Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / A Roadside Reminder and Reproof Msg 2021

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A Roadside Reminder and Reproof Msg 2021 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: In our journey through the book of Matthew, we are
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Speaker 1: right in the middle of the 20th chapter. I'd like
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Speaker 1: to have you turn in your Bible or New Testament,
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Speaker 1: Matthew chapter 20. And always remember when we read from
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Speaker 1: the word of God, it is reading from a book
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Speaker 1: that is like no other book in the world. No
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Speaker 1: other book is alive and no other book has truth
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Speaker 1: that is active and sharp, sharper than a double-edged sword.
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Speaker 1: I've often illustrated it by saying you could tear out
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Speaker 1: a page of scripture and put it in a bottle
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Speaker 1: and plug it up and toss it out in the
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Speaker 1: middle of the sea, and if that bottle finally floats
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Speaker 1: to a shoreline somewhere and it's found and opened that
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Speaker 1: page of scripture is alive and active and able to
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Speaker 1: change a life. Just the truth on that page. And
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Speaker 1: we have the privilege of having all the pages, all
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Speaker 1: the chapters of all the books. What a unique privilege
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Speaker 1: is ours. Reading from Matthew 20 verse 17 down through 28,
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Speaker 1: I'll be reading from the New Living Translation and we'll
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Speaker 1: stand together for the reading of God's word. Matthew 20, 17.
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Speaker 1: As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the
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Speaker 1: 12 disciples aside privately and told him what was going
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Speaker 1: to happen to him. Listen, he said, we're going up
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Speaker 1: to Jerusalem where the Son of Man will be betrayed
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Speaker 1: to the leading priests and the teachers of religious law.
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Speaker 1: They will sentence him to die. Then they will hand
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Speaker 1: him over to the Romans to be mocked, flogged with
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Speaker 1: a whip, and crucified. but on the third day he
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Speaker 1: will be raised from the dead. Then the mother of
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Speaker 1: James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus
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Speaker 1: with her sons. She knelt respectfully to ask a favor.
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Speaker 1: What is your request, he asked. She replied, in your kingdom,
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Speaker 1: please let my two sons sit in places of honor
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Speaker 1: next to you, one on your right and the other...
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Speaker 1: on your left. But Jesus answered by saying to them,
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Speaker 1: you don't know what you are asking. Are you able
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Speaker 1: to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am
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Speaker 1: about to drink? Oh yes, they replied. We're able. Jesus
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Speaker 1: told them, you will indeed drink from my bitter cup.
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Speaker 1: But I have no right to say who will sit
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Speaker 1: on my right or my left. My Father has prepared
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Speaker 1: those places for the ones He has chosen. When the
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Speaker 1: ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked,
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Speaker 1: they were indignant. But Jesus called them together and said,
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Speaker 1: You know that the rulers of this world lord it
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Speaker 1: over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those
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Speaker 1: under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever
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Speaker 1: wants to be a leader among you must be your servant,
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Speaker 1: and whoever wants to be first among you must become
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Speaker 1: your slave. For even the Son of Man came not
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Speaker 1: to be served, but to serve others and to give
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Speaker 1: his life as a ransom for many. Please be seated.
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Speaker 1: May we bow together for prayer. Please enable us, our Father,
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Speaker 1: to be able to remove from our minds all other
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Speaker 1: distracting thoughts during the next few moments we're together, that
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Speaker 1: we might be fully focused on the things you have
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Speaker 1: written for us to read and than to apply. Help
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Speaker 1: us in the reading to grasp what was meant in
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Speaker 1: the days in which it was said, and of course,
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Speaker 1: ultimately be able to bridge across the centuries and see
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Speaker 1: how it applies to our lives in this century, at
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Speaker 1: this time. In fact, this very week that's before us.
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Speaker 1: Thank you in advance, Lord, for the conviction you will
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Speaker 1: bring as truth is revealed from your word and as
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Speaker 1: we grasp from the lips of Jesus, from the pen
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Speaker 1: of Matthew, what it is you want us to hear
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Speaker 1: and learn and put to use in our lives. Thank
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Speaker 1: you for those people who have shaped our lives, who
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Speaker 1: have been models of what Jesus taught. For mentors, for teachers,
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Speaker 1: for parents, for friends, for colleagues whose lives have been
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Speaker 1: marked by dedication and servant leadership in ways that made
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Speaker 1: our lives richer and better and fuller. Thank you for
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Speaker 1: the things we learned from them. May we in turn
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Speaker 1: model the same to others. Deliver us from seeing these
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Speaker 1: things as being worth something another individual should hear and heed.
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Speaker 1: May we realize you have written this for our learning,
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Speaker 1: that we through the scriptures might experience a transformed life.
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Speaker 1: I pray for those who hurt today for whatever reason,
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Speaker 1: those whose pain is intense, Some physically, others just as
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Speaker 1: real emotionally. And as a result, they're here to find
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Speaker 1: help in order to go on and relief in order
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Speaker 1: to survive. Meet whatever may be the need, however deep
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Speaker 1: it may be. And we want you to know, Lord,
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Speaker 1: that what the choir sang is exactly what we feel.
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Speaker 1: We do love you. We love you with our whole heart.
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Speaker 1: We would not follow another like we follow you. We
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Speaker 1: could be any other place today and we want to
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Speaker 1: be here. And by being here, we want you to
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Speaker 1: know we wait upon you to minister to us. Touch
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Speaker 1: us deeply, our Father. Speak to us privately, down in
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Speaker 1: the depths of our lives, in places dealing with things
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Speaker 1: that no one else knows, but you know it all.
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Speaker 1: Our lives before you are open books. And because of this,
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Speaker 1: we trust you to minister to us. It is our
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Speaker 1: privilege also, Father, from what you have allowed us to earn,
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Speaker 1: to give. We do it with delight today and we
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Speaker 1: do it with gratitude because we are learning how to
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Speaker 1: be like that through you and from your Son, who
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Speaker 1: did not come to be served, but to serve and
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Speaker 1: to give. May that always be true of us, even
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Speaker 1: in random acts of kindness, in gracious words, in apologies,
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Speaker 1: in the kindest of expressions. May we help lift another's
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Speaker 1: load and make that life easier for them to travel.
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Speaker 1: We commit these words to you in prayer and these
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Speaker 1: gifts to you in our offerings through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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Speaker 1: And everyone said, Amen. We have a saying that goes
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Speaker 1: like this. I don't think we're on the same page.
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Speaker 1: And by that we mean, you're saying something, but I
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Speaker 1: am clueless. I'm not getting it. You know what you're
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Speaker 1: talking about, and I know where I am, and I
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Speaker 1: know the setting that surrounds me, but I can't connect
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Speaker 1: with your words. We aren't on the same page. The
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Speaker 1: summer before my second year at Dallas Seminary, I made
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Speaker 1: a decision that I later questioned. Understand back then, everyone
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Speaker 1: who was at the school took a four-year course in
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Speaker 1: the master's program and each year it became measurably more difficult.
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Speaker 1: And we who were in the second year class, entering
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Speaker 1: the second year class, realized that we were facing a
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Speaker 1: number of real academic hurdles. For example, we were beginning
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Speaker 1: our second year of four years of New Testament Greek.
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Speaker 1: We would be starting the first year of three years
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Speaker 1: of Hebrew. We also would be advancing in our study
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Speaker 1: of the eras of church history. As I recall, we
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Speaker 1: would enter the Reformation era in our study. Our theology
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Speaker 1: class would now really get down to business, and we
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Speaker 1: were going to study Christology and pneumatology and soteriology and
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Speaker 1: homardiology that entire second year. And along with that, we
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Speaker 1: would be continuing several Old Testament books in Bible exposition,
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Speaker 1: not to mention a couple of other mind-stretching courses that
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Speaker 1: we would be taking. So the one that was the
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Speaker 1: most feared was Hebrew. So we learned that there was
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Speaker 1: going to be a course offered that summer between my
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Speaker 1: first and second year in Hebrew. And... We knew that
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Speaker 1: it was a dreaded course and we thought if we
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Speaker 1: could get a jump on it, we'd be at least
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Speaker 1: ahead in that. The course was taught by a young
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Speaker 1: professor who had just returned from his second doctoral program
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Speaker 1: at Harvard where they offered him a position to stay,
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Speaker 1: I understand, and some of us wished he had stayed there,
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Speaker 1: but he didn't. He chose to come back to seminary
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Speaker 1: and work for really less than half what they would
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Speaker 1: have paid him at Harvard to build into the lives
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Speaker 1: of young theologues. And so he was our, his name
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Speaker 1: is Bruce Waltke, and a brilliant man who was teaching
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Speaker 1: this course that he was so familiar with, teaching it
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Speaker 1: to 20 or so of us that summer who were
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Speaker 1: totally unfamiliar with it. And if you're not at all
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Speaker 1: familiar with Hebrew, you may not know that English we
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Speaker 1: read from left to right. Hebrew you read from right
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Speaker 1: to left. In English, we have vowels that are actual letters,
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Speaker 1: but there are no lettered vowels. In Hebrew, they're all
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Speaker 1: little dots and dashes that get tucked away underneath the consonants.
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Speaker 1: and they all sort of run together. In fact, the
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Speaker 1: very first time I looked at a page of Hebrew,
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Speaker 1: I thought I was looking at a small rag rug
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Speaker 1: that had been put into print. And here in front
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Speaker 1: of me was Dr. Wolke, who would cradle his Hebrew
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Speaker 1: Bible in his arms and kind of rock on the
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Speaker 1: stool that he was sitting on as he would read.
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Speaker 1: and tears would come to his eyes. I had tears
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Speaker 1: in my eyes for other reasons, but he was so
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Speaker 1: moved by what he was reading. It helped me to
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Speaker 1: realize the second day I had it upside down, so
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Speaker 1: I turned my Bible back like it should have been,
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Speaker 1: and that helped. But to give you an idea of Dr.
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Speaker 1: Waltke's speed, with which he wanted to teach us as
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Speaker 1: much as he possibly could. The very first assignment for
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Speaker 1: that night was that we were to memorize the Hebrew alphabet.
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Speaker 1: And we were to not only learn it so we
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Speaker 1: could give it back verbally, we were to be able
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Speaker 1: to write it. 22 characters. And not a soul in
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Speaker 1: our class did it, was able to do it, not one.
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Speaker 1: So we all flunked. As a matter of fact, our
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Speaker 1: average grade that summer was 17. Real class of scholars,
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Speaker 1: I mean. It was a study in humility. We didn't
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Speaker 1: know a whole lot from Sarah. And he knew all
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Speaker 1: of this knowledge that he wanted to pump into us.
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Speaker 1: And we spent most of the time staring as he talked.
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Speaker 1: And we would regularly say under our breath words like,
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Speaker 1: you have got to be kidding me. we were not
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Speaker 1: on the same page. We weren't even in the same
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Speaker 1: universe with Dr.
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Speaker 2: Waltke.
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Speaker 1: What a summer course that was. And by the way,
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Speaker 1: going to that same course with me were some very
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Speaker 1: bright young men. One was a Rice graduate and another
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Speaker 1: already had his masters from LSU These were bright young men,
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Speaker 1: but the course was totally outside the realm of anything familiar.
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Speaker 1: Interesting as the longer we stayed at it and the
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Speaker 1: more we studied the language and the more faithful we
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Speaker 1: were to learn, memorize verb charts and all the stuff,
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Speaker 1: vocabulary that goes with it, the more comfortable. In fact,
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Speaker 1: by my fourth year, I had Dr. Waltke again, and
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Speaker 1: I was on the same page. Not fully, but two
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Speaker 1: or three lines on the same page. And it felt great.
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Speaker 1: That is exactly where we find the disciples in Matthew 20. Exactly.
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Speaker 1: They're on their way to Jerusalem on the east side
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Speaker 1: of the Jordan in an area called Perea. They're making
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Speaker 1: their way south and the crowd is large. And Jesus,
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Speaker 1: knowing there will not be another journey back to Galilee
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Speaker 1: because his death is imminent, pulls the twelve away from
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Speaker 1: the crowd. We read, he took them aside privately and
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Speaker 1: he told them of what was ahead for him. What
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Speaker 1: you don't know about reading Matthew 20 is that he's
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Speaker 1: already told them this twice. In Matthew 16 he told them.
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Speaker 1: In Matthew 17 he told them. In Matthew 20 now
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Speaker 1: he tells them yet again and he will tell them
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Speaker 1: again before he is arrested and put on trial. But
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Speaker 1: look at what he says. Look at the seriousness of
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Speaker 1: his talk with them. Listen. We're going up to Jerusalem
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Speaker 1: where the Son of Man will be betrayed to the
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Speaker 1: leading priests and the teachers of religious law. They will
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Speaker 1: sentence him to die. They will hand him over to
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Speaker 1: the Romans to be mocked, flogged with a whip, and crucified.
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Speaker 1: It was as if he was talking another language to them.
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Speaker 1: They weren't even on the same page. His whole focus
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Speaker 1: in the return to Jerusalem was what he faced, and
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Speaker 1: he also mentions at the end, the third day, You
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Speaker 1: will be raised from the dead. Remember, it took the
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Speaker 1: resurrection and not even that for them to realize what
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Speaker 1: had happened. They were the ones who wondered, where in
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Speaker 1: the world is his body? Who took the body from
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Speaker 1: the tomb? Though they had been told time and time
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Speaker 1: and time and time again. I will die. I will
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Speaker 1: be raised. I will be crucified. I will come back
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Speaker 1: from the dead. Not on the same page. They didn't
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Speaker 1: understand the significance of his word. It was all hidden
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Speaker 1: from them. Why? You study this, you read over it
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Speaker 1: as I've done, and a number of you have, I'm sure,
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Speaker 1: and you scratch your head wondering, what's the reason for
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Speaker 1: their not getting it? They're not thinking about him. They're
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Speaker 1: thinking about themselves. I mean, stop and imagine. They've been
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Speaker 1: following Jesus now for three plus years. They've given up
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Speaker 1: their careers. Some have walked away from lucrative businesses and
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Speaker 1: financial security. They've spent more time with Jesus than they
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Speaker 1: have with their own wives and children, so there's been sacrifice.
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Speaker 1: They've heard Jesus talk about a kingdom a number of
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Speaker 1: different times and in different ways where he would rule
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Speaker 1: And if he rules, they would help in the reign
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Speaker 1: of that kingdom. And they were on their way to Jerusalem,
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Speaker 1: which is the seat of power among the Jews. So
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Speaker 1: they're thinking about their position in that kingdom. And that's
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Speaker 1: the change of subject when you get to verse 20.
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Speaker 1: I mean, you're reading along and it is really in
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Speaker 1: the depths of seriousness. when you read the verses that
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Speaker 1: I just read, 17 to 19. You get to verse
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Speaker 1: 20 and suddenly the attention turns. It's like the camera
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Speaker 1: moves to a mother, a mother of two of the disciples.
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Speaker 1: Then the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee,
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Speaker 1: came to Jesus with her sons. She knelt respectfully to
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Speaker 1: ask a favor. What's your request? He asked. Remember what
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Speaker 1: he's just told him? You remember. He just talked about
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Speaker 1: his own death, his own suffering, his own resurrection. It's
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Speaker 1: been all about that. And he said, well, what is
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Speaker 1: it you request? It's that kind of response. And she replied,
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Speaker 1: in your kingdom. See what they're thinking about? See what
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Speaker 1: she's thinking about? Not on the same page. In your kingdom,
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Speaker 1: please let my two sons sit in places of honor
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Speaker 1: next to you. One on your right and the other
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Speaker 1: on your left. A lot of mothers are listening right now.
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Speaker 1: And we all have one. We understand mothers. Nothing you
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Speaker 1: want more than to see your children do well. So
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Speaker 1: let's not be too harsh with the mother of James
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Speaker 1: and John. But let's get to know a little better
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Speaker 1: who she is. Who is this woman? She isn't even
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Speaker 1: named here. I'll save you the time of looking by
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Speaker 1: telling you that if you go to the lists of
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Speaker 1: the people, the women who were at the cross where
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Speaker 1: Jesus was crucified, if you go to the list in
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Speaker 1: the gospels, different gospel accounts, you will notice several Marys.
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Speaker 1: There is Mary Magdalene, who's listed every time as being
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Speaker 1: there where he's crucified. Mary, the mother of Jesus, of course,
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Speaker 1: is there. And there's a third woman who is identified
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Speaker 1: as the mother of the sons of Zebedee. She is
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Speaker 1: called by John, get this, Jesus' mother's sister, which would
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Speaker 1: make her Jesus' earthly aunt. Right? Mary, who bore Jesus,
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Speaker 1: had a sister who is the woman who gave birth
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Speaker 1: to James and John. She's the wife of Zebedee and
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Speaker 1: the mother of the sons of Zebedee, which means they
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Speaker 1: were his cousins. Right? Think. Think. This, the mother of
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Speaker 1: James and John, is called by John, Jesus' mother's sister.
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Speaker 1: So she's Jesus' aunt. He knew her well. She knew
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Speaker 1: him well. Maybe that helps explain a little bit why
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Speaker 1: she would feel the freedom to ask a favor like this.
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Speaker 1: We're families. You've known us longer than you've known any
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Speaker 1: of these other men. You grew up with us. You
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Speaker 1: know my sons. Good boys. They ought to be one
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Speaker 1: on your left and one on your right. Stop! What
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Speaker 1: in the world are we doing thinking about who sits
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Speaker 1: on the right or left of Jesus and in the
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Speaker 1: midst of a conversation about his death and resurrection. You
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Speaker 1: do that when you are focused not on what is
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Speaker 1: being said, but on what is on your mind. And
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Speaker 1: let me go a little further and tell you that
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Speaker 1: they set her up. I say that because of what
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Speaker 1: appears in verse 22. Jesus said, you do not know
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Speaker 1: what you are asking. The you is plural. She's singular.
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Speaker 1: So he says, as he looks at the boys and
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Speaker 1: the men, James and John, you guys don't know what
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Speaker 1: you're asking. Y'all don't know what you're asking for. And
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Speaker 1: then he goes a step further to bring them back
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Speaker 1: to the subject. Are you able to drink from the
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Speaker 1: bitter cup of suffering that I'm about to drink? Do
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Speaker 1: you realize what is ahead? Do you know what following
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Speaker 1: me will include? Do you have any idea the heaviness
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Speaker 1: of what I'm facing? They not only had missed his point,
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Speaker 1: they misunderstood the whole issue of kingdom promotion in his
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Speaker 1: kingdom lifestyle. in kingdom greatness in Jesus' lifestyle. It's not
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Speaker 1: about who sits on the right and who sits on
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Speaker 1: the left. It's not about title. It's not about who's
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Speaker 1: on top. What they didn't get is there must be
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Speaker 1: suffering before there can be significance. There must be brokenness
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Speaker 1: before there is usefulness. There must be humility before there
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Speaker 1: is authority granted. There must be the bitter cup of
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Speaker 1: pain to endure before there is promotion. They don't get that.
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Speaker 1: So he asks them, do you realize what it is
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Speaker 1: you're asking? Are you ready to take this bitter cup
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Speaker 1: of suffering away? And look at their answer. Look at
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Speaker 1: how shallow. Oh, yes, we're able. Oh, sure, we're in. Yeah, whatever.
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Speaker 1: Just make sure we're on the right and left. That's
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Speaker 1: the idea. And then Jesus comes back with a very firm,
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Speaker 1: you will indeed drink from this bitter cup. You have
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Speaker 1: no idea what your future holds. The pain I have
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Speaker 1: in front of me, I've told you about, but you've
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Speaker 1: no idea what you will have as a result of
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Speaker 1: following me in the years that pass. And furthermore, regarding
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Speaker 1: who sits on my right and left, that's my father's business.
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Speaker 1: I don't walk with you along this road to Jerusalem
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Speaker 1: trying to figure out who's going to sit where. I'm
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Speaker 1: wrestling with what is in front of me. I mean,
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Speaker 1: imagine that, men and women. You have a crucifixion in
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Speaker 1: front of you. And all of the torture that goes
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Speaker 1: with it. And they're talking about who's going to be
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Speaker 1: first or second. By the way, in case you wonder
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Speaker 1: if the other disciples are thinking, how noble of them
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Speaker 1: to think like that. Look at the next verse. They
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Speaker 1: were indignant. The other ten probably were thinking, why didn't
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Speaker 1: we think of that? You know, who do they think
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Speaker 1: they are? So Jesus again calls them together to drive
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Speaker 1: home a point. Now this is the part you cannot miss.
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Speaker 1: You don't miss this. Get on the page. Stay there
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Speaker 1: with me. Because it is here Jesus brings the whole
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Speaker 1: thing out in the open that anybody can grasp if
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Speaker 1: you will focus on it. He begins by describing the ethnos,
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Speaker 1: the Gentile world. Look at it. He called them together,
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Speaker 1: verse 25, and he said, you know, you know this,
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Speaker 1: that the rulers of this ethnos, It's plural for ethnos.
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Speaker 1: It means the Gentiles. We would call it the world system.
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Speaker 1: Let's call it that. The rulers of the world system
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Speaker 1: lord it over their people and their officials flaunt their
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Speaker 1: authority over those under them. Stop right there. Right there
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Speaker 1: at that period. That's the way it is. That's the
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Speaker 1: way it is in the corporate world. You began pretty
31:31
Speaker 1: much at the base. You get out of school and
31:35
Speaker 1: by the grace of God and the opening that's made
31:40
Speaker 1: available to you, you hire in and you start at,
31:44
Speaker 1: if not at, very near the bottom and you begin
31:46
Speaker 1: to work your way, we call it up, and you
31:49
Speaker 1: go up the corporate ladder, working your way toward what
31:55
Speaker 1: we call the top position. That's the way it is
31:59
Speaker 1: in the system. In the military world, it's like that.
32:02
Speaker 1: You begin as a buck private, or as the lowest
32:06
Speaker 1: form of second lieutenant, whether enlisted or officer. You begin
32:10
Speaker 1: at the bottom, and you work your way up. And
32:13
Speaker 1: the higher the rank, the greater the authority. And the
32:16
Speaker 1: greater the authority, the more you are able to, if
32:20
Speaker 1: you will, rule over those under you. And Believe me,
32:25
Speaker 1: in the military, you're certainly under those who are in
32:28
Speaker 1: rank over you, and that's why you salute them. They
32:31
Speaker 1: don't salute you. It's true in the medical world. I
32:36
Speaker 1: had a man come to me following the first service
32:38
Speaker 1: this morning, and he told me, I work with a
32:41
Speaker 1: group of medical doctors, and I won't tell you all
32:43
Speaker 1: the things he said, but he said, what I do
32:46
Speaker 1: is I work with those who are addicted. It's a
32:50
Speaker 1: whole other world. I said, I bet you run across
32:53
Speaker 1: this very thing. He said, all the time. Something happens
32:57
Speaker 1: when a person gets a medical degree. Rarely does he
33:01
Speaker 1: become increasingly more humble and servant-hearted. There are exceptions. I
33:07
Speaker 1: know that, so don't write me. I know that. But
33:11
Speaker 1: it's the fact that they're the exception that's the tragedy.
33:15
Speaker 1: Why don't we become, when we get more and more educated,
33:18
Speaker 1: more servant-hearted? Who gives us the right to become more arrogant,
33:24
Speaker 1: more know-it-all? The right, if you will, or the freedom,
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Speaker 1: not the right, but the freedom to flaunt it, to
33:34
Speaker 1: flaunt it. If you don't learn some of this about
33:40
Speaker 1: the world system, there's a name for you. It's called unemployed.
33:45
Speaker 1: You better know the system, and you better know who's
33:49
Speaker 1: back to scratch. Now you got it? So Jesus is
33:55
Speaker 1: a realist. This is realistic 21st century information, just as
34:01
Speaker 1: it was first century. All of those people, look at
34:05
Speaker 1: the word over. They lorded over. They flaunt their authority over.
34:12
Speaker 1: And look at the word under. Under them. You're under me.
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Speaker 1: I'm the one with the office on the corner, the
34:21
Speaker 1: top floor. I'm the one with the thicker carpet. I'm
34:25
Speaker 1: the one that has the bathroom connected to my office.
34:28
Speaker 1: I'm the one that has my own private parking place.
34:32
Speaker 1: I've got the perks. I'm there, says the one who
34:37
Speaker 1: flaunts it over the others. And that's the way it
34:39
Speaker 1: is in the system. Look at the next sentence. If
34:44
Speaker 1: you see nothing else this day, look at verse 26.
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Speaker 1: But among you... It will be different. There are five
34:59
Speaker 1: words in the Greek language that are translated like this.
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Speaker 1: Not thus is it among you. And the emphasis is
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Speaker 1: on the not. It's placed out of order for emphasis.
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Speaker 1: Not so among you, disciples. Not so among you who
35:18
Speaker 1: follow Christ. That's not the way it works in the
35:22
Speaker 1: family of God. Among you it will be different. There
35:36
Speaker 1: will be no brash lording it over. There will be
35:39
Speaker 1: no flaunting of authority. On Jesus' team there is no
35:44
Speaker 1: place for self-serving ambition, personal promotion, shameless narcissism, presumptuous arrogance,
35:56
Speaker 1: or bold, even veiled pride. Few things are more different
36:02
Speaker 1: from our world system than that. And if that isn't enough,
36:09
Speaker 1: Jesus goes one step further and describes the role of
36:12
Speaker 1: his followers. And he's talking to the 12 who have
36:16
Speaker 1: walked with him longer than anyone else on the planet.
36:20
Speaker 1: They've been his close followers. He has been their mentor.
36:27
Speaker 1: So he tells them, They must learn this if no
36:30
Speaker 1: one else. When I'm gone, this is what you must model.
36:34
Speaker 1: And look at how he puts it. Whoever wants to
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Speaker 1: be a leader among you, be known as a servant.
36:46
Speaker 1: And whoever wants to be first among you, be known
36:50
Speaker 1: as someone else's slave or helper. If slave offends you,
36:55
Speaker 1: don't quibble over the term. You know what it's saying.
37:01
Speaker 1: Be one who says, may I help you? Can I
37:04
Speaker 1: be of assistance to you? Or when you have done wrong,
37:09
Speaker 1: I really owe you an apology for doing what I did.
37:13
Speaker 1: I was wrong. I was out of line. I spoke
37:18
Speaker 1: too quickly. Or I came across like I was a know-it-all,
37:24
Speaker 1: and I'm not. And on and on the way servants work.
37:30
Speaker 1: It's sometimes called random acts of kindness, where you do
37:34
Speaker 1: for others without having attention called to it, least of
37:39
Speaker 1: all by you. You're in it to serve, and you're
37:44
Speaker 1: in it to give. You want a good model? Last
37:48
Speaker 1: verse of our passage. Even the Son of Man came
37:53
Speaker 1: not to be served, but to serve others. and to
38:00
Speaker 1: give his life as a payment or a ransom for many. Men, Peter, Andrew, James, John, Barth, Judas,
38:18
Speaker 1: all you guys, listen to me. That's why I came.
38:23
Speaker 1: That's why the Father sent me. Let this mind be
38:29
Speaker 1: in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being
38:32
Speaker 1: in the form of God thought it not a thing
38:34
Speaker 1: to be grasped to remain equal with God, but made
38:38
Speaker 1: himself of no reputation and took upon himself the form
38:41
Speaker 1: of a bondsleeve and was made in the likeness of
38:45
Speaker 1: man and being found in fashion as a man, he
38:48
Speaker 1: became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2,
38:55
Speaker 1: 5 through 9. That's my role. Now, was this enough
39:08
Speaker 1: to get them on the same page? It wasn't. When
39:16
Speaker 1: you read on, you read more, and you see how
39:19
Speaker 1: ingrained in them is the system, which isn't like ingrained
39:24
Speaker 1: in some of you. I mean, you know the laws
39:28
Speaker 1: of the office better than you know the verses of
39:30
Speaker 1: the scriptures or the books of the Bible. You know
39:34
Speaker 1: how to handle yourself to get ahead better than you
39:37
Speaker 1: know how to spend time with the Lord and connect
39:40
Speaker 1: with him in prayer. You made a study of that
39:44
Speaker 1: because that's how you can get ahead. Wrong goal, if
39:51
Speaker 1: I may be so blunt. Did they get on the
39:57
Speaker 1: same page? Was the result of this James and John
40:02
Speaker 1: apologizing to Jesus for their ultra-selfish request? Never once do
40:08
Speaker 1: you read of that. Did this begin a journey toward
40:17
Speaker 1: Unfamiliar greatness? Not yet. They have to hurt before that happens.
40:28
Speaker 1: Pain plants the flag of reality in the fortress of
40:32
Speaker 1: a rebel heart. Brokenness assaults pride. They have to learn that.
40:49
Speaker 1: Not just they. The real question is, are we on
40:58
Speaker 1: that same page? I can't speak for you. I wouldn't
41:06
Speaker 1: if I could. That's not my place. I can only
41:10
Speaker 1: speak as best I know my own heart. A few
41:16
Speaker 1: questions that will help as you do a little audit
41:20
Speaker 1: of your servanthood. Are you going to start leading by serving? Husbands,
41:29
Speaker 1: are you going to start serving your wife? I sometimes
41:38
Speaker 1: say jokingly to Cynthia, but I really do mean it.
41:40
Speaker 1: I exist to serve you. The truth is she feels
41:46
Speaker 1: the same. That's why we stay together all these years.
41:51
Speaker 1: When you compete, you don't stay together. You're willing to
41:58
Speaker 1: serve the one that can't return the service. Being of
42:09
Speaker 1: help to someone who may not say thank you. or
42:13
Speaker 1: doing something very kind for someone who wouldn't even know
42:16
Speaker 1: you did it? Will this change how you handle the
42:21
Speaker 1: role of leadership, whatever may be your leadership? Is this
42:26
Speaker 1: the beginning of your applauding others and where necessary, apologizing
42:31
Speaker 1: to others? When is the last time you ever apologized
42:35
Speaker 1: for anything? You see, It's ingrained in us. Let me
42:49
Speaker 1: tell you about an editorial cartoon I saw some time ago.
42:53
Speaker 1: It was rather large at the top of this editorial page.
42:56
Speaker 1: It was in a square. And it was a monument
43:00
Speaker 1: drawn inside the square. The monument was in the shape
43:05
Speaker 1: of a pyramid. And the pyramid were words that had
43:11
Speaker 1: been chiseled out of stone in this monument. At the top, I.
43:22
Speaker 1: Below it, the word me. Below me, mine. Below mine, myself.
43:40
Speaker 1: At the bottom of this cartoon, editorial cartoon, are hundreds
43:48
Speaker 1: of people with their hands held up high, looking up
43:53
Speaker 1: as if worshiping at a shrine. I, me, mine, myself.
44:03
Speaker 1: Written on the border of the four sides that frame
44:09
Speaker 1: this cartoon were familiar sayings. You're number one. You deserve
44:20
Speaker 1: the best. Have it your way. If you can do it,
44:29
Speaker 1: it ain't bragging. At the very bottom of the cartoon
44:38
Speaker 1: is the clincher. The words, speaking of American cults, How
44:49
Speaker 1: different from what Jesus taught. How different. John ultimately learned it, obviously,
44:58
Speaker 1: because in his later years, his ministry was sort of
45:04
Speaker 1: limited to the words, love one another. Love one another.
45:13
Speaker 1: Care for one another. Peter ultimately learned and wound up
45:22
Speaker 1: crucified for his faith. But he wrote to fellow elders
45:29
Speaker 1: and pastors saying, don't do what you do because of
45:33
Speaker 1: what you get out of it. Do it because you
45:36
Speaker 1: are called to do it. When will we learn? I
45:44
Speaker 1: would love to know that every believer connected with Stonebriar
45:49
Speaker 1: Community Church is a model of this. And people who
45:53
Speaker 1: come into our homes to do repair leave impressed with
45:58
Speaker 1: our kindness and our thoughtfulness. Those who do work on
46:04
Speaker 1: our roofs or in our plumbing or on our cars
46:08
Speaker 1: walk away thinking, that's the nicest people I've ever been around.
46:14
Speaker 1: I mean, they even cared that I had lunch. And
46:23
Speaker 1: those we do business with. And I'll realize, let me
46:29
Speaker 1: stop here. If you don't know the Savior, if you've
46:33
Speaker 1: never come to the cross by faith, if you've never
46:37
Speaker 1: trusted in Jesus, this is all just talk. You couldn't
46:43
Speaker 1: do this if you tried. Because it has to come
46:47
Speaker 1: from the Spirit of God that convicts us of our
46:51
Speaker 1: pride and shuts our mouth when we want to brag
46:56
Speaker 1: on ourselves or drop a hint or a name. You
47:01
Speaker 1: come to the cross and you surrender yourself to the
47:05
Speaker 1: Savior and you say, take my life. Let it be
47:09
Speaker 1: whatever you wish. I need you, Lord God.
47:12
Speaker 2: Amen.
47:13
Speaker 1: Come into my life. Change me. Transform my thinking. Take
47:18
Speaker 1: away this ugly side of me that's dominated so much
47:22
Speaker 1: of my words and actions and thoughts. I want to
47:30
Speaker 1: serve people. I want to be of help to people.
47:40
Speaker 1: I began by telling you about Dr. Waltke. Let me
47:44
Speaker 1: go back there as I close. And I return to
47:47
Speaker 1: this great man. Those years I remained at the school,
47:56
Speaker 1: I of course was around him and I saw how
48:01
Speaker 1: the next few years began to shape and change him.
48:07
Speaker 1: And he left a lot of that arrogance he had
48:09
Speaker 1: left when he had left Harvard. And he was just
48:14
Speaker 1: one of us more and more. By my fourth year,
48:18
Speaker 1: I understand from some of the other guys, because I
48:21
Speaker 1: know what he said to me. He took the time
48:26
Speaker 1: to meet with the 20 of us in different ways
48:28
Speaker 1: at different times privately. I'll never forget it. He pulled
48:37
Speaker 1: me aside and said with tears, I want to apologize
48:43
Speaker 1: for what I put you guys through. I said, you know, Dr. Waltke,
48:49
Speaker 1: he said, no, no, let me finish. I didn't do
48:56
Speaker 1: a good job. I was so anxious to prove some
49:01
Speaker 1: things that coming out of school, I was ready to,
49:04
Speaker 1: you know, set a record. I thought, you didn't get
49:07
Speaker 1: one with us, man, when you taught us. But he said,
49:11
Speaker 1: what I realize is that years have passed. That I really.
49:16
Speaker 2: Ah.
49:21
Speaker 1: Didn't handle it well please forgive me since that graduation
49:27
Speaker 1: time in my life I've had the privilege to do
49:31
Speaker 1: a conference or two with Dr. Waltke and to be
49:36
Speaker 1: around him and I I will tell you, one of
49:45
Speaker 1: the most gracious men I've ever known. Over time, he's
49:53
Speaker 1: become a serving, giving teacher, leader. Melts me when I
50:05
Speaker 1: think of it. It's always magnificent when you're around uncommon
50:15
Speaker 1: greatness coming from one who is so bright, so capable.
50:29
Speaker 1: Like so many of you, this is what, this is what,
50:38
Speaker 1: This is what the Lord wants of us. This is
50:41
Speaker 1: what the Lord wants of us. When it's all said
50:47
Speaker 1: and done, it will be this that will give this
50:51
Speaker 1: church wings to fly and a heart that touches people
50:58
Speaker 1: where they are. Let's bow together. I don't know where
51:15
Speaker 1: you are in this. I really don't. But I know
51:22
Speaker 1: there's something here for every one of us. Good place
51:25
Speaker 1: to start is in your home, with your own family,
51:34
Speaker 1: with those that you know best. They're the ones who
51:40
Speaker 1: would expect it the least. What a great thing to
51:44
Speaker 1: serve and to give to them. All for the glory
51:53
Speaker 1: of Christ. Help us all, Lord, in the journey. Help
52:01
Speaker 1: us to get past ourselves and get beyond the I, me, mine,
52:10
Speaker 1: and myself nonsense And come to the place where just
52:18
Speaker 1: having breath in our lungs is enough. Use us, we pray,
52:25
Speaker 1: in great ways. Uncommon greatness that no one would ever
52:35
Speaker 1: expect and that you would be so pleased to see
52:40
Speaker 1: in us. Minister, Father, through these words to every one
52:47
Speaker 1: of us. As we journey along this thing called life.
52:59
Speaker 1: In the name of Jesus. Everyone said. Amen.
53:08
Speaker 2: The preceding message, a roadside reminder and reprove. was copyrighted
53:13
Speaker 2: in 2017 and 2021, and the sound recording was copyrighted
53:19
Speaker 2: in 2021 by Charles R.
53:20
Speaker 1: Swindoll, Inc.
53:22
Speaker 2: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
53:26
Speaker 2: commercial use is strictly prohibited.