Welcome to the Daily Blade . The Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit , the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil . Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson , and they stand ready to equip men for the fight . Let's sharpen up .
Speaker 2All right , welcome back to the Daily Blade , day five in Matthew , chapter 20 . We're talking about the five attributes of a great man . This is not an exhaustive list . These are just five things that I see in Matthew , chapter 20 . Hope and pray they have been helpful and challenging . Number five is this this is really the foundation of the whole thing A great man is a ransomed man . We're going to read the whole text again because we need to hear it again .
Speaker 2Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons and , kneeling before him , she asked him for something and he said to her what do you want ? And she said to him say that these two sons of mine are to sit one at your right hand and one at your left in your kingdom . And Jesus answered you do not know what you were asking . Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink ? And they said to him we are able . They've been there the whole time . And he said to them you will drink my cup , but to sit at my right hand and my left is not mine to grant , but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my father .
Speaker 2And when the 10 heard it . They were indignant at the two brothers , probably because they wish they would have had the idea to go ask to be senior VP of Jesus Incorporated . But Jesus called them to him and said you know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and their great ones exercise authority over them . 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 your slave , even as the son of man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many . All right , two things . One if you don't know Jesus as your ransom , then you'll never be a great man . You see , because if you don't know Jesus as the one that paid your sin debt , if you don't know Jesus as the propitiation for your sin , the one that came and satisfied the law and justice of God on your behalf so that you could receive by grace , freely , the salvation that he offers you and the adoption into his family , then you will never have the mind of Christ or the power of the Holy Spirit in you . So you , by definition , will never be able to be a great man in the kingdom of God if you are not in the kingdom of God because you've never surrendered your life to the Lordship of Christ . Secondly , the moment that you are rescued , that you become a part of the rescue team , you see , fundamentally , why a great man is a ransomed man is because a ransom like you've seen those movies where somebody gets kidnapped and the kidnapper asks for a ransom and so the person comes and pays off the kidnapper to buy back the person who has been kidnapped . We have been ransomed that Jesus did for us what we could not do for ourselves . And the moment we realize that we are a ransom people , then we realize that I ain't got this . I need somebody to do something for me that I can't do for me . That's what Jesus does . So let me ask you this the moment you are rescued or ransomed , you become a part of the rescue team .
Speaker 2A great man is the kind of man that knows that he's been rescued and is willing to to do what it takes to rescue others . Are you willing to lay down your life for others ? You see a great man . Here are the five . A great man puts Jesus first , including first in your week by Sabbathing , finding your rest in Jesus , so you're ready to do what he has called you to do .
Speaker 2A great man knows how to endure suffering because we push back darkness and we fight against the systems and the values of this world , and that's going to cost us a lot . A great man lives under authority . Don't ever expect God to give you any modicum of authority until you learn to live under the authority that God has put in your life . A great man serves . A great man is not trying to fight his way to the head of the table , but a great man like Jesus dresses himself as a servant , takes the lowest job , takes the most humiliating job and to demonstrate his love for others , because Christ has loved us , dresses himself as a servant and knows that that's not a means to an end , but being obedient is the end and that's where the blessing is . And a great man has been ransomed by Christ and is a part of the rescue team .
Speaker 2Men of the Daily Blade . I pray that we would shake off whatever this world has taught us that it means to be great , to have a great name or to have a great fortune or have some kind of great accomplishment and that we would be great men , like Jesus has called us to be great men , just like he was and is . Now I want to warn you , a warning that James gives us . May we not be merely hearers of the word and so deceive ourselves , but may we do what we have been taught . Amen .
Speaker 1Thank you for listening to today's episode Before you go . If you want to help equip other men for the fight , share this podcast around and leave us a five-star rating and review . Stay sharp .