Death And Deny

Mark 8:31-38 Death and Deny

1. According to Jesus, we have two choices. Neither one of them is appealing.

Is it possible if were not denying and deathing stuff are we pretenders?

• Do we as followers have pretense problem?

• Are we fake disciples? Are we pretenders?

• Jesus says this about those pretenders “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Matthew 7:15.”

• Pretenders do not only tell lies, but they also embody them. They might say they are rational, but act erratically and instinctively.

• How do you deal with pretenders?

• One commentator I read said, “ this is how you treat a pretender? Leave. If you are not dependent on that person and they bring nothing into your life, then leave. If someone is just genuinely pretending to be a good person, then I normally don't talk to them.

2. In today’s reading Jesus tells us what it means to be a real Disciple and not a pretender?

• Here’s what Jesus said: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (v. 34).

• True disciples know how to do two things: “deny themselves” and “take up their cross.”

• These are hard, tough, uncomfortable words to hear.

• Those are hard words deny thyself, take up cross. We’d rather hear many other words from Jesus.

3. We rather hear these words

• “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

• These are words that we like to hear as well, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:1-3).

4. Peter, never thought being a follower of Jesus was about dying and denying.

• Jesus talks about denying ourselves and taking up a cross!

• Is there a way to avoid deny and cross? I found this thought written by Timothy Merrill,He wrote, “There are work-arounds. The pre-World War II comedian and movie actor W. C. Fields famously called them “loopholes.” Fields led a fairly robust and unrestrained showbiz life with a love for both booze and women. He was seldom if ever found within the walls of a church. But once, when his health was declining he began to read the Bible. When a friend visited him one day, Fields was in the garden with a Bible and a martini. “Uncle Claude,” his friend demanded, “what in the world are you doing?” “Looking for loopholes.” He didn’t want to admit it. But he was looking for a work-around.

5. Are we Pretenders?

• Must folks don’t want to deny yourself and take up a cross?

• Then we pretend or like WC Fields we Find a loophole.

• Jesus himself was aware of the problem. Jesus shared the following words about Pretending.

• “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” (Matthew 15:8).

• “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, that is, their hypocrisy” (Luke 12:1).

• Speaking of the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus said, “Do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach” (Matthew 23:3).

6. It’s not about being a pretender is about denial and death

• What Is Denial? I found this The word “deny” means this journey with Jesus is not about self-advancement, self-enhancement,

• One scholar said, denial In fact, it is not about self at all. It’s about the disablement of self,

• When Jesus asks us to “deny ourselves,” he is talking about self-abandonment! Yikes!

• This is tough. Not many of us are up for it. And in Jesus’ day, there were not many who followed Jesus. And in the end, there were none.

• We say, “Well, I am interested, but not ready to commit.”

7. Being a Disciple is about Death

• Choosing to Die

• When we choose to follow Jesus, we are choosing to die. The apostle Paul understood this: “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:19-20).

• When we take up the cross, we are dying self