Sermon Tone Analysis

Text: Mark 8:27-38

Theme: Discipleship.

When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.

Date: 03/03/19 File name: GospelOfMark19.wpd

ID Number:

In his book, The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer says this about discipleship: “The first step which follows Christ's call cuts the disciple off from his previous existence.

The call to follow at once produces a new situation.

To stay in the old situation makes discipleship impossible.”

The New Testament is full of instructions about discipleship.

Here in Mark's Gospel, we find one of the clearest statements that Jesus made on the topic.

Jesus begins to teach the twelve just what discipleship is all about.

They knew He had called them.

But did they understand what it meant to follow Him?

The call to follow Jesus is a call to discipleship.

Sadly, in much of modern Evangelicalism, conversion and discipleship have been divorced.

Conversion without discipleship is openly taught in much of Evangelicalism.

It has become strangely possible to be Christ's without taking up the cross.

This was not the gospel that Jesus preached.

It is important for us to understand just what we mean when we talk about discipleship.

Far too many believers have a shallow view of what discipleship means in terms of their lives.

Many claim to be followers of Christ who are only deceiving themselves and others.

What they really have is only a sentimental fondness for spirituality.

When it comes to following Jesus and denying self and laying down their lives, they pull up short.

The world sees this, and it may be the reason they mock us.

So . . .

just what does it mean to be a disciple?

In this passage, Jesus unfolds a radical, counter-cultural teaching on being a disciple.

We will see in our text today two vital characteristics of discipleship.

Hopefully, we will come to understand what confessing Christ means and how that confession is lived out in our lives.

I. THE CONFESSION OF DISCIPLESHIP

1. coming to Christ is coming to a place where we confess Him as our Savior and Lord

a. that confession is an acknowledgment that we commit our lives to live for Him, and in Him, and through Him

2. this confession is the cornerstone of our Christian faith

a. the idea that you can take him as Savior, but not follow him as a disciple is absolutely alien to the teachings of the New Testament

3. in our text, Jesus is leading His disciples to make a good confession

b.

He does so through A Probing Inquiry

A. A PROBING INQUIRY

"And Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He questioned His disciples, saying to them, 'Who do people say that I am?' And they told Him, saying, 'John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; but still others, one of the prophets.'

And He continued by questioning them, 'But who do you say that I am?' Peter answered and said to Him, 'Thou art the Christ.'

And He warned them to tell no one about Him." (vv.

27-30)

1. Jesus was always asking his disciples questions as much as answering their questions

a. on their way to the area of Caesarea Philippi, He put a number of important questions to His disciples

2.

He wanted to know, first, what people were saying about Him

a. the opinions varied

1) some thought He was John the Baptist risen from the dead

2) others felt He was the prophetic fulfillment of the coming Elijah

3) a few thought that he might me one of the other Old Testament prophets

3. while Jewish opinion is interesting, it is really irrelevant

a. Jesus knew that His disciples knew what the world was saying about Him

1) but He wanted to know what they thought about Him

b. so He challenged them with a very probing question

1) He asked, "But who do you say that I am?"

2) Jesus is saying, "The culture has its opinion about me, but I really don’t care about their opinions.

I really want to know your opinion.

Who do you say that I am?"

4. the question Jesus asked them is as pertinent and relevant now as it was then

a. unfortunately, many people really don't know who Jesus is

b.

there has been a vast sea-change in this country over the last two generations

ILLUS.

No longer is there a Christian consensus in America.

Whereas, since the early days of our history up through the early 1960s, a large percentage of our population attended church regularly; today that is no longer the case.

Years ago, even in the schools, children were taught from a Christian perspective.

Now, admittedly they might not have believed, but at least they knew the facts.

Unhappily, that is no longer the case.

Today when the name of Jesus is mentioned, people's minds are clouded with various conflicting images.

"Which Jesus are you talking about?" they might ask.

Are you speaking of the Jesus of Joel Osteen, and his prosperity theology?

who is the believer’s means to an end, the end being wealth and stuff

Are you talking about the Jesus of the liberal church and liberation theology?

who is a revolutionary seeking to overthrow power structures

Perhaps you mean the Jesus of the Alt-Right who a militant, racist, segregationist?

Are you talking about the Jesus of the social justice movement?

who is more concerned about the redistribution of wealth, not the redemption of the sinner’s soul?

Just as in Jesus’ day, when you ask people “Who is Jesus?” you’re going to receive a multiplicity of answers — most of them wrong.

c.

Jesus is more than a wise rabbi, a miracle-working sage, an extraordinary teacher, an inspirational leader, or a spiritual example

5. when people ask Who is Jesus?

we need simply listen to the Scriptures

a. according to Peter, He is the Christ, the Son of the living God

1) he is God come in the flesh

b. why did he come?

“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.”

(1 Timothy 1:15, NIV84)

B. A PERCEPTIVE INSIGHT

1. when Jesus asked His question, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter replied, "Thou art the Christ."

a.

Peter understood who Jesus was

b.

He had come to an amazing revelation

2. this is the fundamental experience that all men need

a. if the lost will simply examine the evidence of the Gospels, they are left with no other conclusion — Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God

ILLUS.

In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis make gives us a classic statement about the identity of Jesus.

He writes, “I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God.

That is the one thing we must not say.

A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher.

He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell.

You must make your choice.