But the first disciples of Christ were being plagued with queries like this. It doesn’t appear that any of them were exempt from this – John, James, Peter – all of them in chapter 18. It should remind us that Satan has been raising destructive questions within Christ’s churches since even before the departure of our first and highest Pastor. The Devil wants to destroy every one of God’s Churches, including this little, insignificant body of Christ. In the last weeks before Jesus’ crucifixion, it was the potentially destructive question about who would sit nearest the Lord in His glorious kingdom.
For the Bible student, it is never truly safe to argue anything from the silence of the scriptures. But it is interesting that Christ didn’t answer this question of the Zebedee family – silence. Even though the highest seats in Heaven have already been reserved, He wisely chose not to tell us. Nor did He say, “You are asking a thing which cannot be granted to anybody, because in Heaven everyone will be on the same level of importance and honor.” Christ said by silence and implication just the opposite. He does not say, “You are asking for something which no one can ever have.” It was just the opposite – He does suggest, “There are people for whom those thrones have been especially reserved, but I am not going to give you their names.”
Remember that Christ does not condemn Salome’s prayer request. Perhaps there was a tincture of sin in it, but there was a bit something else at the same time. Whether or not WE are even very high in the equation, doesn’t the Lord’s silence, or His cryptic remark, suggest that there are rewards? There seem to be crowns and thrones – for those saints who excel in their service of Christ. The Lord didn’t rebuke these sons of Zebedee for their desire for reward. Instead He explained the conditions on which these, or lesser, thrones might be available to us. “Do you want to sit up near the head of the table? Good for you!” “Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” “Are you willing to be nailed to crosses at either side of me, when I arrive at Golgotha? “Are you ready to be immersed in the pain, blood and problems of the fight for God’s righteousness and the salvation of souls?” “They say unto him, We ARE able.” To this Jesus replied, “While that may or may not be true – to sit on my right hand or my left has already been determined.”
This morning, let’s try to build a message around these things.
In the coming Heavenly kingdom there will be some nearer to Christ than others.
Probably, when James and John came to the Lord with this question, they were thinking of the Millennium. Our church is considered to be a Pre-millennial Baptist church. That is, we believe that Christ will physically return to establish that special kingdom which is so often described in the Old Testament. We call it the “millennial kingdom,” because the Book of Revelation clearly shows that it will exist for a thousand years – or in Latin – “a millennium.” Ultimately that means that we are not now, and humanity has never been, in the Biblical Millennium. But I am convinced that the disciples of Christ were expecting that Millennial Kingdom to begin very soon. Whatever they understood about the death of Christ – or didn’t understand – they were positively sure that He would soon be taking up His rightful place on the throne of David. So Salome asked, “Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.”
Here we come to a somewhat debated question. Did Christ Jesus reply to the disciples’ intended question, or was it to one on a higher level? The Bible indicates that all of the saints in Christ shall be raised from death prior to the Millennium. John and James, along with the rest of the eleven, and then including you and me – we will all be with the Lord during His thousand year earthly kingdom. But was Jesus thinking about thrones and dominions during that extended, but temporary earthly reign, or was he speaking about eternity in Heaven? I agree with the majority of major commentators – Christ was talking about Heaven. With that as our understanding, our Saviour was telling us that there will be varying rewards in Heaven for our service here on earth.
Heaven is an actual place – a wonderful place; the abode of the Son of God; the abode of the saints of God. “In my Father’s house are many mansions… I go to prepare a place for you.” Christ is not a liar – He cannot lie. “If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” Heaven is an actual place, as yet not discovered by the great tools of modern science, but that doesn’t change the reality.
Furthermore, Heaven, in all its, as yet, mysterious aspects, will be the home of just men made perfect. Peter in all his faults, so different from John in all his faults; me with all my faults and you – who too have been redeemed by the blood of the lamb – we will all be in Heaven. `“We which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” It appears that Peter, that just man, when he is made perfect, will not look or be precisely like John, when he is resurrected and glorified. Heaven will not be an unbroken monotony of perfect identity, character and attainments. All of us will be similar to one another because we will all bear the glory of Christ our Redeemer, but the expression of that similarity will not exclude almost unlimited variety – just as it is today. The same glory will belong to each of us, but it will be reflected at different angles and with different luster. In Heaven there will be a deep-seated similarity but a superficial diversity. And a part of that diversity will be some people sitting close to Christ’s right side and others sitting somewhat farther from His left. “Having then gifts different according to the grace that is given to us” may be a part of our current condition. But at that time we shall have gifts different according to the glory that shall be given unto us.
And who will be the one to determine those Heavenly gifts?
There is something in verse 23 which I didn’t notice right away, and perhaps you haven’t either. There are a few words there in italics, which means there is nothing in the original from which they come. Those who translated and gave us our King James Bibles felt that these were words fell between the lines. Whether we read this verse with those words or without them, the message is essentially the same. “And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of 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 …them for whom it is prepared of my Father.”
Once again, I declare unto you that our God exists as a Trinity, a Triunity. Christ, His Father and the Holy Spirit are one – one in being – one in essence. And one Person of the Trinity never acts individually, or in any way in discord with the others. Even though the occupants of the first seats in the Heavenly throne room, have been predetermined by God the Father, it was not without the agreement of God the Holy Spirit and God the Son. And it does not mean that Christ will not dispense the rewards for faithful service to God. The right and left first seats were not Christ’s to give to James and John, because, apparently, they were already prepared and given to others.
The scriptures teach us that Christ is God’s unspeakable gift, and all that we have, and shall have, are contained in Him. John said, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.” There is nothing which worthless sinners like us shall receive, which will not come through the hands, the sacrifice, and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour. Whatever rewards, seats, crowns and honors that any of us shall have in glory, will come through Christ’s assessment, “FOR the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:” When Paul felt that his earth life was coming to a close, he said, “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” And who is speaking to the churches in Revelation 2 and 3 if it is not the Lord Jesus Christ? What does He repeatedly say? “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.” “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.” “And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations.” In unison with the rest of the Trinity, it is Christ who bestows the great blessings of Heaven.
But these blessings are not merely given to those who yearn for them.
James and John longed to be close to their Saviour throughout the period of His coming kingdom. But they were mistaken if they thought they could have that position by merely wishing or asking. Such positions were not given as tokens of divine favoritism.
Of all the useless wastes of time, nothing is worse than wishing for something and not working for it. I sincerely wish that I could play music as well as some of you, but I have to honest. I know that the reason that I can’t play very well is due to the fact that you practice and work at it while my old instrument is rusting away in neglect. It would not hurt for me to pray for God’s blessings as I pick it up and return to daily practice, but until I pick it up I could pray two hours a day, and I won’t be able to play a descent arpeggio. Solomon once wrote – “The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour. He coveteth greedily all the day long: but the righteous giveth and spareth not.”
Now let me make an application which is not a true part of this text. Salome, James and John probably had no doubts about their souls’ eternal destiny. Each of them had a faith that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. Their eternal lives were undoubtedly resting on Him. But what if for a moment we said they were praying for ENTRANCE into Heaven, not POSITION in Heaven? I believe that Christ’s answer would have been parallel to the one we have here. “Are you living in repentance and faith?”
How many people HOPE that when they die they will go to Heaven? Untold millions. But if such wishes were white horses, beggars would ride all the way to Glory. How many thousands or millions of people have prayed to Christ to save them, and yet they are still dead in their trespasses and sins? In words alone, the prayers of wretched sinners have yet to save their souls. “Lord Jesus, come into my heart and save me” – these are not words found anywhere in the Bible. The command of God is that sinners must repent before Him and trust the finished work of the Saviour. I won’t condemn the man who prays for salvation but who hasn’t yet understood repentance and true faith. But I will condemn the false prophets and pastors who teach people to pray rather than to follow what the scriptures so clearly teach. Stop wishing, yearning and hoping for salvation – obey the Lord. Paul said, “This is foolishness..” “The times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent.” When the man in Philippi came to the end of himself, he cried out, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved.” Paul and Silas responded, ”Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.“ I know that this was not the same question that James and John asked, but the reply was similar to this.
Actually, residence in Glory and the most glorious positions there, are bestowed by the grace of God.
They are for them for whom it is prepared of God. Scripture doesn’t tell us directly what the Lord’s preparation is any more than it says who the preparations are for. But we are given a few wonderful tidbits of truth.
For example, the kingdom has been “prepared for you from before the foundation of the world.” That preparation is rooted in the eternal counsel of God’s divine love. It “began,” if that is the right word to use, it began with the eternal purpose of the Son of God to give His life a ransom for many. It began with God’s intention to save James and John, and with them with a multitude of other sinners. So “when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that (people like the sons of Zebedee) might receive the adoption of sons.”
Those words of John 14, which we read earlier, fall so far short of answering all our questions about Heaven. “In my Father’s house are many mansions…If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” The Father’s house contains mansions – will some be more magnificent than others? Why not? The preparations which have been underway since the departure of Christ. And then there is the departure itself – “I go.” Did Christ Jesus depart by way of the unbelievably cruel Roman crucifixion. Or was it when a few weeks later when He ascended into the clouds above the heads of His disciples. Christ has gone as a forerunner to make sure that everything will be ready for our arrival. Will it be necessary for us to be sin-free? – absolutely, but that has been guaranteed. Will it be necessary for us to have glorified bodies? – He has taken care of that as well. Everything has been arranged for those who are the children of God – even the position of the seats upon which we will seat at the table of the Lord.
The question is – are you a child of the king and a citizen of Heaven? The words, “I sure hope so,” won’t make the cut. The confession, “I am praying that I will eventually be saved,” are not good enough. The Apostle John wrote, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life….” You will not know until that great day, in what seat you will sit in Christ’s Heavenly kingdom. But you can know – and you must know before you die – whether or not you will actually be there. If you have doubts or you lack answers to the question of your salvation, please come and speak to someone about this matter. Don’t put it off – do it today.