greatest. Here's why you guys should recognize that I'm going to be the one on top. That position of glory.

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John Corson also goes on to say, You know, when you're right with the Lord, when you're walking with God, you don't have to promote yourself and tell everybody how great you are. You don't have to convince other people. Because the most important relationship for you is you and the Lord. And your goal is to please Him and not to impress others.

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And so we need to be careful when we start promoting ourselves and telling others how good we are, how great we are. It shows that we're aware of our shortcomings. Now, this dispute that's going on, we could think about it and consider it from a couple different perspectives. But I would ask you this question. Do you desire to be great? The disciples here clearly had a desire to be great.

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They said, look, I want to be great, and I think I'm great, and let me tell you why I'm great. They had this desire to be great, this desire to be, well, in a place of glory in the kingdom of God. What's amazing about this to me is that Jesus does not rebuke them for this desire. You see, I think there's something wrong if you do not desire to be great in the kingdom of God.

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There's something wrong. There's something out of line. If you don't have a passion and a zeal to have an abundant entrance into the kingdom of God, that is an appropriate response for what God has done for you. Jesus, in dying upon the cross, in giving of himself, in sacrificing himself completely on your behalf, on my behalf, that kind of action

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that he does towards us warrants a response where we give of ourselves, where we have a passion and a zeal to honor him and glorify him. There's something wrong if you do not desire to be great in the kingdom of God. You know, sometimes people have that. They express that. You know, I just, as long as I just make it into the kingdom, you know, I don't have to have a place of honor or be, you know, something glorious. You know, as long as I just get in, that's all that matters.

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And so they live life in accordance with that. They're just kind of barely scraping by spiritually. That's not an appropriate response to the Lord and what He's done for us.

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Peter tells us in 2 Peter 1, verse 10 and 11, he says, Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and your election sure. For if you do these things, some Christian characteristics he's just been talking about, he says, if you do these things, you will never stumble, for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Peter says, look, be diligent, be diligent,

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To progress. Be diligent. Be passionate about pressing on, about accomplishing the things that God set before you. Be diligent so that you have an abundant entrance into the kingdom of God. Do you desire an abundant entrance into the kingdom or do you desire to just barely squeak by?

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Paul will talk about, we'll make reference to it later in 1 Corinthians chapter 3, those who will just barely make it into heaven. And it's kind of like, you know, a little bit of smoke will be, you know, just kind of coming up from them because they just escape by fire. That everything they have burns up, that they have nothing to show for their life, but they just barely make it into heaven. Is that your goal? Is that your desire? There's something wrong with that. You and I, we need to have a desire for greatness in the kingdom of God.

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We need to be pushing forward to be diligent for an abundant entrance into the kingdom of God. Again, Jesus doesn't rebuke them for the desire. He says, here's how to be great. He doesn't tell them, stop thinking about how to be great. He doesn't say, stop thinking about greatness. Put it out of your mind. Give it up. He says, you guys want to be great?

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Let me tell you how. The problem is you're going about it the wrong way. You're going about it by promoting yourself and telling everybody how great you are and adding up all these reasons, but you're looking at it backwards. You're looking at it the wrong way. So let me correct you. Let me help you understand how to be great in the kingdom of God.

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And to consider that, we move on now into the second point, verse 47 and 48. It's the greatest reception. Look at verse 47. It says, And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by him. It says that Jesus perceived the thoughts of their hearts.

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And evidently, as they're on their way to wherever they're going, the disciples perhaps are a little bit behind Jesus. He's leading the way, but he's not in the mix as they're having this dispute. But he doesn't have to be there. He doesn't have to hear the words that are being shared because it says that he perceived the thoughts of their heart. He knows what's happening within. He knows all the reasons that they're coming up with.

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As to why they will be the greatest in the kingdom of God. And I think this is important for us to consider. Because we can look at the disciples and think, those fools. You know, we know better than to promote ourselves and tell everybody how great we are. But it's interesting, isn't it? Even though we know better than to say those things out loud, it doesn't always stop us from thinking them. And we see something happening and in our minds we're thinking, I could do that better. And here's the seven reasons how I could do that better. And why I'm better at that.

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We look around and we judge one another by our own standards and we measure ourselves and we think, yeah, I'm going to be pretty great in the kingdom of God. God's going to be real happy with me because I'm pretty wonderful. I'm absolutely amazing actually, now that I think about it. But the Lord perceives the thoughts of your heart. So even if you don't say it out loud and promote to everybody and tell everybody how great you are, when you're thinking that in your heart, the Lord knows.

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And he wants to give you a very visual illustration, a powerful picture to understand how that's wrong and the way to go about greatness in the kingdom of God. And so it says that he takes a little child and he sets him by him. He brings this little child right in the midst of his disciples. I picture in my mind the disciples with kind of a quizzical look like, what's up with the kid, Jesus? I mean, what's going on here? What are you doing?

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Jesus understands what's going on in their hearts. And so he brings a kid to them and he says, verse 48, and said to them, whoever receives this little child in my name receives me. And whoever receives me receives him who sent me. Jesus says, hey guys, I want you to consider this little child. You're talking about why you're so great. And you're elbowing each other out of the way and promoting yourself and saying, this is why I will be the greatest.

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But stop thinking about yourself for a moment and think about this little child. If you receive this little child in my name, you receive me, Jesus says. This word receive, it means to accept deliberately and readily. It's the idea of a willful and a joyful choice. It's making a deliberate choice with joy.

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And so to receive, to deliberately embrace, to deliberately choose joyfully, not begrudgingly, not grumpily, you know, like, oh, I guess I got to receive the dumb kid. No, no, with joy. There's a willingness that goes along with it. To receive this child with joy, he says, you receive me. Now, a child in those days was not considered of great value. They were...

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you know, really just not given much thought at all. Not paid much attention to. It wasn't a big priority for the society. And so John Corson considers or points out, even for our society today, if you want to get ahead in life, in the world's eyes, you don't take time to hang out with children. Think about it. If your goal is to climb the corporate ladder, there you are in the workplace. You're in the, you know, the training class.

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The leadership skills class. How many have ever heard, alright, if you want to get ahead in this organization, you got to make sure you sign up for Sunday school. Get to know the kids. Get to know children. Spend some time with kids. No, that's contrary. That's not a thought. You don't spend time with kids in order to get ahead, to become great. That's not on the agenda.

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The idea is they can't really do anything for your career. They can depend on you and take from you, but they can't advance you. And so Corson goes on to say, I believe this refers to anyone who's little or anyone who's less, be it chronologically, economically, socially, or mentally. The truly great person embraces them all in the name of Jesus. So Corson is saying, look, this goes beyond the child.

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The child is an example, it's an illustration of those who are considered less, those who are not valued very much. And so that can be true of those of certain ages, it can be true of those of certain economic status, social status, some type of mental capacity, whatever the case may be. The idea, the point is, if you receive those who are considered less in the name of Christ, Jesus says, you receive me.

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Now there's going to be a quiz on this a little bit later on. Because next month in July, the men's ministry is heading up the outreach for the month. And what they're putting together for us to be involved with is an outreach to a convalescent home. Now God's not given us the Harvest Crusade style of ministry. Even at the park yesterday, we had things happening on the stage. But the real ministry is happening one-on-one.

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And that's going to be the case for sure once again in July as we go to the convalescent home. Now, the moment I say convalescent home, I know some people are like, I'm not part of that. You know, I don't want anything. Old people scare me. You know, that's difficult, whatever. You're laughing because it's true, right? We do that. We just, okay, yeah, I don't want to be part of that one. But let me add to the challenge here.

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These are people who are thought less of in our society. They're put there in the home. Many of the families don't visit. They don't get much exposure. Not much thought is given to them. And so Jesus could take the convalescent home and put it in front of us and say, if you will receive them in my name, you receive me. Now, I've been told that in this particular convalescent home, all of the patients either have Alzheimer's or dementia.

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So not only is it a place where seniors are, where they're not very much visited, but now there's also some, well, some very particular issues that they have and struggles and difficulties in their minds. Jesus says, if you receive this little child, this one who is thought little of, the one who not many people care about, if you receive them in my name, you receive me.

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When He says, if you receive them in My name, He's saying, if you'll receive them on My behalf. If you'll represent Me to them. That you would let them know that I think they are valuable. Even if they won't remember you tomorrow because...

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Of the mental issues that they have. But today, if you'll remind them that I love them, that they are valuable to me, that they are worth an investment of time, that they matter to me, Jesus says, if you'll represent me to them and receive them in my name, then you receive me. If you will testify to them, Jesus loves you and so do I. You receive me, Jesus says.

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receiving and loving others in Jesus' name is receiving and loving Jesus. You see, when you receive Jesus, you respond to what He's done for us. You respond to His love poured out towards us in what He accomplished for us upon the cross. When you love Him, when you receive Him, the same love that He has will begin to develop within your heart.

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and you will love and receive others because Jesus does. You'll begin to see people the way that he sees them. Let me put it in a way you might be familiar with. It's the way James says it. Faith without works is dead. That's what James says, James chapter 2.

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That if your faith, your belief in Jesus Christ doesn't result in some type of action in your life, it's dead faith. It's meaningless faith. It's not real faith at all. In the same way, you receiving Jesus, if that does not cause you to receive others, specifically those who are unloved, rejected, those who are less in society, then something's wrong.

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There's something wrong with the way that you receive Jesus. There's something wrong with the way that you love Jesus. Because when you receive Him, when you love Him, it will manifest itself in the way that you receive and love others in His name. You see, Jesus humbled Himself. He became the least. He humbled Himself and became a servant. He became like a child. And so if we receive Jesus...

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We will also receive those that he identified himself, those that he linked himself with. Like children, like the homeless, like those that we got to see yesterday, just burned out on drugs and alcohol, messed up, cast off. Jesus says, if you receive them in my name, you receive me. In Luke chapter 18, a little bit later on, we'll get to it eventually.

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Jesus is there with his disciples and people begin to bring their little children to Jesus for him to lay hands on them and bless them. And the disciples get all bent out of shape and they start rebuking the people. Hey, stop bringing your kids. This is the Messiah. This is the rabbi. This is the great teacher and great prophet. He's going to have time to lay hands on your kids and bless them. He's got more important things to do. They still hadn't learned the lesson. And Jesus rebukes his disciples and says, hey, let the kids come to me.

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For of such is the kingdom of God. Those that we think little of, those that we think less of, Jesus says, those are the ones I identify with. Those are the ones I've linked myself together with. You might remember what Jesus shares in Matthew chapter 25. He talks about the end of the age when the nations are brought before him and he separates the sheep from the goats. And he says to the righteous there, the sheep,

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He says, oh, you're blessed. Because I was poor and you ministered to me. I was hungry and you fed me. I was naked and you clothed me. I was imprisoned and you visited me. And it says there the righteous are kind of confused. Hey, Lord, when did we do all these things for you? We don't remember doing these things for you. And Jesus said, when you did it to the least of these, my brethren, you did it for me. Jesus links himself. He identifies himself with the least of these.

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with those who I need, for those who are hurting, with the outcasts, with those who are rejected, those who are thought little of. He looked at the other group and he says, I was hungry and you didn't feed me. I was poor, you didn't minister to me. I was naked, you didn't clothe me. I was in prison, you didn't even notice, you didn't come to visit. And they said, hey, we didn't know you were in prison. When did this happen? And again he says, when you did not do it to the least of these, my brethren, you didn't do it unto me.

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You see, Jesus is permanently linking himself with those who are little, with those who are less. And he says, the way that you treat them is the way that you treat me. If you receive them in my name, you receive me. If you represent me to them, if you'll express to them my love for them, if you'll demonstrate to them that they're valuable and important to me, you're receiving me. You're doing that to me.

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And so what Jesus is saying here is the disciples are saying, I'm the greatest. No, I'm the greatest. Let me tell you why I'm the greatest. Jesus says, hey guys, knock it off. Look, look at this child. If you want to know how to be great, receive children in my name. Receive those who are little, those who are considered less. Value them. Invest in them. Show them my love. That's the way to be great in the kingdom of God. Well, the final point we see at the end of verse 48 is,

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We had the greatest dispute, the greatest reception, and now finally the greatest opportunity. There at the end of verse 48 it says, For he who is least among you all will be great. This is why I use the phrase counterintuitive. It's not what we would think. Jesus says, if you are the least, you will be great. God's ways are not our ways. This is not the way that we would do it. But what's amazing about this is,

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is it gives us great opportunity. Because what Jesus again is saying is not, hey, stop wanting to be great. No, you should desire to be great. You should be pushing forward and passionately pursuing greatness in the kingdom of God. But the way to do it is not what you would think. Jesus says, be the least. In Mark chapter 9 verse 35 says,

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It's the same account, but Jesus says it this way in that portion. He says, if anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all. Again, he says, look, if you want to be first, if you want to be great, here's how to do it. Be last. Be the servant of all. Now, this is great opportunity. This is the greatest opportunity because, well, there's no seminary degree required, right?

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There's no levels that you have to reach in order to be great. You don't have to go through 27 years of Bible study to accomplish greatness in the kingdom of God. Instead of setting it up on a high shelf where only a few can reach it, Jesus puts it right on the ground and he says, there it is, grab it if you want it. That's where you'll find greatness. He opens the door for any one of us to be great in the kingdom of God. And I know some Christians think, perhaps some of you this morning,

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You think, well, I'm just, I'm nothing, you know. I just, I don't have any gifts. I can't really teach. I definitely can't sing. That's why I didn't go to the outreach yesterday, you know. Like, what do I have to offer? I don't like to talk to people. I can't do nothing. Jesus says, look, you have the opportunity to be great in the kingdom of God. Every believer does. Because he makes it available to

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To those who are willing to be the least. To be the servant of all. Let me ask you. What kind of eternity do you want to have? How do you want to spend eternity? Do you want to be the one who just barely scrapes by, barely makes it? There's that smoke rising from you because everything got burned and you just barely made it. Or do you want to have the abundant entrance into the kingdom of God? Do you want to have greatness in heaven? Again, this is biblical knowledge.

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Jesus does not rebuke their desire for greatness. He tells them how to be great in the kingdom of God. There is a reality to this concept of greatness in heaven. It's real. There are going to be those who are great in the kingdom of God. And there are going to be those who are not so great in the kingdom of God. And how is that determined? Well, it's based upon how we live right now. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 about the Bema Seat.

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2 Corinthians 5.10, he says, For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Paul says, look, we're all going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ. That judgment seat is that word, bema. It's the idea of an Olympic judge. So it's not a judge of regarding your sin, because that was taken care of by Jesus on the cross. He paid for that already.

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But it's a judgment of reward. Will you get a 10? A zero? What will you get as reward for what you've done in this life? Paul says, we're going to appear before the judgment seat of Christ. We're going to receive reward based on our motivations, based on our attitude, based on our heart, based on what we did with what God has given to us. And so we make it our aim. We're doing the best that we can. We're pushing forward to please God.

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You see, that's the appropriate response. To sit back and say, yeah, I don't really want to be great in heaven. That's not such a big deal, you know. I just want to make sure I get there. That's fine. There's something wrong with that. That's not receiving Jesus. Our response needs to be a full and passionate response that we will go forward to please God who loved us enough to die upon the cross on our behalf.

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To give of Himself. To sacrifice Himself. To serve us. Our Creator. Our God. He humbled Himself and served us. How could we not do the same? Humble ourselves and serve Him. To serve one another. To be great in heaven. We'll be determined by this Bema Seat. When you stand before Christ. Because there's eternal rewards.

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Jesus told us in Matthew chapter 6, don't store up for yourselves treasures in this earth. Don't value and prize and make the things of this life the most important because Jesus says, the moth eats it, rust destroys it, thieves steal it. Instead he says, lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. They're incorruptible there.

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You can't keep and preserve what is here, but you can send treasures ahead of you that they'll be awaiting for you when you enter into eternity. There's eternal rewards for what you do in this life for Christ. What kind of eternity do you want to have? An eternity with great reward or eternity with little reward? In 1 Corinthians chapter 3, Paul also talks about this day again. He says, in that day it's going to be clear.

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What you did for God. When you stand before him. He says everything will be tested by fire. And whatever you have built. For the kingdom of God. If it endures the fire. That's your reward.

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And you will receive reward. There's value in that. But on the other hand, he says, if anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss. But he himself will be saved, yet so is through fire. That's the verse I keep referring to. You know, we just barely make it. There's a little bit of smoke coming up because we just, we passed through the fire. Nothing else survived. We did nothing for the Lord, but we escaped into eternity. There's going to be those who have that condition. But notice what he says.

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If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss. You might think right now, it's not a big deal if I have reward in heaven. It's not so important that I have treasure stored up in heaven. As long as I get there, that's all that matters. You might feel that way now. You will not feel that way when you stand before Christ on that day. Because Paul says, he will suffer loss. You'll have regret. There will be remorse. You will suffer loss in that day.

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If you have no reward for the life that you lived. You see, this idea of greatness in heaven is a reality. There really are rewards. There really is greatness that God has in store for those who serve Him. And it matters. And it will matter to you more then than it does even right now. And so if you want to be great, that's not a bad thing.

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If you want to have an abundant entrance into the kingdom of God, Paul and Peter say, yes, that's right. That's appropriate. Go for it. Here's how. Here's the way to accomplish it, Jesus says. Learn to be the servant of all. Learn to be the servant of all. Now, you might be familiar with this picture. It's an organizational chart. It's

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If you ask your business, they'll probably provide you something like this of their organizational chart. You have the guy at the top, that's the boss. And under him, he's got other guys that report to him and they have guys that report to them and they have guys that report to them and so on and so forth. Forms this kind of pyramid organization.

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Now you and I, in our natural thinking, in our natural understanding, we look at this and we think, that guy on top, that's who I want, that's the great guy. That's greatness right there. I want to be the guy on top. I want to climb the corporate ladder. That's success. Whether that be a supervisor, a boss, governor, president of the United States, whatever it may be, we look at that, we think, the person on top, that's greatness. But our ways are not his ways.

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And if we look at it from God's perspective, really, it looks like this. It's not about how many people serve you. It's how many people do you serve. The position of greatness is the one who is least. The one who humbles themselves to serve others. That's where greatness is found. If you're the person on top, you don't really do anything. Everybody else just does things for you. At church, in the home, whatever. It's other people who are serving you.

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That's not a position of greatness. That's seen as greatness in society. Yeah, I don't got to do nothing. You know, I got people to do my lawn. I got people to wash my clothes, people to clean my house, people to do my work. That's not greatness. That's greatness in our society. That's luxury, you know, in our world. But that's not greatness in the kingdom of God. Greatness in the kingdom of God is not how many people serve you, but how many people do you serve? It's so backward for us.

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And yet, this is how Jesus lived. Later on in Luke chapter 22, we'll see Jesus said, look, who's greater? The one who sits at the table or the one who serves the table? And everybody would agree, it's the one who sits at the table. Not the one who's serving, not the waiter. That's not the greater person. The person who's sitting at the table, eating the food. That's the greater person. And yet, he goes on to say, yet I am among you as one who serves.

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Jesus says, look, I'm Lord. I'm creator. I'm Messiah. But I'm not here sitting at a table and making all you guys run around for me. I came here and I'm serving you guys. Jesus came. He is the creator. He's almighty God. But he humbled himself, became the least, and served us by dying upon the cross. Jesus lived this out. He's asking us to do the same. He modeled it for us.

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This is how you achieve greatness. And he proved it by doing it himself. Who's the greatest in the kingdom of God? Jesus is. Not only because he deserves it, because he's king of kings and lord of lords, but also because he humbled himself to the greatest degree. None of us can ever humble ourselves as much as he did. And because he humbled himself, the Lord has given him a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess.

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He modeled it for us. He showed us. It's backwards for us. We don't understand it, but we can believe Jesus. He showed us the way. You know, in my time serving as a pastor here in this fellowship, I've observed that it's not very difficult to find people who are willing to be in charge of things. There's not usually a shortage of people who want to lead.

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Or to take those places that are prominently seen, that are readily seen. It's really not difficult to find someone willing to step into the pulpit when I'm gone. It's really not that difficult. It's not difficult to find someone who says, Hey, yeah, I'll take a position of power and I'll tell people what to do. It's not hard to find that. But it is hard to find people who are willing to serve. It is hard to find people who are willing to humble themselves.

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We can easily find someone who'll take charge and start bossing people around. And yet at the same time, there's always great need in the children's ministry here. There's always great need. It's the same teachers who've been teaching for the last few years that are still doing all the same teaching and just stretched to the limit because there's just not enough help. Not enough who are willing to say, I'll receive a child in the name of Christ. I'll help. I'll serve in that capacity.

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In fact, Pastor Pule was sharing with me the other day that there hasn't really been any new people serving in children's ministry for the past year and a half. It's hard to find people to serve. We do outreach at the park. It's hard to find people to serve. I shared, you know, already that God hasn't given us a Harvest Crusade ministry where we stand and proclaim and thousands come. The ministry he's entrusted to us is a one-on-one ministry. Oh yes, we have the stage.

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But you know, the stage is really just the invitation to the people around. And the real ministry really is happening. The way God's chosen to do it is when those people come, then one of us connects with them and talks with them and shares with them and prays with them and shares the gospel and whatever God has in store for that encounter. That's the ministry that God set up for us. He's established. We didn't choose it. That's why he gave to us. And so we're very limited.

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We could only minister to as many people as there were there who were willing to serve, to humble themselves and reach out to the homeless and the druggies and those who were cast off, those who were thought little of. We're going to be heading out to the convalescent home next month. Listen, we're only going to be able to minister to as many people as we have people who are willing to serve because it's one-on-one. And the real question is, are you willing to receive someone else in the name of Christ?

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To humble yourself and show the love of Christ. Shine the light of Christ. He didn't make it such a high thing that you have to attain all these levels and reach. He made it right here available for all of us. You want greatness in the kingdom of God? You want to be used by God? You want to accomplish things for His kingdom? It's right there. Just grab it. Humble yourself. Reach out. Serve. Minister. Love those that nobody else does.

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You will not be judged for whether or not you were a pastor. You know, when you stand before the Bema seat, you know, Jesus is not going to say, well, you didn't become a pastor, so you failed as a Christian and, you know, you don't get no rewards. We look at things backwards. We think that Billy Graham, man, he's going to have a great entrance into the kingdom of God. He may, he may not. I don't know. God's his judge. And he's accountable for what God has given to him. And you're accountable for what God has given to you, whatever that may be.

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It's proportional. Your rewards are based on his calling in your life, not his calling in somebody else's life. That's why it's foolish to look around and compare ourselves to each other. You're not going to be judged on my ministry, on my calling. You're going to be judged on your calling, what he gave to you, the opportunities he gave to you. And did you humble yourself and serve in those areas? You have an opportunity to be great in the kingdom of God, to make a difference in the kingdom of God.

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There's so many opportunities here locally in our monthly outreaches, in our children's ministry, serving in all kinds of capacity, just reaching out to your neighbors, your co-workers, the person you just drive by on the street. There's so many opportunities and abroad.

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You can look at the trip to Mexico. You can look at, man, we were hearing it from the pastor's conference, all these different needs and opportunities in Uganda and Brazil and people just to go love and pray for kids and care for kids. There's hurting people everywhere. You have greatness within your reach if you will humble yourself and serve. There's great opportunity. What kind of eternity do you want to have? How to be great?

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Jesus says, look, it's not wrong to have that desire. You should have that desire. But you need to approach it right. Not by pushing others around and saying, hey, I'm so great. Here's why. Let me tell you why I'm great. How to be great? Receive children. Receive those who are considered less in the name of Christ. Value them. Invest in them. They're valuable to Him and He loves them dearly. Represent Him to them. How to be great? Humble yourself.

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And serve as many people as you can. Let's pray. Lord, as we consider your place and your position from eternity as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, as the Creator. And yet, Lord, we consider that you loved us so much. Your creation. That you became part of your creation. That you humbled yourself severely, greatly to the point of death. Even the death upon the cross. For us.

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Because you love us. Lord, the only appropriate response is to demonstrate the same love and humility with the same passion and fervency as you did. God, forgive us for our complacency. Forgive us for being caught up in this world and consumed and storing up for ourselves treasures here upon this earth. Help us, God, to see eternity and to lay up treasures in heaven. Help us, God, to see people as you see them. To see the value.

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In your creation. In those that you love so much that you died upon the cross for them. I pray God that you would help us to represent you well. To receive them in your name. To humble ourselves and serve others. Following the example, the model that you've given to us. And I pray God for this congregation. And I pray greatness for us. Not because we're worthy. Not because we deserve greatness.

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but just because we're obeying the instruction you've given to us to be humble, to serve, to love those who are not loved in your name. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.