In This Issue

• YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ASK
• FOR ALL THE NEGATIVE THINGS WE HAVE TO SAY, GOD HAS A POSITIVE FOR IT
• FOR THE NEXT TRAVELER
• THE BODY OF CHRIST
• UPCOMING GOSPEL MEETING SCHEDULE
• MORE INFORMATION...

YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ASK

In Matt. 20:20-23, Matthew records that the mother of Zebedee's children came to Jesus "with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him. And He said to her, 'What do you wish?' She said to Him, 'Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom.' But Jesus answered and said, 'You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?' They said to Him, 'We are able.' So He said to them, 'You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father.'"

In our text, Salome, mother of James and John, has come to Jesus with her sons, to make a special request. The request is based primarily on a misunderstanding of the nature of the kingdom Christ came to establish. Thinking His kingdom to be a world empire, political type of kingdom, she requested that her sons be given the places of greatest honor in that reign. We might compare such cabinet offices as Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense, perhaps. Jesus' answer was, "You do not know what you ask."

His kingdom was not of the nature she had imagined. There were no political offices to be dispensed for the simple reason that His reign was not to be a political reign. His kingdom is spiritual, as He Himself later explained to Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews, but now My kingdom is not from here" (John 18:36). There would be no Secretary of State or Secretary of Defense, or any such offices to be appointed to. Any and all warfare would be spiritual, not carnal. That is why Paul later wrote, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal" (2 Cor. 10:3). That is why the armor of the Christian soldier consists of truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation -- and his one weapon for the struggle is a spiritual sword, the word of God, Eph. 6:10-17. Neither our kingdom nor our struggle is political. Both are spiritual in nature.

The "cup" and the "baptism" Jesus spoke of in this context are also best understood as not referring to a literal drinking vessel or a literal immersion into some liquid. Jesus spoke of the suffering He, and His apostles must undergo in the days ahead. They would drink their fill of, or be immersed in suffering -- and yet their cause would ultimately be victorious. 

--CRJ

FOR ALL THE NEGATIVE THINGS WE HAVE TO SAY, GOD HAS A POSITIVE FOR IT

"It's impossible" All things are possible (Luke 18:27)

"I'm too tired" I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28-30)

"Nobody really loves me" I love you (John 3:16 & John 13:34)

"I can't go on" My grace is sufficient (II Cor 12:9 & Psalm 91:15)

"I can't figure things out" I will direct your steps (Proverbs 3:5-6)

"I can't do it" You can do all things (Philippians 4:13)

"I'm not able" I am able (II Corinthians 9:8)

"It's not worth it" It will be worth it (Romans 8:28)

"I can't forgive myself" I forgive you (I John 1:9 & Romans 8:1)

"I can't manage" I will supply all your needs (Philippians 4:19)

"I'm afraid" I have not given you a spirit of fear (II Timothy 1:7)

"I'm always worried and frustrated" Cast all your cares on Me (I Peter 5:7)

"I don't have enough faith" I've given everyone a measure of faith (Romans 12:3)

"I'm not smart enough" I give you wisdom (I Corinthians 1:30)

"I feel all alone" I will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5)

FOR THE NEXT TRAVELER

There's no such thing as a "self-made person." Everyone who achieves something worthwhile stands on the shoulders of those who have come before. He learned hard work and principled behavior from a father, Scout leader, or teacher. She had a professor in college, a mentor at the company, or an advocate when nobody else believed in her. I'll bet you are naming some of yours as you read this.

Now it's time to give back. There is someone in your world who needs a teacher, guide, and role model. Maybe it's your child. It could be your brother's little girl. It might be a teenager whose father died or walked away. Perhaps it is the new person at work. It could well be someone watching you without your awareness of it.

I read the story of a man who found a note written by Desert Pete. It was in a tin can tied to an old pump handle on a remote desert trail.

Like the next person who found that note, we need to be reminded to leave things in good order for those who will come after us. And that means paying attention to the instructions God left for us about integrity and effort. It means having faith that they'll produce a good result for us, that God will never fail us. Then we leave something for those who are going to be coming down the path after we're gone.

If you are grateful for what you were bequeathed as an American or in your family, at work or in the Body of Christ, be unselfish enough to remember that others are yet to come after you. Leave something they can use to prime the pump. 

--author unknown

THE BODY OF CHRIST

Writing to the church of God which is at Corinth, the apostle Paul said, "Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular" (1 Cor. 12:27). Regarding what God had done for Jesus he wrote, "And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all" (Eph. 1:22-23). Again he said of Jesus, "And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence" (Col. 1:18).

These scriptures show clearly that the church of Christ and the body of Christ are identical, that she is made up of Christians as the members of the body, and that Jesus is the head. As a man’s mind controls his body in all its actions, so Christ must control every action of the church. He does this through the New Testament scriptures. That is why we must be so careful to teach and practice exactly what the Bible teaches.

ONE HEAD, ONE BODY. The physical man, to which the church is compared in this figure, has a body and a head. It would indeed be a monstrosity to have several bodies with only one head. There can be no more bodies than there are heads. Since there is only one spiritual head, Jesus Christ, there can be only one body, the church which is His.

"For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ. For by one spirit are we all baptized into one body" (1 Cor. 12:12-13). 

--Carrol R. Sutton

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