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Please turn in your Bibles to 
Matthew chapter 18. Matthew 18, our focus this morning 
will be verses 1 to 4. I do, however, want to read from 
verse 1 to verse 20, and then pray, and then we'll introduce 
the chapter, and then, as I said, focus on the greatest in the 
kingdom, beginning in chapter 18 at verse 1. At that time the 
disciples came to Jesus saying, who then is the greatest in the 
kingdom of heaven? Then Jesus called a little child 
to him, set him in the midst of them, and said, Assuredly 
I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little 
children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. 
Therefore, whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest 
in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child 
like this in my name receives me. Whoever causes one of these 
little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for 
him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were 
drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of offenses, 
for offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense 
comes. If your hand or foot causes you 
to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you 
to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands 
or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire. And if 
your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. 
It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather 
than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire. Take heed that 
you do not despise one of these little ones. For I say to you 
that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who 
is in heaven. For the Son of Man has come to 
save that which was lost. What do you think, if a man has 
a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, does he not leave 
the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that 
is straying? And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to 
you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine 
that did not go astray. Even so it is not the will of 
your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones 
should perish. Moreover, if your brother sins against you, go 
and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears 
you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take 
with you one or two more, that by the mouth of two or three 
witnesses every word may be established. And if he refuses to hear them, 
tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear 
the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. Assuredly, I say to you, whatever 
you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose 
on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, I say to you that if two 
of you agree on anything, on earth concerning anything that 
they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there 
in the midst of them. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, 
we thank you for the Word of God and we pray now for the ministry 
of the Spirit of God to guide, to lead, to direct, and to instruct 
us. And we pray, Father, that even 
now you would forgive us for all of our sins and unrighteousness. 
When we look at your holy character as it's revealed to us, your 
nature as revealed to us in the Word of God, we see your holiness 
and your excellence and your purity. When we look into that 
perfect law of God, we see our sinfulness and our waywardness 
We confess those sins and transgressions now. And we pray that You would 
wash us and purify us in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And help us now, Lord God, to 
take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. And 
help us to learn the lessons that You would have for us this 
morning. Help us as people of God. Help us as believers to 
be like Jesus says in this passage. God, for those outside of Christ, 
we pray that Your Spirit would be at work in and through the 
Word. that you would bring conviction for sin and bring salvation to 
sinners today. And we pray these things through 
Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, one of the unique 
things or differences concerning Matthew's gospel from Mark and 
Luke, they are the synoptics, they are all very similar in 
nature, but Matthew includes five main discourses, five larger 
blocks of teaching, and we have seen three of them thus far. We are entering into the fourth 
discourse. The first is the Sermon on the 
Mount in chapters 5 to 7. The second is the missionary 
discourse when Jesus sends his disciples out in chapters 10 
and 11. Well, it ends at 11.1. And then 
here, this one deals with community relations. And then we have the 
Olivet Discourse, the one in 24 and 25. I'm seeing four. I said five. I'm a little confused right now. 
My notes have confused me. Anyways, we are in the fourth 
discourse in Matthew's gospel at this particular juncture. 
And what he deals with specifically is community relations or life 
within the church. In Matthew 10, he sends his disciples 
out to go preach the gospel. to outsiders. Here in Matthew 
18, what transpires or takes place is specifically within 
the context of the local church. You see how that fleshes out. 
Verses 1 to 4, the people of God are to be humble. In verses 
5 to 9, the people of God are not to cause offenses toward 
others. In verses 10 to 14, we are to 
seek to recover those lost sheep, those who have gone astray. In 
verses 15 to 20, we are tasked with church discipline. How do 
we relate to one another within the context of the local church? And then as well, we deal with 
forgiveness in that larger section of that parable in verses 21 
to 35. I think Knox Chamberlain was 
right. He said in chapter 10, the focus 
was on his disciples' mission to the world. Here the subject 
is relationships in the new community, in the church Messiah has come 
to build. Matthew 16, 18, Jesus said, I 
will build my church. and the gates of Hades shall 
not prevail against it." Here in Matthew 18 he refers to the 
regulation or rather conduct within the church concerning 
the people of God. As I said, we'll take up verses 
1 to 4. I think there is a break between 
4 and 5 even though the New King James puts the marker separately. You notice in verse 5 it's how 
persons respond to the little ones and that carries through 
to the rest of that section. So we'll make a break between 
verses 4 and 5 this morning and specifically the issue is who 
is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? So we'll take this 
up under two considerations. First, the question concerning 
kingdom greatness, and secondly, the model of kingdom greatness. But first, notice, it says in 
verse 1, at that time the disciples came to Jesus saying, who then 
is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? It's a good question 
on the surface. It's a good question as we ponder 
this particular chapter, as we ponder Matthew's gospel. It's 
not without warrant. In Matthew chapter 5, Jesus said 
that those who teach the commandments of God will be great in the kingdom 
of heaven. In Matthew chapter 11, he said 
that the least in the kingdom is greater than John the Baptist. So the question in and of itself 
isn't necessarily wrong, but I suspect that it perhaps was 
in this particular case. parallel accounts in Mark 9 and 
in Luke 9. Very specifically in Luke 9 it 
tells us that Jesus perceived that they were disputing among 
themselves. In Mark it relates very specifically. Jesus says, what is it you disputed 
among yourselves on the road? But they had kept silent for 
on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be 
the greatest. There's no contradiction. Matthew 
gets right to the very particular question that these men ask him. But we see it was born out of 
a disputation among the men themselves. They were jockeying for position. They were desiring to know this. They probably weren't, now I 
don't want to impute evil upon brethren, but they probably weren't 
saying, I want to know who's the greatest in the kingdom because 
I think he should be, or I think he should be, or I think he should 
be. Typically when we're disputing 
about position, it's with a view for our position, isn't it? You might say, well, no, not 
me, because I just exemplify the humility that is enjoined 
in this passage. Well, then, for the rest of you 
slobs, what is it that we are listening or concerned about 
when we're disputing with reference to position? These men wanted 
it for themselves. And if we ask the question, why? Why was it the case that these 
men are disputing concerning position? Well, up to this point, 
and this is speculation, I'm just trying to give us some things 
to consider with reference to the actual dispute. Up to this 
point, thus far, there was an apparent priority with the Apostle 
Peter. In Matthew 14, it was Peter who 
walked on the water. Matthew 16, it was Peter who 
said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God. It was Peter, among two others, 
who went up on the Mount of Transfiguration. It was Peter who was in the house 
with Jesus in Capernaum when they paid the temple tax. Perhaps 
the other eleven at this particular time are saying, you know, we 
better watch this guy. He's ascending up the ranks. 
He seems to be the favored one among Jesus. Could have been 
something like that. What's going on, Lord? Who's 
the greatest in the kingdom? Is Peter the kind of guy we need 
to be? As well, when we compare other 
passages, when Jesus announces His passion, His death, and His 
resurrection, we see the same sorts of responses. We see it 
here, verses 22 and 23 in chapter 17. Jesus says that He must be 
betrayed, He must die, and He must be raised again. And then 
there's this little story concerning the temple tax, and now they're 
disputing for position. Look at chapter 20 for just a 
moment. Chapter 20, another announcement concerning the coming passion. Now, Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, 
took the twelve disciples aside on the road, and said to them, 
Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem. I just have to stop there for 
a moment. I know what I said. Matthew 13 was the third discourse 
in this gospel. I forgot to put it down. I'm 
sorry. That's the way my mind functions. I'm still touched 
with that. Now I can proceed. Please forgive me. I know that's 
odd. And I know it's weird, but I just had to clarify that. There 
are five discourses. We are in the fourth. We have 
seen the one in 5 to 7, 10 to 11, and chapter 13. This is the 
fourth and 18. There'll be a fifth in the Olivet 
Discourse in 24. back to 2017. Now Jesus going 
up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples aside on the road and 
said to them, 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 deliver him to the Gentiles 
to mock and discourage and to crucify and the third day he 
will rise again. Now, what would you do in a situation 
like that, where the master you've grown to love expresses something 
like this? What would be your response? 
Probably it wouldn't be a whole lot different than what we find 
in this response. Verse 20, Then the mother of 
Zebedee's sons came to him with her sons, kneeling down and asking 
something from him. And he said to her, What do you 
wish? She said to him, Grant that these two sons of mine may 
sit, one on your right hand and the other on the left, in your 
kingdom. I've argued up to this point that perhaps the disciples 
just haven't heard the reference to the resurrection. When Jesus 
announces the passion, they are sorrowful or grieved. Now I'm 
rethinking that. Maybe they have heard with reference 
to the resurrection, and they are now figuring out where they're 
going to fare when it comes to that particular position. It's 
an amazing thing. He announces betrayal, death, 
suffering, woe, misery. And the disciples say, who's 
going to be the greatest in the kingdom? Spurgeon says that Jesus 
spoke of his abasement, they thought of their own advancement. And we see that in the parallels 
to the narrative we are studying, but there's also one that's not 
parallel, but another in Luke 22. You can turn there for just 
a moment. Luke chapter 22. Notice, 14 to 23, Jesus inaugurates 
the New Covenant. Jesus speaks very specifically 
of His body and of His blood. He is speaking the language of 
sacrifice. He is speaking the language of 
death. He is speaking the language of 
His own provision of His own self for the sins of His people. Verse 24 of 22, now there was 
also a dispute among them as to which of them should be considered 
the greatest. It's amazing, isn't it? This 
is the nature of pride. This is the nature of our lack 
of humility. We are not concerned with the 
reality that a man that we love says he's going to be betrayed 
and he's going to die. What is more important is where 
will I fare in the kingdom? What is more important is what 
about me? How am I going to do? What's 
it gonna be like for me? You see, one of the things that 
is certainly ours with reference to our position in Adam is a 
pride and an arrogance and a built-in narcissism. You know, narcissism 
has been popular today through Facebook, through social media, 
through the media as a whole. But narcissism has always been 
there. Men have always loved themselves. Men have always been about self-preservation. Men have always desired that 
the universe circle around them. And this is what we are confronted 
with in this question. Who then is the greatest in the 
kingdom of heaven? Back to Matthew 18. This assumes 
that there are degrees of status in the kingdom. As I've alluded 
to, Matthew 5, Matthew 11, that's not without warrant. In fact, 
Jesus answers the question. Another reason why I see a break 
between 4 and 5. The question is posed in verse 
1, the question is answered in verse 4, and then a new thought 
or a new theme emerges in terms of how persons deal with these 
little ones. But as well, the desire for greatness 
trumps a contentedness to even be included. There's something 
in this passage that reminded me of Psalm 84. Psalm 84, very 
specifically in verses 10 and 11, what does the man say? He says, I would rather be a 
gatekeeper at the house of God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. I would rather just make it to 
heaven. My concern at this point is not 
greatness. My concern at this point is faithfulness. Brethren, this is an innate desire 
as well that we have in Adam. Perhaps it is something of the 
image of God. God is great. God is glorious. God is majestic. But we're not 
God. And when we desire that for ourselves, 
We more often than not betray something, or we evidence something. We show that we are sinful, proud, 
arrogant, and so consumed with ourselves. The question as well 
assumes, I suspect, that they deserve the status. Now, lest 
you think I'm picking on these beloved disciples. They are, 
you know, a thousand times better men than I. I just think they 
are representative of all of us. I think they're representative 
of all of us. Who is the greatest in the Kingdom 
of Heaven? You hear that today? I want to 
be great. I want to be awesome. I want to be this. How many people 
are saying, I want to be faithful? I just want to fall out of bed 
and do what God tells me in a given day. I mean, this is propagated 
in mass in the church. You've got to have vision. You've 
got to have this. You've got to do that. You've 
got to go there. You've got to do that. You just be faithful, man. In 
some respects, this approach to a radical Christianity, and 
this vibrant, visionary Christianity, is crippling the people of God 
from a faithful Christianity. You know, God is good, He is 
glorious, and He raises up a Calvin, or a Spurgeon, or a whoever, 
you know, once about every 100, 200, 300 years. You're probably 
not them. You're probably just regular, 
ordinary, normal people that are called to function in the 
place that God has called you, and to do it faithfully. I don't 
mean just you, I mean all of us. We're in that boat. And that's 
a good boat to be in. Isn't it? We're going to heaven! We are in the kingdom of heaven! We are saved by grace through 
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He was betrayed. He was delivered 
up. He was crucified. He rose again. And because God is gracious and 
has given us faith to lay hold of Christ, we're saved. Isn't that enough? Isn't that 
everything? Again, I don't mean just go lay 
down and let life pass you by. Butler said, I don't want to 
be great. Just be faithful. There's something of that absent 
in the very question itself. The reason I know that is because 
the way Jesus answers it, and that brings us secondly to the 
model of kingdom greatness. He takes a little child and he 
sets the little child in the midst of them. Spurgeon and Albert 
N. Martin reckon this with reference 
to our Lord. He was indeed gentle. He was indeed kind. You know, 
they have said that children and dogs are pretty good judges 
of character. Aren't they? Children and dogs 
are pretty good judges of character. When Jesus needs a child for 
an illustration of spiritual truth, the child comes to Jesus. Who is the child? We don't know. 
They are in Peter's house. Maybe it was one of Peter's children, 
because contra the popes of Rome, Peter was actually married. And 
it's not unlawful to be married and to have children. Perhaps 
it was one of Peter's children. But notice, Jesus takes this 
little child and plops it down right in the midst of them to 
teach them a lesson concerning greatness in the kingdom of heaven. 
Notice what he says, verse 3. He said, "...assuredly, I say 
to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, 
you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven." Now, we need 
to understand that what Jesus says here, unless you are converted, 
may have a bit of a softer sense in the sense of, unless you turn. We ought to assume, for the sake 
of argument, that the disciples are actually saved. We ought 
to assume that when Peter says, Thou art the Christ, the Son 
of the Living God, and Jesus says, Blessed are you, Simon 
Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but 
my Father was in heaven. They are probably already converted 
men. The New King James and the King 
James renders it be converted, and that's not contrary to the 
force of the verb, but it almost seems to indicate that they need 
to be born again. I think it's probably better 
to take it in this sense. from this worldly, carnal expectation 
of position in the Kingdom of Heaven, adopt the ethic and the 
mindset of this little child, or you will not enter the Kingdom 
of Heaven. Why? Because if we're proud and 
arrogant, it betrays our profession or confession of faith in the 
Lord Jesus. Now, when we ask, why did Jesus 
use the child? I suspect that those men who 
in commentary say the child was selected because they're pure. 
Children are selected because they're innocent. Children are 
selected because they're so selfless. Children are selected because 
they are so trusting. Those are probably men that don't 
have children. Sorry, kids. Jesus tells us the 
analogy in verse 4. humbles himself like this little 
child. For the most part, children aren't 
consumed with status. Again, there are those exceptions. When your kid is seven and has 
to have an iPhone, you've got problems. But for the most part, 
they're not jockeying for position. A child is just happy to be with 
Jesus. A child is just happy to be in 
His presence. A child just wants to be near 
Him. The child isn't calculating. 
The child isn't orchestrating. The child isn't somehow conniving 
that he or she will be the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. That's 
the analogy. Children are used in illustrations 
elsewhere in the Bible. 1 Corinthians 14 positively. When it comes to malice, be babes. 
But in 1 Corinthians 11, when I was a child, I thought as a 
child. But now that I'm a man, I think as a man. What's the 
goal? Maturation. Same thing in Ephesians 
4. What's the goal? That we move 
from this position of child-likeness to a mature man in the Lord Jesus 
Christ. So we don't want to press the 
analogy so much that we think that children are somehow, you 
know, these holy spawn that just float around and do nothing but 
good. The very close connection in the passage is with humility. 
A humility that is evidenced by not jockeying for position. 
A humility that is evidenced by not fighting with disciples 
over who's going to be the greatest. A humility that is evident in 
the reality that I would just rather be a doorkeeper in the 
house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. A humility 
that is content with being with Christ. Whether I get to be ten 
spaces closer than the rest of my brethren, that's not the point. 
Praise God Almighty, from whom all blessings flow, I am saved 
by grace through faith in Jesus, and I shall see Him as He is. 
I may not be as close as my brethren, but that's okay. I'm alright 
with that. If I'm a bleacher creature in 
heaven, I'd much prefer that than occupying the chief space 
at the table in hell. You see, there's an idea here 
that the humble man, the humble woman embraces. It's not a pursuit 
of position. The ideal is exemplified by our 
Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew 11. How does he describe 
himself? Lowly in heart. It's exemplified 
by Matthew 12, when the Lord Jesus, or Matthew quotes Isaiah 
the prophet concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. As well, it's exemplified 
in Matthew 21, when Jesus goes into Jerusalem, not on a mighty 
steed with guns a-blazing, but on a donkey's call. It's exemplified 
by our Lord, who did not come to be served, but to serve and 
to give His life a ransom for many. That's how He underscores 
it in Matthew 20. He announces the passion, they 
jockey for position. Jesus says, look at the kings 
and how they exercise authority. That's not the way it's supposed 
to be among you. And furthermore, the Son of Man 
did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life 
a ransom for many. So you see the model of kingdom 
greatness. Jesus tells them they need to 
turn. He gives them then a warning 
concerning this turn. Assuredly I say to you, it's 
underlined with an Amen. It's a heavy and a weighty thing 
that he says here. Assuredly I say to you, unless 
you are converted and become as little children, you will 
by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. This is a very strong 
statement. You will by no means. Captures the essence of it well. 
In Greek, you can use a double negative. In English, that makes 
it a positive. In Greek, it just makes it a 
double negative. And I think this captures the 
sense of it well. You will not. There is no possible 
way. A proud spirit is an unconverted 
spirit. A proud man is an anomaly who 
confesses Christ. And it is a real warning. Listen to J.C. Ryle. He says, 
the surest mark of true conversion is humility. So on the one hand, 
the word converted may be too strong, but on the other hand 
it may not be. Because you see, what Jesus is saying to us is 
that a kingdom citizen, someone who is born again, someone who 
has been saved, evidences this childlike humility. And the person 
who does not evidence that, the person who is absent of such 
a thing, the person who is as proud as the devil, evidences 
that they know not God. They have not believed the gospel. 
So here's Ryle. The surest mark of true conversion 
is humility. If we have really received the 
Holy Ghost, we shall show it by a meek and humble spirit. 
I'm not saying perfect, brethren. Not perfect. I mean, one wonders 
if this was Peter's kid. There were two cookies offered 
at the table and one was bigger and one was smaller. Maybe Peter's 
kid wanted the big one. He wasn't perfect. But as a general 
rule, as a general ethic that is consistent with the kingdom, 
pride and arrogance and a jockeying for position betrays your profession. See, I don't think we sufficiently 
wrestle with just how bad pride is. I think we have just accepted 
it as the way the Israelites accepted Canaanites in the land. 
Well, they're here, we gotta deal with it. I'm proud, that's 
just the way it goes. What does Jesus do? He takes 
a child and He says, unless you are humble like this little one, 
you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Ryle says, 
like children, we shall think humbly of our own strength and 
wisdom, and be very dependent on our Father in Heaven. Like 
children, we shall not seek great things in this world, and having 
food and raiment and a father's love, we shall be content. So 
we see the model, the necessity to turn. And then notice, with 
reference to this, the evidence of a turn. Verse 4, Therefore, 
whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest 
in the kingdom of heaven. You see, this is why I said the 
very question itself isn't necessarily wrong. Because Jesus answers 
it, and he answers it with a very specific and clear explanation. Whoever is humble, like this 
little child, will be the greatest in the kingdom. What does Jesus 
teach us in the Gospel records? That the kingdom ethic is not 
like the world ethic. In the world, you need to step 
on people. In the world, you need to insist 
upon your rights. In the world, you need to make 
your own way. In the world, you need to do 
everything and anything you can to advance. Jesus says that is 
contrary to the kingdom of heaven. If you want to be great in the 
kingdom, you need to be the least of all. If you want to be first 
in the kingdom, you need to be the last of all. If you want 
to demonstrate and evidence this child-likeness, it is in humility. It is in a self-abnegation. That is, to disdain oneself. Not in a wicked way where you're 
hurting yourself. just to realize there is no good 
thing in me. I did not come to this place 
of salvation by works. I did not come to this place 
of salvation by wisdom. I did not come to this place 
of salvation by knowledge. I came here because of grace. 
I have been born up on the wings of grace. I was plundered from 
Satan's kingdom by sovereign grace. I was transferred from 
that kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of His 
love, according to the Father's mercy and love and kindness." 
You see, brethren, that's the way the kingdom citizen views 
himself. Not jockeying for position because 
he is so much better than everyone else. Because isn't that implied 
in the disciples' question? Who is the greatest in the kingdom 
of heaven? I guarantee you that if Jesus said, here are ten things 
you can do to pursue greatness in the kingdom of heaven, that 
probably would have been a whole lot more manageable and a lot 
more well-received than this. Right? Think about it, brethren. If 
there were ten things that you could do in your strength, you 
know, get up tomorrow at eight, have whatever, do this, do that. If you had ten things to be great 
in the kingdom, there's something about a checklist morality that 
is very appealing to us. We just tick off the box and 
consider ourselves blessed But that's not this. You need to 
be humble. You need to be lowly. You need 
to be like the Lord Jesus. The ideal consistent with the 
kingdom is not striving for position, like the disciples did. Therefore, 
whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest 
in the kingdom of heaven. Listen to what Chrysostom said 
concerning humility. And I think if we think of its 
contrary, we could say the same thing about pride. He says with 
reference to humility, it is the mother, root, nurse, foundation, 
and center of all other virtues. It's a great expression of what 
humility is. It is the mother, root, nurse, 
foundation, and center of all other virtues. Perhaps the good 
brother would forgive me if I indulged it for a moment and said, as 
I mentioned, insert pride there. What happens with reference to 
pride? It is the mother, the root, the 
nurse, the foundation, and the center of all other vices. You see, this kingdom ethic, 
or this kingdom ideal, when you gaze upon that little child, 
Jesus then makes the implication or application very clear. He 
says, therefore, whoever humbles himself as this little child 
is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Do you ever hear that 
in these conferences? Have you ever seen that? You 
want to be great, you want to have vision, and you want to 
do things for the kingdom of God? Be humble. Go out and be 
humble. This isn't an affected humility 
either. This isn't the kind of humility 
that writes books. Humility and how I mastered it. 
This isn't technique. This isn't the employment of 
method. This is what grace produces. This is what grace brings. This is how we know that someone 
is a son or daughter of God. Because they're not proud like 
the devil. They're not consumed with themselves. They're not 
concerned that everything center on them. You want to know what 
grace looks like? You want to know what it is to 
be born again? I think Ryle's right. Humility. 
It's an evidence. Humility is a fruit. Humility 
is not the condition by which we enter the kingdom, but it 
rather is the consequence of God's having accepted us into 
his kingdom. Calvin made this definition. I thought this was beautiful. 
Another thing that bugs me, oh, that Calvin, that monster, he 
killed Servetus, whatever they say. On humility, that man is truly 
humble, who neither claims any personal merit in the sight of 
God, nor proudly despises brethren, or aims at being thought superior 
to them, but reckons it enough that he is one of the members 
of Christ. That's what I was saying earlier with 84, 10, and 
11. I'm happy to be a doorkeeper in the house of God. How close 
do you want to be to the throne? I just want to be a doorkeeper 
in the house of God. I just want to be on the right 
side of that door. And because of God's grace that'll 
be the case. Do you get this? You see? The church in a narcissistic 
age is peddling the very thing that is contrary to this kingdom 
ethic. There is a sanctified or a pious sounding narcissism 
that is being promoted. What is it when men are told 
it's all about you? Can I just tell you the Bible's 
not all about you? It's about God. The sooner you 
get that in your head and heart the better off you're going to 
be. The end of Romans 11, it is for of him and through him 
and to him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. The humanist and the narcissist 
likes to rewrite that, for of me and through me and to me are 
all things, to me be glory forever. That that exists in the world 
doesn't surprise me one bit because they're of their father the devil, 
but that it's being propagated in so-called Christian pulpits 
ought to make us hang our heads in shame. that a narcissistic 
man-centeredness is being attached to the name of our Lord Jesus. Church is where you go to, that 
it's all about you and your happiness and how you feel better and manage 
your crises. You say, well what's wrong with 
that? There's nothing wrong in itself about that, but when it 
usurps the reality of the Gospel. Certainly the Gospel affords 
hope, it affords stability, it affords comfort, it affords encouragement 
to the people of God. We've seen that along the way 
in our studies in Matthew. When Jesus is on the boat and 
the storm comes, remember I said that being with Christ does not 
mean the absence of storms, but certainly it means to have Christ 
with you in those storms. That's legit. We can say such 
things. We can make those observations 
and applications. But when pulpits are centered 
on man, and we're throwing a little Jesus in there just to make it 
sound okay, brethren, we've got big problems. When Paul's words 
are being rewritten to say, for of me and through me and to me 
are all things. Now I realize they don't make 
that confession that blatantly or brazenly, but it's certainly 
evident in the way that people conduct themselves. Who's more 
important in your life, you or God? If you say you for a moment, 
you don't know grace. It's seek first the kingdom of 
God and His righteousness. I talked to somebody recently 
who said, you know, I always used to think it was about how 
Jesus could help me and about how Jesus could, you know, make 
my life better. And then I learned it's about 
God first. That's the priority structure in God's kingdom. Do 
you guys all get that? And if that is the case, then 
what should we think of this wicked, satanic, devilish pride 
that rises up in our hearts? We ought to employ Romans 8.13, 
if by the Spirit you do mortify the deeds of the body. You live. 
We need to kill pride. We need to put pride down. We 
need to imbibe the ethic of the kingdom, which is humility. We 
need to pursue that childlike characteristic, that childlike 
trait, that we're not jockeying for position, that we're not 
mad when other people get something good. What does Paul say? Rejoice 
with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Has it ever 
risen up in your heart when somebody got some good news or something 
happy occurred to someone else, Just for a moment, it welled 
up in your heart to say, well, why hasn't that happened to me? 
Why doesn't God do that to me? That's wrong, brethren. That's 
sin. We're to rejoice with those who 
rejoice. God saves a man, or God blesses 
a man, or God helps a man. And our response is, what about 
me? That is to betray the very kingdom 
ethic that Jesus enjoins upon us here. Be like this child. Children hear the good success 
of their parents and say, good man, that's great! For the most 
part. Again, this is not a strict, 
perfected, you know, analogy. You see, this is devilish. That man is truly humble. who 
neither claims any personal merit in the sight of God, nor proudly 
despises brethren, or aims at being thought superior to them, 
but reckons it enough that he is one of the members of Christ, 
and desires nothing more than that the head should be exalted." 
Isn't this the ethic of John the Baptist? What's he saying 
in John 3.30? He, Christ, must increase, but 
I must decrease. That's it right there. That's 
what that little child planted in their midst was supposed to communicate 
to them. Don't worry about your status. 
Don't worry about your greatness. Don't worry about where you're 
going to be. Be faithful. Be faithful. Persevere. It's about God. It's about the Lord Jesus. If 
we answer the question biblically, I'm not suggesting Jesus did 
it, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? It's heaven's 
jewel. It's the Lord Jesus. He is the 
sum and the substance. He is the gem. He is the precious 
stone in that particular arrangement. It's Christ who is the greatest. 
And if those who, by God's grace, look to Him, they will value 
and prize Him over any status that may be afforded to them 
or kept from them. So Jesus answers their question. 
He tells them the kingdom in fact has degrees of greatness, 
and that the kingdom's degrees of greatness are contrary to 
the world's idea of greatness. Matthew 20, 27. Whoever desires 
to be first among you, let him be your slave. Yet it shall not 
be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among 
you shall be your servant." Luke 22, 26, "...but not so among 
you. On the contrary, he who is greatest 
among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as 
he who serves." So back to the very issue. Not 
necessarily even wrong to ask the question. It's the path of 
pursuit. that makes the difference. Is it this jockeying, this money-grubbing 
attitude? I'm going to be right there! 
No, you just got to get up tomorrow and be faithful to the Lord. 
The dispute among the disciples. First, the desire for greatness 
in the kingdom of heaven, and the adoption of the world's concept 
with reference to this. Ryle says elsewhere, He says 
concerning these particular men, they spoke as men half enlightened 
and full of carnal expectations. You see this is a kingdom. It's 
the kingdom of heaven. All we know are these sorts of 
kingdoms where the Gentiles do what they do. So obviously it's 
going to be like that. We're going to get rewarded. 
We're going to get this. We're going to get that. So they dispute with one 
another. Again, I don't think brethren in that dispute, no 
you deserve the greatest spot. No you deserve the greatest spot. 
No you deserve to be closest. Probably that's not how it was. 
If it was in fact that they suspected that Peter was jockeying or Peter 
was closer, they may have been saying, why is that Peter always 
getting to hang out with the master? Why is that Peter always 
with the master? They were disputing among themselves 
as to who would be the greatest in the kingdom. And then secondly, 
we ought to learn and observe from this passage, there is a 
danger of a proud spirit. the danger of a proud spirit. Again, I know and am convinced 
that all of us are guilty in this sense. If you say, you know, 
Pastor Butler, I've got a lot of issues in my life, but I've 
mastered pride. I'm going to say, no, I won't probably say 
it because I try to be nice, but I'm going to think later. 
God help them, deal with pride. When you say I've mastered pride, 
it's one of those self-defeating statements, isn't it? I've mastered 
pride. More often than not spoken by 
a man who's been mastered by pride. The danger of a proud 
spirit, its presence is in the sons of Adam. Even in the state 
of grace, there is pride in the people of God. That pride is 
manifest in the way that we speak. That pride is manifest in the 
way that we conduct ourselves. Just do a simple test. In the 
course of your life, when you talk to others, what's the most 
important subject? If it's you, you may have a problem 
with pride. Do you ever listen to a brother? 
Do you ever hear what their concerns are? Do you ever intercede for 
them at the throne of grace? Are you watching their mouths? 
Not so that you can fully interpret what they're saying and be affected 
by it, but waiting for that moment when those lips stop so you can 
say what's important. Brethren, these are the things 
that happen. When was the last time you prayed 
for a brother or sister in our church? You get one of the emails 
from the church. Is it a delete, delete, delete? I don't have time for that. You 
know what? It doesn't take 24 hours to pray that God will have 
mercy on a sinner. It takes about, oh, three seconds. You can't spare that in your 
beautiful, wonderful, holy, glorious life. You probably can, but it's 
pride. You see, brethren, we are a proud 
people. And we need to mortify this. 
the necessity to turn from such a disposition. If you do not, 
if you do not imbibe the ethic that is proffered here, if you 
do not act like this little child, again, not affecting it, not 
imitating it, look how humble I am, I did this for, that's 
not humility. But if you do not manifest this 
It is evidence that you've not been laid hold of by the grace 
of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. What do we do with pride? As believers, we flee to the 
cross. As unbelievers, you're proud 
too. I'm picking on the people of 
God because that's the specific application. These are disciples 
that are jockeying for position in the kingdom of heaven. But 
if the disciple has remaining sin, if the disciple has remaining 
pride, guess what your lot is? reigning pride, reigning wickedness. The abundance of pride, the abundance 
of self-love, the abundance of narcissism, the abundance of 
everyone thinking that it's all about me. What's your answer 
and what's your hope? There is a fountain filled with 
blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners plunged beneath that 
flood lose. all their guilty stains. Isn't 
that great? There's hope in Christ, the one 
who came to seek and to save that which was lost. The one 
who did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his 
life a ransom for many. Think about that statement 2028. Who was worthy to be served? 
Who was worthy to be praised? Who was worthy to be exalted? 
Who was worthy to be adored? Who was worthy to be honored? 
Jesus. He left heaven above to come 
into a world where men mocked him and ridiculed him and cursed 
him. And he did that with a specific purpose and view. He came not 
to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for 
many. So if you're a proud, arrogant wretch, there's hope in the blood. 
There is hope in Jesus. There is hope in the Lord of 
glory. There is hope in the Christian gospel. There is a God in heaven 
and earth. There is a God who's afforded 
grace and who has said, come to me. All you who are weary 
and heavy laden, I will give you rest. And then thirdly, I've 
said it's not a technique and it's not methodological, but 
I couldn't think of any other way to describe this. The cultivation 
of a humble spirit. Now please, take that as I'm 
offering it. I don't mean wake up in the morning, 
comb your hair humbly. I'm really humble today. You 
know, I'm humble as I eat my Wheaties. I'm humble as I go 
about... That's not what I'm talking about. I'm not talking 
about the sort of technique or the method. I agree with what 
Spurgeon says. Spurgeon says, it is wisdom for 
a man to humble himself. For thus, he will escape the 
necessity of being humbled. It's good. Children do not try 
to be humble, but they are so. And the same is the case with 
really gracious persons. He says, the imitation of humility 
is sickening. The reality is attractive. May grace work it in us. The 
imitation is sickening, but the reality is gracious. So as I'm 
going to suggest here, to cultivate humility, it's not, you know, 
do what I just said. I'd say, first of all, you need 
to have a right view of yourself. You need to know yourself. What's the best way to learn 
about yourself? It's in this book. Because we'll 
deceive ourselves, we'll lie to ourselves, we'll tell ourselves 
that it's not really as bad as everybody thinks. There is a 
legitimate self-deception that men have, that men possess. The 
Scriptures will set you in order. Ask the Bible, what do you say 
about me? And listen to its response. Your 
heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. To commit sin is sport to a fool. Can an Ethiopian change its skin 
or its color? Can the leopard shed its spots? Then can you, who are accustomed 
to do evil, do good? You've got to understand that 
you're not as great as you may think you are. To cultivate a 
genuinely humble spirit, I think, requires one to actually identify 
what they're dealing with. What am I? Who am I? The answer 
is ultimately going to sting a little bit. The answer is going 
to come as some surprise because all your life you've only had 
people telling you how wonderful you are. You're a delicate little 
snowflake like no other in the world. You're like every other 
one in the world. You sin against a holy God. The only thing unique about you 
is the particular pathway of sin that you choose. Know thyself. Secondly, know the person and 
the work of Jesus Christ. Philippians 2, the apostle does 
this for us. The apostle calls the church 
to a particular ethic that is consistent with this humility 
of the kingdom. Philippians 2 and verses 1 to 
4, he says, therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, 
If any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if 
any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, 
having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let 
nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit." What's 
he saying? Don't be proud. Kill pride. Be humble. Remember when Jesus plopped that 
child in the midst and said to them, you need to be like this 
little child? This is what Paul is telling the Philippians. Let 
nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness 
of mind, let each esteem others better than himself. Let each 
of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for 
the interests of others. Can you imagine what a Christian 
family or a Christian church would look like if we actually 
took that seriously? I mean, we've probably all read 
it several times in our lives. We've probably all thought about 
it at least once in our lives. We've probably heard it preached 
before in our lives. If you've been here for any amount 
of years, you've heard it because we went through the book of Philippians. 
I know Pastor Cam has preached from Philippians 2. I know that 
I've alluded to it a lot. But do we actually live that 
way? I mean, seriously, brethren, think about it. Is this true 
of you? And is this true of me? Let each of you look out not 
only for his own interests. Isn't Paul gracious? Not only 
for his own. He assumes you're going to look 
out for your own, doesn't he? You're going to eat. You're not 
going to die of starvation. You're going to make sure that 
you eat. Look out for the interests of others. Don't esteem yourself 
as so much better than everybody else, but look out for the interests 
of others. Now notice what Paul does in 
verse 5. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ 
Jesus, who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery 
to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking 
the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men. 
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself 
and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the 
cross. You see, in light of that, with reference to the person 
and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, considering Matthew 20, 
28, He didn't come to be served but to serve and to give His 
life a ransom for many, how is it the case that we won't defer 
to someone? How is it the case that we will constantly insist 
upon our rights? We will constantly defend ourselves. We will never admit that we were 
wrong! In light of this, he humbled 
himself to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 
He went to those lengths for us, and we won't defer to a brother? We won't be kind and gracious 
to someone? We won't make their interests 
more important just once than our own? And then a third means 
by which we can cultivate humility, not in a methodological, or in 
a utilitarian, or in a technique-driven way. You know yourself, you know 
the person and the work of the Lord Jesus, and you know what? 
I think thirdly is probably one of the best means to promote 
humility in the people of God, is to know theology proper. Know the God with whom you have 
to do. Know how glorious He is. Know how wondrous He is. Know how massive He is. Know how excellent He is. What happens when Isaiah is in 
the throne room of God? He sees the glory of God. He says, and woe is me, for I 
am undone. I am a man of unclean lips, and 
I dwell among a people of unclean lips. Why, Isaiah? For mine eyes 
have seen the glory of the Lord. There is no greater help to humility 
than to see yourself before God, to understand who God is, I recently 
know of a man who read the book, Attributes of God by A.W. Pink, 
and he said it was life-changing. May I suggest that? Is it good 
help? But the prophet Isaiah chapter 
40, the massive, massive being of God. Isaiah 40, the prophet 
is telling us how glorious God is. 40.12, who has measured the 
waters in the hollow of his hand. Now obviously, God is spirit. 
He doesn't have a hand. What Isaiah is doing is he's 
speaking anthropomorphically. He's using language that we can 
connect with. He's using language that we can 
relate to, to describe to us something about God. And that 
something is true. That the Bible uses metaphor, 
that the Bible uses anthropomorphism, that the Bible uses anthropopathism, 
does not mean it's not teaching us true information. What's the 
point in the prophet? God is massive. And the way that 
I want to illustrate that is by telling you He has measured 
the waters in the hollow of His hand. He has measured heaven 
with a span and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure. 
Weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance. Who 
has directed the Spirit of the Lord as His counselor has taught 
Him? With whom did He take counsel 
and who instructed Him and taught Him in the path of justice? Who 
taught Him knowledge and showed Him the way of understanding? 
You want to get a right view of yourself? You want to get 
a humility that is consistent with the ethics of the kingdom? 
Get a view of God. Understand God. Read the position 
paper on the doctrine of divine impossibility. Understand who 
God is. See, in some respects, I don't 
know that we always do this. God's just like me. He's a little 
bigger, He's a little higher, He's a little better. He's just 
like me. No, He's not. He is not like you. This is the 
folly of man. God made us in His image and 
ever since we've been trying to remake Him into our image. 
That's sin. We do not fashion God into the 
being that we suppose or assume or hope that He even is. Notice 
verse 15, "...Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, and 
are counted as the small dust on the scales. Look, he lifts 
up the aisles as a very little thing. Lebanon is not sufficient 
to burn, nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering. All nations 
before him are as nothing, and they are counted by him less 
than nothing and worthless." Notice one other spot over in 
verse 25. I suggest the whole chapter. 
I suggest all of the Bible. I suggest that you understand 
who God is because hopefully you'll come away with that or 
come away from that humbled. But notice as well in verse 25, 
to whom then will you liken me? Or to whom shall I be equal says 
the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and 
see who has created these things, who brings out their host by 
number. He calls them all by name by the greatness of his 
might. and the strength of his power, not one is missing." I 
actually wrote this in my margin. I'm not the brightest bulb in 
the chandelier, period, but specifically when it comes to science. I mean, 
I know there's stuff. That's about my extent of scientific 
knowledge. It's there. So I wrote this down 
because I found it particularly intriguing in light of Isaiah 
the prophet. Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created 
these things, who brings out their host by number. He calls 
them all by name. By the greatness of his might 
and the strength of his power, not one is missing. As I understand 
it, there are a hundred billion galaxies that each contain about 
a hundred billion stars each." That should just cause us to 
say, you know, maybe I'm not the most important thing in this 
world. Maybe I'm not as awesome and as great and as wonderful 
as I think. Maybe the fact that God in his 
grace and his love and his mercy and his goodness and his kindness 
has included me in the kingdom, that's enough. I just want to 
be faithful. I just want to serve Him. I just 
want to honor Him. And if it means I need to be 
the least, if it means I need to be the last, if it means that 
I need to die to myself so that God is magnified and so that 
my brethren are looked after, that's what I'm going to do. 
That's what I'm going to do. rather know yourself, know the 
person and work of the Lord Jesus, and know the glory of God Most 
High. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank you for your Word and we thank you for what it testifies 
concerning the kingdom of heaven. Lord, probably in our hearts 
we would desire to be closest to the Lord Jesus, but perhaps 
those desires aren't always pure and holy and righteous. Help 
us, God, to pursue kingdom greatness in the manner specified by our 
Lord, to be humble like little children, to be the least, to 
be the last, to seek to promote the glory of God and the good 
of others before ourselves. Lord, genuinely, we desire to 
be what you call us to be. So we cry out to you for grace, 
we cry out to you for your Holy Spirit, and we cry out to you 
for your forgiveness, for we have fallen so short in this 
manner. We ask that you would go with us now and watch over 
us in the remainder of this Lord's Day. Bless the hospital ministry. 
Give us the ability to speak the truth and love to the people 
there. And may you open their eyes and 
their hearts to divine things. And may they receive the good 
news of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And it's in his 
name that we pray. Amen.