The Cost of Following the King

Mark 8:34-9:1

Transcript

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How's everybody doing out there? Good worship this morning. It's good to be here. It's a privilege really to worship with you this morning. And we're going to finish up Mark chapter 8. If you want to be turning with me there. This is a pretty big week for a lot of our college students, right? I think it's finals week. Is that right? Who has a final this week? Anybody? A few people? Alright. Well, we are praying for you guys as you as you study, as you finish strong this week. You know, it that also means that next week some of some of our college students may not be here for the summer and as they kind of head home or head some of them off to missions. Who's going on missions this summer? I know these two. Anybody else here this morning that's that's got something planned? Okay. I might be missing a hand, but um I know Seth and Kate um are going this summer, and I know there's others uh from the BCM as well. But uh wherever you're headed, whether you're uh going back home for the summer, going on mission, um you're still going on mission, right? Where wherever you are, but uh we our prayers are with you, and uh we may have less and less though of our of our college students over the next uh couple months as they go back home or or go on mission. But wherever you're gonna be this summer, um we're praying the Lord's blessing on you guys. And um and I think there's there's really no better place in Scripture to be this morning than uh than right where we are, where where God uh sovereignly has us. In some ways, this is kind of a send-off sermon for some at least uh or Sunday. And uh so yeah, we're gonna be in the end of Mark chapter 8, and we've reached the the climax of the Gospel of Mark at the end of chapter 8 here. More specifically, uh verses 27 through verse uh 38 is really um what I what I would call the climax of uh the gospel. Um you know, last week we we began this section by by looking at verses 27 through 33, and that was a sermon that I titled The Confession of the King. And so if we if we diagram this gospel, we'll notice that uh the first eight chapters of Mark have really focused on gradually unveiling the identity of Jesus. And so Mark, uh the Holy Spirit ultimately is giving us kind of uh piece by piece in each chapter of a little bit more unveiling of who Jesus is. And it all led up to this question that Jesus asked in verse 29 that we covered last week. He says, Who do you say that I am? And of course we talked about this last week, but that that is the most important question of your life. Amen? Those of you that know him, you you know, you can say amen to that, right? You know that it is. I mean, that is the most important question of your life. Who do you say that he is? Who is Jesus? And and and Peter Um answers that question for the group uh quite beautifully, uh, as we saw last week. He says, You are the Christ, um then Matthew adds, the son of the living God. And so we saw all that last week. And and Jesus, with his reply, clearly affirms uh that that Peter is right. He is the Messiah, he is the Son of God. And and he tells him, and we went back to the account in Matthew, and we saw where he says, that that confession, I'm gonna build my church upon that, on who Jesus is. Um and that that confession is gonna give the church great victory over the enemy. So this was a moment of uh euphoria, really, for the disciples who had who had waited all their lives for the Messiah. As a little boy, you grow up hearing about the Messiah who's gonna come for Israel one day. And here they are in his presence. This is a huge climactic uh moment for them. Uh they're in his midst, and not only that, but they're his best friends, right? So, what does that mean for them, right? They're gonna reign with him. They're good friends of Jesus. So this was a huge moment, but it's immediately followed by a huge letdown and a new low, really, for the disciples. So Jesus affirms his identity, but then in verse 31, he begins to unfold his mission. And uh again, we we discussed this last week, but it's not the mission that they expected to hear. They were ready to reign with Jesus in an earthly kingdom. But instead, Jesus says that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the religious leaders and be killed before rising after three days. And as we saw last time, that they didn't even hear the part about the resurrection. That did not even, uh it didn't even reach their ears, I don't think. Um they were they were so stuck on the fact that Jesus said that he was going to die. And this is supposed to be the Messiah. This wasn't the mission that they were hoping for. In fact, Peter stands up and he says, This will never happen to you. This will never happen to you, Jesus. And Jesus says, Get behind me, Satan. And we saw that again last time. You're not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man. And that's where we left off uh last week with this crushing confession that Jesus is going to die, and that this is the plan for the Messiah. This is God's plan for the Messiah. Now, um in the text this week, it gets even harder to hear for the disciples. And it's hard to hear for us today, I think, as well. Now, Jesus is going to explain that his journey ahead of suffering and rejection and uh denying himself is not just for him, but it is for them, his disciples, and it's for any who would choose to follow him, including us today, if we're following him. So our title this week is gonna be The Cost of Following the King. And I'm gonna ask you to stand with me and we're gonna read the text. Uh, starting in verse 34, and we're gonna read all the way through uh chapter 9, verse 1. And let me let me actually back up to verse 31 so we can get just a little bit of the context from last week here. And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, and the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter, and said, Get behind me, Satan, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man. And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, If any one would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospels will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with his holy angels. And he said to them, Truly I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after he has come with power. Let's pray. Father, I thank you for your word this morning. And it's it's a hard word this morning, a hard word for us to hear. Um Father, in a world that says everything's just about us. Um Lord, in a in a world where we make it, we make it really easy to just say we believe in Jesus and our lives never be changed. And Father, that's not what your word calls us to, as we just read. Um this is a hard word, Father. I pray that you would um give me the words that I need to uh to speak it, uh, to speak the truth in love, Lord, uh, but boldly and with power, Father. And I pray that you would give me just every word that I need this morning, that we need to hear from you, that you know we need to hear, Father. And I just pray that you would take your Holy Spirit and apply it supernaturally to each heart this morning. Um, everyone that is here this morning, you have brought here for a purpose, I believe. So, Father, uh just let your will be done with that, Father. Uh, speak to each of us. Uh Lord, I'm so thankful for each individual here with us this morning, and um so thankful for this family at Risen Life that you've blessed us with. Um, Father, get us out of our comfort zone this morning with this text. Um and Lord, just speak to us. And Father, we love you. We thank you for uh this time together in your word, and we ask all these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. You can have a seat. Well, as we uh dive into this text this morning, let's remember to put ourselves in uh, first of all, in the these original disciples' shoes so that we don't miss some of this context. These guys have been with Jesus every day for over two years now, right? That they have they eat, sleep, and breathe Jesus. Like that they're with him all the time. Um they have given their lives to following Jesus. Now that they know that he's the Messiah, their expectations are that Jesus is going to reign over the earth with a rod of iron. As so many prophecies, as Psalm 2 prophesies, he's gonna reign with a rod of iron, then they are looking forward to that. And they are going to reign right beside him. This is go time for these disciples in their mind. And then Jesus says, I'm gonna suffer and die. And by the way, you are also called to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me. Now, this was an unbelievably tough message for them to hear. And we're gonna dive into what Jesus was saying with that this morning. But as we dive into this, I want us to first have completely secured in our minds that we do not earn salvation. Okay, we do not earn salvation. We talked last week about that phrase, the Son of Man must die. And how, you know what, Jesus didn't have to die to gain something for himself. Jesus didn't have to die because there was something deficient in God that was missing, and so he had to die to complete that. There was nothing missing in God, uh, but he had to die to save us. And we spent a lot of time focusing on that last week. His unbelievable love for us drove him to the cross to bear our sins, and it's the only way that we can be saved. It's only by his grace and his blood that we can be saved. So now, as we dive into this text this morning, we're not talking about a list of what we must do to be saved, but rather, what does it look like when Christ saves us? What should a new creation in Christ actually look like? What does it mean to truly place your faith in Jesus Christ? What does it mean to believe? And so we're going to start this morning with our first point, the conditions of the called. And the first condition is pretty inclusive here. Jesus gathers the crowd to himself, it says, and he says, if anyone would come after me, if anyone would come after me. And so this is the first thing we notice. Anyone can come to Jesus. And we've seen that time and time, time and time again in Mark. Um the invitation is open. It doesn't matter your race, your class, your background, your history, it doesn't matter what sins uh you've committed, anyone can come to Jesus. Aren't you glad Jesus or that anyone can come to Jesus? Amen. Anyone can come to him. Jesus' sacrifice and salvation is an open invitation to any who would humble themselves before him. And that includes you this morning. But if you're going to come, you need to understand that while salvation is a free gift and it was earned by Jesus on the cross, there is a cost to following Jesus. And Jesus begins to say, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. He talks about losing your life for his sake so that you can find it, and it goes on from there. These are tough words from Jesus, but consistent words from Jesus. Elsewhere in Luke 14, uh, verse 33, Jesus is talking about if a king is going to war, uh, he needs to first count the cost to see if he has enough men to even win this war. Count the cost before you go to that war. Or if a man is going to build a tower, he needs to first count the cost of building that tower. Does he have enough stuff to complete it? And following Jesus is the same way. He compares the kingdom of God in that way. We need to count the cost. And he says in that passage, so therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. Oh, that's a tough word for Jesus. In Matthew 10, 37, he says, Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. He says, I don't think I came to bring peace on earth. I came to bring a sword. And my coming is going to divide father and mother and son and father. The point is that following Jesus has a cost. Anyone can come and the purchase price has been paid by his blood, but make no mistake, following him will cost you something if you're truly going to follow him with complete abandon. Jesus gives three conditions or instructions for following him in this passage. Um, anyone can come, but but first let him deny himself. Let him deny himself. Now that word in the Greek means to have no association with or to disown. Let him disown himself. If you want to come after me, great. Uh you need to disown yourself, deny yourself in a world that's all about self-actualization, self-help, self-fulfillment. Uh, a world that says, uh, treat yourself, right? To whatever you desire. Jesus says, disown yourself. Deny yourself. You see, the call to follow Jesus is a call to die. Um, I was thinking as Taylor was praying and saying, as we grow closer to the crucifixion, and we're gonna get to Jesus' crucifixion, but we're there today, actually, our crucifixion. All right, take up your cross and die. We're this is a call to die. It means that I take myself off the throne of my heart and I give Jesus that rightful place. Instead of myself and my feelings ruling my actions, Jesus becomes the object of my obedience and of my affections. I am here to please him. That's what the follower of Jesus says. When we follow Christ, he's not okay with just being an advisor to the throne of me. He's not an advisor to the throne. He will not comply if we want to put him in the passenger seat and tell him to buckle his seatbelt. That is not following Jesus, and that is not what he calls us to do, and that's not true belief. Following Christ says now he is on the throne of my heart. And this starts by understanding uh, first of all, that we cannot earn heaven, or really we can't grow at all. Lord, I need you, we just say. We need him to make any sort of step. We need him to save us, or saving is not going to happen. I deny all of my good works, all of my righteousness, and bow at his feet and plead for mercy. And of course, he's faithful and just to give us his mercy. This is what Jesus meant when he said that it's the poor in spirit who will inherit the kingdom of heaven. Those who stop trying to earn and instead fall at his throne with nothing to offer. I have nothing to offer. You're gonna have to save me, Lord. That's part of denying myself. Uh Paul in Philippians 3, 8, he lists all of these great accomplishments that he had. If anyone can boast, I can boast more. And then in verse uh 8, there he says that he has suffered the loss of all things. All of those things. All of the lists of accomplishment, they're gone. They mean nothing. And he says, I count them as rubbish. Or more specifically, uh feces. That's a more direct word there. Dung, excrement. I count them as absolutely worthless, less than worthless, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him. That's denying myself right there. I have nothing to offer, it's all about him. And this should be the posture of the heart that follows Jesus. I have nothing to offer. And I come to him as a beggar. And his gift is the most precious thing now in the universe. But you know, there's also this idea here of Jesus becoming not just savior for me, not just so he gets me out of hell, but but he's Lord, who I submit to. He is my master, he has the throne on my heart. Let me ask you this morning, who really has the authority in your life when you look at your life? I'm not talking about what you say. It's probably most, if not all, of us in this room would say, Oh, Jesus has the authority. But what does your life say? Does Jesus really have the authority in your life? Or are you really still on the throne? Next, Jesus says, take up your cross. For these first century believers, the cross wasn't something they wore on their necks as an emblem. And I'm not faulting you if you have a cross as an emblem this morning. That wearing around your necks, but that's just not something in the first century that would be happening. Um it wasn't something uh really that they celebrated at all. And I understand why we celebrate it today, because that's where our salvation was earned. But for them, um it wasn't just something that they said, well, you know what, I I gave up chocolate for Lent, so I'm just taking up my cross, man. You know, I mean, oh my gosh. Give me a break. But but we say we use that as a phrase. I'm taking up my cross for um uh for these things. Uh you know, the cross meant only one thing: uh torturous death. That's all that it meant to these disciples. Torturous death. They watched their kinsmen be tortured and hung on a cross uh routinely from the Roman Empire. In fact, um, estimates say that as many as 30,000 Jews may have been crucified by the Romans during Jesus' lifetime. So during his 33 years on earth, that's like over a thousand a year were crucified, and they would watch this. Can you imagine watching a crucifixion? That I mean, I can't imagine you're walking down the streets, and there's there's a man hanging on a cross for some crime that he had committed. That's what the cross meant to them. It was torturous, brutal, death, it was devastating. So, what does Jesus mean to take up, uh take up my cross? And for these disciples, they this would become quite literal for them. Right, as ten of them would be martyred for their faith, some of them crucified, Peter crucified upside down, um, others killed in other ways. John was the 11th, right? Judas was the 12th, and he didn't make it, right? Um, but but John was the 11th, and John would be boiled in water, survive it, and then, since they couldn't kill him, exile him to an island. Exiled to Patmos. You know, they would see the literal and ultimate fulfillment of what it meant to take up their cross. And it's possible that you and I um could too, even today. I mean, you guys see the war that there is against Christianity, right? You're not blind to that this morning. There is a war in this world against Christianity, against what we are claiming to believe this morning. We may get to a point of having our lives threatened daily. But for all disciples, there will be some level of suffering in this life if you're going to really follow him. 2 Timothy 3, 12 says, indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. I mean, I don't know any other way to interpret that. There's really not a secondary interpretation there. If you are going, if you desire to live a godly life and truly follow Jesus, there will be persecution in your life in some way. It may be the ultimate price, it may not, but there will be persecution. You know, this is so clear that I think it should cause us to ask ourselves if there's absolutely no pushback in my life, if there's absolutely no persecution in my life for following Christ, maybe my life doesn't look as differently as I think it does. Maybe my witness is not as bold as it needs to be. If there's absolutely no persecution in my life, maybe there's something wrong. I'm saying that's a question worth asking. All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. There's two parallel accounts to the one we're reading this morning, uh, one in Matthew 16 and one in Luke 9. Um, and in Luke 9, verse 23, he says, take up your cross, and he it adds the word daily. Take up your cross daily. This is a choice we make every day. Our flesh just has a way of crawling back on the throne, doesn't it? Multiple times a day. Our flesh just has a tendency to, oh, you're up there again. How did you get there? Right? I thought Jesus was on the throne, but there I find myself again. Right? Every single day, it seems, uh, multiple times a day. And I think the the picture here is, yes, it's being willing to suffer for his sake, but also every day choosing to nail that flesh back on the cross. Take that flesh and nail it back to the cross and give Jesus back his throne. This is a moment-by-moment choice. Did you wake up this morning and immediately think about uh your felt needs and building your own kingdom and all these things that you've got to do so that you can accomplish what you want to accomplish for your kingdom? Or did you wake up with the prayer, Lord, will you help me crucify myself today? So that I may see you clearly and follow you clearly and take up your cross daily. And then he says, follow me. And you know, I think this is about proximity to him and obedience to him. Follow me. To follow Jesus is is first of all to know him, to fellowship with him, to draw near to him. In our world of social media, you know, you can just hit the follow button and never really, you don't have a relationship with that person, you never think about it again. Um they give you updates occasionally on your little feed, and uh you can dive deeper when you feel like it, if you really want to go doing that. But to follow, it really doesn't mean that much, right, in those terms. But Jesus is calling us to intimacy here, to deep relationship, to know him and to be known by him. He paid for us to have that privilege with his own blood, so that he can say, follow me. He is God. Who are we that we could follow him and have relationship with him, but he paid the purchase price so that we can follow him. What a privilege it is to follow him. For these first disciples, they were in constant communion with his physical person. For us, we're called to commune with him primarily in his word and prayer. You understand what a privilege reading the Bible is, having a Bible. For centuries and centuries and centuries, the majority of believers would not have a Bible. And you've got how many? How many do I have on my shelf at home? I've got uh Apologetics Bible, Archaeology Bible, uh, New King James Version, ESV study by. I've got them all, right? And you probably do too. You've got uh so many. Do you do we understand what a privilege that is? To have God's word in our hands, to be able to commune with him through his words, to read this word and read the words of God. To pray and he hear us. God, who created the universe, he'll just hear, he will listen to you through Jesus. What a privilege it is. How come we say we follow him if we won't spend time with him, if we won't protect time with him, if we will not joyfully fellowship with him, how come we say we follow him? It's more than that. It's also taking his word and being, as James calls it, a doer of the word, not just a hearer only. That's what it means to follow him. I don't just read his words, I do his words. Whatever he says goes. It's obedience to him every step of the way. It's imitating him as he lived out perfect obedience. We commune with him, we imitate him, we obey him. Jesus said in John 14, 15, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. He's not saying you earn your salvation by keeping my commandments. That's not what he's saying. But he is saying, if you love me, if you really believe, you'll do what I say. That'll prove that you love me. If you love me, you'll want to please me. You'll want to keep my commandments. Like sheep, we hear his voice and respond in immediate, willful, joyful obedience, knowing that wherever he takes us, even if it's uncomfortable, that is the place where what life is going to be found. And we step into the next place he leads, knowing and trusting that he's got us, and if he's calling us to go through it, or calling us to step into a new season, he can be trusted with that completely. So I can dive in confidently. How are you doing with that in your life, with following him? Um, how about even within this church? You know, are you willing to follow Jesus to the opportunities he leads you to? Even if maybe it's it's uncomfortable. Patrick told you all the needs in this church earlier. We've got several, right? We got leadership and serving in several areas. Um, there's several needs that we we just need people to step into and to say, I don't really know what I'm doing, but this seems to be in front of me. And so I'm just gonna step in and trust the Lord. I don't know that that's how that's how it's always made sense for my wife and I to live, and we haven't done that perfectly, certainly. But it's like, okay, well, God has placed this thing, God seems to be calling us to plant this church. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm a pharmacist. But this seems to be the direction he's leading, so okay. Let's step in, let's jump in, and he will take care of us. And just I could I could just point you through things I could stand up here all day and talk about uh opportunity after opportunity where it's just, and some of them maybe we missed, but others where it was just this seems to be in front of us. We're trying to follow Jesus, and this is the thing he's placed in front of me. So I'm gonna jump in and trust him. You know, that's follow me. Follow me, and I'm so proud of so many of you because I know you do that, you've done that too in many areas of your life, and it's just this is scary. This is scary, but I don't know what to do. I'm trusting the shepherd, and this is where he seems to have led. And I'm just those of you that do that, like continue to do that, those of you who never thought about that. Wake up this morning. This is what the Lord calls us to to just follow him in joyful obedience and just trust that he's gonna lead us in the right spots and just jump in. These conditions of discipleship, you know, they range uh from the very earth-shattering uh realization that he may ask us to give up our lives, literally, or everything that we have. They range from that to the very seemingly mundane or routine, ordinary moments of our lives, like choosing not to respond in anger or frustration in a moment when I've had a really bad day, right? That's just choosing to deny self and follow him and let the word of God overrule my tendency to put myself back on the throne. The point is following Jesus is about him being firmly planted as the king of my heart. He has the throne. And no matter if it, even if it's uncomfortable, what he says is what's best. And I'm gonna follow him. He has all of me, even if it costs me the ultimate price. You know, I found that many, for many of us Christians, we will be very quick to say that we take a bullet for Christ, or you know, we die, we die for him. Because you know what in in America, doesn't that seem fairly distant from us? I mean, it does. Like, look around. We're drinking coffee and listening to a sermon. Okay. Like it's I mean, it could happen, but it seems very distant. Yeah, oh yeah, I'd take a bullet for Jesus. Yeah, I would die for him, absolutely. But at the very same time, we refuse to let him have control of those little moments in our lives. As we continue to justify our rude behavior, our anger, our lack of compassion or patience, our complete disinterest with telling others about Jesus, or our continual refusal to put sin to death in our lives. We're not going to give him those moments. But we would pay the ultimate price, really. I mean, I don't even bother saying stuff like that. Because it is distant. And it and it is, and it when you're in that moment, you know, the Lord will give you the grace, I believe. But what is much more important is this moment. This moment, when you go home today, that moment will you take up your cross and follow him when you feel like doing something else? That's the real moment of our lives. God may call us to that other moment someday, but he is calling you to many moments today where you have the opportunity to take your flesh, put it back on that cross, and put Jesus back on the throne. Will you do that this morning? You know, uh so easy to make these big statements, but are we following him in those so-called little moments? Life is made up of little moments, it's just a bunch of little moments, and we've got to be faithful in those little moments. So those are the conditions of the called. And again, these aren't uh, this is a hard sermon to teach because it these are not meritorious works that earn salvation for us. And they're not even, they're not sequential steps to be saved, okay? Jesus has has secured our salvation on the cross, but if we're truly going to follow him, this is what it looks like. Now let's look at the second point, comparison of two kingdoms. In verse 34, Jesus gives us the what. What does it look like to follow him? Well, starting in verse 35, he really gives us the why. Why is it worth it? He says that whoever would save his life will lose it. Whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospels will save it. We're not talking about suffering and dying as a soldier in the army. That's valiant, of course, but that's not what we're talking about here. We're not talking about giving your life over to philanthropy and paying the ultimate price for that. We're talking about losing your life for his sake and for the gospels. It is that person who will find true life. And Jesus goes on to ask, what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? So we're seeing two kingdoms here in view. The kingdom of this world, which ultimately is the kingdom of self, and then the kingdom of God, Christ's kingdom, this kingdom that he is ushering in in this passage. On one hand, we have an eternal kingdom in the very presence of God in perfect paradise with perfect bodies, perfect knowledge, perfect joy, perfect riches with those you love who have died in Christ. And this kingdom, again, lasts forever. It's eternal. It literally never ends. Oh, and by the way, before you get to that place, that ultimate place, God promises a relationship with you where his grace, he promises, will be sufficient for you, where he will give you peace and joy as you follow him, even though you may suffer. And then on the other hand, there's this other kingdom that lasts maybe 70 or 80 years. More if you're lucky, less if you're not so much. And then it's over. It's just over. You die. And you know, you'll probably have some happiness there at times, but also you're gonna have some suffering at times in that uh that kingdom. You you might have you might have fame and and and and fortune, you might. There's a chance of great popularity, there's a chance a lot of people like you, right? But every joy you experience is tainted by sin. Because there's still this emptiness that longs for another kingdom that you were really made for. Which kingdom do you take? Well, when you put it that way, most people would choose the first kingdom, right? Let me give me the eternal one. Yeah, I'll take that. That sounds good with all the perfection and such. Yet most people still live as if that second kingdom is all there is and all that's worth living for. And I've got to invest every penny and every ounce of energy into building that very, very temporary kingdom. Because that kingdom is tempting. It appeals to our right now, right here, once, and our flesh desires parts of that kingdom. We desire uh riches or popularity or control or fame or comfort. But Jesus says that even if you get the best of the best on this earth, all you ever wanted, it pales in comparison to this eternal kingdom. But you have to let go of that kingdom of self to embrace the kingdom of God. It's a paradox, but you must lose your life, lose that other kingdom in order to save your life, in order to get this other, this much superior kingdom. And if you try to hold so tightly to everything in this life, you'll lose the source of abundant life. In Matthew 13, 44, uh, Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and in his joy sold everything that he had to buy that field. The kingdom of Christ is a treasure of infinite value. What good is it to have everything in this world but end up losing out on the kingdom of Christ, that eternal kingdom, and end up in hell outside of the kingdom, apart from God. You know, I've used this story before, but it's it's really stuck in my mind forever because I'm a huge uh sports fan. And it's a this clip of Tom Brady three Super Bowls into his career. He's he's already won three MVPs, uh, married to a supermodel, extremely rich, incredibly comfortable in life. Uh, probably you know, for some of you guys, Maybe everything you ever wanted when you were a kid in terms of the material. He has this dream life for so many. And he makes the statement in an interview, there's got to be more than this. And the interviewer says, Well, what do you think it is? And he says, I I wish I knew. I wish, I wish I knew. This man has everything anyone has ever wanted on earth in terms of the material. And he says, You know, I wish I knew what was meant, what was missing. You see, we think chasing all of our earthly desires is going to lead to life. But we were made for another kingdom. And we find only emptiness by investing everything into this kingdom, this materialistic kingdom. On the flip side of that, uh, Jim Elliott, he was a missionary who gave up otherworldly pursuits to follow Jesus to the unreached parts of the world. And uh he ended up being killed by the very people that he went to share the gospel with. Many of you know his story, but he wrote in his journal before his death, he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose. And that is so true. And he he ultimately uh paid that ultimate price uh for that. But he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose. He's talking about those two kingdoms, right? It's worth giving all of this other temporary kingdom for that one special eternal kingdom of God. Two men living for two very different kingdoms, one who everyone idolizes, empty from chasing the same things everyone else chases. The other facing death with joy. Confident that there's a better kingdom ahead for him, and it's worth giving up everything else for this. You know, our churches are filled with people today doing the same exact thing Tom Brady was doing, maybe on a smaller scale, just living for that next worldly desire, asking Jesus to just come along in the passenger seat and help when I need you. And find that same emptiness. You can go to church all your life and have that same emptiness because you're not truly following this Jesus, because it's in losing what you think will give you life, and chasing this eternal kingdom. That's where you really find life. It's in losing what you think is going to bring you life. That is where you will find it. Jesus is calling us to deny ourselves, take up our crosses daily, and follow him. Because leveraging everything in this life for his kingdom is an absolute bargain. It's crazy that we can even do that. And it is in embracing his kingdom that we find true, abundant life. Yes, this is it's a call to surrender, a call to die to self, a call to take up your cross in this life, but it's worth it. As Jesus says in verse 37, what can a man give in return for his soul? Your soul is on the line. Now we think that that means just in terms of the eternal. Where is your soul going to spend eternity? And certainly it does mean that. That is on the line, your eternal destination. Will you be with God forever or will you not? Well, will you be apart from him? We think in terms of the eternal, but I think that's also talking about losing your soul now, in a sense. In that pursuit, that empty pursuit that just drains you. And you reach the next accomplishment and you find that it's just not what you thought it was. And you lose your soul in that pursuit. Because we were made for the worship of him, of someone greater. And it's in the worship of him with all of our talents and gifts and abilities and resources. It's in the worship of him where we really find life. Where we really find fulfillment. It's in losing this life, that's where we will find it. So, what does this look like? First, it looks like seeing Jesus' sacrifice on the cross for my sins as the ultimate treasure. Is that your ultimate treasure? Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, like that pearl of great price. Oh, but sell everything to have it. It drives everything that I do. Is he your ultimate treasure? But then, you know, it looks like practically like protecting my time with Jesus. Drawing nearer to God. It looks like living with open hands with my resources, with the attitude of, God, this is all yours anyway. This isn't mine. You do what you please with it, it's yours. Let me use it for your glory. It looks like going to war against sin, denying myself in those little moments of the thing that I think that I've just got to have. That's going to bring me the happiness. It looks like leveraging my money and my talents and my abilities and gifts and uh to see people grow in Christ and to see people come to know Christ. How are you doing that this morning? It looks like a husband who just takes Ephesians 5 just at face value and who lays down his life and sacrifice for his wife daily. It looks like a couple who's struggling financially but still worshiping God. We're still gonna worship God with what little we have. We're still going to give to him faithfully. And we're gonna trust him. It looks like a child choosing to obey his parents even when that's not what he feels like doing. It looks like a single person setting up boundaries for purity in his life. Because that's the way God says to do it, and I believe there's life in that. And leveraging that singleness as a gift to be given for the gospel's sake. It looks like seeing a need and just stepping in faith into that need. Because God's placed it here. Why do I even know about it? God brought it to my attention. Maybe I should jump in. It looks like choosing to ask your coworkers about faith, even when that makes the workday really awkward. It looks like all of these little everyday moments and so many more where we're crucifying the kingdom of self and of this world in favor of building another kingdom for which we were made. That's the kingdom for which we were made. That foreign, eternal kingdom. What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? We need to ask ourselves this question: which kingdom am I truly living for? As individuals, uh, as couples, we need to ask, which kingdom of we are we living for as families, even as children, what kingdom am I truly living for? The kingdom of me? Fun for a while, but ultimately empty, or the kingdom of God. A difficult calling, like fighting a spiritual war, but ultimately complete with eternal joy and riches with our Savior and with sweet fellowship with him now. Jesus says, for those who follow him, we're called to lose our lives to find it. That's the great paradox of our faith. How am I going to lose my life and then find it? Right? That's the great paradox. Let's finish up with our final point, the coming of the King. Jesus says in verse 38, that whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, and this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. Jesus has already predicted his death and his resurrection in this passage for the disciples in verse 31. Now here he predicts his second coming. Though I'm pretty sure they didn't have a clue. Those are terrifying words. Now, this is not talking about momentary lapses and boldness to share the gospel. Okay, it's not, uh as believers, you know, we're we're certainly called to share the gospel. That is our calling. And uh as we talked about, we're called to leverage everything for building this kingdom. But he's not sitting in heaven waiting for us to not be bold at the grocery store. And then he says to us, okay, well, when I come, I'm gonna be ashamed of you. That's not supposed to be the picture here. We are secured as sons and daughters if we're if our trust is in Christ. We're not always gonna get it right. Okay? So breathe easy. That's not what this is about. Even when we fail, we are secured as his sons and daughters. But this is talking about a rejection of Christ. That rejection can look very blatant, or it can be very subtle by just, you know what? I never took the time to consider Christ. But if we reject Christ, there will be only judgment at his coming when he comes back. He came to offer salvation the first time. When he comes back, he's coming as king to rule and reign and to judge sin. And if your sins are covered by his blood, then you'll be entered into this kingdom. And if they're not, then somebody's got to pay for them. And that's going to be you. Right? If you reject Jesus in this life, there's nothing but judgment coming. Those are hard words, but they're true words. Jesus is the only sacrifice. If we are ashamed of him in this life, he will be ashamed of us when he comes. And there will be eternal separation from God in outer darkness, because there's no payment left to cover the sin without Jesus. Jesus calls himself the Son of Man here, and that that was really a title he used often for himself, and that takes us back to Daniel chapter 7. And in Daniel chapter 7, Daniel has this vision, this messianic vision of this one like the Son of Man coming to God, who's called the Ancient of Days in that passage. And it says, Behold, with the clouds of heaven there there came one like a son of man. And he came to the ancient of days and was presented before him. And 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 one that shall not be destroyed. This is the return of Christ prophesied hundreds of years before Christ came the first time. And it says, He'll come again, and when he comes, he'll come in glory and power, and all people shall serve him, and he'll be coming in judgment. And for those who've rejected him, they'll be judged according to the things that they've done. It's a day of terror for those who've rejected him. But for those who love him, and for those who love his appearing, those who leverage this world for the next, out of love for him and adoration for his sacrifice. For those, this is going to be a moment of great joy. This is our blessed hope. That this is the moment, the moment that maybe the disciples thought was here in Mark 8. No, this is the moment. It's Daniel 7 and it's still coming. This is the blessed hope that we have a sure hope in this future kingdom that is coming, where Jesus will reign physically and we will be with him. This is good news for us if our trust is in Jesus this morning. And every sacrifice, every suffering will have been worth it as we live with our God forever in this eternal, perfect kingdom. Everything we thought, you know, we missed out on in this life shall be repaid a million fold in that one. And as chapter 9 opens, Jesus says to the crowd, Truly I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God, after it has come with power. So there's some debate on what Jesus is referring to here, but I think it actually is fairly obvious in the text. See, in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the transfiguration of Jesus happens right after this statement. And this is where Jesus is going to give a preview, give a glimpse of himself in glory and power, kind of a glimpse of that future kingdom. And three of his disciples would be able to witness this. And so we're going to cover that next time. But it is uh this is said by Jesus that some of you standing here will not taste death before you see this kingdom come in power. And someday he's gonna come in fullness, that fullness of power. He's gonna come on the clouds, and he's gonna come to usher in fully this kingdom that we're all hoping for. Um I'm gonna ask the band to come on up, and we're gonna close in the next few moments here. You know, we've seen uh this morning that there is a cost to following Jesus. Yes, it is absolutely true that salvation is a completely free gift to us, paid for by the blood of Christ, because God loves us so deeply, and God loves you so deeply this morning that He would take the penalty for your sin. He would take it upon himself. But a true response to this good news of the gospel is a response of humility. You know, the call of Christ is a call to come and die to yourself and to live for him. And would that describe your life right now? I'm gonna ask you to bow your heads and close your eyes. Would that describe your life right now? Would people say, you know, there's a guy or a girl who he seems to be leveraging everything for eternity. He's putting all of his eggs in that basket. I think one of the biggest dangers in our world is lukewarm Christianity. It's this type of Christianity that we've made up, where I get all the benefits of Jesus, but none of the cost. It's where we make ourselves our own comfortable Jesus, who asks nothing from us, but just gives us everything we want, whether we choose to obey Him or live for Him or not. You know, we tend to really love the part of the cross that displays God's great love and grace for us. But then we ignore that part where Jesus calls us to take up our own cross and follow him. He calls us to actually obey him no matter the cost. We often want Jesus as Savior, but we're not ready to submit to him as Lord. And you know, we might even think that the words of Jesus here are just for a select few radical Christians. But actually, you know, this kind of sacrificial life is supposed to be the norm. So let me ask you this morning, have you have you really come after Jesus? See, according to him, there's no such thing as Christianity where you keep your life and you just add him to it. There is no such thing. So which kingdom are you living for? Some of you in this room are continuing to build a kingdom on comfort and control and reputation and money and just your comfort. And if you're honest, I think you'd say that even in the best moments, there's still something missing. There's something empty about that. That's because we were made for another kingdom. We were made to give this life up so that we may truly live. And that kingdom was initiated by the blood of Christ. This one who calls us to come and die to ourselves. You see, he's not saying you need to do this, you go first. But see, he came first. He has gone before us and died for us. He was rejected so that you could be accepted. And his invitation is not an invitation just to be better or to follow the rules more strictly, but it's an invitation to come and find life by losing your grip on this world. And for some this morning, you need to you need to stop chasing this other kingdom that, of course, feels natural, but keeps leaving you empty. Come and lay yourself before the cross and receive the abundant life that He has for you. And you do that through repentance of sin and faith in his work on the cross. And for believers in this room, I would just ask, are you truly following Jesus this morning? Would you say that you are taking up your cross daily? Does your marriage look like you're taking up your cross daily? What about in your parenting and your singleness and how you leverage your time for the kingdom? What about in your thought life? Are you taking up your cross and your obedience to his word, even in the uncomfortable parts? Are you taking up your cross? Are you leveraging all that the Lord has given you for his eternal kingdom or holding so tightly to yours? Only the Holy Spirit knows exactly how he wants to apply this to your life this morning. So I'm gonna be quiet and let him work. And I would just ask you to ask him, Holy Spirit, what would you have me have me do with this message this morning? What are you trying to teach me through your word this morning? I'm gonna give you a few moments to do that. Um, this altar is open if you want to come and pray. I'll be in the back if you need me, and then we'll worship together.