Who Is The Greatest

Mark 9:30-41

The Lord Jesus Christ and His disciples were on their way to Capernaum.

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Once again He told them that He would be killed, but He would rise the 3rd day.

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They did not understand.

And they were afraid to ask Him what He meant.

They only understood everything after He had died on the cross and risen from the dead.

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They reached Capernaum.

The Lord Jesus Christ wanted to know what the disciples were discussing on the way.

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His question was met with silence.

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The disciples were arguing among themselves who was the greatest of their number.

They were arguing who was the no.1 disciple!

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Everyone thought he was more qualified than the others.

Everyone thought he was more worthy of honor.

Everyone thought he should be the leader of the group.

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The Lord Jesus Christ wanted to correct the immature and foolish thinking of His disciples.

He sat down and told them the way to greatness was through serving others.

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True greatness is achieved through the humble service to others.

We must put others before ourselves and meet their needs, forgetting about our own needs.

When we humble ourselves, the Lord will exalt us in due time.

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To make His teaching clear, the Lord Jesus Christ took a child and placed him before the disciples.

He told them that if they received a child in His name, they were actually received both the Son and the Father Who sent Him.

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When we serve the least among us, we are in reality serving the Lord Jesus Christ.

By serving Him, we are serving His Father as well.

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Children need to be served.

But they cannot serve us in return.

That is a lesson we all need to take to heart.

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Too often, we only serve those who can do something in return.

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We are to reach out to those who are the neediest.

We are to serve those who cannot or will not serve us in return.

We are to give our all for those who may break our hearts in return.

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The Lord Jesus had set us a good example.

He was a servant of the neediest people of all.

He was a servant to those who could never repay Him.

He was a servant to those who would fail Him, deny Him, and dishonor Him.

He was a servant to everyone of us when He died on the cross.

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When John heard the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, he brought up an incident that had occurred sometime earlier.

Apparently, the disciples had encountered a fellow who was casting out demons in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

This fellow was successful.

But since he didn’t follow the Lord Jesus Christ and His men, the disciples rebuked him and told him to stop what he was doing.

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The Lord Jesus Christ responded by telling them to let people like that alone.

If they were doing good works in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, they were not against Him; they were actually working for Him.

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The Lord Jesus Christ went on to tell His men that even if someone just gave a disciple a cup of water in the name of the Lord, that person would surely be rewarded.

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The greatest person in the church is the person who serves others selflessly, with no thought for what they might receive in return.

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The greatest person in the church is the person who is willing to take the last place so that others can be first.

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The greatest person in the church is the person who seeks to serve those who can never give anything back in return.

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Does that describe us?

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Remember, we are to serve God by serving others.

What Is Our Answer?

Mark 8:27-30

The Lord Jesus asked His disciples 2 questions.

The 1st question was about what others said about Him.

The 2nd was about their personal opinions about Him.

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The Lord Jesus Asked A Probing Question (27-28)

The Lord Jesus and His disciples were around Caesarea Philippi.

This was a predominately Gentile area.

It was steeped in pagan religion.

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Here, the Lord Jesus chose to make a fuller revelation of Himself to His disciples.

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The Lord Jesus’ first question was this: “Who do people say I am?”

The Lord Jesus wanted to use the opinions of others to make the disciples to form their own opinions of who He was.

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The disciples replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”

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The Lord Jesus Asked A Personal Question (29-30)

The Lord Jesus then asked their personal opinions of Him.

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This was the moment of truth!

Everything He had taught and shown them had been leading up to this moment in time.

Every miracle was leading to this moment in time.

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Their response would let Him know how effective His personal ministry to them had been.

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The Lord Jesus Christ simply asked, “Who do you say I am?”

It was a simple question, but it was filled with eternal implications.

A correct answer would take one to Heaven.

A wrong answer would take one to Hell.

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Apostle Peter, as was his custom, spoke for the whole group.

He said, “You are the Messiah.”

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He got it right!

He looked at the Lord Jesus and saw the Messiah, which is what the word “Christ” means.

What a statement of faith!

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The Lord Jesus’ identity was revealed to Peter by God Himself.

This is true in every genuine conversion.

No one is saved by the persuasive opinions of men.

People are saved when their spiritual eyes are opened by the Lord Jesus.

He gives them the faith to believe unto salvation.

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Peter’s declaration lets us know that he was a saved man.

He knew who the Lord Jesus was and he openly confessed Him.

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Our opinion about who the Lord Jesus is is a very personal thing.

No one can speak for us.

No one can believe for us.

It all comes down to who we believe He is.

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Our answer to the Lord’s question is absolutely vital to our salvation.

How we answer that question will determine where we spend eternity.

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Apostle Peter and all the other disciples believed the Lord Jesus was God, Lord and Savior, and they were saved.

Millions have believed the same thing about Him over the last 2,000 years and they have all been saved.

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The Lord Jesus told His disciples not to reveal His identity.

He did this because it wasn’t time.

If they went over the land preaching that the Lord Jesus was the Messiah, opposition would have grown so great that the Lord Jesus would have been unable to complete His mission.

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Today, His mission stands completed and He commands us to tell the world about Him.

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Who is the Lord Jesus to us?

What is our answer?

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If we can honestly say that Jesus is our Savior and the Lord of our life, then we should praise Him today.

If we have any other answer, we need to change our answer.

And we must do it now!

He Has Done Everything Well

Mark 7:31-37

The Man And His Condition (32)

This man was deaf.

He also had a speech impediment.

But he had people around him who cared about him.

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They heard that the Lord Jesus Christ was passing by. So they brought him to Him.

They believed that the Lord Jesus Christ could heal him!

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The Master And His Cure (33-35)

The Lord Jesus Christ did a great work in his life.

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First, He took him aside, away from the crowd.

He didn’t want to embarrass him in front of a harsh staring public.

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Then He used a sign language to communicate His intentions.

First, He stuck His fingers in the man’s ears to let him know that He was going to do something about his deafness.

He spat on His finger and touched the man’s tongue to let him know that He was about to lubricate his speech.

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The Lord Jesus is trying to awaken faith in his heart.

He was trying to get him to understand that something was about to happen in his life and that He was going to bring about the changes.

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Then He looked toward Heaven.

This act served two purposes.

First, it told the deaf man that the healing was coming from above.

Secondly, it demonstrated the Son’s dependence upon the Father.

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Then, He sighed deeply.

The sigh that seemed to say “I care about you and what you are going through!”

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Then, the Lord Jesus said, “Ephphatha”, which means “be opened”.

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When He said this, the man’s ears were healed and his tongue was loosed.

He could hear!

He could speak!

Oh, what a miracle!

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One command from the Lord Jesus Christ and his life changed forever!

That is the power of the Word of God!

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The Multitude And Their Confession (36-37)

As soon as the Lord Jesus Christ had accomplished the miracle, He told the multitudes not to tell anyone else.

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He told them to keep quiet.

But they did just the opposite.

He told them to tell no one and they told everyone!

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These people were overwhelmed with amazement.

“He has done everything well,” they said.

“He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

That statement was a statement of faith.

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They looked at all that they knew about the Lord Jesus Christ and they voiced their approval of Him and His ministry.

They considered His miracles and His ministry and they said, “He has done everything well!”

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The man met the Lord Jesus Christ that day and his life was never the same again.

Meeting the Lord Jesus Christ changed everything forever for this man.

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The Lord Jesus Christ can do the same thing for any person who will come to Him today!

And He will do everything well!

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Will you come?

The Lord Of The Little

Mark 6:35-44

The Lord Of Little Fears (35-36)

The people followed the Lord Jesus Christ to the other side of the lake.

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The Lord Jesus Christ spent the day teaching them.

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The hour was growing late.

The disciples came to the Lord Jesus Christ and interrupted His teaching.

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They demanded that He sent the people away so that they could find food to eat.

They were afraid that the people would not be able to find any food to eat if the hour grew any later.

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They were ten miles away from home.

They were in a deserted location.

They were in a place where no food was to be found.

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The disciples were in the presence of the Lord of Glory.

But they didn’t believe that He could handle the situation.

To their eyes, the situation looked impossible.

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They were not coming to the Lord Jesus in faith.

They were coming to Him in fear!

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Our Savior is the Lord of little fears!

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The Lord Of Little Faith (37-38)

When the Lord Jesus Christ heard the fears of His men, He said, “You give them something to eat.”

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This command was immediately met with an expression of absolute unbelief.

This was a problem that was insurmountable!

It was an impossible challenge for them.

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The Lord Of Little Food (39-44)

After their display of faithlessness, the Lord Jesus asked them how much food they had.

He told them to go and find out.

All they could find was 5 loaves and 2 fishes.

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The Lord Jesus commanded the people to sit down in groups of hundreds and fifties.

Then He took the 5 loaves and 2 fish.

He lifted His face toward Heaven and He blessed the food.

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He was not upset that the provisions were so meager.

He is not bothered by the small amount of food.

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He took what was given to Him and He began to break it.

He kept on breaking and kept on giving.

And they continued to multiply in His hands.

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He kept breaking and giving until every person in the crowd had no more desire for food.

Then, when the disciples took of the leftovers, there were 12 baskets full!

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The Lord Jesus Christ is the Lord of the little!

He took a little and made a lot out of it!

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He can multiply the little that we have if we will just put them in His hand.

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He will use us in ways we never imagined if we will only give Him our little.

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The Lord Jesus was more than sufficient for every circumstance in life.

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He is more than sufficient to take our little and give us a lot more in return!

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Let us come to Him right now.

Let us put our little in His hands.

He is the Lord of the little!

The Bloody Woman

Mark 5:24-34

The Condition Of Her Health (24-26)

The Diagnosis

This woman had an issue of blood.

She was hemorrhaging from some place in her body.

It ruined her life.

The Duration

She had been plagued with this condition for 12 years.

The Discomfort

She had tried all the remedies of all the physicians of her day.

And she suffered much under their care.

The Damage

She had spent all of her money seeking a cure.

She had nothing left to sustain her meager existence.

The Danger

Her condition continued to deteriorate.

She was headed for death.

Her life was draining out of her body day by day.

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The Circumstances Of Her Healing (27-29)

It Involved Facts

This woman had heard of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It Involved Faith

This woman believed that by touching His garments she would be healed.

It Involved Fortitude

She approached the Lord Jesus Christ in the crowd.

She was taking a great risk.

If she was recognized, she might be stoned to death.

It Involved Fulfillment

She reached out her trembling hand and touched His garment.

Immediately she experienced healing!

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The Compassion Of Her Healer (30-34)

His Reaction

As soon as she touched the Lord Jesus Christ, He knew what had happened.

He asked the question, "Who touched My clothes?"

Her Reply

The woman came before Him, bowed at His feet and confessed everything to Him.

His Response

The Lord Jesus Christ acknowledged her testimony.

He spoke words of great comfort to her heart:

A Word Of Confirmation

The woman got more than physical healing that day.

Her faith brought her into a saving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

A Word Of Compassion

The Lord Jesus Christ told her to go in peace.

His words let her know that she had done the right thing in coming to Him and touching Him.

A Word Of Completion

She was finally and fully free from her plague.

Her battle with this dread disease was forever finished!

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Our world is filled with people like this sick woman.

They may have physical afflictions.

But their real disease is a disease of the soul and of the heart.

All they need for their healing is to get to the Lord Jesus Christ.

If they will come to Him today, He will heal the problem in their soul and He will give them a new life in Him.