Mark 8:34-38 The Cost of Discipleship

Knew He was going to the cross to finish His work - prepared His disciples

Joel and Mary Nadel, Forestgate Church

From J.C. Ryle’s “Expository Comments on the Gospels - Mark”

House Rules: Phones, Respect, Stay on the Text

Mark 8:34–38 NASB95

And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? “For what will a man give in exchange for his soul? “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

Prayer

Jesus’ Ministry Travels

Hebrews 10:31 NASB95

It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

1 Corinthians 15:3–4 NASB95

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

Romans 10:9 NASB95

that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;

Introduction

Mark is one of the Gospels - it tells us how we can be reconciled to God and gain eternal life

Preceded by John, Jesus came from Galilee

John got the people’s attention

Jesus began his ministry

Signs and wonders demonstrated His lessons

Jesus was alienating Israel’s religious and political leadership - they were plotting to kill Him

Knew He was going to the cross to finish His work - prepared His disciples

Last week: A most important event. A turning point in Jesus mission -

Peter confesses Jesus as Christ

Jesus focuses on His mission to Jerusalem - He teaches that He must be rejected, tried, and crucified

This week:

We are not simply expected to believe in Him, but to follow Him as well.

Jesus teaches the cost of discipleship - following Him

The cross means execution to the first century Jew

A life of discipleship will not be easy

These truths are important to all Christians, especially today

The necessity of denying yourself

Not a popular saying in the world today

If we are to be Christ’s disciples and be saved, we must deny ourselves and follow Him

Mark 8:34 “And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

Salvation is all of God’s grace - offered freely in the Gospel

Eph.2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

All who become saved must prove their faith by carrying the cross after Christ

Can’t enter heaven without trouble, pain, suffering, conflict on earth

Must take up the cross of

doctrine

practice

holding a faith the world hates

living a life that people criticize as being too strict and being too (self-)righteous

Must crucify the flesh, overcome sin, fight the devil daily, be separate from the world, and lose their lives, if necessary for Christ’s sake

These are hard saying - telling it like it is

They are clear and unmistakeable

If we don’t carry the cross, we won’t wear the crown in heaven

We should not avoid service to Christ for fear of the cross. The cross is worth it.

Was anyone here ever afraid to turn to Christ for fear of the cross?

Jesus will give us grace/strength to bear the cross.

Phil. 4:13 “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

Thousands have carried it before us - found the burden easy - the yoke light

No good thing on earth comes without trouble

We must expect trouble before we enter the kingdom of heaven. Acts 14:22 …“Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.””

The cross is only for a few years, then glory for ever

Does our Christianity cost us anything?

Does it entail sacrifice?

Is there a cross? Are we under a burden?

If not, we might tremble and be afraid, a religion that costs nothing is worth nothing

No cross no life - no life eternal

Mark 8:36 ESV

For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

The Unspeakable Value of the Soul

These words are meant to encourage us to take up the cross

We need to remember this each morning when we get out of bed and each night, when we go to bed

These words need to be engraved in our memories and never erased by the devil or the world

We all have souls that will live forever

We all carry something that will live on after our bodies go to the grave

The body is expendable, the soul is immortal and durable

The Christian life on earth is a throw-away life - Sproul

Our immortal souls are priceless

Our souls will give account to God

It is an awful thought for us, when we think about how little attention we give to anything except the world around us, but it is true

Anyone can lose his soul - he cannot save it - only Christ can do that

May murder it by loving sin

poison it by choosing a religion of lies

may starve it by neglecting the means of grace, refusing to receive the Gospel

Many ways lead to hell

Whichever way we go, we are accountable

As weak and corrupt as we are, we still have the mighty power of destroying or losing our own soul

The whole world cannot make up for the loss of a soul

All the treasures the world has cannot compensate for eternal ruin

Those treasures wouldn’t satisfy us anyway, might make us happy for a while, but we can’t take them with us.

Plus they are temporary

Worst deal you can make, to give up your salvation for the sake of the present world - Discuss

Let these sayings sink deep into our hearts

Words are inadequate

Remember them when we are tempted and the soul seems a small thing and the world seems bright and great

Remember them in suffering and persecution, when we are afraid of men and thinking to forsake Christ

Mark 8:36 “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?”

Mark 8:38 NASB95

“For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

The danger of being ashamed of Christ

When can it be said that we are ashamed of Christ?

When we are ashamed to let people see that we believe and love the teaching of Christ - that we desire to live by His commandment - that we want to be known as Christians

Christ’s doctrine, laws, people are never popular, never will be

If you proclaim your love for Christ, you will surely be mocked and persecuted

Whoever is afraid to confess Christ, for fear of mocking and persecution, is ashamed of Christ - IAW this passage

This is a condemning passage

Fear of man is a “snare” or trap

Many will face all kinds of dangers if duty calls, but are ashamed of being called “religious” - would not dare to state they would prefer to please Christ rather than man

Ridicule is powerful and it keeps men in slavery to the world and out of heaven

Let us pray for the faith and courage to proclaim Christ before men and women

We need to be ashamed of sin, worldliness and unbelief, not our faith

Never be ashamed of the One who died on the cross for us

In spite of the laughter, the mockery, the bad language, we need to boldly state that we serve Christ

Let’s look forward to His second coming. Remember: better a thousand times confess Christ now and be hated by men, than to be disowned by Christ before His father in the day of judgment

Prayers

Questions