Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.
36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
Serving God faithfully and truthfully is a total surrender to God.
Psalm 40:8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.
That is a prophecy regarding Jesus Christ. He came to do His Father’s will. He not only ‘came’ to do His Father’s will but in reality He ‘did’ His Father’s will. It is one thing to intend to do right. It is another to do right. Those who are saved need to understand that in salvation the repentant sinner must surrender to the Lord in salvation. That does not mean that we understand all that is involved, but the attitude must change. The heart must change. That is the Work of God in the heart of the repentant sinner.
Jesus was speaking to His disciples. He had called each of them to follow Him. Eleven of them followed Him. The twelfth, Judas Iscariot, followed Him physically, but not spiritually. Judas never took up his cross.
It is important to note that taking up thy cross has nothing to do with some physical ailment we might have or some financial burden we carry. The cross has to do with our spiritual life. Only those who are saved can take up their cross. The lost refuse the cross of Christ and they refuse to identify with Him.
Each born again child of God has their own cross to bear. Peter learned that after Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus called Peter aside and challenged him regarding his love for Jesus. Jesus gave Peter an assignment. Peter saw John nearby and asked Jesus what his task was. Jesus told him not to concern himself with John’s task. He needed to do what he was called to do.
Jesus stated that those who will come after Him must deny themselves. That is what a person does when they turn to God in repentance and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Up until that moment the person is fighting against God. When a person gets saved, that person begins to follow Jesus. Part of the teaching that God commands His disciples to do is to teach all nations the truth. Jesus’ command is not the same as the easy believism that is quite common now. The truth is what sets the captive free. The lie keeps the captive bound. Modern day Christendom has many bound participants.
The saved person must take up his cross. He must embrace that which God has called him to do. Rather than going his own way, he must follow Jesus. That is what Christianity is. The root word of Christianity is “Christ”. That is why there can be no such thing as a ‘Catholic” Christian. Catholics, by design, do not follow Jesus.
In verse 35 Jesus addressed the very real matter of the fear of man and of pride. Pride puts up a shield against any type of hurt. The flesh does not want to be insulted, laughed at, mocked, hurt in any way. The flesh wants to be exalted. The flesh wants to be honoured and praised.
Jesus stated that taking up one’s cross is to lose one’s life.
Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
When a person is genuinely saved, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in the heart. He is there to guide the saved person into all truth. The person who fights against the truth is fighting against the Holy Spirit and loses the joy and peace that God declares will be part of the Christian life.
The person that takes up his cross, will find that life that the Bible promises to every true child of God. The Christian life is not complicated. It is not the compromise of the New Evangelical crowd. It does not drive the true saint ‘away’ from the true local church. It draws the true saint ‘into’ a true local church. The Spirit of God, dwelling in the true saint, draws that person into a closer walk with the Lord.
In verse 36 we are asked a very important question. What is the price of your soul? What do you have that will cover the cost of your soul? Your soul cannot enter heaven unless it is absolutely pure. What can you offer to God that will satisfy His righteous demand for your soul?
Jesus stated that the entire world does not have enough value to save one soul. The U.S. just made a deal with Ukraine regarding rare earth minerals. The U.S. needs them for their modern day manufacturing. Ukraine needs the U.S. support in their defence of their nation. In that deal, the U.S. will get some rare earth minerals. Ukraine will get some protection. There will be gaps in the fulfilling of that agreement because of the human nature.
Recently, I listened to some people talking about billionaires. One of them asked the question of why a person needs a billion dollars. They stated a person can only eat so much food or wear so many clothes, etc. After you have it all, why do you need more. Later on, one of those same women was concerned that one of her coworkers was getting overtime for something that she felt was not her right. Greed is the reason a person wants more. There are many excuses given as to why the greed controls the person, but it is still greed.
Greed will drive a person, but all along the way and even in the end, it cannot satisfy the longing of the soul.
In verse 38 we are given further understanding of what the cross is. Jesus Christ went to the cross. It was a curse to be put upon a cross. Jesus was mocked and rejected by most while He hung on that cross. Peter denied Him three times while Jesus was on trial. None of the disciples wanted to identify with Him as His disciple at that time.
That changed after Jesus’ ascension and after the gift of the Holy Ghost was given in Acts 2. Peter demonstrated after that, that a saved person can grieve the Holy Ghost. He did that in Galatians 2. Paul needed to expose that sin and Peter needed to stop it.
We need Jesus to welcome us into His Father’s house. We need the angels to welcome us home as well. Jesus stated that He would be ashamed of those who would not identify with Him in this adulterous and sinful world. Adultery involved a divided loyalty. We often think of a marriage that is not committed to one man and one woman, as an adulterous relationship. That is true. God spoke of the nation of Israel as committing spiritual adultery with Him. They wanted God on their terms and they wanted paganism on their terms. The reality is that you cannot have either on your own terms. You may think you have one or the other, but sin rules in the heart of the lost person. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
You cannot be a strong Christian and distance yourself from God. Jesus Christ is coming back. That is a fact. Every saved person will meet Him at the judgment seat of Christ. There will be thousands of people in heaven but at that judgment seat it will be the individual saint and Christ. Nothing else will matter. No cheering on from friends or family will be there. It will be a very intimate meeting with the Lord.
All the lost will meet the Lord at the great white throne judgment. There will be no holy angels there to welcome any one of those people. There will be thousands of people at that judgment, but that too will be a very personal meeting with the Lord. It will not be a good meeting. It will be a dreadful meeting.
Jesus wants to present His children before His Father with joy.
Ephesians 5:27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
That is what Jesus wants to do. Through His shed blood, which is applied to the heart of each true saint, He will do that. No sin can enter heaven and thus the saint may lose some rewards and not be all that he could be, due to lack of obedience as a true child of God. No one can earn salvation. It is a gift of God, at the expense of the Lord Jesus Christ. Carnality cannot remain in the true child of God. The will of man must be brought into obedience to the will of God if the person is saved. That is not works salvation. It is obedience of the true child of God.
The cross is not a dreaded thing for the child of God. Each person will have their unique calling and God is with every one of His children all the time. The power to do right is always there. The challenge is for the disciple to submit to the will of God.
Pastor Bartel
