We thank you, Father, for the earth is
yours and all that dwells therein.
We thank you that even when your enemies
try to stifle your work and to stamp
out the fire, it is just water which
changes into oil on the fire and it
burns ever brighter and goes throughout the world.
Amen.
Let's read from Matthew 20, from verse 20.
Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to
him with her sons, kneeling down and asking
something from him.
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.
But Jesus answered and said, You do not
know what you ask.
Are you able to drink the cup that
I am about to drink?
And they said to him, We will indeed
be able to.
And he said to them, You will indeed
drink my cup and will be baptized with
the baptism that I am to be baptized
with.
But to sit on my right hand and
on my left is not mine to give,
but it is for those for whom it
is prepared by my Father.
And when the ten heard it, they were
moved with indignation against the two brothers.
But Jesus called them to himself and said,
You know that the rulers of the Gentiles
lord it over them, and those who are
great exercise authority over them.
Yet it shall not be so among you,
but whoever desires to become great among you,
let him be your servant.
And whoever desires to be the first among
you, let him be your slave.
Just as the Son of Man did not
come to be served, but to serve, and
to give his life a ransom for many.
Let's speak about this matter which I have
read.
It contains many themes, themes
and lessons.
Themes that are of great importance to the
one who is earnest with the Lord.
Of course if you don't mean business with
God, ignore it.
Like was said, just ignore it.
If you have trouble in Africa, just come
here.
You need to do what the Lord shows
you to do.
Forget about me, you don't have to repent
to impress me.
I don't need your repentance.
You need to mean business with God.
Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, you
must be responsible to Him.
Now let's just take a few points and
have a closer look at them.
Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to
him asking something from Jesus.
This contains important matter of great importance.
A woman comes with her two sons, the
sons of Zebedee.
The son of Zebedee is called Jacob.
The son of Zebedee is called John.
The son of Zebedee is called Jacob.
The son of John is called John.
J.J. you could call them James and
John.
The mother came to Jesus kneeling down at
his feet.
In Zulu it also means she worshipped.
So, kneeling and worshipping before the Lord.
Coming with her sons.
And they bowed, paying homage to the Lord,
asking something from Him.
And what does she ask of Him?
What do you think?
And Jesus asked her, what do you say?
Why does Jesus ask her, what do you
say?
Was it perhaps that she said it in
whispered tones, that it wasn't completely audible?
And Jesus asks of her, what do you
want?
Was Jesus ignorant of what she wished?
No, Jesus knows exactly what we wish.
From afar, He knows the inner thoughts and
motives of the heart.
I don't know whether this mother of the
two sons who were apostles, whether she was
embarrassed about the crowd and didn't want them
to hear what she was asking Him personally.
Because there are some things that you would
rather whisper into a person's ear because it's
confidential, it's private.
And should they hear what you ask, they
may get upset.
There is something she seeks of Jesus.
What is it?
Jesus asked her, what do you say?
Jesus
asked her, what
do
you say?
Let no one think less of women and
think that they are useless.
And you men don't ever think that they
are lesser beings.
They are able to do things.
After all, remember the serpent, when he wanted
mankind to fall into sin, he approached the
woman, he knew that if he could get
her, he's got the husband too.
To some men, I'd like to say, they're
not as stupid as you think.
A woman has an immense potential to be
a powerful woman.
There is no power in the hand of
God or in the hands of Satan.
So don't look down on them.
The old serpent worked in Eve, even though
she was clever, but she was deceived.
Till she brought her husband down.
In that scenario, the Bible says, it is
better not to marry than to marry.
The Bible says, it
is
better
not to marry than to marry.
So she came with a wish, but she
didn't just express her wish.
There was a means to getting there, and
this woman used the means of paying homage
to him.
As you women may know, there's a means
to an end.
Now, in the same way, you'll find that
it happens in the Christian world too.
A Christian might come to you and whisper
a very deep secret and say, it's just
between you and me.
Don't dare tell a soul, let it just
be subject matter for prayer.
And it can cause schism.
You find that there are cliques that develop,
this group and that group.
But Jesus didn't allow.
He refused to be drawn into the net.
He refused to enter into this trap, like
a fish or a frog or whatever might
be caught in a trap.
So she comes secretively to him, but then
he asks out aloud, what do you wish?
And then the others around them took note,
wondering what it was all about.
What?
And the Lord knows all about you and
your secret strategies, your cunning devices.
But Jesus stood at a distance and he
refused to be drawn into this and said,
what is it you wish?
You'll never push Jesus into entering into what
you insist.
He will never come and sit in your
box that you make for him.
Heaven and earth will pass away, it will
still be around.
And while you long since gone, he will
continue.
And that box is your coffin.
He won't enter with you into your death,
no.
He'll stand an oaf.
You'll die, but he'll carry on living.
Jesus.
Jesus said to her, what is it that
you wish?
Now the cat was out of the bag,
it was open and it was exposed and
everybody heard about it.
He had exposed her.
She had to come into the open with
this matter.
And And
Even those who were busy with other things
and had not noticed the woman suddenly took
note.
Now they were interested because Jesus said it
out aloud.
And then they realized that this woman is
not just paying homage.
She's come with some weighty matter.
There's something behind this.
A person might become ill from many different
things.
It's
The matter in her was something that was
within her.
She was pregnant, so to say, with this
which needed to come out.
And the Lord then said, let the matter
out.
And the Zulus say, it may, if you
give birth, it may be a human being.
It may be a leg of one.
Can be many different things that you come
out with.
I don't take it literally, but figuratively.
So somebody may say, well, what's it like
about now?
If you don't understand it, just put it
aside.
When you eat the chicken, take the bones
of a fish.
Take the bones and put them to the
side that they don't stick in your throat.
Now, she had to bring this matter out.
And it had to be done in front
of all the others.
She said, Lord, I have this wish that
for my two sons, they'd be with you
in your kingdom, on your throne.
One to your right and one to your
left.
Any parent wishes the best for their children?
She wished for her two sons, James and
John, the very best, that they'd both be
in the kingdom of heaven.
One to the Lord's right and one to
his left.
She said, Lord, I have this
wish that for my two sons, they'd be
with you in
your kingdom, on your throne.
So she had a close relationship with her
sons.
She wanted the best for them.
And they were one with her in this
matter.
Like you find parents, they can stick to
their children.
If they're not careful and they don't rule
over their children, their children can rule them.
So parents, be careful what you wish for
your children.
Now, the
Lord responded and said to her, You do
not know what you ask for.
It's also possible that she had been sent.
Maybe one of the sons had said, Mom,
you ask it.
Like some people are afraid to do it
themselves and they send someone else to do
a proxy for them.
Like a murderer might send an assassin on
their own behalf instead of doing it themselves.
Jesus had already been describing this very issue
regarding regarding position in chapter 19 and earlier
on in chapter 20, you find what lessons
he had been teaching them, but they didn't
listen.
They didn't learn.
It's as if though they had paid no
attention to what he had just been saying
or they were not completely satisfied with his
answers.
Could have been the other three possibilities.
They didn't even understand what it was all
about.
Maybe they weren't satisfied with it.
Now, perhaps
they had gone home after some of the
earlier preaching and they had sat down and
discussed the matter, perhaps with their mom, and
discussed this about the twelve sitting with me
in the kingdom.
Along comes the scheming mother.
We don't know whether it was her scheme,
her plan to ask this, or whether she
had been prompted by one of her sons.
But the Lord would have none of this
secretive business.
He wanted it to be out in the
open.
The father's name was Zebedee and she or
he was one at the crucifixion with the
others, Mary and them.
She was there as well.
Some say that there might have been other
relatives like sisters of Mary, Mary the mother
of Jesus.
There are some that strongly believe that she
was Mary, the mother of Jesus' sister.
In other words, she was his aunt.
Close family relations.
Oh, I'm going to interpret this into English.
I'm sorry.
Jesus said, you don't know what you're asking.
Are you able to drink the cup which
I'm about to drink?
The cup was to be his passion, the
suffering and death.
John and James said, we can do it.
Jesus replied, you will indeed drink my cup.
And that's what happened because James was one
of the first to be martyred.
In the very first persecution, he was one
who lost his life.
John was about to suffer much as well.
Later on, especially when he would suffer on
the island, he was referred to here when
the Lord said, you will drink this cup.
And that's what he had to endure, to
drink the same cup of suffering.
The
cup
was
to be his passion, the suffering and death.
The Lord said, yes indeed, you will go
through the suffering and the death that goes
with it.
But still, that doesn't mean that I can
choose where you will sit.
It is only the prerogative of the Father
to choose who will sit on my right
and on my left.
You see, she
was wanting a position for her sons that
was a little better and of greater esteem
than the others.
You know that here in the world, people
will kill each other for better positions.
Positions are sought after, fought after.
How awful it is if that same fighting,
that same seeking for position is among Christians
and in the Church of Christ.
I was I
was shocked to hear that at a certain
election of a bishop in a church, some
of the ministers of that denomination went to
witch doctors prior to the election to try
and get special powers and they had special
morty put on them to try and get
this election and to get the seat, indeed
which is the seat of Satan in that
church.
How will the Holy Spirit ever work in
that type of atmosphere?
It is like a candle that is burning,
it just gets snuffed out.
And you find if you go and read
in Matthew 18 verse 1 that there had
been an argument among the Lord's disciples as
to who was the most important and they
asked him, Lord who is the greatest in
the kingdom of heaven?
Do you hear you Christians?
Believers?
Brethren?
If you don't get rid of that attitude,
if you don't have victory over this crave
for position it will destroy you and you
will be with Judas Iscariot in hell.
Even if the saints are buried, they will
be astonished in heaven to find that you
are absent.
We need to be saved from the craving
for position and to be more highly esteemed
than others within the kingdom.
Stud, the missionary to Central Africa, when
he was about to depart, to die, he
pointed out one who would take over his
position.
He pointed
out
Harrison.
Harrison had a very low position at the
time, he used to polish his shoes.
Charles Stud said Harrison will be my successor.
When teams would go out with Stud, Harrison
would remain behind to do the menial tasks
like cleaning and polishing the shoes of the
co-workers.
The co-workers of C.T. Stud were
busy with big services and preaching to large
crowds, but Harrison didn't go along with those
teams, he would remain behind.
Stud then announced, as he knew he was
about to pass away, that his successor would
be Harrison.
Well, all hell was let loose among the
co-workers when they heard that.
Some deserted and said we cannot stay here.
Camping ship is a common thing throughout the
ages and those who just desert their church
and leave their ministry, it's been happening for
a long time.
Think back of Luther, Calvin, John Wesley and
them.
They knew what it was like to have
people desert them.
Well, there must be the separation between the
wheat and the chaff.
The chaff has got to go and be
burnt.
The chaff has got to go and
be
burnt.
You can go and study some church history
for yourself.
What I've gone through is minor in comparison
to those great men of God.
Look, for instance, at the life of Calvin.
See how he was maligned and how he
was attacked viciously in the press of his
day.
No good, no good.
With the wrong motive.
Do you hear, Christians, the danger, like with
this woman, this mother who came, the danger
of having a hidden agenda.
You come with the wrong motive, something else
other than really paying homage to Christ.
Bowing before Him, worshipping Him with other baggage,
taking something along that is an alternative thing.
It's not just your bowing to Him, but
you have the wrong motive.
Yes.
Jesus refused to enter into this battle for
positions, even if that's what they were thinking.
Jesus said, I don't even appoint the positions
as to who will sit with me in
the kingdom of heaven.
That is up to the Father.
Yes, you will drink the cup.
Yes, you will undergo that.
But even then, I'm not getting involved in
seeking positions.
That's up to my Father.
If you're fighting for a position, you'll use
the dirtiest techniques.
To get to where you think you ought
to get.
The position which you think you deserve.
But the Heavenly Father gives the position in
His kingdom to those whom He has prepared.
So, positions for mankind are decided in heaven
and not on earth.
People may battle for position.
They might even decide in their denomination or
whatever that who will get there and they
might hold an election.
But God can forsake the place.
The precious dove of the Holy Spirit can
depart and you remain alone.
It might be that you have been on
fire for the Lord in the beginning but
then as time goes by it's simply a
matter of churchianity and even your going to
church confuses you and messes you up.
It is a common characteristic of ministries or
works that began in fire and then just
fizzled out as they brought in their own
laws.
In Luther's time that happened too.
The Reformation began with great zeal and fire
from above but as they brought in their
own laws, one of them being, well we
can drink if it's moderately, well that just
died out and ended up with loss of
life and it happens again and again.
I do not mean by that or imply
that it happens every time.
For the Lord is able to work in
different places and for everyone who is just,
God sees the just and God notices those
who are his.
Even if you do belong to a denomination
where the Lord is not at work, even
if it is deathly, be there to be
used of the Lord that the Lord would
use you mightily there.
I would be glad if you would take
this matter, go and ponder upon it, chew
upon it, think about it.
The Lord is able to work in different
places and for everyone who is just, God
sees the just and God notices those who
are not at work, even if it is
deathly, be
there to be used of the Lord that
the Lord would use you mightily there.
For the Lord is able to work in
different places and for everyone who is just,
God sees the just and God notices those
who are not at work, even if it
is deathly, be there to be used of
the Lord that the Lord would use you
mightily there.
For the Lord is able to work in
different places and for everyone who is just,
God sees the just and God notices those
who are not at work, even if it
is deathly, be there to be used of
the Lord that the Lord would use you
mightily there.
And not only the Jews, His very disciples,
those amongst the 70, those amongst the 70,
those amongst the 70, those amongst the
70, those amongst the 70, those amongst the
called them.
He said, you know that the rulers of
the Gentiles lord it over them?
And those who are a great exercise authority
over them?
It shall not be so among you.
But whoever desires to be great among you,
let him be your servant.
And whoever desires to be the first among
you, let him be your slave.
Just as the son of man did not
come to be served, but to serve and
to give his life as a ransom for
many.
Who will be there?
Who will be the greatest?
It is he who serves the most.
Who will be the one in authority?
He who is the smallest, the least.
The one who gives his life up for
others.
Jesus gave this as an example, and he
gave his life as the example, as a
redemption, as a ransom to help many.
Who will be great among you?
Who will be the greatest in the kingdom
of heaven?
The one who is the least, the one
who is servant of all.
The father notices such.
Do you understand what the kingdom of heaven
is like?
The kingdom of Jesus?
Blessed is the one who has an ear
to hear.
Let me leave it there, and I'm going
to ask the choir to come and sing
a closing song.
They said to Jesus, The
crowds, as they listened to Jesus speak, they
said, one person said, blessed is the one
who gave you birth and who nursed you.
But Jesus said, no, blessed rather is the
one who hears my words and does them.
We ask you, Father in heaven, you, father
of your only begotten son, send
your Holy Spirit so that that which is
spoken, you would apply it and it would
bring forth much fruit.
Amen.