Mark 8: 34 – 38
Let’s Here It For All Us Losers
“34 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.”
There are two other Gospels that address this same incident so to gain the most information that we can, let us take a look at what Matthew and Luke have to say.
Matthew 16:24-28, “24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. 28 “Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”
Luke 9: 23 – 27, “23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. 24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. 25 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? 26 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels. 27 But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God.”
Let me ask you a question. Well, actually its two questions and they are these, “Have you ever lead any person to Christ’, and two, ‘are you involved in any ministry in serving the Lord?’
I am not trying to make you feel bad or convicted. No, wait a minute, I am. If you haven’t what makes you so special? We are all, who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, adopted sons and daughters. We are all part of the body of Christ. Please send your exclusion letter that says that you are exempted from sharing the Gospel and from serving the rest of the body?
We have today in our bodies some elements that work apart from the rest of our physical bodies and do you know what that is? It is called ‘Cancer’.
As a minister I am called to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. In which category do you fall into?
Anyway, let me tell you about our lives after you ask the Lord Jesus to forgive your sins and rule your life for now through all eternity.
I have witnessed too many ‘cool guys’. Oh, they are gifted in looks and appeal. They come up and flatter you with all types of strokes. Then, they sell you Jesus. If you respond, they chalk you up as a victory. I do not believe that this is how we are to share the ‘Good News’
What did our Lord Jesus Christ instruct the disciples before He returned to Heaven? We read this in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 24,“16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.”
As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ we are to be His Witnesses making disciples. To ‘Witness’ we need to be ‘With’ people and be willing to ‘disciple’ them or help them ‘walk’ in their new life. Not just to a sales job and then leave thinking we are doing God some type of favor.
Remember the four types of seeds the Lord taught about. The first three represented;
1. Hard Hearts
2. Stone ground
3. Thorns
The first group heard the ‘Good News’ and it says the enemy came and swept this message away before it could take root. The second group heard the word and received it but when troubles came their way they forsook their Christianity. The third group was so overwhelmed with the cares and worries of this world that they did not grow or mature.
You know why?, because there was no one to care for them. There is a responsibility to any brother or sister that leads a person to Christ to be there to help this person.
If you share the Good News and the person rejects the message, like the example of the hard ground, then do not just give up, keep praying and reaching out to this individual.
If you actually prayed with a person then keep closely in touch with this new believer. When troubles come their way, and it will, be there to help support them through the ordeal. Can you see now why the three types of soils never produced growth?
We, need to remember that when you become a Christian you will be subjected to persecution.
34 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.
I think I am going to start a new club. It is called the ‘Losers’ club. Can I count on you to sign up? Doesn’t sound too great at first but you see what we hold on to here is useless. In the spiritual world, if we surrender we win. Our Lord tells us here that if you want to save your life, then lose it.
I like this statement that someone told me and it is this, ‘If you want to be Christ like, then do not be surprised if people come running up to you and try to crucify you.’ Our Lord Jesus informed us and was recorded by the apostle John in chapter 15, “17 These things I command you, that you love one another. 18 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
When you are trying your best to follow the Lord you will not be a secret Christian. As our Lord had said, ‘you do not put a light in a basket, but you put it on a table for the light to reach as much darkness as possible as Matthew tells us in chapter 5 of his book,”15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
And let me advise you of this, if you are faithful you will be attacked.
John reminds us of this in chapter 15 verse 20, “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.”
You will get it from the people you work for and with, your neighbors, the government – everywhere you turn. So, cheer up.
Remember it is not you, the hatred comes against the One Who Is living in you – our Precious Holy Spirit.
We can rejoice that our sins are forgiven. That we will have an awesome eternity with our Precious Holy Jehovah Elyon – The Lord Most High. But from now on we get to realize the words of our Lord Jesus – ‘pick up your cross and follow Me’. Oh, it isn’t a nice gold or silver ornament that we wear around our necks. No it is a death sentence just like the one our Holy Adoni Yeshua endured. Are you willing to hang in there?
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.”
If you look again at the three versions of these remarks from our Lord Jesus, you find three different remarks. Let me go over them with you.
Luke –‘says to them all’
Matthew – ‘said to His disciples’
Mark – ‘people to Himself with His disciples.’
Matthew was there standing with the Lord and felt that the Lord was addressing only the disciples. Peter who read Matthews report based on his thoughts told Mark that the Lord spoke to the people and the disciples. After all, if you were a person who was not at the time a ‘disciple’ and decided to follow the Lord, then His words would also be applying to you, would it not. This is why Luke wrote – ‘says to them all.’
The next difference are these comments;
Luke – ‘is destroyed or lost’
Matthew – ‘forfeits his soul or gives in exchange for his soul.’
Mark – ‘loses his own soul, or gives in exchange for his soul.’
All three are talking about the same thing and that is eternal damnation.
There are some Christian groups that are promoting vigorously that there is no such thing as a ‘soul’.
So, what is a soul?
Most Christians understand the soul as an ontological reality distinct from, yet integrally connected with, the body. Its characteristics are described in moral, spiritual, and philosophical terms.
What does the bible say? We read this from the book of 1 Thessalonians 5:23, “23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Sounds like there are three to me, what about you? In fact our Lord Jesus Christ says as recorded by Matthew chapter 10 these remarks, “26 Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. 27 “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. 28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. 32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. 34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 35 For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; 36 and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ 37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.”
The last area that I want to comment about is the three remarks that say;
Luke – ‘He comes in His Own Glory and in His Father’s and of the Holy angels’
Matthew – ‘Comes in His Father’s Glory with His angels.’
Mark – ‘Son of Man comes in the Glory of His Father with the Holy Angels.’
Remember how Peter identified our Lord Jesus as the Christ, the promised One or ‘Anointed’ One from God. Remember, that Mark got his info from Peter. Peter recognized that our Lord was the One that the prophet Daniel saw with our Holy Adoni Yahweh or also called the ‘Ancient of Days’ in Heaven. We read this in chapter 7 verse 9 of Daniel, “9 “I watched till thrones were put in place, and the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, its wheels a burning fire; 10 A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, and the books were opened. 11 “I watched then because of the sound of the pompous words which the horn was speaking; I watched till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame. 12 As for the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. 13 “I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. 14 Then 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 the one which shall not be destroyed.”
Look at verse 14 again ‘Then to Him was given dominion and ‘Glory’ and a kingdom.
The apostle Paul picks up on this point as he writes his first letter to the Corinthians chapter 15, “24 Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. 25 For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. 27 For “He has put all things under His feet.” But when He says “all things are put under Him,” it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted. 28 Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.
