The Red Letters Series - Sermon I
Notes
Transcript
The True Cost of Faith
The True Cost of Faith
Good morning church!
How many of you remember these WWJD bracelets?
They were everywhere for a while, right?
WWJD stands for…What Would Jesus Do. That’s right.
The idea behind the bracelet was to remind us to be Christ like in everything we do.
Before we do anything, we should always ask ourselves, “What would Jesus Do” in a situation like this?”
Now I think that’s wonderful, but in order for us to really understand what Jesus would DOin any given situation....
We first need to know what Jesus SAYS about it in the Bible.
One of the things I love about Bro. Jerry is that any time I ask him a question, he often responds with Scripture.
He reminds me that we should let God guide us through His words, and....
It got me to thinking that we really don’t have to guess about “What Would Jesus Do”, since we already have the answers in the Bible.
Now of course, the world couldn’t allow the WWJD movement to go unchallenged....
So they started putting “What Would Jesus Drive” bumper stickers on their Priuses...
Implying that Jesus is an environmentalist and he would only drive a Prius.
Now we know that’s ridiculous.....There’s only one vehicle that Jesus would drive…
A Ford Econoline 15 passenger van.
He would need enough room for himself, the 12 Disciples and the 2 Marys. It’s a no brainer! How is that even a question?
Seriously though, my point is this, when you ask yourself “WWJD - What would Jesus Do?”....
The next logical question should always be “WDJS – WHAT DID JESUS SAY?”.
The answers are literally at our fingertips.
1 Long ago God spoke to our ancestors by the prophets at different times and in different ways.
2 In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him.
3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
4 So he became superior to the angels, just as the name he inherited is more excellent than theirs.
Y’all if we truly want to live our lives as followers of Christ, we should be hungry for EVERY word Jesus speaks in the Bible. So, from now on, for me, it’s WWJD “What would Jesus Do”, followed by WDJS “What did Jesus say?”. This is why it’s so important to read your Bible! It’s not enough just to hear scripture on Sunday mornings. The Bible is literally our guide to life!
I’m going to be up here preaching about once every six weeks, so some of you may want to plan your vacation weeks accordingly. Just know that I’ll be making a list of who plays hookie on those weeks!
God has convicted me that we really need to focus on Jesus and talk about exactly what it means to follow Christ. For that reason, I’m going to start a preaching series that I’m calling THE RED LETTERS SERIES. In case you don’t know, many Bibles use red letters to let the reader know that the passage was spoken directly by Jesus. In each of my sermons, I’m going to focus specifically on different passages that reveal Jesus in His own words and talk about how we can apply the Scripture to our lives.
For this week, I’ve chosen the book of Mark 8:34-37 (CSB), and it deals with how we live our lives and what it means to truly put Christ first. Before we get into the scripture though, I think it will be helpful look briefly at the historical context of the Gospel of Mark, so we can better understand the meaning behind the verses. When we simply pull a verse out of context, we risk missing the true meaning.
The gospel of Mark was written by John Mark, one of the New Testament Disciples, and it’s likely that he was an eyewitness to some of the events he wrote about. His intended audience when he wrote the Gospel of Mark was persecuted Christians throughout the Roman Empire, especially in Rome. Why were the Christians in Rome and elsewhere being persecuted? Well, back in 64 A.D., there was a huge fire that destroyed more than half the city. Somehow a rumor was started that the Roman emperor Nero himself had deliberately started the fire. In order to squash the rumor, Nero told the people that it was the Christians who had done it, and he began a massive campaign of persecution against them.
In his gospel, Mark is writing to give guidance and support to his fellow Christians in their time of crisis, and the way that he does it is to compare their persecution to Christ’s suffering and death on the cross. Mark was telling the Christians under Roman rule that like Jesus, they too were facing a life filled with suffering, and possibly death. However, if they will remain true to Christ, glory awaits! He’s encouraging Christians not to deny Jesus, no matter how hard it gets. Church, that message is still just as relevant today as it was back when Mark wrote it sometime around 70 AD.
Let’s look at the Scripture and see what it reveals…
34 Calling the crowd along with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.
Now prior to this verse, Jesus finally revealed to the Disciples what had up until that time been a secret…that He was headed to Jerusalem to suffer, die, and be raised from the dead. This announcement stunned the Disciples.
They’re thinking, “Hey wait a minute…If Jesus is really the Son of Man, why would the religious leaders reject and crucify Him? Didn’t the Old Testament promise that the Messiah would defeat His enemies and establish a kingdom for Israel?” Can you imagine the confusion?
Peter even tries to rebuke Jesus for saying He was going to be crucified, and Jesus tells Peter “Away from me Satan!”. Scripture says that when Jesus rebuked Peter, he was “looking at His disciples”, and He did that because He knew they agreed with Peter. This should serve as a reminder for us that when we argue with God’s Word, it opens the door for Satan’s lies.
There was another reason that the Disciples didn’t want to believe what Jesus was telling them. They knew that if Jesus was about to die on the cross, that meant they would likely suffer a similar fate! Can you imagine the fear that must have gripped them at that moment? Imagine if you would, the scene of Jesus sharing this shocking secret with the disciples, and now they’re realizing what’s about to happen. But Jesus wasn’t finished. This sets the stage for where we now join the scripture this morning. Jesus is now openly telling them that if they want to follow him, it won’t be easy.
Let’s break down verse 34 and look closer at its meaning. Jesus says that there are two requirements of discipleship:
- Denial of self
- Taking up your cross and following Him
Jesus was telling His Disciples, and He is telling us today, that there is a price to pay for true discipleship.
And this brings me to our first point for today…
I. Jesus Calls us to Surrender Ourselves Completely to Him
I. Jesus Calls us to Surrender Ourselves Completely to Him
This is a huge point, so write this down if you’re taking notes. Denying self is not the same as self-denial. We practice self-denial when, for a good purpose, we occasionally give up things or activities.
I’ve been on a diet this week and I gave up Little Debbie snacks. Now THAT is some serious self-denial. Actually, I would argue that it’s more like torture and self-denial, and I’m sure some of you would agree. It’s been a rough week, y’all. I was standing there in Dollar General telling Debbie that I was breaking off the relationship, she just sat there quietly, smiling back at me. I know exactly what she was thinking…he’ll be back. He always comes back. Not this time Debbie. Not this time. So that’s self-denial.
But we deny self when we surrender ourselves to Christ and determine to obey His will. Mark’s talking about us no longer making “self” the object of our lives or actions. Any of you who have raised teenagers know exactly what I’m talking about here. I’m not trying to be mean, but teenagers usually have a hard time thinking of anything other than themselves. They don’t usually think of others before self. As parents, we often have to remind our kiddos to think of others. I can’t tell you how many times when mine were younger that I had to send out messages reminding them to call their mom or their grandparents for their birthdays.
To truly deny self, means refusing to follow any natural inclination, however innocent, that runs contrary to Christ’s path for us. However, if we will endure to the end and focus on Him instead of our worldly desires, God will one day acknowledge us and share His Glory with us!
When you lay down tonight and close your eyes, I want you to seriously think about your life. Are you allowing God to lead your life, or are you living for self? Are there any worldly things in your life that you can’t give up for God? Today? Right now?
Y’all know the seven deadly sins – pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth. Anyone besides me having issues with some of these in their lives? How is sin impacting your life? The only real answer it to truly put God at the center of your life and reject sin, and God will transform you into a new person!
The Bible talks at length about this transformation…
20 I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
In the book of Acts, early Christians referred to themselves as followers of The Way (pronounced in Greek as “hodos”). I love this term, because it’s so broad and descriptive, and it ties in so deeply with scripture.
- Jesus said I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.
- Jesus walked to His death on the Via Dolorosa, which in Greek means “Sorrowful Way”.
If you really want to know what it looks like to be transformed by Christ, look at these two verses together. This first verse is Paul (known as Saul at that time) before he became a follower of “The Way”.
1 Now Saul was still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. He went to the high priest
2 and requested letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women who belonged to the Way, he might bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem.
Now listen to this verse regarding Paul after he became an Apostle of Christ.
8 Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly over a period of three months, arguing and persuading them about the kingdom of God.
9 But when some became hardened and would not believe, slandering the Way in front of the crowd, he withdrew from them, taking the disciples, and conducted discussions every day in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.
Paul literally went from hunting and killing Christians to preaching the Gospel! If you’re here today thinking that God would never forgive you for your sins, just look at what He did with Paul. In fact, the Bible shows again and again that God uses the most unlikely of characters (like me!) to build His Kingdom.
Going back to “The Way”…it can describe a road, or a journey, or a manner of thinking, feeling or deciding. This term “The Way” so accurately describes my view of Christianity, and it shows that being Christian is about more than just calling yourself a believer in Christ. It’s a complete and total life change, as we are filled with the Holy Spirit, and God becomes the focus of our lives. If we’re going to pick up our cross and follow Jesus, it means we must become followers of “The Way”. The Way of the Cross. The Way of Jesus Christ.
In his book “The Unsaved Christian”, Dean Inserra argues that we have an epidemic of people in our country who claim to be Christians, but they lack a true relationship with Jesus. He defines them as Cultural Christians who have faith, but their god is a generic deity rather than the God of the Bible.
He says this about Cultural Christians:
Self-proclaimed Christians who worship a god that requires no self-sacrifice, no obedience, no submission, and no surrender are not worshiping the God of the Bible, no matter how much they claim they love Jesus. Many people want the good-luck-charm Jesus, not the sacrificial Lamb of God whose death requires action.
As I’ve grown in my faith over the years, and especially now that I’ve surrendered to the ministry, I’ve been overcome with a heaviness and seriousness that I’m not sure I can adequately describe. I’m sure many of you feel the same heaviness as Christian disciples. It’s like our spiritual blinders have been removed, and we realize that the pursuits of this world are so meaningless. We have Kingdom work to do, and every moment we have left on this earth should be in pursuit of fulfilling the Great Commission.
19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Being 58 years old, I’ve witnessed quite a few deaths over the years. I spent many years working in hospice, and I’m very familiar with the dying process. No matter how many times I’ve seen it happen though, there is just nothing like the experience of watching someone take their last breath and pass from this world.
One moment there is a person laying there struggling to breathe, and the next minute they’re gone. And as we stand there looking at this lifeless body, it’s one of the only times in our lives we’re forced to face the fact that, no matter how hard we try to avoid the subject of our mortality, one day, we too, will die. Every one of us.
As you watch a death occurring, it really puts life into perspective. Suddenly, your wealth doesn’t matter. Your home and all the things you’ve accumulated in it doesn’t matter. Your worldly accomplishments and diplomas on the walls don’t matter. Your experiences throughout your life and the places you’ve visited no longer matter.
There is no stopping death, no matter how badly you want that loved one to live, and sadly, for the unbeliever, that is the end. There are only two alternatives, heaven or hell, and it burdens me greatly when I don’t know if someone has accepted Christ before they die.
You see church, The Way, we live our lives matters. Jesus is telling us in the Gospel of Mark that we must deny ourselves and make God the center of our lives. Die to self. That heavy feeling, that burden and seriousness we feel as Christians, should motivate us to share the Good News so we can lead as many people to Christ as possible, regardless of the personal cost.
Again, I ask you, are you living for the approval of the world, or are you living for God?
In verse 34, Jesus also talks about taking up your cross and following Him. In Mark’s time, the concept of bearing a cross painted a vivid picture for the Christians under Roman rule. Condemned men, including Jesus, were required to carry their cross (or possibly just the beam across their backs) through mocking crowds to their place of execution. This concept of picking up your cross was entirely too familiar to Christians at that time.
What Mark wrote then, and what Jesus is telling us now is this; when we take up the cross and follow Jesus, putting Him at the center of our lives, we will pay a cost in terms of human suffering. However, suffering and death are nothing, compared to losing one’s soul.
Moving on in our Scripture for today…
35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me and the gospel will save it.
36 For what does it benefit someone to gain the whole world and yet lose his life?
37 What can anyone give in exchange for his life?
This brings us to our next point…
II. The Reward for Losing Our Life is That We Save It
II. The Reward for Losing Our Life is That We Save It
LOSE IT
Jesus says “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it”. So what does He mean here? Mark is using Jesus’ words to encourage the Christians to stay strong, even though their faith may well result in their death. I mentioned earlier that throughout the history of the early church, Christians were hunted, and brutally murdered. They literally had to choose between their faith or death. That makes the fact that the church continued to grow even more remarkable.
Unfortunately, there are still Christians being killed in countries around the world right now. I read about it on a regular basis. It makes me wonder…would we, as followers of The Way of the Cross, as Christians, if faced with the same fate, be able and willing to stand strong in our faith? I’ve got a great example of one young lady who did just that.
We’re all way too familiar with school shootings in this country, and many of you will remember the one that seemed to start it all…Columbine. It happened on April 20th, 1999. Evil visited a high school that day, and many people lost their lives. I won’t use the shooters’ names because they don’t deserve to gain any more attention or fame.
There has been some debate over which student was involved in this event, but it is now believed that it was a young lady named Valeen Schnurr who lay wounded on the floor of the library, and it has been reported that one of the shooters walked over and asked her if she believed in God. She said yes and he asked her why. Valeen responded, "Because I believe and my parents brought me up that way." The shooter reloaded but he didn’t shoot Valeen again. She survived.
I can’t imagine the courage it took that young girl to look evil in the eyes, with death all around her, and stand up for her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! That young woman was literally willing to lose her life in order to save it, and her strong faith is an example to us all. Again church, these verses are still just as important today as they were then.
12 Blessed is the one who endures trials, because when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
Jesus continues in verse 35, “but whoever loses his life because of me and the gospel will save it”. That word “and” is very important. Jesus is revealing here what should be our motivation for true discipleship. Not only should we deny self as an act of devotion to Jesus, but here’s where the rubber meets the road. That devotion to Jesus should also lead us to ACTION by sharing the Gospel!
In verses 36 and 37, Jesus states “what does it benefit someone to gain the whole world and yet lose his life”, and “what can anyone give in exchange for his life?” Jesus is saying here that the ENTIRE WORLD isn’t worth even just one soul, and once lost, there is nothing of this world (even the entire world) that is valuable enough to buy your salvation back.
So, all these verses we’ve covered today are really a warning from Jesus. He’s telling us that to be His disciple requires us to reject the world and put Him at the center of our lives. He also tells us that life as a disciple of Christ means that we will face rejection from the world and, like Jesus, we will suffer for our beliefs. We must die to self and give up our natural tendency to put our own self-interests first. If we’ll do that, He assures us an eternity in heaven.
Unfortunately, the Jews didn’t recognize Jesus as the Messiah they had been waiting for, and here in verse 38, Jesus tells them that like the Israelites in the Old Testament, they too will pay a steep cost for their unbelief. It’s easy for us to shake our heads at the Jews and wonder why they would treat Jesus with such disrespect. But would we have behaved any differently?
Jesus was a radical in His time, and He would be a radical today. Throughout His ministry, He preached to large crowds and He told His disciples that many of the people in the crowd wouldn’t understand what He was trying to tell them. Unfortunately, most were only there to see signs and wonders. Up until Jesus revealed his coming death and resurrection, even the Disciples, his closest friends and confidants, didn’t even get it. I really don’t see how society today would be much different.
SAVE IT
Now I realize that this talk of dying to self, suffering, and losing your life to save it is heavy stuff. You’re probably thinking I’m a Debbie Downer today for choosing this scripture. But there’s more to the story here and this is where the good stuff happens.
Jesus is telling us these things because He loves us. He wants us to share in the Glory of spending eternity with Him! The blessing that comes from being transformed with Christ is a totally new you!
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!
I don’t think anyone can say it better than Billy Graham what it looks like to be a new creation in Christ.
“If you gave your life to Jesus Christ you might not change as much as some would—at least on the surface. God is in the business of changing lives—and the more we need to change, the more we’ll actually be changed, by the power of God.
But you’ll notice I said you might not change much “on the surface”—and I used that phrase deliberately, because in reality your life would change dramatically. First of all, your destiny would change. Yes, you may be a good person compared with some—but are you good enough to get into Heaven on your own? The answer is no—because God’s standard is nothing less than perfection, and none of us is perfect.
But when we come to Christ, God freely and fully forgives us all our sins, and now Heaven’s door is open to us. This is possible only because on the cross all our sins were transferred to Christ, and He became the final sacrifice for our sins. Because of Him, the Bible says, “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure” (Hebrews 6:19).
But you’ll change in other ways also, because Christ will give you a new love for others, and a new desire to help them and share Christ with them. He’ll also deepen the good things in your life, and prune away the bad things (and we all have them). Don’t delay, but by faith turn to Jesus and open your heart to His transforming power.”
Church, I stand before you today as living proof that God changes lives.
Invitation
And that leads me to ask you today… have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? There are likely people in this church today who have not. In fact, you might be feeling like you’re unworthy, or that God would never allow someone like you in heaven. I myself felt that way for most of my life.
If that describes you, I want to share some Good News with you that will change your life. In fact, I believe that you are in this church today because God knows that you need to hear this message:
- Jesus Christ lived a sinless life that we could not live.
- He died the death that we deserved on the cross of calvary to bridge the gap between our sinfulness and God’s holiness.
- After He died, they took Jesus’ lifeless body off that tree and buried Him in a borrowed tomb.
- And on the third day, just as scripture foretold, Jesus Christ rose from the dead, sealing victory over sin, and death, and hell, not just for himself, but for you and me and anyone down through the generations who would believe in Him and call on His name.
Jesus died for you because He loves you. In fact, His life and death on the cross is the greatest love story in the history of the world. It was a gift to us. We didn’t earn it and we don’t deserve it.
No matter what you’ve done in your past, it is not possible for you to out sin Jesus’ ability to love you. And when you turn from sin, repent, and accept Jesus as your savior, He will wash your slate clean. You will be a new person in Christ. Please don’t walk out of this door today without accepting that gift.
I’m here, Brother Jerry is here, and we want to talk to you. If you just need prayer for things happening in your life, come on down and let’s pray.
FINAL PRAYER