The Meaning Of Discipleship

This order of revealed truth is important.

And it starts there with Peter's confession in verse 29.

You can look at it there.

And he asked them, but who do you say that I am?

And Peter answered, you are the Christ.

There's this initial moment of revelation that was so necessary

because it's necessary that God convince us of Jesus's identity

because you cannot rightly understand what Jesus did apart from believing in who he is.

It had to start there.

And that's the structure of Mark's gospel.

He spends the first eight chapters really focusing in on who Jesus is.

And the disciples have now come to see that the Lord has opened their eyes to that.

In fact, in Matthew's account, Jesus immediately follows Peter's confession by saying,

blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you,

but my father which is in heaven has revealed this to you.

God was opening their eyes.

This was a great moment, but it was a significant moment in the order.

They're seeing who Jesus is.

And then Jesus begins to plainly tell them about his coming suffering, death, and resurrection.

But that can only be understood in light of the fact that they had just acknowledged

who he is.

And now he opens up about what he is there to do.

You see that in verse 31.

We read it.

Let's read it again.

And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things,

be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes.

That is a representation of the Sanhedrin.

And he would be killed.

And after three days, rise again.

Now, this truth was not easy for these men to understand or accept.

And of course, that's represented in the fact that Peter,

who had just made this great confession of Christ,

then pulls Jesus to the side and scolds him

because Jesus' mission didn't meet Peter's expectations.

And then what follows that is the most severe rebuke

that we see Jesus giving anyone in the Gospels who desired to follow him.

What was it that he said?

Get behind me, Satan.

And it wasn't that Jesus was insinuating that Peter had been possessed by the devil

or that he was otherwise under the influence of Satan in a very specific sense.

What he was saying is that the men in rejection of Christ's mission

had inadvertently set themselves in opposition to the will of God.

Because they did not accept the word of God,

they set themselves as adversaries to the will of God.

And then what was it that Jesus said immediately following?

You do not have your mind set on the things of God.

You know what your problem is, Peter?

You only want what you want.

You're not thinking about what God's desire,

what God's will is for this.

And isn't that the place that we often find ourselves in?

In the struggle, we're constantly fighting our tendency to only look at the eyes of man,

only to set our minds on the things of man,

rather than setting our minds on the things of God.

And look where it got Peter in this passage in the other men.

And then it's going to continue to be a theme as we get into these next verses.

Because they misunderstood the mission of Jesus,

they also misunderstood what it means to follow Jesus.

And now that he had plainly spoken about his purpose,

it was necessary that Jesus explain the true meaning of discipleship.

What does it really mean to follow Christ?

That's what he's getting at now.

And you see the progression now, right?

You see the order of revelation.

He focuses on his identity first.

Who do you say that I am?

And from there, he moves on to his purpose.

Now that you know that, this is the gospel.

Crucifixion and resurrection.

And once Jesus has initiated that revelation,

then he says, now here's what it means to follow me.

Here's what it means to follow me.

Because it is not enough, hear me,

it is not enough to acknowledge the truth of who Jesus is.

To acknowledge the truth of Jesus's purpose in an intellectual way.

Simply acknowledging those things is not enough.

You must follow Christ.

And so he doesn't just stop with the explanations.

He then calls them.

Here's who I am.

Here's what I'm doing.

Here's what it means to actually follow me.

And that's where we get here.

What Jesus called them to is radically different than what they expected.

And it may be that as we get into these verses,

it's radically different than your expectations too.

His teaching here is not hard to understand,

but it is very hard to receive.

After hearing his teaching,

the question for the 12 disciples,

and what will be the question for us,

the conclusion of this passage is this.

Is Jesus worth what it cost to follow him?

Is Jesus worth what it cost to follow him?

Look with me at verse 34.

Calling the crowd to him with his disciples,

he said to them,

if anyone would come after me,

let him deny himself,

take up his cross,

and follow me.

That's an intense call to discipleship.

If anyone will come after me,

if anyone desires to follow after me,

he must forget himself.

He must take up the cross.

Luke adds daily.

He must take up the cross daily.

And he must follow me.

There's been a significant amount of disagreement over the years

as to what Jesus means in this call to follow him.

And some have suggested that Jesus is referring to

sort of an elite category of Christian experience

that requires a higher level of commitment.

In their minds,

discipleship is this high level.

It's a believer that just decides,

okay,

I'm going to really give this all that I've got at this point,

that that's what discipleship is.

And so they reason that what Jesus is getting at here

is that if you really want to be a good disciple,

a good follower,

this is what will be true of your life.

And they say that a believer and a disciple

are two different things.

In their minds,

Jesus is referring to a Christian

that just wants to take their faith to the next level.

But Jesus makes no such distinction anywhere,

anywhere in the Gospels.

Jesus never says that there's two categories of Christians.

He never says that to be a disciple

is a different thing than being a believer.

And the summoning of the crowd here in verse 34

signals that the call to discipleship

is not exclusive to the individuals

that desire to go deeper in their faith.

Think about this.

In the last two conversations,

it's been private with his disciples.

On the road to Caesarea Philippi,

that's where the confession comes,

the confession of Christ.

It's once the,

or excuse me,

on the road to Caesarea Philippi.

And when they get there,

that's when this conversation takes place

about his purpose.

And now after those conversations has taken place,

notice what Jesus does.

Apparently there's nearby crowds,

no doubt desiring to be close to Jesus.

And what does he do

before he gets to the call to discipleship?

He calls the crowds.

He calls the crowds.

Meaning that this message is not merely

for those who were already intrigued by him,

that were already following him.

This is the message for everyone.

It's not an exclusive group of Christians.

Jesus never called someone to believe in him

that he didn't expect to repent and follow him

as a faithful disciple.

Discipleship is not an exclusive category of Christianity.

It is Christianity.

And to be a believer in Christ is to be a disciple.

And what follows in Jesus's teaching here in these verses

is not a description of an elite Christian.

It is a description of a true Christian.

And I want to draw your mind for just a moment

back to Mark chapter four.

In Mark chapter four,

remember Jesus is telling these parables

and he opens with this parable about the soils.

Do you remember?

Jesus says there's four types of soils

and only one of those soils actually produces fruit.

The other three,

or in the other three types of soil,

the seed is ultimately destroyed

or it is removed in some way or another.

And later on, on that day,

Jesus is explaining what this parable was about.

And he says that the soils represent the heart of man.

Every man has a type of soil that is their heart.

And it falls into one of these four categories.

And then he says,

the seed is the word of God,

that as the seed,

the word of God is sown on man's heart.

There's only one type of heart

that will actually produce spiritual fruit

that will actually indicate genuine salvation.

And that is the fertile soil,

as you remember the parable.

But I think as Jesus gets here to Mark chapter eight

in this call to discipleship in verse 34,

he's anticipating those people

who are represented by the soil

that is rocky and weedy.

Remember?

Let me read it to you.

Mark chapter four, verse 16.

These are the ones, Jesus said,

that were sown on the rocky ground.

The ones who, when they hear the word,

immediately receive it with joy.

But they have no root in themselves.

They endure for a while.

Then when tribulation or persecution arises

on account of the word,

immediately they fall away.

And others are the ones sown among thorns.

They are those who hear the word,

but the cares of this world

and the deceitfulness of riches

and the desires for other things

enter in and choke the word

and it proves unfruitful.

Notice the things that ruin the seed in these soils.

First, persecution,

suffering,

tribulation,

difficulty,

not just difficulty in general,

difficulty as Jesus says,

on account of the word.

And they fall away.

What's the others?

The cares of this world.

The deceitfulness of riches,

following after wealth,

caught up in our own sin,

caught up in our own lives,

the desires for things other than the world,

than the word.

And what happens?

The word is choked out.

Now what's the common denominator

in both of these soils?

As Jesus told Peter in verse 33,

they have their minds set on the things of man

rather than the things of God.

And so these people at some point come to the word

and perhaps for a little while,

they receive it with joy

and they appear as far as we can tell

to be true Christians.

But whenever the hardship comes,

whenever somebody doesn't appreciate their Christianity,

they immediately fall away,

it's not worth it to them.

Or it gets choked out by the sin of their life

or their other pursuits of their life.

They never really follow Christ.

They're intrigued by Christ.

They're enamored by Christ,

but they never actually follow him.

And so ultimately,

they prove to be unfruitful.

And I think Jesus has these categories in mind

as he's calling the crowds to him in Mark chapter 8.

Mark 8 · chapter mention

He's thinking,

listen, you may acknowledge who I am.

You may even see my purpose.

But so did the people who received it with joy.

So did the rocky soil people.

So did the weedy soil people.

But it didn't mean that they were true Christians.

When Jesus calls the crowds,

he anticipates that many would make a profession of faith

only to later abandon that faith

when following Christ just cost too much.

He warned that those who thought they could gain salvation

by merely acknowledging his identity and purpose

but never truly following him,

it was impossible.

So he proclaimed that the way of discipleship

includes total self-abandonment.

And it inevitably leads

to some form of suffering on account of Christ.

Jesus here is teaching the crowd to count the cost,

which is actually exactly what he said

when saying this same thing in another moment.

We find that in Luke 14.

In fact, why don't you turn there?

Luke chapter 14.

Luke 14 · chapter mention

And read this with me.

Now great crowds accompanied him.

And he turned and here's what he said.

If anyone comes to me

and does not hate his own father and mother

and wife and children and brothers and sisters,

yes, in his own life,

he cannot be my disciple.

Whoever does not bear his own cross

and come after me

cannot be my disciple.

Now, of course, Jesus isn't advocating

that we actually hate those that we love.

That's not what he means here.

What he means is that

those who would love father and mother more than him,

as he says in Matthew 10,

are not worthy of him.

Those who would love son or daughter more than him

are not worthy of him.

That our love for Christ

will make our lesser loves

seem actually more like hate.

Okay?

That's what he's getting at.

Abandonment of self following him.

Now continue on with me.

For which of you desiring to build a tower

does not first sit down and count the cost,

whether he has enough to complete it?

Otherwise, when he's laid the foundation

and is not able to finish,

all who see it begin to mock him,

saying,

this man began to build

and was not able to finish.

Or what king going out

to encounter another king in war

will not sit down first

and deliberate

whether he is able with 10,000

to meet him who comes against him

with 20,000?

And if not,

while the other is yet a great way off,

he sends a delegation

and asks for terms of peace.

So therefore,

any one of you who does not renounce

all that he has

cannot be my disciple.

Those are hard words.

Hard words.

What is Jesus calling us to?

He's calling us to repentance.

To abandon everything else in this life

to follow him.

And an unwillingness to turn

means that we are not actually

his disciples.

So in Mark 8,

he's calling them to count the cost.

We've said this the last couple of weeks

and I think it's just helpful

to be reminded

that true conversion

does not only produce

a confession of Jesus,

but a follower of Jesus.

And a true follower of Jesus

will inevitably display

the marks that Jesus teaches

in this passage.

Isn't that what James

was getting on about

in his letter in James chapter 2?

James 2 · chapter mention

Show me your faith

without your works

and I'll show you my faith

by my works.

In other words,

it's not the works that save us,

but true faith results

in radical change.

So true conversion

is not merely saying intellectually

giving assent to the things of Christ.

It is actually abandoning all

to follow after that Christ.

And the true disciple

ultimately will demonstrate

these marks here.

Jesus gives three imperatives

in this verse.

They all picture together

repentance, don't they?

You understand repentance.

Repentance, it literally means

to turn away.

It's a 180.

It's to be going in one direction

and then make a complete turn

and go in the other direction.

And Jesus gives these three imperatives

that together picture this perfectly.

He says, first,

you're heading down the way of self.

And if you're heading down

the way of self,

the first step is that

you have to turn away from self.

And in the process

of turning away from self,

you're picking up your cross

and then what are you doing?

You're following him.

You're going in the other direction.

Okay?

That's what Jesus is getting at

with these three imperatives.

Let's talk about them quickly.

Number one, he says,

deny yourself

or deny himself.

If anyone would come after me,

let him deny himself.

Many people don't make it past

this first item

because it goes against everything

in our nature, doesn't it?

Our culture idolizes self.

Self-love, self-care,

everything's me.

Everything's there to serve me.

It's my truth.

We are our own gods

and we worship daily

at the altar of self-pleasure.

That's the culture in which we live.

That's the nature

with which we are born.

But Jesus says that to follow me,

you're going to have to forget yourself.

Forget yourself.

This word for deny here

literally means disregard.

He's not talking about

the mere denial of pleasures.

He's not advocating an ascetic life.

That's not what Jesus is saying.

He's saying that when you come to me,

you forget everything else.

Forget yourself.

Forget yourself.

Stop following self.

Stop following what you want

and set your thoughts

on the things of God.

That's what a true disciple does.

Denies himself.

It's the total disregard

and an abandonment

of selfish desire

and ambition.

And then he says,

take up his cross.

If anyone wants to come after me,

let him deny himself

and take up his cross.

What does this mean?

We've all probably heard people make

silly statements about this, right?

Perhaps you've made them

even as a joke.

I got a headache today.

It's just my cross to bear.

No, that's not your cross to bear.

That's not what Jesus means here.

What was the cross?

It's interesting in this passage

because Jesus has not yet,

as far as we can tell,

actually plainly mentioned crucifixion

as the means of his execution.

He's just told them

that he's going to be killed

and that he's going to rise

three days later,

but there's no indication

that he's actually said

crucified yet.

So Jesus isn't necessarily

appealing to

his specific form of death,

even though that's an implication.

That's not necessarily

the primary appeal

that he's making.

He's appealing to what

their understanding

of crucifixion

would have been to begin with.

Well, what was crucifixion?

It was the Romans' favorite way,

at least in this time,

it seems to be their favorite way

of criminal execution.

And every one of the people

listening to this

would have known

exactly what Jesus meant.

The cross represented shame.

It wasn't a cultural icon

in their days like it is today.

Nobody wanted to be associated

with a cross.

That's the worst.

It's like being associated

with the electric chair

in our culture.

Nobody wants to be associated

with that.

That's shame.

It's reproach.

Criminal.

There was a Roman general

in around the time

of Jesus' birth.

His name was Verus.

He was assigned

to the Palestinian area

at the time.

There was a Jewish revolt

after the death

of Herod the Great.

And in this Jewish revolt,

Verus was called on

to subdue it.

And of course,

he easily did that.

But to make a point

in Galilee,

when Jesus was a child,

he crucified 2,000 Galileans.

And he did so

by lining their crosses

down the major road system

that went through Galilee

so that when you're taking

your kids to the market

in the morning,

what you're walking by

is cross after cross

after cross

after cross

of brutally executed

neighbors.

That's what the cross

meant to these people.

So when Jesus says,

if you're going to follow

after me,

you're going to have

to identify with the cross.

When the Romans

crucified somebody,

you know this

from Jesus' crucifixion,

but it was common.

They would have to

literally carry

a portion of their cross

to the place

of their execution.

The criminal would do that.

Remember,

in Jesus'

own execution,

he had to carry

his own cross,

but he was so weak

under the weight of it,

he couldn't go any further.

And they had to call

on somebody else

from the crowd

to actually finish

carrying the cross

to the place of execution.

That was common.

Jesus is literally saying,

if you're going to

come after me,

you might as well

go pick up a cross

because that's the direction

I'm headed.

It's going to be the direction

you're heading to.

People are going to look at you

when they find out

that you're following me.

They're going to look at you

with disdain.

Do you understand?

And the world hates us.

They hate us

because they hated Christ.

And isn't that what

he told his disciples

just before his crucifixion?

They've hated me.

They're going to hate you too.

Hey,

all of your friends

at the synagogue,

they're going to throw you

out of the synagogue.

And every one of you

are going to suffer for me.

And every one of them

did suffer for him.

All of them,

but one,

were executed

for the gospel.

And the one

who wasn't executed

was John.

And he might as well

have been executed.

He was boiled in oil

according to

Christian tradition

and somehow survived it

and was exiled

to an island

where he lived out

the rest of his life

and ultimately succumbed

his own injuries

or health

or whatever it was

that killed him.

That's what Jesus means.

To follow me means

no one's going to exalt you.

They're actually going to do

the opposite of that.

In Matthew 10,

Jesus said,

I did not come to bring peace

but a sword.

And then he talks about

family relationships.

And he says,

my gospel will divide families.

In some cases,

by God's grace,

it actually unites families

but in other cases,

it's going to divide families.

If your kids grow up

to deny Christ

and to deny you

if you continue

following Christ,

will he be enough?

If those who are closest to you

decide that if you're going

to continue on this path

of Christianity,

I don't think that we can

be friends any longer,

will you still follow Christ?

Is he enough?

Jesus isn't talking about

having a headache.

Jesus isn't talking about

the general hardships

that we all go through.

He's talking about persecution

for sake of the gospel

and he says it's inevitable

for all of us.

And then he says,

follow me.

What is it to really

follow Christ?

Well,

deny ourselves,

take up the cross,

and then we follow.

Isn't that the conclusion

of repentance?

He's not just calling us

away from something.

Get this.

This is the good part

of this.

He's not just calling us

away from self.

It's not what he's doing.

He's calling us

to himself.

Do you see it?

Deny yourself

because you can't follow me

and follow self

at the same time.

You see,

you can't do it.

He's saying,

leave yourself behind

and come to me

because what I have

to offer

is so much greater

than anything you think

you can provide

for yourself.

Follow me.

Come after me.

Come to me.

This is an invitation.

It's an invitation.

Do you have to count

the cost?

Of course.

Did Jesus sugarcoat

the process?

By no means.

But it was an invitation

nonetheless.

Follow me.

And if you're going

to follow me,

it means you've got to

stop following

everything else.

Follow me,

he says.

What does that mean?

You go where he goes.

You do as he does.

You suffer even as he

suffered, perhaps.

Now,

before I move on,

it's essential to know,

please hear me.

See,

I don't want to be

confusing on this.

These marks

do not provide salvation.

They are not what saves you.

Jesus isn't going to look

at your life

10 years from now

to make sure

that you make the cut

before he actually

provides his grace.

That's not what Jesus

is saying here.

These aren't

prerequisites for salvation.

They are proofs

of salvation.

Salvation comes

by God's grace

alone.

Ephesians 2,

for by grace

are you saved

through faith

and that not of yourselves.

It's the gift of God,

not of works,

lest any man should boast.

That's salvation.

It's none of you

and it's all of him.

But those who have

truly experienced

the regenerative work

of the Holy Spirit

will display these marks.

Not perfectly,

but they will display them.

They will turn from self.

They will take up the cross

and they will follow Christ.

Bible knows no form

of true Christianity

that doesn't produce

a fruitful faith.

it's not there.

It's not there.

True faith

always produces

a faithful disciple.

And so what is Jesus

saying here?

Follow me.

Follow me.

He wants you to follow him.

But then notice,

as we move on,

he expands upon this cost.

He explains it further.

At this point,

the people in the crowd,

they had to have been thinking,

maybe as you are perhaps thinking

even now,

why would anyone

follow that call?

It sounds like

a lot of sacrifice.

And I don't see

a lot of gain,

you may say.

But as we study this further,

we find that

what he offers

is far greater

than what we give up.

Isn't that true?

Do you find that

to be true?

Jesus didn't come

to take your life.

He came to give you life.

Isn't that what he said?

John chapter 10,

John 10 · chapter mention

I came that they may have life

and that they may have it

abundantly.

That was the purpose

of his coming.

What is it that John

John 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3 says?

Just after the famous verse

in 16,

we read in verse 17

that God did not send

his son to the world

to condemn it,

but that the world

would be saved through him.

He came to give life,

which means that

in this call to discipleship,

he's not only calling you

away from whatever

your pursuit is now,

he's calling you

to do something

far, far greater.

And he explains that

here.

Verse 35,

whoever would save

his life will lose it.

Whoever will lose

his life for my sake

and the gospels

will save it.

For what does it

profit a man

to gain the whole world

and forfeit his soul?

What can a man

give in return

for his soul?

Literally there

in that last question

is what man

can give the price

for his soul?

No man.

There's a Greek word here

that I don't want

to bore you with,

but I find it helpful

in understanding

the sequence

in these three verses here.

The word is psuche.

It's where we get psyche from.

It can be translated

as either life or soul.

And it's translated

as both things

here in these verses.

It's mentioned four times.

If you notice

in verse 35,

it's translated as life.

But if you notice

in verse 36

and then again

in verse 37,

it's translated as soul.

And Jesus is using it here

to introduce this paradox.

This paradox

where somehow

we lose our life

if we actually

attempt to save it.

But we gain our life

if we lose it.

But how can we both

gain and lose?

Does it make sense?

Here's what Jesus is doing.

He's acknowledging

the fact that

our physical life

is temporal.

temporal.

It will not last.

But there is a part of us

that will live on

in eternity.

That's our soul.

So Jesus is presenting

this paradox.

What good is it?

What good is it

to live all of your life

pursuing something

that's going to be over

before long?

Why would you forfeit

eternity

for something

that will be gone

perhaps today?

whoever loses his life

for my sake

in the gospel

will save it.

He doesn't have

necessarily in mind

this could be an implication

but I don't think

he has necessarily

in mind this scenario

where someone comes

into our church service

today and they hold

a gun to your head

and they say

recant Christ

or we will kill you.

I don't think

that's what Jesus

has in mind here

because our ability

to be weak

or strong

in that moment

is not the basis

of our salvation.

He will not reward us

for staying strong

and he will not

take away our salvation

if we have a moment

of weakness

or timidity

though God will give us grace.

That's not the point

that Jesus is making.

He's saying that

if you're willing

to let go of self

if you're willing

to abandon

all of those things

for my sake

in the gospel

guess what?

You get this life

that I offer.

That's the point here.

There's this gap

that he's bridging

between the temporal life

and the eternal soul

and what he's saying

is that our temptation

is to hold on

to both things.

Do you feel this struggle?

It's a daily struggle

isn't it?

It's a daily struggle

to hold on

on one hand

to eternity

and to Christ

but to have such a hard time

letting go on this hand

the things that you want

and the things that you pursue

and the sins

that really bring you pleasure

and Jesus is saying

you can't have this

and this

at the same time

it doesn't work.

Whoever gives

or saves his life

will ultimately lose it

and whoever loses

his life

for my sake

will save it

will gain it.

Jesus illustrated this

in one of my favorite ways

in Matthew

I think it's chapter 13

he said in verse 44

the kingdom of heaven

is like a treasure

in the field

a man found

and covered up

then in his joy

he goes and sells

all that he has

and buys that field

and again

the kingdom of heaven

is like a merchant

in search of fine pearls

who on finding

one pearl

of great value

went and sold

all that he had

and bought it.

I love that illustration

so much.

That's what Jesus

is getting at

in Mark chapter 8.

Mark 8 · chapter mention

Jesus is that treasure.

Jesus is that pearl

and what he's saying

is that when someone

finally sees me

as the treasure

when they see me

as the pearl

there's no cost

that they're willing

to give up

in order to have me.

I'm that treasure.

I'm that pearl.

What a wonderful illustration

of discipleship.

This life isn't worth it.

There is nothing here

that's worth it.

And Jesus follows it

with two rhetorical questions.

What is it benefiting you

to gain the whole world

if in the end

you forfeit your soul?

What good is it?

It's no good.

That's a bad bargain

Jesus is saying.

And then he says

even if you were

to gain the whole world

what could you possibly

give to God

in redemption

of the soul

that you lost?

The answer?

Nothing.

Nothing.

Literally this phrase is

what man can give

the price for his soul?

And the answer is

no man can do that.

No man.

Which reminds me

of another parable

of Jesus

in Luke chapter 12.

Luke 12 · chapter mention

The land of a rich man

Jesus said

produced plentifully.

And he thought to himself

what shall I do?

For I have nowhere

to store my crops.

He said I will do this.

I will tear down my barns

and build larger ones.

And there I will store

all my grain

and my goods.

And I will say

to my soul

soul

you have ample goods

laid up for many years.

Relax

eat

drink

and be merry.

And then Jesus said

but God said to him

fool

this night

your soul

is required of you.

And the things

you have prepared

whose will they be?

Jesus says

so is the one

who lays up treasure

for himself

and is not rich

toward God.

Jesus isn't saying

that wealth is sinful

in and of itself.

He's not saying

that if we don't have room

that we shouldn't

make more room

for the blessings

that God has given us

is not the point

that he's making there.

What's he saying?

What's the point

in living this life

for yourself

if at the end of it

or what if tonight?

In relation to this parable

up to this life

you're just doing

everything for yourself

trying to pursue

everything for yourself

little regard

for anything that God wants.

Setting your mind

on the things of man

on the things of God.

All of these great dreams

that you may have

but what happens

if God calls

for your soul

tonight?

What good is all of that?

It's no good.

It's no good.

Man spent his entire life

pursuing selfish ambition

and ignored the fact

that this life

is only temporary.

Every one of us

will stand before

God's judgment.

No amount of wealth

will be able to purchase

forgiveness

and eternal life.

But Jesus

paid the full price

for sin

and he offers

forgiveness

and life

to all

who will follow

him.

That's the point.

he's calling you

to himself.

Jim Elliot

was one of the five

missionaries

who lost their lives

in martyrdom

to the Alka Indians

in Ecuador.

This was in the 50s,

right?

And after the fact

they began to go

through

Jim's stuff

and they found

in his journals

where he had written

a famous line

that you've heard

many times before.

He is no fool

who gives

what he cannot keep

to gain

what he cannot lose.

It's true.

But lest we think

that Jim Elliot

is the word of God,

let's mention

what Paul said

about it.

Remember,

Paul's pursuit

in life

was not wealth.

Paul's pursuit

in life

was religious acumen.

And if you're

going to point

to anyone

who was

the greatest

religious mind

of their day,

you'd say,

surely it's Paul.

And yet,

what did he say

in Philippians 3?

Whatever gain

I had,

I counted

as loss

for the sake

of Christ.

Indeed,

I count everything

as a loss

because of the

surpassing

value

of knowing

Christ Jesus,

my Lord.

And then he says,

for his sake,

I have suffered

the loss

of all things

and count them

as trash

in order that

I may gain Christ

and be found

in him,

not having

my own righteousness

that comes

from the law,

but that which

comes through

faith in Christ.

The righteousness

of God

that depends

on faith.

He's using

accounting terms

for those of you

that are good

with money.

And he breaks

out his spiritual

ledger.

And he says,

on this side,

at one point

in my life,

I thought all

of these things

were in the

credit column.

I thought all

of these things

were in the

credit column,

but when I

found Christ,

I actually realized

all of those

things are actually

in the debit

column.

I was actually

bankrupt

until I found

Christ.

And all of that

stuff was so

easy to leave

behind.

Why?

Because of the

surpassing

value that I

found in Christ

Jesus,

the treasure in

the field,

and the pearl

of great price.

That's what Jesus

is saying in Mark

8.

Follow me.

I have way more

for you than what

you think.

What I have

is worth

whatever it

takes.

Follow

me.

And then we

get to verse

38,

and we see

what is the

consequence of

refusing this.

Look with me.

For whoever is

ashamed of me

and of my

words in this

adulterous and

sinful generation,

of him will the

Son of Man

also be ashamed

when he comes

in the glory of

his Father

with the holy

angels.

Notice Jesus

uses this title

again,

Son of Man.

He used that

before.

We talked about

it last week,

right?

It's from

Daniel 7.

It's a

messianic title.

Here's what

Daniel said about

it.

Daniel 7,

14.

And to him

was given

dominion and

glory and a

kingdom that

all peoples,

nations,

and languages

should serve

him.

His dominion

is an

everlasting

dominion which

shall not

pass away,

and his

kingdom one

that shall

not be

destroyed.

That's what

the disciples

were expecting

in this coming,

and they were

surprised to hear

Jesus say,

no, that's not

actually what I'm

doing this time.

What I'm doing

this time is I'm

going to

suffer,

and I'm

going to

die,

and I'm

going to

raise for

your sins.

But they

were expecting

Daniel 7.

Now what is

Jesus doing?

This would have

been so great

for these men,

wouldn't it?

In the very

next conversation,

he gets to

Mark 8,

38,

and here's what

Jesus says,

that the Son

of Man is

coming.

Fellas,

I know that's

not the purpose

of my coming

now,

but I can

assure you what

you're expecting

will come.

It's coming.

This time my

glory is veiled

as I have taken

on humanity.

It's veiled.

This time I

came alone,

but I'm going to

come later in the

fullness of the

glory of God,

and I'm going to

have the holy

angels with me who

are my messengers of

judgment, and I

will judge the

earth.

What's the point of

Jesus' statement

here?

That I may not

look like much to

you now, folks,

but I am

returning, and when

I return, it will

be for judgment.

Are you ready for

that judgment?

Are you ready for

him to return?

Because he says,

when I return,

whoever it is that's

been ashamed of

me, I'm going to

be ashamed of them

before the Father.

And he's not

talking about

embarrassment.

I've heard

preachers use this

verse to coerce

people in an altar

call at the end of a

service.

They say, if you

really want to follow

Christ, you raise

your hand, you stand

up, you come down

and fill out the

card or whatever it

is that you need to

do.

And they say,

now remember,

Jesus said, whoever

is ashamed of him,

that he will be

ashamed of them

before his Father.

That's not what

Jesus means here.

You're not talking

about embarrassment.

Listen to me, if

you're a believer

today, if you're a

believer today, there

is no shame in

Christ for you.

You are loved by

him.

Your position with

him is settled.

It's settled.

Whether you raise

your hand or stand

up or fill out the

card or not, it's

settled.

That's not what

Jesus is saying.

He's talking about

rejection.

Those who have

refused,

to abandon

self, to follow

me, I will

reject them in

the judgment.

And it's not

something he

glories in.

It's something that

he warns of here.

He says, follow me

because if you

don't follow me, I'm

going to reject you

in the judgment.

And he's coming

back.

Are you ready?

Martin Ross lived

just outside of

Ithaca, New York

at the turn of the

20th century.

He was an

alcoholic man that

had no interest in

religion of any

sort.

But he had a

faithful wife.

Her name was

Bertha.

And she was a

believer that prayed

for him.

Their church

prayed for him

that he would be

saved.

And through God's

grace, eventually

Martin became a

Christian and he

actually spent much

of his life preaching

that gospel that had

so radically

transformed his

life.

they had a one

daughter named

Ray.

And as an adult,

her name was

Ray Miller.

She reflected on

her father's testimony

of following Christ.

And she remembered

that he had on

several occasions

made this

proclamation of

how valuable Jesus

was to him.

That he was more

valuable to him

than any of the

other things that

this life could

ever offer.

And in 1922,

Ray Miller sat

down as a 28-year-old

adult reflecting

on the testimony

of Christ as the

example of her

father's life.

And she wrote a

poem that 10

years later was

picked up by

George Beverly

Shea, set to

music, and sung

probably all over

the world at the

various Billy

Graham crusades.

He would go and

travel with Billy

Graham.

And so as Ray

Miller would reflect

on her father's

testimony, here's

what she sat down

to write.

I'd rather have

Jesus than silver

or gold.

I'd rather be his

than have riches

untold.

I'd rather have

Jesus than houses

or lands.

I'd rather be led

by his nail-pierced

hand.

You know this song,

don't you?

than to be the

king of a vast

domain and be

held in sin's

dread sway.

I'd rather have

Jesus than anything

this world affords

today.

She went on to

write, thinking of

her father, I'd

rather have Jesus

than men's applause.

I'd rather be

faithful to his

dear cause.

I'd rather have

Jesus than

worldwide fame.

I'd rather be

true to his

holy name.

Because he's

fairer than

lilies of rarest

bloom.

And he's sweeter

than honey from

out of the comb.

He's all that my

hungering spirit

needs.

I'd rather have

Jesus and let him

lead.

God's

saved.

I think Martin

Ross and Ray

Miller and Jim

Elliot and the

Apostle Paul and

George Beverly

Shea understood what

Jesus meant when he

said,

whosoever would save

his life will lose

it.

And whosoever will

lose his life for my

sake and the gospel

will save it.

I think Martin

Ross would agree

with Paul in

Romans 8 when he

wrote,

for I consider that

the sufferings of

this present time are

not worth comparing

with the glory that

is to be revealed in

us.

At the heart of

verses 31 to 38

is love.

Jesus says in

verse 31,

I love you so

much that I'm

coming to suffer

and to die and

to rise for your

justification and

forgiveness in life.

And then in verse

34, he says that

the disciple will

love me enough to

deny themselves and

take up their cross

and follow me.

And so the question

for each of us is,

do you find him

worth?

following.