Self Denial - We Have To Deny Ourselves

Self Denial - We Have To Deny Ourselves

Mark 8:34-38 “When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 35-For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36-For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? 37-Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 38-For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.””

Introduction

"Modern preaching has convoluted the image of Christianity to the point that some of us want salvation and the ways of this world too." We have become selfish, overfed and spoiled Christians.

This kind of teaching is the complete opposite of Jesus’ teachings.

Jesus told His disciples then and He’s telling us modern disciples that would have to take up our cross and follow Him as His first disciples had to do during His ministry on earth.

When we said we believed, repented and received salvation we also became His disciples and He's saying the same thing to us today.Jesus told us we would have to take up our cross and follow Him.

He told us we would have to deny ourselves.

He told us we would suffer persecution for HIs name sakes. Jesus said in Matthew 5:10-11 that anyone who is persecuted for righteousness sake, and anyone who is reviled and persecuted for Hi sake is blessed.

To Deny Ourselves

34a-“Whosever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself...”

Self Denial - is defined in the english dictionary as denying one’s own interests and needs, and to sacrifice.

Unfortunately many people have become selfish, spoiled and defiant.

selfish and spoiled with their time and resources which God requires us to give to further the gospel and advance God’s Kingdom.

spoiled and not willing to be flexible to answer the call we have as disciples or believers of Christ.

defiant when someone suggests we come out of our comfort zone.

If we are to deny ourselves, we have to be willing to walk away from, or put our personal desires on hold. Don’t tell God wait until I…We have to be willing to say; “God what I want can wait.”

To Take Up Your Cross

34b - Take up his cross and follow me...

There has been a lot of people who wanted to follow Christ but wasn’t able to stay with Him for the long haul.

Like the disciples in Jesus’ earthly ministry thought Jesus came to give them victory over their current oppressors, would-be modern day disciples have become discouraged because what the messages they heard in compromised and prosperity preaching didn’t come to fruition in their lives.

To take up our cross means:

we have to lose our life. Not necessarily die physically, but die to the ways of this world. We have to lose our desired life and take up the cross which is a symbol of Christ’s suffering.

We might have to walk away from some friends and even some family members.

We have to take our focus off of material things and focus on the things of God, which by the way can bring material wealth if that what He is willed for our lives. (Mark 10:28-31)

35-37 - For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36-For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? 37-Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

It wouldn’t make any sense to die with riches, and do what we want to do, and lose our soul because we refused to take up our cross.

I remember, either right before or right after I accepted Jesus as my personal Savior and was saved, hearing a preacher on cable television preaching about prosperity. I did what the preacher said…and nothing happened. I got discouraged but I remembered reading a passage of scriptures in Matthew 6:19-20. Jesus told His disciples not to depend on material riches but set their focus on the richness of heaven, the Kingdom of God. That’s when I realized being saved meant much more than riches.

Don’t Be Ashamed Of Jesus

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

To be ashamed of Christ and His words. His words steer us away from the pleasures of this world.

Christ’s words denounced sexual immorality, This world promotes it.

Christ’s words denounces injustice and hatred, This world embraces it.

Christ’s words denounces lying, cheating, and stealing. This world thrives on it.

There are many temptations in this world and if we fall for them, it shows we are ashamed of Jesus and His words.

If we are ashamed of Christ and His words, He will be ashamed of us when He comes back in the last days.

Conclusion

If you haven’t been denying yourself, you have a chance to get back on track today.

Confess your faults and repent.

Learn how to put your desires (righteous desires) and schedule on hold until you do your part in advancing His kingdom.

Pray and ask the Lord for wisdom and strength so you can be the disciple, the Christian, the believer He has called you to be.