The Evident Pride of the Disciples – Part 2
Luke 9:46-56 (46-50)
December 2, 2018
The last time we met
We began looking at this set of 3 situations in Luke’s gospel.
As we noted then,
Luke doesn’t give us as much information as the other gospel writers do.
• Matthew in particular reveals that Jesus had a lot more to say about the issue.
• Luke is brief simply because he is highlighting the disciples pride.
We are in a segment which we have called “Messianic Misconceptions”.
Jesus is correcting the thinking of the disciples,
Both about Himself, and about what it means to follow Him.
And as we have noted now several times,
The first characteristic necessary to follow Jesus is a DENIAL OF SELF.
There is no room for pride in our desire to follow Christ.
• We come poor in spirit
• We come knowing that there is nothing worthy in us
• We come having completely tossed anything that we thought was of worth
The apostle Paul said it best:
Philippians 3:4-8 “If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,”
Paul spoke of it as “confidence in the flesh”.
That is confidence in all that I have done as having some worth before God.
Paul learned that his works had no worth, and he tossed it all and ran to Christ.
That is what we are talking about as the necessity of following Christ.
And what we are learning from these 3 stories in Luke’s gospel
Is what it looks like when a person seeks to follow Jesus
With their pride still intact.
• These 3 stories are here to show us what denying yourself does not look like.
• These 3 stories give us 3 pictures of a person who has yet to become truly poor in spirit.
• These are 3 incidents in which the disciples revealed that pride and arrogance still remain.
And we started the first one last week.
#1 THEIR DISDAIN FOR THE LEAST
Luke 9:46-48
I don’t want to rehash all that we talked about last week,
But basically you remember that the disciples had gotten into an ARGUMENT as to which one of them was the greatest.
The very fact that they would have such an argument indicates that they DIDN’T THINK ALL DISCIPLES WERE EQUAL.
• Clearly some were more important than others.
• Clearly some were more valuable than others.
• Clearly some were more useful than others.
But what it ultimately revealed is that they had each
Way over valued their own personal worth for salvation.
• They had not understood that no one is worthy of salvation.
• They had not understood that no one is useful to God.
• They still seemed to believe that they each brought their own value to the table.
Now, while Matthew’s gospel does include that Jesus addresses this arrogance and tells them that they need to humble themselves and become like children,
THAT IS NOT THE POINT LUKE FOCUSES ON.
In order to expose the arrogance of the disciples
Luke doesn’t focus on how they view themselves,
But rather on HOW THEY VIEW OTHERS.
Their arrogance was seen in the fact that the do not receive the least.
They disdain those whom they see as less important.
And this is what Jesus corrects.
(47-48) “But Jesus, knowing what they were thinking in their heart, took a child and stood him by His side, and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great.”
THAT IS TO SAY,
If you have disdain for those whom you view as second-class Christians
All that proves is that you do not understand salvation at all.
That insignificant “least” brother or sister
Is actually chosen by God and saved by Christ.
To disdain them is actually to disdain Christ.
And the willingness to disdain them
Only PROVES that YOU THINK TOO HIGHLY OF YOURSELF.
Any person who has rightly seen themselves
As compared to the holiness of God
Does not see others as the least,
But rather themselves as the least.
And so Jesus tells these disciples to quit devaluing other believers.
That was an evidence that they still had much to learn about denying self.
And I want to speak to this a little more this morning before we move on.
• It is the importance of how you receive your brother.
• It is the importance of how you value your brother.
We read last time:
Philippians 2:1-8 “Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
The unique thing there is
While none of us are actually more important than the other,
JESUS ACTUALLY WAS.
• Jesus actually is more important than any of us and yet He decided to treat us as more important than Himself.
And Paul says that’s the attitude believers must have.
That is an attitude of self-denial.
And we alluded to it at the end of the service last week,
But let me give you some PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS to this.
Galatians 5:13-15 “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.”
If you are familiar with Paul’s letter to the Galatians you know that
• Paul spent over 4 chapters greatly defending your religious liberty.
• You are free in Christ!
• Don’t let anyone put you under a legalistic yoke of slavery.
The book of Galatians has even been called “The Christian Magna Carta”
But then, after violently defending Christian freedom, Paul says this:
“don’t turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh”
And specifically, don’t use your freedom to harm your brother.
Now Paul actually fleshes that out more in other letters.
1 Corinthians 8:9-13 “But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if someone sees you, who have knowledge, dining in an idol’s temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be strengthened to eat things sacrificed to idols? For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died. And so, by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble.”
There Paul was talking about his religious liberty and freedom to eat meat, even meat sacrificed to idols.
• As a free believer in Christ he had every right to do it.
However, there were some weaker believers
Who did not yet understand that eating that meat was ok.
They had just been saved out of that carnal practice and for them eating that meat brought back too many memories of their old sinful life.
To which Paul said, if that’s the case, “I will never eat meat again”
Which was more important to him, his freedom, or his brother?
Paul in effect says it again to the Romans:
Romans 14:15 “For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died.”
Now in our selfish day we might be prone rather to say something like, “Well I don’t care if they like it or not, I’m eating the meat! If they don’t like I guess they can just go to another church.”
That wasn’t Paul’s attitude was it?
He considered his brother as more important.
Why?
• Because he saw that Christ had gone through just as much to save that
brother as He had to save Paul.
• Paul called them those “for whom Christ died”
Paul didn’t see them as least and him as greatest.
He saw them all as of equal value to Christ.
That’s what we’re talking about.
• A person who has truly denied self is a person who does not value self above their brother or sister.
• It is a person who realizes that I am also nothing without Christ.
Let me give you another illustration here
(because I think this is so important to understand)
TURN TO: Matthew 19:27
Of course this is on the heels of the story of the Rich Young Ruler who refused to give up his wealth to follow Jesus.
• As the Rich Young Ruler walks away rich, Peter takes a little inventory.
(READ 27-29)
• So Peter just wants to know if he made the right decision, and Jesus reassures him that he has.
However, Jesus makes another statement at the conclusion.
(30) “But many who are first will be last; and the last, first.”
And you say: WHAT IN THE WORLD DOES THAT MEAN?
Now look over to chapter 20, verse 16.
Jesus tells a story in the first 15 verses and then says,
“So, the last shall be first, and the first last.”
That means that Jesus explains that mysterious statement in Mat. 20:1-15.
(READ 20:1-15)
• Now you are familiar with the story.
• A landowner hires a bunch of workers and he does so at various points of the day.
• But when it comes time to pay the workers, he pays them all the same regardless of how long they worked.
• And those who worked the longest take issue with the landowner, saying (12) “These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.”
• They cry out, “That’s not fair!”
Do you see, they thought they deserved more? WHY?
• Because they had worked longer
• Because they had accomplished more
• They thought they had proven themselves as more valuable and more useful and more important
The workers were measuring their compensation
By their own perceived worth.
And they disdained, not only the least,
But also the master who made them equals
• They failed to understand that none deserved the job…
• They failed to understand that none were worthy…
• They failed to understand that all where there by grace and grace alone…
WE ARE ALL MERE BEGGARS DEPENDING ON GRACE
And that is again the point.
• If we think that we are more valuable…
• Or we think that we have earned more…
• Or if we think that we are more important…
That only indicates that we have yet to understand
Our true spiritual poverty and the tremendous grace of God.
AND THIS IS A ROOT OF CONTENTION AND STRIFE AND ARGUING
(You see that in the disciples don’t you)
Their lack of self-denial was seen in their disdain for the least.
Well, let’s move on to their next issue.
#2 THEIR DISRESPECT FOR THE LAITY
Luke 9:49-50
When I say laity here I am using it in the sense of a lay-minister.
In our culture this would be someone who serves Jesus and who preaches the gospel, but who isn’t an ordained or employed pastor.
• You are all lay ministers
• You are all lay preachers
And I think that is a fitting description
Of exactly who the disciples encounter here.
And yet again they are going to get corrected by Jesus
As they again reveal their pride and lack of self-denial.
(49) “John answered and said, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name;”
Now, let’s just STOP there for a moment and TAKE INVENTORY.
Not much is known about this man that the disciples encountered,
But here is what we do know.
1) He was “casting out demons”
• And so just based on that knowledge let me ask you, was he doing a
good thing or a bad thing? (obviously good)
2) Furthermore we read that he casting them out “in Your name”
• No, I don’t know where he learned it…
• All I know is that this man encountered demon possessed people, and he told
them that Jesus had the ability to cast out that demon and in Jesus’ name
those demons were coming out.
That’s all we know.
And there’s no sense speculating beyond that.
But here is the interesting part.
John goes on to say, “and we tried to prevent him”
I think it is important to notice the word “tried”.
The obviously were not successful.
And it is important to see that they tried “to prevent him”
It doesn’t say they rebuked him, it says they actually tried to stop him.
The Greek word for “prevent” is KOLUO
It means “to hinder, or to prevent, or to deny”
These disciples actually tried to put an end to his ministry.
And the question here is WHY?
• Because he wasn’t really casting out demons just tricking people? (No)
• Because he was giving false truth about Jesus and deceiving people? (No)
• Because he was doing it for money and extorting the people? (No)
Then why did you try to stop him?
“because he does not follow along with us.”
HE’S NOT ONE OF US
Let me help you better understand what the disciples did here.
They see a man actually casting out demons and doing in such a way as to honor Jesus and the disciples tried to stop him.
Here’s the question:
WHOSE GLORY WERE THEY CONCERNED ABOUT?
It had to be their own.
They didn’t like that someone from outside the group
Might get some of the glory that they were accustomed to.
It wasn’t about Jesus here, it was about them.
John Martin commented this: “John must have thought that the disciple’s greatness was diminished if others who were not of the twelve could also cast out demons.”
(Walvoord, John F.; Zuck, Roy B. [The Bible Knowledge Commentary: New Testament; Chariot Victor Publishing; Colorado Springs, CO; 1983] pg. 231)
To which Jesus said, (50) “But Jesus said to him, “Do not hinder him; for he who is not against you is for you.”
In other words you need to reevaluate the goal here.
If the goal is to deliver people for the glory of Jesus
Then how is it that this guy was the problem?
Of all the people in Galilee, who are doing all sorts of things…
The guy you felt compelled to stop is the guy who was casting out demons in My name?
Let me ask you teenagers for a second. (Several of you play basketball.)
• If you go out and win your basketball game 65 to 64
• And one of your teammates comes out of the game and pitches a fit,
• And you say “What’s wrong?”
• And they say, “I’m mad that I only scored 20 points and so and so scored 21”
What do you call that teammate?
Selfish, glory hog, one man show
If the goal is victory why are you taking issue with someone who helped you achieve it?
The only explanation is that your goal wasn’t actually victory.
Your goal was personal glory.
And there we see the problem of the disciples.
• If they cared about the plight of the afflicted they would have rejoiced in what this man did.
• If they cared about the glory of Jesus they would have rejoiced in what this man did.
But as it is, they only cared about their own glory
And so they tried to stop this man.
And their lack of self-denial is revealed in their disrespect for the laity.
AND SO LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS FOR A MOMENT,
Though honestly I think it’s most urgent application
Is directed at the pulpit even more than the pew.
There is no mistake that pride can easily spring up among preachers
Who if truth be told would rather people remain lost
Than to see them all get saved in someone else’s church.
• This is one of the reasons I don’t like altar calls.
• This is one of the reasons I don’t like counting heads in church.
• This is why we take down boards like those in the hall tell how many people came to Sunday school.
My fallen ego does not need to know these things.
That’s just the truth.
It is also why I love Reformed Theology, (Calvinism) and why I am convinced other preachers hate it.
• If people are saved because God chooses to save them.
• If people are only saved when God resurrects them to life.
• If salvation is not a matter of human will or convincing people to “accept Christ”
Then it’s awfully hard for me to get any credit
For convincing a person to choose Christ.
Now, if salvation is nothing more than a choice of the sinner,
• And I am able to convince multitudes of sinners to be saved,
• Then there is a propensity for me to walk around with my head kicked back
• And say, “Yep, I went out Sunday and preached and had 152 decisions for Jesus”
It stinks of pride
THE GLORY OF THE PREACHER IS NOT THE GOAL.
I love the statement that “The donkey who carried Jesus at the triumphal entry knew the applause was not for him.”
That’s what we are, we are donkeys that carry Jesus to the people.
And what is more,
If you are a donkey and sees another donkey carrying Jesus,
You ought to be just as happy that the task still was accomplished.
So I understand that disrespect for the laity or for other ministers is a Problem that MUST FIRST BE ADDRESSED TO ME AND TO PASTORS.
A pastor who cannot rejoice at a salvation
Which occurs in another congregation
Only reveals that his pride remains
And that his glory and not the glory of Jesus was his goal.
Preachers must understand this.
However, that DOES NOT MEAN that there is no relevance in this for you to consider.
• Some of you work in children’s ministry.
• Some of you work in youth ministry.
• Some of you are involved in women’s groups.
What happens when it is another church’s children’s ministry or youth ministry or women’s ministry that sees a person saved?
I certainly hope you can rejoice in that.
Or what about
• When you have witnessed to a person hundreds of times
• And maybe even met some physical need
• And maybe even bore some emotional burden…
And then you find out they’ve started attending a different church?
NOW HONESTLY, THOSE ARE EASY ONES TO ANSWER.
You’d say, “I would rejoice”
But let me push this scenario a little farther,
• What if the other preacher was full of pride and only concerned about numbers?
• What if that other ministry was constantly trying to compete with yours?
• What if you don’t like that other church?
• What if the other youth group leader just had the selfish goal of getting all the youth in their group?
What then?
Philippians 1:15-18 “Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some also from good will; the latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel; the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice,”
Did you catch that?
Paul was trapped in prison and others were preaching the gospel and reaping all the benefits.
And Paul knew that the only reason some of them were preaching the gospel was “out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives.”
Where they preaching the gospel? Yes
But they were doing for their own glory.
And what was Paul’s response?
“that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in this I rejoice”
Whose glory was it about?
Not Paul’s – Only Christ’s
He simply rejoiced that Christ was being glorified,
Even if Christ was glorified at his expense.
We just talked about this Wednesday night with the youth.
John 3:25-30 “Therefore there arose a discussion on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew about purification. And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, He is baptizing and all are coming to Him.” John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven. “You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’ “He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made full. “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
John’s disciples are jealous because Jesus is getting all the baptisms.
John’s response is perfect!
• He’s the Christ, not me!
• I rejoice in His arrival!
• He must continue to increase and I must continue to fade away!
Do you have that kind of humility in your ministry?
Can you take the backseat for the glory of Christ?
How about this one?
• There was a day when the children of Israel grumbled and Moses approached
God
• That the burden was too much and so God told Moses to bring 70 elders to the
tabernacle
• And the LORD would put the Spirit that was on Moses and place it on those
70.
We go on to read:
Numbers 11:26-29 “But two men had remained in the camp; the name of one was Eldad and the name of the other Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them (now they were among those who had been registered, but had not gone out to the tent), and they prophesied in the camp. So a young man ran and told Moses and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” Then Joshua the son of Nun, the attendant of Moses from his youth, said, “Moses, my lord, restrain them.” But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD’S people were prophets, that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them!”
• So what about when another preacher comes to the church who is a better
preacher than you?
• What about when another person joins the church who is a better cook or
pianist or singer or Sunday school teacher?
That’s what Moses was faced with.
Who was it about God or Moses?
You see that, it’s not about our glory.
And disrespecting or even hindering other people whom God is using is only an indicator that pride and a lack of self-denial remains.
But that’s not the only way we understand this problem.
TURN TO: 1 Corinthians 12:4
Now here we once again run into a pride and selfishness
Which is festering inside a church
And it all has to do with the areas of ministry.
The basic truth is stated in verses 4-13
YOU UNDERSTAND THE BASIC POINT that Paul is making.
• Spiritual gifts and even the ministries they inspire are all a result of the sovereign prerogative of God.
• If you are gifted or called or placed in a ministry it has nothing to do with your worth or talent or anything like that.
• It all has to do with God’s sovereign choice.
And simply that truth should tell us that
IF ANY OF US believe ourselves to be more important than someone else
By reason of our ministry or gift or position
Than we understand nothing about God’s purpose in giving them.
Stated clearly in verse 5 “Now there are a variety of ministries, and the same Lord.”
That alone would condemn the issue here with the disciples,
Who clearly think their ministry is better
Than that of this man they have encountered.
It is pride and arrogance to assume that what God chooses to do through me is more important than what God chooses to do through you.
BUT THERE’S MORE: It is also pride and arrogance to be jealous and envious of someone else’s ministry or gift simply because you think they are receiving more glory.
Look at verses (14-26)
Again, there is a lot of detail we could make of that passage, but I’m more interested here in the big picture of it.
Do you catch what Paul is saying?
• It doesn’t matter if God chose for you to be an eye, an ear, a mouth, or a foot, you are essential to the body.
• And as a part of the body you should not look down on another part as though it is not necessary,
• And as a part of the body you should not envy another part because you think they get more glory.
And that is exactly the point Jesus is making to His disciples
Here was a group of guys who thought their decision to follow Jesus,
And their new power to cast out demons which Jesus had given them
Was a means for them to obtain glory for themselves.
And that is evident because they don’t want anyone else
Having that same power or exercising that same authority.
(I wonder what they’re going to think in chapter 10 when the Lord gives that same authority to 70 others?)
• These disciples were not interested in the deliverance of the afflicted
• And they were not interested in the glory of the Lord.
They were interested in their own glory.
AND THAT IS AN INDICATOR THAT PRIDE REMAINS.
IT IS AN INDICATOR THAT SELF-DENIAL IS NOT FINISHED.
And it is so easy for the church to fall into that same trap.
Now, I most certainly would say,
(some of you will ask me)
One issue that we must recognize here is that we are NOT talking about endorsing all people REGARDLESS OF THEIR DOCTRINE.
THAT IS NOT WHAT WE ARE SAYING.
There are some issues that are non-negotiables.
If they don’t affirm the deity of Jesus…
2 John 9-11 “Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.”
If they don’t hold that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone…
Galatians 1:6-9 “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!”
If they teach that grace is a license to sin…
1 Timothy 6:3-5 “If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.”
Jude 3-4 “Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”
So I hope you understand here the point.
This is not to say that we just endorse and condone and accept
Every would-be preacher out there regardless of doctrine.
If they preach false doctrine we most certainly do silence them.
WE DO HINDER THEM.
Titus 1:10-11 “For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain.”
That is clear.
What we are talking about here however
Is people who are accurately preaching Christ.
(And as we learned from Paul we’re not concerned about their motives)
But they are preaching or teaching or singing or proclaiming the truth.
IN SUCH A CASE, CHECK YOUR PRIDE AT THE DOOR AND
Rejoice that Christ is being proclaimed.
Rejoice that Christ is being glorified.
Rejoice that sinners are being delivered.
And get over the fact that it didn’t come through you.
The goal here is the glory of God, not your glory and not my glory.
And it’s ok if Jesus chooses to ride a different donkey.
Jealousy and envy only reveal that we have yet to die to self.
So, we see 2 indicators of remaining pride in the disciples.
1) Their Disdain for the Least
2) Their Disrespect for the Laity
Next time we’ll see it also evidence itself in
THEIR DISREGARD FOR THE LOST
