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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 2: 0:20

All right, welcome back to the Daily Blade, day three. We're talking about what it means to be great, because I hope you want to be a great man. This one's going to throw you off a little. A great man knows how to live under authority. Check this out Matthew 20, 20 and following.

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Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to Jesus with her sons and kneeling before him. She asked him for something and he said to her what do you want 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. And Jesus said to them you will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand, at my left, is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my father.

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Do you understand what is happening here? That Jesus basically is saying that is not mine to grant. Jesus is going to be a man that lives under authority, the authority of the heavenly father, even though he's not just a man. He's fully God and fully man. And yet Jesus knows how to live under authority. Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, co-equal with God, the father, and God, the spirit, the one who is the word and spoke all things into existence, the one that made all things that have been made and they're made by him, for him, through him and to him. The one who one day will return and rule and reign and judge the living and the dead.

Speaker 2: 1:49

This one says that's not mine to grant, that's above my pay grade. You see, jesus says and does only what the father instructs him to do. So listen, a great man knows how to live under authority. So let me ask you this question you want some authority? Do you want to be the boss? Do you want to be in charge? Then don't ever expect God Almighty to give you any authority until you learn to live under the authority that God has put over you. And we all have authority. We have government authority over us. We have church authority over us. We have church authority over us. We have authority over us at home, if you ever grew up at home. We have authority at work and God will not bless rebellion. You see, even if I take you back to my own story, and I have a rebellious spirit, I really do. I have the kind of spirit in my flesh that always thinks I'm right and I always wanna be in charge and I always want to be in charge and I always want to lead.

Speaker 2: 2:45

But when we were planting the church of 1122, 1122 started out as a service at another church, at Beach Church. It turned into a bunch of services and then my pastor, pastor Jerry Sweat, came to me and said I think you should plant a church Now. Listen, we had denominational disagreements, we had leadership disagreements and I met with a seasoned pastor and that pastor looked me in the eyeball and he said two things to me. He says the way you exit this season of ministry will determine how you enter the next season of ministry. So be humble, and if you bless and honor Pastor Jerry and that church, then maybe God will bless and honor you when you find yourself in a place of authority. So that's what I did and I thoroughly believe that something broke loose in the heavenlies because we were planted out of Beach Church with the blessing of the pastor who was in authority over me, don't believe me.

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See Matthew, chapter 16,. When Jesus gives the keys of the kingdom of heaven to Peter, it's only after Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. After Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God, it's only after Peter realizes that he must be submitted and surrendered to Jesus, who would rule on high. Then Jesus realizes that this man, peter, even though he's not perfect, is trustworthy to hand the keys of the kingdom of heaven to, and that he would loose and bind things on earth that would be loose and bound forever. Or see Philippians, chapter two, that if you ask.

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Well, how far am I supposed to take this?

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Well, Paul says that we are to have the mind, the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but he humbled himself under the mighty hand of God.

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He humbled himself under God, the Father's authority, and came on a rescue mission wrapped in flesh, dressed himself as a servant and was obedient, even unto death. And only after that obedience, then God brings Christ out of the grave and exalts him in heaven to be seated on the throne Christ out of the grave and exalts him in heaven to be seated on the throne. So our culture these days celebrates the rebellious spirit, celebrates the individual that says no, no, no, no, no, I do it my way. Well, in the kingdom of God, if you want to be great, then you learn to live under authority. So maybe today that means you call your boss or you call your dad, or you call your pastor or whoever it is, and you repent and apologize for being rebellious and you learn to live under authority so that you can be great, like Jesus has called us to be great.

Speaker 1: 5:25

Amen. Thank 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.