Sermon Tone Analysis
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*Intro* – To be truly saved is a costly concern.
It cost God His own beloved Son.
It cost the Son, Jesus, His reputation and His life.
And it costs those who get saved as well.
Jesus says in v. 23, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
To die to oneself – to one’s ambitions, rights, desires and pursuit of pleasure is costly.
But today we want to look at the reward.
The price is high, but is it ever worth it?!
Nancy gave Pam a ride home from work one night.
Pam noticed a large, rectangular box in the back seat.
Nancy said, “Oh, that’s a new 50” HD TV set.
I got it for my husband.”
Pam nodded and said, “Good trade!”
That’s Jesus’ message here.
Denying self to gain Him – greatest trade ever.
Trading time for eternity.
Jesus uses 3 metaphors to make His point.
Each begins with the word “For” used in the sense of “because.”
Here’s why it’s a great deal to die to self – because, because, because.
*I.
It’s the Only Way to Gain Life*
V. 24: “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”
Sounds convoluted, doesn’t it?
Save your life by losing it?
The world says, “It’s all about you!
Take charge.
Tap your inner champion!
Make it happen.
Get on it!”
Jesus says just the opposite.
Not “take charge”, but “submit”; not “follow your dream”, but “seek God’s”.
At the heart of His message are two vital assumptions – 1) I can’t actually make it on my own – I’ll lose myself in the effort, and 2) I can’t lose by giving my life to Him.
What I gain will be far more than I give up.
But most people won’t go there with Him.
They won’t trust Him.
They trust themselves more than Jesus.
They are trusting their salvation to themselves.
They are not truly saved.
Our natural instinct is to focus intensely on one person – me!
If I don’t, who is going to?
I am the most important person in the world to me.
I am born with an innate inclination to pursue my own ambitions, my own desires, my own agenda.
The verse literally reads, “For whoever wishes (present tense, ongoing desire) to save his life (aorist tense, one time event) will lose it.”
To save one’s life means to protect my existence and give it meaning.
To save my life is to pursue two ends – what makes it all worthwhile now and eternally.
But Jesus point is the harder we pursue our own ambitions, the further we will be from protecting our existence.
On the Little Rascals one time, Stymie was riding in a wagon pulled by a little goat.
His method was ingenious.
He held a carrot on a stick out in front of the goat.
The goat took off to get the carrot.
But, of course, the faster it moved, the faster the carrot moved.
The poor little goat could never catch up.
If he chased long enough he would kill himself.
One of the gang hollered, “Hey Stymie, where are you going?”
He replied, “I don’t know – but I’m on my way.”
That’s what Jesus pictures here.
He is saying, “Your efforts to save your own life are a one-way trip to nowhere!”
In Isa 43:7 God says, “everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory.”
I wasn’t made to glorify me; I was made to glorify Him.
The harder I pursue my agenda, the more I lose.
Human success or failure is irrelevant.
Without Him, I might as well brand a big “L” for “Loser” on my forehead.
That’s who I am outside of Christ.
I’ve traded eternity for time!
But look at the rest of the verse: “but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”
If I will give up my rights, my ambitions, my agenda, my control –deny self and take up my cross daily – I can save my existence!
I’ll become who I was meant to be.
I’ll fulfill my destiny here AND in eternity.
That’s what comes when I defer to Him as Lord.
Then it doesn’t matter whether I am a great worldly success or whether I die a martyr’s death, what I get in the end is far greater than what I gave up.
Make no mistake, there is a cost.
“Whoever loses” implies sacrifice.
It’s painful to give up control.
But the payoff is fantastic.
We give what we treasure to get what God treasures.
We win by losing.
We keep by giving.
This is why it’s hard to enter the kingdom of God.
Matt 7:14, “For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”
It is the most unnatural act in the world to give yourself up to Christ, but it’s the only way to get what He offers.
A woman of 90 finally engaged a woman to help her.
Her niece asked how it was going.
The woman replied, “Well, I don’t have to worry about cooking or cleaning, washing clothes or marketing.
My make-up is applied, my hair combed.
Everything is done for me.”
But the niece detected some reservation: “So, how do you like having a companion?”
The old woman replied, “I don’t have a companion.
I’m under new management.”
So are followers of Jesus Christ.
We’re under new management.
It’s costly, but we’ve traded up – time for eternity.
And in the process, we saved our life!
*II.
It’s the Only Way to Gain Eternal Profit*
V. 25: “For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?”
Same message; different words.
Following Him costs us our life – but it’s way worth it.
Here Jesus uses an exaggerated contrast.
Imagine you could gain the whole world.
The desire for material riches is a strong pull against kingdom values.
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