Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Ridgecrest Baptist Church is located in Dothan, AL and exists to Reach the lost, Build the believer, and Connect people of God to the mission and purpose of God.
I'm glad you're here today.
That's a beautiful Sunday and a great Sunday to be in the house of God.
And as I said, we'll continue our series, The Story of Jesus, today with a message I've entitled Kingdom Influencers.
You know, over the last decade, we've seen an exponential growth in social media.
And according to a group that tracks social media named We Are Social, they report that 3.5 billion people actively use social media.
That's about 45% of the world's population.
And the social media boom has given rise to another thing, and it's called social media innovation.
influencers.
I've referenced a time or two our daughter and son-in-law and grandsons have been in this weekend and may be here in the next service but she has developed what they call an influence role.
She's not as big as many of these influencers are but these companies use her.
She started out as a hobby.
She's very gifted with photography and fashion and those kinds of things and
She began to just post pictures in her personal webpage and these companies began to see them and say, would you feature our products in your photo shoots?
And she's done, I won't name the companies, but major companies, they send her their products by the caseloads and everything from major pharmacies, they don't send drugs, but
I probably ought to get that straight.
I don't think.
Furniture.
I mean, lady fashion stuff.
And I asked her, I said, how does this happen?
And she says, well, they contact me.
And the more you've done, the more popular you become and more influential you
you become with it.
And I said, so they just, she said, Daddy, I have to turn things down.
And she said, I won't feature anything that I don't personally use.
She said, so I don't just do it just to get a check from them or, and at any rate, these companies have learned something, and that is it's cheap advertising.
They give their products to these influencers and they'll even pay them a per diem for featuring their products and that sort of thing and give them a percentage of sales and all kind of stuff.
But it's cheap advertising for them because the social media platform is such a huge and influential platform.
And influencers leverage their knowledge and their expertise and they actually shape and can in some cases mold culture.
They build credibility and trust through their regular posts and their blogs, and they impact the thoughts and feelings of generations, particular focus groups, and they actually can create trends and fads that bolster sales.
And these influencers have become sought after for everything from business to relationships to politics to sports and even to hobbies.
Now, influence is often a matter of leadership.
In fact, it has been said that real leadership is actually measured by the amount of influence a person has over others.
And so as we think about influence, though, today, I want to talk to you about another kind.
I want to talk to you about what I've called being a kingdom influencer.
The Bible tells us a lot about the pathway to greatness.
and greatness in particular in the kingdom of God.
That pathway is all about being influential for God.
So that's what I want us to talk about this morning.
If you're physically able to do so, why don't you stand with me as we read and honor God's Word.
If you're joining us by television or by live stream, why don't you put your Krispy Kreme down for just a moment and stand with us as well as we honor God's Word.
It says, beginning in verse 35,
And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him, that is to Jesus, came up to him and said to him, teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.
And he said to them, what do you want me to do for you?
And they said to him, grant us to sit one at your right hand and one at your left in your glory, that is your kingdom.
And Jesus said to them, you do not know what you are asking.
Are you able to drink the cup that I drink?
Or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized.
And they said to him, we are able.
And Jesus said to them, the cup that I drink, you will drink.
And with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized.
But to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.
And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John.
And Jesus called them to him, and he said to them, you know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.
But it shall not be so among you, but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.
For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for
for many.
Father, help us this morning to understand the truths about what it means to be a kingdom influencer.
Father, help us to look deeply into your word and Father, may your word move deeply into our hearts and to our minds to shape us.
Father, to cause us to understand how important it is that we make a difference for you.
So speak to us now from your word and Father, may my words be acceptable to you.
We pray it in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Thank you.
You can be seated.
Now, I don't know if you remember, but from last week, I told you this same chapter, I brought you the message from the same chapter, different story.
But Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem.
And he's on his way to Jerusalem where he will be tried and then ultimately crucified.
And there's no doubt in the minds of the disciples that this is the momentous event for which they had been waiting.
But now they didn't understand that he was headed to his trial.
They didn't understand this Jerusalem trip was about that.
They thought it was about the establishment of the kingdom.
They didn't know that he was headed to his own crucifixion.
They believed that when Jesus spoke of the kingdom of God or of his glory, he was talking about the establishment of an earthly kingdom.
And so they assume that that's what's about to happen.
We're going to Jerusalem which was the capital.
He's finally going to do it.
He's been talking about the kingdom, establishing the kingdom.
Now he's about to do that.
Therefore if he's going to do that James and John think we want to be in on the front side of the leadership.
And so they approach Jesus with a request.
Now in Matthew's gospel we see this story as well and
In Matthew chapter 20, in verse 20 of that chapter, it says first that their mama approached Jesus.
You can kind of see that playing out, right?
Come on, boys.
You said he's going to establish the game.
You come on.
Come on.
We're going to go have a talk with Jesus.
So mama initiates the conversation with Jesus.
She says, Jesus, you know me.
I'm James and John's mother.
And I love my boys.
And my boys have a request of you.
And Mark doesn't give all the mama stuff, but she initiates the conversation.
And James and John took it from there.
And here was their simple request.
Jesus, when you come into the kingdom and you settle in on the throne, give us prayer.
a position of leadership on your right and on your left.
Give us the authority and a position of influence in the coming kingdom.
Now the conversation actually points to the fact that James and John didn't actually believe that Jesus was going to die.
They didn't really understand what Jesus had been talking about when he had told them about his forthcoming death.
They just thought that he, as the Son of God, was at some point in the future, and this was that future going to establish an earthly kingdom.
And when that happened, they wanted to be right there beside him.
They wanted to have these positions of honor, power, and influence in their mind.
And by the way, did you notice in the text it said that when the other ten found out, they became indignant.
You can see that happening right here where are the twelve and the two, James and John, they slip off.
Can you believe that?
And probably they got indignant because they wished they had done it first.
Or I was going to do that or that sort of thing.
Who knows?
But when Jesus kind of addresses the issue, they got their feathers ruffled.
And Jesus points out three things this morning that I want to show you when we think about kingdom influence and what it really means.
The first thing I think Jesus points to is the delusion of being a kingdom influencer.
Notice verse 39.
Keep your Bibles open, it says.
So they said, we want to sit on your right and your left, that sort of thing.
And Jesus says, well, can you go through what I'm going to go through?
You want that kind of influence, that kind of authority.
Can you go through what I'm going to go through?
And look at verse 39.
And they quickly responded.
They said, we're able.
You betcha.
It's kind of like Peter, you know, when Jesus said, before the rooster crows, you'll deny me three times.
And you remember what Peter said?
Oh, not me.
Not me.
I'm in.
You can count on me.
they were kind of like this.
Jesus said, do you know what you might have to go through to receive what you're talking about?
And they said, we're able.
We can do it.
Put it on us.
And you know what's interesting?
Jesus doesn't rebuke them.
Again, we see this kind of idea expressed in several of the stories we've been talking about.
Jesus is so loving and gracious.
Just like the rich young ruler we talked about.
Remember, he looked at him and loved him.
He didn't say, you know, you're really, you're a fool.
But he loved him.
And here, he doesn't rebuke them for their delusional ambition.
They wanted to be influential, but not so much for the kingdom of God.
Let's be honest.
Even in Christianity, sometimes it is for ourselves, a position.
And they didn't want it so much for the kingdom because they didn't fully understand the kingdom to start with.
They kind of wanted it for themselves.
Well, we're like Jesus.
We're with Jesus.
Jesus is powerful.
We want to be with him.
We'll sit on his right and left.
And their quick answer to Jesus indicates that they had no real understanding of what was coming, what lie ahead for him.
They didn't have any understanding of that.
But listen, they didn't have any understanding about the persecution that would come later to the church and to them personally.
In an article in the Wall Street Journal I clipped last year, it reported that in 2023, 19 chief executives died in office.
That was the most since 2010.
And there's another group called Challenger Gray and Christmas, and they tracked the turnover of U.S.
companies.
And this firm tallied a record number of almost 2,000 CEOs who left their businesses in 2023.
The president of this organization, Andy Challenger, partly attributes the departure of so many CEOs to burnout that they feel.
In a January survey, 2023, they surveyed 600 C-suite, what they call C-suite executives, the big dogs, and said 37% said avoiding burnout would be a personal challenge for the coming year.
The article went on to name several high-profile CEOs who died from either fatal heart attacks or stress-related issues, and they ranged anywhere from age 58 to 71.
You know, a candid Help Wanted ad might go something like this.
Company seeks visionary leader to take business to the next level.
Incumbent will be paid handsomely but may have fewer years to enjoy their earnings.
because of the stress of the role and life expectancy.
You know, in response, when Jesus said, here's what you're going to face, it's hard, what's coming, the position of authority or leadership, you want to be a kind of an influencer or a CEO, but you need to understand there's a heavy price to be paid.
And in response, James and John, Jesus tells them that they didn't have a clue.
about what they were asking for or about.
They didn't have a clue that their request would cost them everything.
The ambition of James and John in that particular moment caused them to believe that they could undergo whatever suffering they might have to undergo or whatever might accompany the positions they sought.
But did you notice that Jesus said, well, the cup that I drink, you will drink.
And with the baptism I'm baptized with, you will be baptized.
He's not talking about water baptism.
He's talking about the baptism of suffering.
And he said, as it turns out, you will.
You will endure a baptism like me.
And did you know that James would be beheaded by Herod Agrippa I?
Acts chapter 12 tells that story.
In fact, most likely, James became the first of the apostles to be martyred.
John would suffer persecution and torture and be exiled as a prisoner to the island of Patmos until his death.
He's the only one of 12 that didn't die.
And he didn't die because they couldn't kill him.
The Roman emperor tried to kill him.
Fox's Book of Martyrs said that they tried to boil him alive in oil.
A vat of boiling oil.
Can you imagine that?
John was put in it just to persecute and it didn't do anything to him.
He probably came out and said, man, my skin is softer than ever before.
They couldn't kill him.
And so finally what they did is they exiled him.
You know why they couldn't kill him?
Because God was going to bring the revelation to John on the Isle of Patmos.
But other than John, they all suffered.
John's the only one that survived.
And let me add that because we're talking about this ambition, I mean, it looks like just crass ambition here.
We're talking about ambition of James and John.
And not all ambition is bad.
I don't want to give you the impression that
That all ambition is bad.
There's some ambition that's good and there's some that is noteworthy.
There is a practical kind of ambition, isn't there, that causes you and causes me to use our abilities and gifts that have come from God to use them in such a way that God is honored by them.
That's a practical kind of spiritual ambition.
God, you have gifted me.
Let me use my gifts to honor and glorify you.
That's a good kind of ambition.
It's not self-serving.
It's God-serving.
And, of course, there is a holy ambition that we should aspire to.
A holy ambition is when it's very personal.
It seeks to know God.
It's driven by a desire to honor God in my personal life, not just to serve God and influence for the kingdom, practical, spiritual ambition, but personal, holy ambition.
God, I want to know you.
I want to know you more.
As Moses said on the mount with God, God, let me see you that I might know you.
In that moment, he wasn't saying, God, let me see you so I can have a stronger role in the life of your people Israel as I lead them.
In that moment, he said, God, I just want to know you.
It was personal ambition.
Do you remember that story, Exodus 33?
God hid Moses in the cleft, and he said, no man can say, he said, let me see you.
I want to know you.
The Bible says that God and Moses talked like friends talked to each other.
But there came a certain point when the holy separation manifested, and God said, Moses said, it's not enough just to have conversation.
God, I want to see you so I can know you even more than ever before.
And God said, well, you can't.
You can't see me and live.
But he said, I'll tell you what I'll do.
I'll put you in the cleft.
I'll hide you in the cleft of the rock.
And I'll cover you with my hand.
And when I pass by, I'll remove my hand.
And you can see the back of me as I go by.
But you can't see the front of me.
No man can see me and live.
By the way, if you remember that story, it's one of my favorite Old Testament stories.
When Moses went down from the mountain, he had to wear a veil.
You know why he had to wear a veil?
The Shekinah glory of God, just the reflected glory of God passing by him, imprinted him, made him influential.
It imprinted him, and he had to wear a veil because of the glory of God that was still beaming from him.
And if anyone had have looked at that glory, they would have died.
Moses said, what?
I want to know you, God.
I want to know you deeper.
I don't want to just know about you, God.
I don't want to just know you so I can lead your people.
I just want to know you.
Do you have that passion?
You have that?
God, I just want to know you.
Listen, that's a holy ambition.
And that's a wonderful kind of ambition to have.
All right?
A holy ambition.
Oh, God, let me see you.
Let me experience you that I might know you.
In my life, a holy ambition.
We need both of these kinds of ambition.
But unfortunately today, I think you'd probably agree with this, most ambition is self-motivated.
It's the model of the world.
Now, don't confuse what I'm saying.
I'm not talking about being promoted or advancing in life in your job or whatever that may be.
I'm not talking about those things mean that's just self-motivated.
I'm not talking about being advanced in life and what you do because you're good at something.
Nothing's wrong with that.
And I'm not suggesting that being successful means that you are motivated by selfish ambitions.
What I'm talking about is being driven by the tragic delusion of power and position.
I have to have power so I can have influence.
It is said that many people spend their lives climbing the ladder of success only to arrive at the top of the building and discover it was leaning against the wrong structure.
So how do we keep selfish ambition in check?
It's something we all need to work on probably.
How do we keep selfish ambition in check?
Let me give you three words.
Write these down.
The first is pleasing.
How do I keep selfish ambition in check?
It is by being pleasing to God.
It is about being more concerned about what God thinks of me than what people think of me.
You see, selfish motivation is oftentimes pushed and driven in our lives out of a desire to impress people.
Other people will like me better or I'll have more influence with them if I can impress them.
I'm concerned about what they think.
Paul said this, if I were trying to please men, then I could not please God.
So one of the ways that you keep selfish ambition in check is by seeking to be pleasing to God instead of being concerned about what other people think.
Now, I guess I ought to put a footnote there and say, I'm not telling you to go out and say, I don't care about, I'm going to say whatever I want to people because I'm just concerned about what God thinks, not what they think.
Look, that's not what I'm telling you about.
That probably, that might get you in real trouble.
The second word I would give you is perspective.
The Bible says to set your mind on things above.
If you want to keep selfish ambition in check, you've got to have the right perspective.
The Scripture says that we are to focus on what's above.
We're to focus on what's coming.
It means that we are to understand that everything in this world is passing away.
So we must live with eternity in mind.
Everything.
The Bible says everything in this world.
The things that you may hold as most valuable in this world are going to pass away.
There's only one thing that lasts.
Well, really, two things that last.
There's the Word of God.
The Bible says the Word of God lasts forever.
And your soul.
They last forever.
And so perspective means that we understand that we live with eternity in mind.
Selfish motivation often only sees right now, right here, this moment, and me.
The third word I would give you if you want to keep selfish ambition in check is principles.
And by that I mean let the principles of God's Word direct your path.
If the Bible, if the Word of God lasts forever, then it is certainly important that we design our lives to be compatible with this direction.
The Bible is to become the filter, the filter of your life, your behavior, your attitude, your decisions, all of these things.
So if we want to keep selfish ambition in check, live to please God.
Live with an eternal perspective.
and live by the principles of God's Word.
The next thing that I want you to see that I think Jesus points to in our passage this morning is not just the delusion of being a kingdom influencer, but the confusion of being a kingdom influencer.
Look at verse 42.
And Jesus called them to him, and he said to him, You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them,
and their great ones exercise authority over them.
But it shall not be so among you, for whoever would be great among you must be your servant.
Jesus addresses the confusion that had obviously captured their ideas.
James, John, and even the other disciples, they didn't understand this kingdom influence thing.
They assume that the influence that they exercise for God operated just like it does in the world.
How does the world do it?
And that's how we do it for God.
The world system says this, position equals power, which in turn equals influence.
The worldly system's influence is generally based on a person's wealth, how much they have, a person's position, that is the status that they have or an office that they may hold.
Worldly influence is generally based on a person's social standing, you know, who you know.
It is based often on recognition, your awards and your honors, right?
It's based on fame or popularity.
One, social standing is about who you know, but recognition and fame and popularity about who knows you.
And then it's based on authority, your level of control.
I have control over this or control over that.
That's the worldly system of influence.
That's generally what it's based on.
Now, I don't want to pick on the disciples unfairly for their confusion about influence.
This worldly model was the only one the disciples understood because it's the only one they'd ever lived under.
It's the only one they'd ever seen.
So Jesus, though, wants to correct that for them, and he introduces a new way.
He introduces a new standard for being a person of influence in order to clear up any confusion between the world's way and God's way.
Does that make sense?
So he introduces something that's completely contrary to everything they've ever learned or everything they ever knew.
A few years ago, the Washington Post conducted an experiment in context and public perception and influence.
And what they did is they took a young man named Joshua Bell, and he emerged from a metro train.
If you've ever been up there, that's their subway system, the metro system.
And Joshua Bell emerged from this metro train.
He positioned himself against a subway wall beside a trash can.
By most measures, he was nondescript.
He was a young man in jeans.
He had a long-sleeved T-shirt on and a Washington Nationals baseball cap.
And then he pulled out a small case, and from it he removed a violin.
Placing the open case at his feet, he smartly threw in some change and a few bills in there to kind of seed the case with money, and then he began to play the violin.
And for the next 45 minutes in that D.C.
Metro subway hallway, Bell played Mozart and Schubert as over 1,000 people streamed by.
Most of those people going by hardly noticed him there playing, and if they had paid attention, they might have recognized the young man for the world-renowned violinist that he was.
They also might have noted the violin that he was playing was a rare Stradivarius worth over $3 million.
But in a plain setting at an inconvenient time, people didn't recognize and they weren't influenced by this world-renowned violinist, who just, by the way, three days earlier had sold out Boston Symphony Hall where the ordinary seats, just the ordinary seats, were $100 each.
But in the subway,
Bell garnered about $32 from 27 people out of over 1,000 passing by.
27 stopped long enough to give a donation.
Everyone else missed the moment because it didn't look like anything special to them.
Well, in a similar way, kingdom influence is so different from worldly influence.
You see, if he's playing in the Boston Symphony Hall, everybody goes, oh, wow, Josh Bell.
But in a subway, look at that guy.
He's just trying to make a living playing a $3 million violin.
The kingdom influence is just so different, isn't it?
It doesn't always manifest greatness in a familiar way.
Kingdom influence is not self-centered or selfish.
It's not consumed with personal greatness.
It seeks to make a difference for God.
And it desires to minister to others more than to be ministered to.
And the point is we must be careful that we don't confuse the way the world says this is influence and the way the kingdom of God identifies influence.
And Jesus is then clearing up the confusion.
He wanted them to know here's how God sees influence.
It's different than how the world measures influence.
You see, you can be in this world somebody that nobody knows about and be very influential in the kingdom.
There are going to be people, we're going to get to heaven, and we're going to see the influence of people we didn't even know were influential.
And we're going to see people we thought were influential, and we're going to find out they weren't that influential after all.
Because the kingdom and the world are confused when it comes to influence.
But not Jesus.
He clarifies it for us.
And then there's one last thing, a third thing that I want you to see this morning.
And that's the conclusion of being a kingdom influencer.
Verses 44 and 45.
And whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.
For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.
This was a stunning statement.
It was stunning because as we looked at just a moment ago, it went against every idea of leadership and influence that they knew.
You see, Jesus is saying that the secret to greatness and influence is not by maneuvering and elevating ourselves, but rather it is by humbling ourselves and exalting him.
John the Baptist reinforced this truth.
You remember when Jesus came on the scenes, John was already out preaching.
He said, I'm just a messenger.
I've been sent to prepare the way.
And do you know the Bible says that John had disciples?
He had his own band of disciples and followers.
And they became concerned because when Jesus came on the scene, John's disciples came to him and they said, John, you know that people are now leaving here and they're starting to follow Jesus.
And they were concerned, maybe even a little irritated that you've done all of this work and now they're leaving and they're going over.
These fickle followers kind of thing.
That's what they were reporting.
They were saying, this isn't fair.
This isn't right.
And John, you remember what John says to them?
He said, I'm just a messenger.
He said, he's the one whose sandals I'm not worthy to latch.
And then he, if you remember, he says to them, he must increase.
And I must decrease.
He must increase.
I have to decrease.
That's what he said to them.
And with that, it's worth noting a couple of things.
We have this model of kingdom influence.
Jesus is the model of kingdom influence.
That's what John was saying.
He said, look, I'm just the messenger.
I'm the forerunner.
But Jesus is the real influential one.
And he is the model of influence for us still to this day.
He's the supreme model of kingdom influence.
And if we want to get it right, we need to look no further than Jesus, right?
During the American Revolution,
There was a man in civilian clothes, and he rode past a group of revolutionary soldiers, and they were repairing a small defensive barrier.
And their leader was shouting instructions, but he was making no attempt to help them.
And when the writer asked the corporal why he did not help them, he retorted back with great dignity, Sir, I'm a corporal.
The stranger apologized, Sorry?
dismounted himself, proceeded to help the exhausted soldiers trying to repair the barrier.
And when the job was finished, he turned to the corporal and he said, Mr. Corporal, next time you have a job like this and not enough men to do it, go to your commander-in-chief and I will come and help you again.
It was none other than General George Washington.
Jesus was the model.
He wasn't just the teacher.
He didn't just say, do as I say.
He said, do as I do.
He is the model for us.
And there are a couple of ways that he modeled influence.
Write these down.
Jesus modeled influence by sacrifice for the world.
Did you notice in those last two verses he says he gave his life as a ransom for many?
Jesus is a model of influence by sacrifice.
An influential kingdom leader understands the importance of sacrifice.
Have you ever noticed, if you know anything about much of the other religious faiths in the world and in history, have you ever noticed that the religious leaders of other faith groups never die for the sake of their followers, but instead demand that their followers die for them?
But Jesus flips that, doesn't he?
He's the model of sacrifice because he gave his life as a ransom for many.
He didn't say, okay, I'm going to need some of you to step up and give your lives.
We'll use some of you.
Who wants to be first?
It reminds me of a story I heard years ago.
There was a beloved king, and he was diagnosed with heart failure, and they were going to have to get a heart transplant for him.
And they were trying to find a heart.
And it was before some of the techniques of modern medicine and the people gathered in the square of this capital city and the king came out and the people just went, well, they loved him.
He was just a great king to them.
And they announced that the king was in need of a heart.
And the people so loved him, they began to scream out, my heart for the king, my heart for the king, my heart for the king, my heart for the king.
All through that vast crowd, people were screaming, my heart for the king.
And it so surprised the king and his aides that they didn't know, how do you pick somebody when they're all saying, my heart for the king, take my heart.
And so finally they arrived at this and they announced to the people as they settled them down, said, all right, here's how we'll determine whose heart can be sacrificed for the king.
We have this feather and we'll drop this feather out over the crowd.
And whoever the feather lands upon will have the privilege of giving their heart for the king.
And so sure enough, they launched the feather out.
It began to float through the air and out over the crowd.
And people were still screaming, my heart for the king.
My heart for the king.
You know, Jesus really gave it all for us, didn't he?
But other faiths, their leaders didn't.
They say, who of you will die for me?
Jesus said, I love you, I love you, I love you, I'll die for you.
I'm a servant.
The Son of Man didn't just come to be served.
He came to serve and to offer his life as a sacrifice.
Jesus is the model.
A sacrificial servant.
And then Jesus modeled influence not only by sacrificing his life, but by submission to the Father's will.
Submission to the will of God.
You remember not too long after our story here, Jesus would be in the garden praying.
And you remember what he says and what he prays?
Father, if it be your will, let's do this another way.
But nevertheless...
Not my will, but your will be done.
It's a model of influence.
By submitting to the will of the Father, submission to the will of God was priority for Christ.
in order to fulfill the purposes of God.
Can I tell you this morning that submission to the will of God is still a priority for us as well?
Jesus is the model.
He models sacrifice for the sake of the kingdom.
He models submission to the will of God so that the purpose of God may be accomplished.
But not only do we have the model of kingdom influence, we also have the method of kingdom influence.
And the method of kingdom influence that we see in our story, in our passage, and that we learn from Jesus is simple.
Be a servant.
If you want influence, if you want to be a kingdom influencer, become a servant.
Jesus could have easily demanded to be served.
After all, he's the King of kings, and he's the Lord of lords.
I have to tell you a funny story.
Bradley Roper, our contemporary worship leader,
was talking this morning.
He said they were in Sam's, I don't know, last night or the night before last.
And their older child, Ellery, their little girl, he looks over and he's got their younger son, Amos, standing up in a basket pushing him.
And he said, that's a prescription for disaster for sure.
But she stops, and his son suddenly declares, for all of Sam's Club to hear, he's standing in this basket, and he says, I am the king of the world, which means I am Jesus Christ.
Isn't that great?
Well, maybe they got the message, but Jesus could have easily demanded to be served.
After all, he is the king of kings.
He could have stood up and said, wait a minute.
I am Jesus Christ.
I'm the king of kings.
I'm the Lord of lords.
I'm not doing this.
Our grandsons have been in.
Our youngest one last night decided to have a 10-minute conversation with me about church before he's not quite four yet, will be next month.
And he began to tell me they love coming to Ridgecrest.
They may be here in the second hour if they get here before they have to leave for Nashville.
And he said, so he's having this conversation.
My daughter's holding him.
He says, Pops, he says, tomorrow, he said,
I will come and finish your preaching.
You know, y'all have seen him up here, the little guy.
And he says, I will take the mic and I will finish your preaching.
And he said, and you can go and sit with the other big people.
And he said, I can do anything.
And then he said, I will be scared.
But I said, you want to do that?
He said, yeah, I'll do that.
And I said, well, I just might let you.
But he said this.
He said, Pops, I didn't tell him this.
I didn't teach him this.
He looks at me and he says, Jesus is a superhero.
I look back and said, he sure is, Coop.
Jesus is a superhero.
And you know why he's a superhero?
Why?
Because he gave his life as a ransom for many.
For the whole world.
He's a superhero.
Because he influenced all of eternity for us.
And the method that he used was to be a servant.
You see, with Jesus, you might say, down is up.
He that would be greatest among you, let him be servant of all.
The world says you've got to keep going up, up, up, up, up.
Jesus says you go down, and in the kingdom you go up.
So with Jesus, down is up, and up is down.
In my column this morning, that story I told you about George Washington is there, but also there's a story...
I want to repeat as I wrap up this morning, and it's a story about the late Dawson Trotman.
I don't know if you know who Dawson Trotman was, but he founded this wonderful ministry called Navigators.
And on one occasion, he was visiting Taiwan on one of his many overseas trips at the height of his international popularity, and he was a godly man.
And during the visit, he hiked with a Taiwanese pastor back into one of the mountains
areas and a village and he met with some of the Christians that were in that village.
And the roads to that village and trail were wet and their shoes became caked in mud.
And later someone asked this Taiwanese pastor after Trotman had left and the meeting was over, what do you remember most about Dawson Trotman?
And without hesitation the man replied,
He cleaned my shoes.
And they were surprised.
They were surprised that this Taiwanese pastor must have remained asleep while Dawson Trotman got up earlier and went out and cleaned his shoes while he slept.
The same spirit of servanthood that marked Dawson Trotman throughout his entire Christian life and ministry.
is also characteristic of the way he died.
You see, Dawson Trotman actually gave his life to rescue someone else from drowning.
They had fallen out of a boat.
They were drowning.
He jumped in to save them, and he drowned, but they lived.
It's a fitting way, really, to kind of close the message this morning, I think.
It is because it is a reminder that
That's influence, but Christ was the greatest influence of all.
Why?
Because he became a servant and he gave his life for each of us.
He dove in to rescue us.
In fact, Paul put it this way in Philippians 2.
He said, Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
but he emptied himself.
How?
By taking the form of a servant and being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Do you understand what that passage says?
It says he didn't think that
It was robbery to leave his place beside God and take on human flesh and come into the world.
He could have said, wait a minute, I'm not doing that.
Look who I am.
But he humbled himself.
He took on flesh like you and I. And it says he made himself a servant.
He served the purposes of God when he came to bring salvation to humanity and being found in the form of a human.
He humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on the cross.
You want to be a kingdom influencer?
Then let the sacrifice of Christ save you if you're not saved.
And then let the service of Christ inspire you in how you live your life.
You'll be a kingdom influencer if you get that.
Pray with me.
Father, thank you that Jesus is a great model.
But more than just being a model, thank you for what he did.
giving his life, sacrificing his life for us, giving himself as a ransom for us all so that we could know you.
We thank you for that.
And in this moment before we're gone, I pray for any that are listening on live stream or radio or watching by television, in this live audience who may never have trusted Christ as their Savior, let that be the beginning place of their influence, kingdom influence today.
Let them call on you because you said, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.
Father, for others, Father, who, like the disciples, have well and good intentions, but have been confused about what it means to be influential, that have misunderstood that being an influencer in the kingdom of God is about being a servant.
And forgive us all, Father, when we've been characterized by an ambition that is not pleasing to you.
But help us this morning to say to you, Lord, I want to be an influencer for you.
I want to be a servant.
I want you to use me.
Now, Father, before we're gone, would you move in our hearts for the decisions we need to make.
We pray in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Well, I'm so glad that you have tuned in to the broadcast today.
I hope you've been encouraged by God's Word.
It sure has been a joy to share it with you.
And even now, people at Ridgecrest are making decisions for Christ.
Perhaps as you've watched this broadcast, you've recognized the need for your own decision for Christ.
The prompting of the Spirit has caused you to recognize that you need Christ as your Savior.
And the good news is you can receive Him right where you are.
The Bible says, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.
Right where you are, you can call on Him.
Say something like this from your heart to Him.
Lord Jesus, thank you for loving me.
I know I'm a sinner.
and I know that you came into this world and died on the cross for my sins and right now I invite you to come into my life forgive me and be my savior I can assure you if you call on him based on what God has already told us in the Bible that he'll hear that prayer and he'll answer that and he wants to begin this new journey in your life with you transforming you into his image we'd love to help you with that decision as well you'll see a QR code on your screen
And if you would scan that, or you'll see contact information, or if you'll contact us about your decision today, we'd love to help you take next steps.
There are no strings attached, no fees involved.
We'd just like to help you begin that journey with Christ.
You may be watching this broadcast today and say, I need a church family to belong to.
I already know Christ as my Savior, and I'd like to be a part of the Ridgecrest family.
Also, if you will, scan that QR code.
That'll take you to a location, and we'll be able to help you make those kinds of decisions like becoming a member here or if you've never been scripturally baptized, those kinds of things.
So contact us through that QR code or through the contact information on the screen.
Well, again, it's been a joy to have you with us today, and I hope you've been encouraged by God's Word.
Whatever decision we can help you with, by all means, contact us.
May the Lord bless you.