My Place

Mark 10:35-40

Theme: Everyone wants to find “My Place” in the kingdom of God and rightfully so but there is a right way and a wrong way to approach it.

Intro: Our scripture has us with Jesus in the days just before the Passover week. Christ has told His Twelve they are going to Jerusalem and there He will be handed over to death on the cross. The idea of Jesus dying still hasn’t sunk into these men, they like many others were holding to the thought of military messiah. A Messiah that will overthrow the Romans, set up an earthly kingdom, and rule from Jerusalem. The twelve do realize the time has come for Christ to establish His kingdom and at least two of the twelve are trying to take advantage of this time. James and John are two of what I call Christ’s elite three, with the third being Peter. James and John feel like they can negotiate a position in the kings courts, as a matter of fact they are trying to get what they feel are the best spots, either side of the king. James and John wanted their place of position with the Lord. There are some lessons in this for our lives today. Lessons that will help us realize our place with the Lord how we attained it and how we keep it. Notice with me that the Lord taught James and John they were...

I. Trying to seek Ambition Vv. 35-37

A. Personal desires

1. They felt like they deserved it.

2. They felt like they had earned it.

Through their ambition and personal desire James and John

B. Disclosed their aim

1. God will allow us to disclose our intentions to teach us our selfishness.

2. God wants loyal follower’s not ambitious servants.

II. Asking to face Anguish Vv. 38-39

A. You don’t know what you’re talking about.

1. (Cup) can you submit to my service?

2. (Baptism) can you submit to my suffering?

B. As my servant, you will...

1. (Cup) be appointed your service.

2. (Baptism) be appointed your suffering

a. James was first to be martyred (Acts 12:2)

b. John suffered at the end of his life

(Rev. 1:9)

III. Really needing to acknowledge Accountability

Jesus can’t change what God has already put into place which is accountability for our lives. We all must realize the obligation we have to spiritual accountability.

1. Accountability of the lost

A. Will take place before God

B. Will result in eternal separation in Hell.

2. Accountability of the Saved

A. Will take place before Christ

1. Crowns will be awarded for service.

2. We will return them to the King for His service.

B. Will result in an eternal presence with the King.

1. We will glorify Him in Heaven

2. We will reign with Him on earth.

3. We will be in His presence for ever.

Conc. James and John learned a very real lesson, even though they didn’t realize it until after the death of Jesus. They learned that Jesus was all about a spiritual kingdom and living for Him is about serving people through a life of faith in Jesus Christ. You know what, that hasn’t changed one bit, living for Jesus is still about serving people through a life redeemed by Christ. As we try to keep up in this crazy world we live our priorities too often get confused don’t they. Life becomes the donations we give to charity, the service we provide for the needy, the work we do at church or maybe the ministry we have. Life becomes about Me, Mine and I. James and John realized they couldn’t save themselves because they could not do for themselves what Christ was going to do. Neither can you and I. James and John also realize that to live for the Lord was to allow Him to work through them and not for them to work for the Lord. Good works are only academic if God isn’t doing them through us and the only way He can do that is if he knows us through a relationship with Jesus Christ and a life of obedience to His will.