Well, it is an extreme delight for me to be here with you and with my daughter as well. I'm grateful to hear the Word of God sung. What a joy. family. We have a one o'clock worship service back in the town in which we live, and we have a a cappella psalm singing. One o'clock service, about an hour away. A lot more people here than there are there, so great to hear so many voices. We attend a PCA when I'm not preaching, and They have allowed us the opportunity to have a one o'clock worship service with acapella psalm singing. So it is truly a delight to do that and to be with you all. I do bring you greetings then from the men and women of the IDOC and the IDOC, the Illinois and Indiana Departments of Correction, where I have the honor of being a teacher with Divine Hope Seminary, a seminary, really a Bible college in prison where we teach Bible and theology and a lot of practical things in order that people might learn how to reform their lives according to the Word of God. So, I give you greetings from the four campuses of Divine Hope Seminary. At this time, let us open the Word of God I am going to read to you, as you'll probably see in your bulletin, Mark chapter 10. Mark chapter 10, starting with verse 32 on through to 45. Mark 10, 32 through 45. You can simply listen to it. or if you would like to read along in a Bible that you happen to have brought with you, or that is in the pews, this is what I am going to read now. Understand that I come, going to preach the same passage at one o'clock. We're just working our way through. the book of Mark, the gospel of Mark. So, this is the reason that I have chosen this, really, it was next. And it's good to preach lectio continuo, that means right through a book. So, this is the Word of God. I think the translation might be slightly different, but substantively there should not be too much difference. This is Mark 10, 32. Now they were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them, and they were amazed. And as they followed, they were afraid. Then he took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen soon. Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed. to the chief priests and to the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and to deliver him to the Gentiles, and they will mock him and scourge him and spit on him and kill him, and the third day he will rise again." Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him saying, "'Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask. And he said to them, what do you want me to do for you? They said to him, grant us that we may sit, one on your right hand and the other on your left, in your glory. But Jesus said to them, you do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" They said to Him, "'We are able.'" So Jesus said to them, "'You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with, you will be baptized, but to sit on My right hand, and on My left is not Mine to give. but it is for those for whom it is prepared. And when the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John. But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, you know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles, lord it over them. and their great ones exercise authority over them, yet it shall not be so among you. But whoever desires to become great among you will be your servant, and whoever of you desires to be first shall be servant of all. for even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many." So ends the reading of the holy, inspired Word of God. Young people, let me just speak to you for a moment. What goes on when someone reads the Word of God, when the preacher reads the Word of God, when your mom or dad reads the Word of God to you? God is speaking to you. The Lord is speaking to you. This is what we just witnessed. The Lord is speaking to us. May we have ears to hear what He has to say to us. Briefly, let us go to the Lord in prayer. Our gracious God and heavenly Father, we come to You this day so thankful, thankful for the songs, thankful for the prayers which have been prayed, thankful for what we have just read. We pray that Your Spirit would fall afresh upon us. And we pray that You would do a mighty thing in this holy hour. We pray that You would cause us to know in a richer and deeper way the Lord Jesus, that we might know Him not just in our minds but also in our hearts. And we pray that You would bring reformation to our lives. And we pray that we would be changed in this ordinary means of grace, namely the reading and the preaching of the gospel. We pray that You would do extraordinary things through these ordinary means, for You truly are an extraordinary God. Bless us then, in Jesus' name. Amen. we come to this portion of the Word of God. And this is the third portion of the Word of God that has this sort of customary sort of thing going on. It's what the theologians, those who like to use big words, it's like it is a sort of triad, and there are three triads, in the Gospel of Mark, and this is how these three triads go. First, the Lord Jesus speaks about His death and His resurrection, and then the disciples do something foolish, and then Jesus uses that as an opportunity to teach them servant leadership. Okay? This happens three times. There is a pattern of this in the gospel of Mark, and this is the third one. Let me just tell you about Peter's confession. If you were to open in your Bible, you don't need to go to it right now, but in Mark 8, 31, that is the beginning of the first of these triads. What happens is the Lord Jesus speaks. just like this. Now, in that instance, what we have is Peter who declares that the Lord Jesus is the Christ, and then Jesus speaks about his death. And then, foolish, Peter rebukes the Lord Jesus, and the Lord Jesus rebukes him, rebukes Peter for his rebuke. Why did the Lord Jesus come into this world? He came to serve. He came to save. Well, moving on to the next one. In chapter 9, starting at verse 30, the disciples are disputing over who is the greatest. What happens? The Lord Jesus speaks of His death and resurrection. They dispute about who's the greatest. And then Jesus teaches them about servant leadership. So, now we come to the third one, and what happens? This is the third instance of this. Verse 32 through 34, Jesus speaks even stronger, it seems, about His mistreatment, about the fact that He is going to be spit on and all of these things. He says what's going to happen to him, and then you've got these two disciples, James and John, and they have totally missed what he's saying. And they come to the Lord Jesus and say, here's what we need from you. We need you to grant what we ask you. Now they come, it seems to me, maybe it seems to you, with an air of humility. Here's what we want. We want to be the two top ones. One on the right, one on the left. but we'll leave it to you to decide who's on the right and who's on the left. What we have is some sort of extreme arrogance cloaked in false humility. It's actually kind of detestable, is it not? It is funny, it absolutely, the irony and the silly, but it is actually absolutely disgusting in one sense. Now what are they doing? Well, a previous chapter, Peter, James, and John, you know, they've gone up in the mountain and they've seen the transfiguration of the Lord Jesus. Extraordinary thing that they saw. It seemed to me they might just be seeking to edge out Peter. You see there are only two sides, right side and left side. There's not a third side. I want to make sure, do they want to make sure that Peter doesn't take one of those sides? They want to get before Him. And what are they thinking? They seem to think that the Lord Jesus is going to set up a temporal, spatial, military kingdom on earth. That's what they're wanting. Once the uprising comes, then we're ready. we are ready to move right up to second place and to third place. Well, the Lord Jesus, what does He say? I love the way that Jesus, I trust you do as well, He doesn't just blast people, even when they deserve it. So often, he comes in through the back door, and he says, I'm here, and you have totally missed the point. And this is what he does. He says, are you sure? I'm paraphrasing, of course. Are you sure? Can you drink the cup that I'll drink? And can you be baptized with the baptism with which I'll be baptized?" And these two, oh yeah, oh yeah, absolutely, we're ready. Now, what do they think when they're thinking of cups? What do worldly leaders drink out of? Golden cups, most expensive. diamond-studded sort of things, royalty, oh yeah, we can drink out of that. But the problem is they've missed the point. What is Jesus doing? He's drawing from as many places in the Old Testament where God says basically, I'm going to give this nation a cup, and it is going to be filled to the brim with the wrath of God, and they will be drunk on the wrath of God. And Jesus is pointing to His cross. In a sense, He's saying His cross is a cup that He is going to drink. Now, you know the end of the story, I trust. He is going to drink the cup of the wrath of God for you and for me. This is what it's about. He has come to serve, but they've missed it. Jesus is speaking about humility. He is speaking about suffering, and they listen to it and they think, glory to me and glory to my brother right alongside me. Is that not the way? The fact is, we can have two people who look at the same speech, the same thing, the same piece of evidence, and what happens? They see the world from two totally different understandings. It's almost like they live in two different worlds, and in a sense, that's what Jesus is doing. He's speaking about the spiritual kingdom. He's speaking about the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God, and what are they thinking? earthly kings, earthly kingdoms, and earthly cups that we drink to the glory of self, It's the exact same thing that goes on. Think of Nicodemus, John chapter 3, what goes on there? Jesus is talking about, you need to be born again, and He's thinking, how can a man go back into his mother's womb? Jesus is talking about spiritual rebirth. He's talking about being born from above. That man missed a point, Nicodemus. You just go one chapter, one chapter later. What's going on? Jesus has this conversation with the woman at the well, and He talks about water that you can drink unto eternal life, and if you drink of this water, you do not thirst anymore. And she says, well, I'm ready. I'm ready to drink this. She thought that we were talking about – she thought that Jesus was talking about literal water. He's talking about spiritual water. The problem of Nicodemus, one of the great high people in the society, is the same as the woman who's had five husbands. and the whole nation and everyone in between. Jesus speaks about spiritual realities, and they look at that and go, oh, physical things, earthly matters. Well, Jesus continues to pour it on, and He says, Are you able to be baptized with the baptism with which I will be baptized?" And of course they're saying, sign us up, sign us up, punch our card. We are ready to be members. You want to pour some water on us? You want to bring us into a lake? We are ready. Jesus is not talking about literal baptism. He's talking about His cross. He's talking about the cross, and I am prone to point out we have many Baptist brothers and sisters. You'll often hear them say, you know, the word baptizo, baptize, it always means to immerse I'm prone to go through one by one the instances and say, well, it does always mean that, except in the extraordinary number of times in which it doesn't. What is Jesus talking about? His cross is not an immersion. His cross is God the Father pouring down the wrath upon Him so that He says, why have you forsaken Me? And why are you so far from my groaning?" His baptism, His cross is a baptism, one of many instances where it does not mean to immerse, but it means the wrath of God being poured out upon Him. That's exactly what happens. the holy wrath of God is upon him, that he might become the one who is the substance, who fulfills all the symbols, that he might show himself to be the sacrifice for us. that He might suffer and die for you and me because of the wreck, because of the mess, because of our sin, because of our rebellion. And these guys are thinking, we're just moving on up, and we're just going to rise. And you ever notice the ways that when there is some sort of society or some sort of company or anything that is worldly, There's a sense in which the greatest rise, and oftentimes they rise up through cutthroat sort of ways. Sometimes they must put down those who are lower than them. They must reach high in order that they might pull down those who are above them. This is the way of the world. Now, these disciples are not looking to poison their way up or climb the ladder in some sort of deceitful ways. They're not seeking to murder their way to the top, but they're seeking to get ahead. If we can just get ahead, let's do it before Peter asks. Let's do it before one of these other ones asks. And Jesus says, do you realize how the world works? You realize how the Gentiles go? How does one become the Caesar? in the first century and the centuries that came. Oh, it's not a beautiful thing. It's not a beautiful thing. We have extraordinary examples. The Church of Rome, which is a church that doesn't follow a biblical form of church government. What do you have? We have a day and age in which we have nice, a nice Roman church, right? And the Pope, may the Lord be kind to him, may he repent of all of his sins. He's this really nice guy, and he's kind of a hippie, and laid-back, cool dude, and I'm okay, you're okay, and these sorts of things. But what we see throughout church history is that the Roman system of the Roman Empire people climbing their ways to the top. In the Roman church, often we've seen the same sorts of things. Now, not so much presently where everybody's very nice, but there were times when people were poisoning their way and murdering their way to the top of that church in order that they might become pope. that they might become cardinals. I do this not because I wake up every morning thinking, who can I oppose? But it is historically such a good example in a sense that is the system that the disciples had before the rebuke. And in the midst of explaining the worldly system, And those who seek greatness and seek to rise above all other things so that they can have worldly and earthly glory, the kingdom of Jesus Christ flies in the face of this. Because Jesus, just as He has done before, so He does again. He explains to them that to be a servant, to be great in the kingdom of God is going to take something totally different. It is going to be turning away from this worldly, worldly system. and following after biblical matters and becoming a servant. The great in the kingdom are those who serve, as the book of Romans talks about, outdoing one another and showing honor Is that not a beautiful idea and a beautiful concept? Not seeking to outdo one another in glory to self, but seeking to outdo one another in service in such a way that it brings no bragging, that it brings no ego to see each other as of greater, of more greatness than our own selves. This is what he's getting at. And look what he says. Jesus says, Whoever desires to be first shall be servant of all." That's verse 44. Verse 43, he says, whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. We read, and our elder rightly pointed to the fact that this would be used later. What does the Apostle Paul say? 1 Corinthians 9, starting at 19, he explains that as an apostle and as a prophet, he said, here's what I seek to do. I seek to serve all in such a way that I even become like them and take on some of the things that they're into and they're interested in. He says, to the Jew I became as a Jew. To those under the law I became as those under the law. To those not under the law I became as those not under the law. What is he saying here? He's saying that the most important thing is that I reach people with the gospel. There are many, many, many important things in life, but this is such a high priority, especially for an apostle, especially for someone in ordained leadership, that I reach people with the gospel. This is so high on the list And He's not becoming like them simply to sell them a product, but He's truly coming alongside them. We trust not just in their jewelry or in their gentillery, but He's coming alongside them in their hurts and their pains and their suffering, and He is sympathizing with them. He is the one who told us that we are to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice. Here we have one who comes alongside and sympathizes and empathizes well. What of the other apostles? And what of the Apostle Paul himself? It's interesting, one of the words that is used to talk about serving is doulos, doulos. It's really a word for servant. It's a word for servant, and it comes up, interestingly, in almost all of the epistles Many of them start this way. Listen to Romans 1. Paul says, Paul, a bondservant of Jesus, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel, and it uses the word doulos. Furthermore, if you were to go to the book of James, fascinatingly enough, we'd have something similar, James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then if you were to go to 2 Peter, you would see something very similar. The version I have calls it bond-servant, some of yours might say slave, Simon Peter a bond-servant, and apostle of Jesus Christ. And then if you were to go to Jude, you'd see the same thing, Jude chapter 1. And if you were to look in the book of Revelation, you see John This is attributed to him, right? It's really where we get the word doula. You know, some women are into home births, and we have a doula, one who helps a servant. I've seen the bumper sticker. Maybe you've seen it too. What do we call the sort of nurse that does home births? doulas are one of them. Anyways, it says that they help people out. You're not seeing this. This is exactly it. They help people out. The doula helps people out. This is what Jesus would have us to be, those who serve, who help people out. Maybe not in that way. But one way or another, those who are helping, those who are serving, And of course, you understand that Jesus Christ is above all. He is above all in His serving. Can you imagine if Jesus Christ had come into this world to be served? That would have been pretty fascinating. He would have come. He could have just thrown Pontius Pilate up on a cross. He could have thrown Herod up on a cross. He could have snapped his fingers. He could have done things that would have blown our minds. He could have had people come to him, and he could have just had angels come and swoop them away, toss them into the flames. He could have come and done stunning things, and he could have set up an earthly, worldly empire, but that's not why he came. This is what it says. Whoever desires to be first shall be slave of all." And then he says, even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many. Jesus Christ did not come to be served, but to serve. and to make his life a ransom. Now, really briefly, there are those, there are different views of the atonement, different ideas about what the atonement means, and there was in the early church a view that, well, it's called the ransom theory. The idea here is this, that Jesus came and he came to pay the ransom to Satan. Okay, to Satan. Well, the issue is that we are not held ultimately by Satan. When you think of a ransom, you know, some child, God forbid, we have prayers for human trafficking, a great concern of mine as well. Someone kidnaps someone else, and then they send you, you've got to pay this thousands of dollars to get this person back, and that's a ransom. And it's not as though Satan has stolen you, or Satan has stolen us, and then we've got to have Jesus pay him off. No, no, no, no. We're talking about being captive, in a sense kidnapped by our sin, by our unrighteousness and our unholiness. I remember listening to this preacher and this author. He laid out all the views of the atonement, and he said, well, it's kind of like golf. I don't really golf, but, you know, in golf you use an iron and then a wood and then you have a putter and all these things, and really all of the theories of the atonement are kind of like golf clubs. He just got a bag of them, and we say, no, no, no. Biblically speaking, it is that Jesus atoned for our sins. Now, we can use the word ransom, and we ought to. The Bible uses it, but only as subservient under the main one, that being atonement. In my place condemned he stood. In your place condemned he stood. Jesus is saying that as it is with the Master, so it will be with the servants. If Jesus Christ did not come into this world to be served but to serve, then we ought to expect nothing less, and we ought to follow in His footprints. We ought to do as He did, He was spit upon, He was beaten, He was pierced, and they put upon Him a crown of thorns, and He was pierced. This is greatness in the kingdom of God, set before us in the Lord Jesus as He atones for us. Well, let me just say a few words of direct application. I trust you'll be looking for a minister soon. I know nothing or next to nothing. I know really nothing about the situation of the leaving. I know nothing. I come with no agenda. I'm just preaching what comes next. But I trust that you will look for a man who's filled with the Word of God and filled with the Spirit. and one who is primed to serve. I trust you'll have your eyes open to these things. I'm not a commentarian. I know nothing, I know. But this is what we look for. You realize that this is one of the beautiful things of biblical church government. What does it say in Titus, and what does it talk about in Timothy? It talks about selecting a man who is really blameless. Now, it's not to say that we're talking about someone who's sinless, only Jesus is that, and He ultimately is our pastor. But what does it mean for him to be blameless? We're talking about someone who is not with regular scandal in his life, someone who is servant-hearted. This is what we would be looking for in a minister. It's what we all churches are, well, how are the people, or how do we know? If He's blameless, well, we would get to know Him and get to know Him very well, that we might be able to say that this man is not sinless, but that He is a servant at heart. There are churches where you can come in and you can rise on up to great and glorious positions. There are some church traditions where they just tack a bunch of names on you, tack a bunch of things like His Excellency and all of these just crazy names. Tack those right in front. in a biblical form of church government where we have elders who hold the keys of the kingdom and where we have elders that we know and that know us and know us by name. We do not call someone His Excellency, the Right Reverend, so-and-so, all of these man-made titles. May the next man who comes to preach the gospel do so for the glory of Christ, and may he do so for the good of you, his people, for the good of you, the sheep of the Lord Jesus. And of course, it's right for me to even speak directly from 1 Peter, from 1 Peter chapter 5, Again, no agenda other than the Word of God, not knowing. But I'll say this, this is what 1 Peter chapter 5 says, the elders who are among you I exhort. And he says, I am a fellow elder. Do you see what Peter's doing? He's saying, let me tell you ruling elders. And he's saying, I'm an apostle. No, no, I'm a fellow ruling elder along with you. and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed." In other words, I saw the transfiguration, but He's coming right alongside them. In a sense, He's taking the Paul principle to the elders, I came alongside them as elders, and He says, shepherd the flock. of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly." There is a form of church government that can just run people over, run them over like a truck. And he's saying, that's not how we do things here. We are serving, and we are helping, and we are seeking to build up. And he says, not for dishonest gain, but eagerly." In other words, for those who would seek to be in ministry, we're not looking for someone who's seeking to be in it for the money and to use it in wrong ways, nor as being lords over those who are entrusted to you, not lording it over. He's saying, don't follow the Roman system. May you have a biblical, Jesus-focused method of leadership. He said, not after dishonesty, but being examples of the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away. Let me just say, just in general, and we'll close with this. There was a time when I naively thought, I naively thought that if you're just a nice guy, and you seek to help people, and you help to build them up, then good things will happen. People will respect you. People will appreciate. But I have to say that's not been my experience. People are often angry at the jerk, the big meanie, but it is fascinating as well the way that those who are humble servants, they get a lot of pushback and a lot of abuse as well. I am calling you in the name of the Lord Jesus to serve one another, and I am calling you in the name of the Lord Jesus, charging you to love one another, to pray for one another, and to seek to do good for one another. Why? Because this is what the Lord Jesus would have you to do, and because He has atoned for your sins, and because He has been pierced for your transgressions. that He set His love upon you, that He elected you before the world even began. And the One who had that happen to Himself, that is the One who was crucified for us, look at the way He was used and abused. If you serve and if you love you will still often be abused. And there will be a tendency to say, you know what? Forget it. Forget about it all. Who needs this abuse? I'm simply seeking to help. I'm simply seeking to build up. But that is where the rubber meets the road, is it not? Are you not glad that the Lord Jesus did not have that mentality? You know, I came here to serve, and I came here to help, but to be beaten and to be crucified? No. the servant is not above his masters. So, let me just encourage you, let us not be results-driven. We are not looking for some great result. What are we looking for? We're looking for faithfulness, husbands faithful in their duties in the family, wives faithful in duties to their family, children serving your parents. This is what the Lord Jesus would have you to do, but not to look for a perfect result to come from this, for oftentimes pastors find out that sheep bite they really do. And elders find that out as well. Sometimes deacons will pour resources into people only to have those people say all sorts of horrible things. Why? Because it's never enough. What are we called to? Are we called to results? No. If we are called to results, Let us be as a society of the world like the Roman Empire, like many corporations. No. Let us serve and let us help and let us love. And if in God's providence we should even be mistreated for serving and loving people, may we do it anyways because of the Lord Jesus. This is what He would have us to do. Let us pray. Our God and our heavenly Father, aha, we have been like the disciples, desiring greatness, desiring to be known, to be well spoken of, to have good reputations, But we know that the Bible tells us, really, woe unto those when all men speak well of them. Our Heavenly Father, we pray that we would be found faithful when the Chief Shepherd appears. May we be faithful in the small things. May we be faithful in the great things. And we know that serving the Lord is hard, and sometimes it's harder than not. And loving people who can break our hearts, loving people who can disappoint us, and loving people who can hurt us does cause us to be tempted to help them and serve them no more. But may we cast off such worldly, worldly-mindedness. Give us hearts which are overflowing with Your grace to love and serve and to bless and to help, because we are serving the Lord Jesus above all. It is in His name that we pray. Amen. Congregation, the Lord