Who Are You Living For?
This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.
This morning, we will take a look at this passage before us. And if you have your bullets in hand, you can see the outline for the message. This message is entitled, Who Are You Living For? Who Are You Living For? The outline, as you see there, we will touch on two ways of life. And then the vital expository context for verse 36 is in the verses leading to it.
And as we go through this passage, I pray that you will give your full attention to the Word of God. When we're under the preaching and teaching of God's Word, it is not just for information. It is not just for education. It is not just for our edification, which it is, it's for our transformation. When we come under the Word of God, whether it's right now, this morning, or when you listen to preaching, when you open your Bible and read, when God's Word speaks, it's for change. It's not just information. It's not just head knowledge. It's not so that we can be delighted in knowing the God of the universe and what He’s thinking. And we love that. And these things are good. But what it's really for is change.
In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. And He said, He spoke, and change took place. And when you see this through scripture, when God speaks, things change. He spoke reality into existence. So when you are reading your Bible, it's so that you can change. When you read your devotion, it is not just to check a box, I did my devotion for today and I go on my way. And I can say, I did my devotion. It's for change.
And in this passage, we are going to see two ways of life. Two ways of life. And my prayer, as I've been preparing, has been that all of our hearts would change today. That we would be transformed today. That our lives would be different after we leave today. Not because of me. At all. But because of Him. Christ is all. All in all.
So we're going to begin in Mark 8:36, briefly. And then we're going to go to verse 27 and work our way back to verse 36. Let's begin. Verse 36: "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?" This verse is our focus today. And it reflects Jesus' point of view on one of the two ways of life. This verse, in its context, contrasts two ways of life. An existential view and an eternal view. An existential view and an eternal view.
This verse is a question, you will notice, and it's a question for the ages. It's a question that every human being who has lived, is living, or will ever live, has to answer. The implications of this question are profound and transformative. And right from the beginning of scripture to the end, underneath this question is another question. Who are you living for? Who are you living for? Implicit in the question of verse 36 is that question. Who are you living for?
Now the contrast in this verse, we can see it's a contrast because it begins with the word for. So what is the for there for? It's because it's connected to the preceding verses. It's inextricably connected to the preceding verses. The context is critical to understand this verse. Now the context is well known, but it's not always associated with this verse. This verse is often taken out of its context, and people will be talking, and maybe it's a believer speaking to an unbeliever, who says, what will it benefit you if you gain the whole world and you lose your soul? And it's thought-provoking in that context, in that conversation. But as I say, it's often wrenched out of its context.
There's a deeper meaning here than the way that it's typically used, and we're going to learn that today. But as I said, we don't want to just learn this. It's for change, change, transformation. So this question in verse 36 that has an implied question underneath it, who are you living for, is what we're going to explore today. So to begin our exploration, for your heart and mine, we want to look at the context, this vital expository context.
So let's now look at verse 27 through to verse 30, and I'll read these verses, and then we're going to go through them one by one. Verse 27: "Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He was asking His disciples, saying to them, 'Who do people say that I am?'" And they told Him, saying, "John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; but others, one of the prophets." And He continued questioning them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered and said to Him, "You are the Christ." And He warned them to tell no one about Him."
Now in verse 27, you see right away that Jesus and the disciples are headed for Caesarea Philippi. They're on their way, and if you look quickly at verse 22, you'll notice that they were in Bethsaida, and they're heading north within Israel. And actually, if we're honest, what we have to really say is that this is a land that is not in Israel's hands. It's dominated by Rome, it had been dominated by Greece, and before that the Persians, and before that the Babylonians, and before that the Assyrians. It's not their land. But they're moving through, and Jesus has been preaching and teaching and doing miracles in this land, and if you glance back to the prior chapters and based on the headings in your Bible, you'll see He's been doing miracles. But they're moving north towards Caesarea Philippi.
Caesarea Philippi was a region of a lush landscape at the foot of Mount Hermon. It's a lush region, but it's a region that was steeped in Baal worship, and you can see that in Joshua 11:17 and Judges 3:5. This region had been steeped in worship for millennia, for hundreds of years. Even when it was in Israel's possession, it was steeped in Baal worship, the northern part of Israel. Under Greek occupation, the area was related to the Greek god Pan, and you may have heard of this Pan, the half-god, half-goat deity, so-called, who played the pan pipe. We get our English word panic from this god, and he was a frightful god who had a thirst for carnal pleasure. It was a place of pagan worship, a lush place at the foot of Mount Hermon, but a place of idolatry.
Under the subsequent Roman occupation after the Greeks, it was named Caesarea, after Caesar. It was named by Herod's son, whose name was Philip, and he wanted to differentiate between Caesarea that's on the Mediterranean and Caesarea up north, so he called it Caesarea Philippi, to distinguish it. So this is the setting, and we see this in verse 27. The disciples are heading in this direction, Jesus is leading them, and along the way, as we see in verse 27, Jesus asks a question: "Who do the people say that I am?" Jesus is asking the disciples for the people's perspective on who He is. One commentator says, and I quote, "Often Jesus's questions were springboards for new teaching". So He's asked this question, verse 27.
Verse 28, the disciples relate the opinions of the people, so they share. They say Jesus is John the Baptist, Elijah, or one of the prophets. The people believe that Jesus was John resurrected. Remember that he had been beheaded by Herod, and there's a story all pertaining to that. And so the people are wondering, is this John? Has John come back? Is that who this is? Or is He a prophet, an Old Testament prophet? And you can see a bit of this discourse in Luke 9:7 to 9. The people thought Jesus was special. Just like many people today think Jesus is special.
I was recently at an ultrasound, and I was talking with the ultrasound technician that happened to be Iranian. This was probably about five months ago, and through the discussion, it came out that I was a Christian, and she said, "Oh, I love Jesus. He's a messenger. He's a messenger." And I was lying there with gel on me, thinking, okay, I want to say something about this. But she's like, let me let her finish, then I'll bring up what I want to say, because I didn't want her hand to go all over. So afterwards, I started sharing a little bit about who Jesus really is. Well, the people in that day are thinking that Jesus is special, but they don't really know who He is.
And Jesus is now going to challenge His followers, His disciples, with the same question. Clearly, the people are wrong. Verse 29, "But who do you say that I am?" We see that question. "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus is asking the disciples, who am I? Who am I? What's my identity? And Peter answers. We can count on Peter. He's got an opinion. "You are the Christ." "You are the Christ."
Now in Matthew 16:15–19, in a parallel passage, there's more about Peter's answer and Jesus' response. But we'll simply state here and note here that Peter's right. It's been revealed to him by God who Jesus is. Jesus is the Christ, and that word Christ means anointed. He is the chosen one. He's the long-awaited Messiah. The Messiah's arrived. Jesus is here. He's the Christ. He's the anointed one. This is cause for jubilation.
The disciples, the Jews, were awaiting their conquering ruler, a leader like Moses or David, who would defeat their enemies. Just a few moments ago, I went through this litany of empires that had crushed this area of the world, one after the other. And there are prophecies concerning the coming of a Messiah. And Peter, under God's illumination, has identified that Jesus is Christ. But while this is true, this is Jesus' identity, it was not His purpose at that time.
And we see in verse 30 that Jesus admonishes and forbids the disciples from divulging His identity. He warns them. The word, the Greek word, is ‘epitimao’. It's a strong word, and it really speaks to Him restricting them from saying anything about His identity. But then He does tell them His purpose. Look at verse 31 and 32a. He tells them His purpose after strictly warning them not to say who He is.
Verse 31: "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 was stating the matter openly. Isn't it interesting? Peter, under God, has indicated who Jesus is, and Jesus has said, don't tell anyone. And then He tells them His purpose openly. It's interesting. It's interesting.
Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of Man. And this is essential. This truth is essential. We've just read that Jesus is the Christ. The disciples know this. They heard it, even though they are not to repeat it at that time. And now they're seeing His purpose. But just consider the juxtaposition of knowing who Jesus is as the Christ, having this sense of jubilation, and then hearing this. That the Son of Man is going to suffer and be rejected and be killed, but rise on the third day.
First, Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of Man, a title used here emphasizing His humanity and His humility. Secondly, and vitally, Jesus uses the word must. Don't miss that. Must. Not maybe. Must. Must what? Suffer. Be rejected. Be killed. The Son of Man must suffer. Be rejected and be killed. Yet after three days, rise again. And He was saying this publicly, openly, publicly.
The disciples were incredulous, incredulous, stunned. Here's the Christ. He has come, one like Moses or David, to overthrow in their context the Roman Empire. We're going to have our land back. He's going to suffer, be rejected, killed. One commentator notes, "This announcement stunned the disciples. If He is indeed the Christ of God as they had confessed, then why would He be rejected by the religious leaders? Why would these leaders crucify Him? Did not the Old Testament scriptures promise that Messiah would defeat all their enemies and establish a glorious kingdom for Israel? There was something wrong somewhere and the disciples were confused."
And you can imagine that. You can imagine it. They're confused. They're more than confused. They're indignant. And we'll see this. They expected a conquering Messiah. And we won't turn there, but I'll just give you a couple of passages for reference: Jeremiah 23:4-8 and Zechariah 6:12-13. If you read those passages, you will see prophecies of a coming Messiah who's going to rule. It's those types of scriptures they had in their minds.
So they understood His person, but not His work. They understood He was the Christ, but not what He came to do at that time. This was totally destabilizing. And we know this because of what happens next. We don't have to guess. We don't have to posit that they were indignant because we're going to see it. We're going to see it.
Look at verse 32b. "And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him." Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. The word for rebukes is the same word that Jesus had just used in sternly warning them, ‘epitimao’. Jesus had just sternly warned them not to say who He is. Now Peter uses the same word to rebuke Jesus.
Now turn to Matthew 16:22. Let's see Peter's rebuke. Because here in the book of Mark, it says that he rebuked Him, but it doesn't say what he said. What was the rebuke? What was the content of the rebuke? Matthew 16:22: "And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, 'God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.'" Peter rebukes Jesus. And look at the language of this. He's speaking to the Christ, who is God. And he says, "God forbid it, Lord." Think about this. Here's a human being saying to God, "God forbid it, Lord." It is almost as if Peter doesn't understand the words he's saying.
God is sovereign over all things. Lord, ‘Kyrios, is supreme. He's actually saying, "God forbid, God." That's how indignant he is. He's losing his mind. That's how indignant he is. It's just not computing. It's not, it makes no sense. You're the Christ and You're going to be rejected and suffer and die? They're stunned.
Notice that language: "God forbid it, Lord." Has there ever been a stranger statement? Peter invokes God to forbid God's plan. The audacity of Peter. He's a follower of Jesus. He's been following Jesus. He has seen the miracles. He just identified that Jesus is the Christ. He just identified that Jesus is the Christ under inspiration. Jubilation turns to consternation and admonition. Jesus is admonishing—sorry, Peter is admonishing Jesus.
Can you sense and feel the tension? Can you imagine if you were one of the other disciples? And you're thinking just like Peter, but Peter's the one who says it. As you look at the language and as you study the text, there's almost a part of you that feels like Jesus should say, "Off with his head." Well, He's going to say something worse, actually.
Verse 23, But turning around and seeing His disciples, He, ‘epitimao’, rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind Me, Satan!"..... "for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's.’" "Get behind Me, Satan."
Peter had rebuked Jesus. Jesus now calls Peter Satan and directs him to "get behind Me." Get behind Me. And it's that same word in the rebuke, ‘epitimao’. Jesus refers to Peter's admonition. Jesus refers to Peter's admonition, right, forbid it, as influenced by Satan.
Now, we don't have time to go there. But when you read the broader account in Matthew, and I alluded to it already, Peter had just said that Jesus was the Christ. But in the other account, Jesus says, flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but the Father in heaven. So here is Peter. He has just identified Jesus as the Christ, illuminated by God. Jesus tells him and them His purpose. Peter rebukes Jesus: forbid it. God forbid. Forbid it, Lord. And now Jesus says, "Get behind Me, Satan." Peter was having a day.
They were having a day, like no other day.
But do you see the two ways of life? You see it? Jesus is the Christ. This is His purpose. Don't go that way, Jesus. Get thee behind me, Satan. You see it? Now, I want you to notice this, because the juxtaposition of these two ways of life is in this verse.
Look at the text. "For you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's." This is Jesus speaking. He's speaking to Peter. He's just told him to get behind Me, Satan. You are not setting your mind on the things of God, one way of life, the things of man, the other way of life.
God, one way of life, the things of man, the other way of life. Take note. Two ways of life.
This is a contrast for the ages. And this contrast is not just that these are two ways of life, and it's just two options. These are two contrary ways of life. They are diametrically opposed to one another. Setting your mind. Setting your mind.
Turn to Genesis, Genesis chapter 3. And as you turn, remember the title of this sermon. Who are you living for? Who are you living for? Two ways of life. In Genesis chapter 3, we see the origin of this. Look at verse 6. And what do you see in verse 6a? Eve is looking. She saw. And she coveted the fruit. And she took the fruit.
Who influenced Eve? What's in the first five verses of this chapter? In verse 1, it talks about a serpent. Two ways of life. That's where it starts. Genesis 3:6. Eve had in her mind God's direction. Don't eat of that tree. Or what? You'll die. She also had in her mind the serpent's temptation. If you eat of that tree, you will not die. But you will be like God, knowing good and evil. Two ways of life.
You will notice in verse 6, Eve is not saying anything. Where's the epicenter of her decision making? Her mind. Her mind. And you will notice Eve saw. Input to the mind. Input to her mind was the word of God. Don't eat of the tree. The word of the serpent. Go ahead. It's no problem. And that's input. But she looked. Input. Input to the mind. Input to the mind influences the mind.
As an old IT guy, garbage in, garbage out. Garbage in, garbage out. What do you put in your mind? What goes in your mind every day? If we were to pause and hand out sheets to everyone and say, I want you to write what you think about every day. And I want you to write what comes into your mind every day. What is your mind set on? What is your mind set on?
When you make decisions. When you consider your aspirations, your hopes. When you're working, you're at school, in your relationships, in your friendships. Are you setting your mind on the things of God or the things of man?
From the Garden of Eden to that lush foothills of Mount Hermon, to your heart and my heart, God's interests, man's interests. Setting your mind is the pivot point for your life. Setting your mind is three words in English. In the Greek, it's one word, ‘phroneo’. And it means to exercise the mind, to interest oneself. To put another way, self-interest. What are your interests? Because you see, you set your mind on your interests. That's what Peter was doing. But Jesus has just said, don't set your mind on the interests of men. Set your mind on God's interests. You see it? Jesus rebukes Peter for setting his mind on his own interests. God's interests, self-interest.
What's your mindset? What's your mindset? What's your mindset each day? As I mentioned, when you make decisions, what's your mindset? As you think about your life; you're raising your children; you're driving your car; you're on the TTC; you're at home; you've put your head down at night and before you fall asleep and you're thinking about many things. Are those God's interests or man's? Do you see how crucial this mindset is? What goes on in your mind?
So Jesus is now going to powerfully illustrate and exhort the disciples and the people as to the implications. He's called Peter out and He's indicated you're setting your mind on man's interests, not God's. Now, someone might say, okay, so what? Jesus is going to answer that question.
But before we look at that, I want you to turn to Romans 8. Romans 8. The Apostle Paul writing to the church at Rome. I love the way he articulates this very same motif. Romans 8, verse 5. Look at this text. Romans 8, verse 5, down to verse 8: "For those who are according to the flesh set their minds – the same word ‘phroneo’ – on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit."
Listen carefully now in verse 6: "For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God, for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh are not able to please God."
Peter was displeasing to God, to Jesus, so much so that He said, get behind me, Satan. And just parenthetically, the language of get behind, it's as if Jesus is saying, get behind me and go the other way. Get behind me and turn backwards. And He used that term Satan, and the Greek there is the word for accuser. In effect, Jesus was saying to Peter, you're acting like an adversary. So it's not only that you set your mind on the things of men, you're actually acting against Me.
When you and I set our minds on our own self-interest, we are not serving God, living for God, walking in His ways. Who are you living for? Who are you living for?
So now, back to Mark 8. Jesus is going to illustrate the implications of these two ways of life. In the outline, we're now at the implications of following Jesus. Mark 8:34 and 35. Verse 34: "And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, 'If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me.'" If anyone wants to follow Jesus, three things: deny themself, take up their cross, follow Me. God's interests.
First, Jesus' teaching continues. He summons others to listen. You notice that all of a sudden, there were disciples headed to Mount Hermon region. While there clearly were other people around, Jesus actually summons the other people. He says, come on over here. Come. He summons the crowd. He summons the crowd. He summons the crowd to listen. And it's only in this, of the parallel passages, it's only in Mark where there's this unexpected crowd mentioned. The presence of the crowd.
One commentator put it this way: "Mark alone notes the unexpected presence of a crowd up here near Caesarea Philippi in heathen territory. In the presence of this crowd, Jesus explains His philosophy of life and death" – Jesus explains His philosophy of life and death – "which is in direct contrast with that offered by Peter. And it was evidently shared by the disciples and the people. So Jesus gives this profound view of life and death to them all." There's a crowd. Jesus is going to teach the implications.
Second, notice the word if. If. As you look at the text in verse 34. If. If anyone wishes. If. Why does Jesus say if? Because Jesus is explicating the implications of setting the mind on God's interests and man's interests. If. God's interests, man's interests. Two lines of implications are in the following verses.
Third, Jesus' next word is anyone. If. Anyone wishes to come after Me. Anyone. And it reminds us of John 3:16. Whosoever. Whosoever. Anyone. Jews. Gentiles. Doesn't matter. Anyone. Anyone.
If you're here today, you're an anyone. I'm sorry. I was just thinking all the people out there are anyone's too. Anyone. Anyone. Anyone. Not just the Jews. The Gentiles as well. Again, think of the disciples. They're Jews. Jesus has just said, "If anyone wants to come after Me." Don't miss it. Don't miss it. The Jews in that crowd would have went, what? Anyone? We're Your people. Anyone? Yes, anyone.
So already in this teaching when He says, "If anyone," this is more destabilization. Don't miss it. Don't just keep reading. If anyone. If anyone. If anyone what? What's the next phrase? Wishes to come after Me. Wishes to come after Me. The Greek here is really interesting because it's very similar to the words forget behind Me. Think about it. Someone says to get behind you, they mean get behind them. If someone says come after Me, they mean come behind Me. The language is very similar, but the nuanced difference is that this is coming behind and following Me. Not getting behind like get lost. Or go away.
The two paths of life, either one, you're going to be behind Jesus. The question is, are you going to be following Him or are you going to be going away? Every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. Every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.
Fourth, you see in verse 31 that Jesus, and I said it before, but just catch this, when Jesus was speaking about Himself, He said He must suffer, be rejected and killed. But note where the must is here for those who wish to follow Jesus. They must deny themselves. They must take up their cross, and they must follow Jesus. You see it? The must for Jesus is suffer, rejected, killed. The must for believers is deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him. There's what Jesus must do. There's what we must do. This is not if here. The if was above that. We're now down the path of following Jesus, and that's where the must comes. Must.
Let us look briefly at each of these three elements, just briefly. Time will not permit us to really dig into each one of them. The first is to deny yourself or deny themselves. The Greek word means to utterly deny, to disown your self-interest. Deny yourself, disown your self-interest. One commentator puts it this way, and it's the same commentator I'm going to quote for this portion and the next. This commentator says, "Negatively, one must deny himself decisively, turning away from the idolatry of self-centeredness. And every attempt to orient one's life by the dictates of self-interest".
To deny yourself is to turn away from the idolatry of self-centeredness. In effect, putting yourself first. Deny that. Deny yourself. And don't orient your life towards self-interest.
Second, take up their cross represents lifting up a cross. Now, is Jesus saying that you're going to have to be crucified like Him? It says take up, it doesn't say take up My cross, it says take up your cross. Figuratively, this means self-denial. Now, you might say, deny yourself and take up your cross. Sounds like they sort of mean the same thing. Listen to the same commentator. "Negatively, the first part, deny yourself, means eschewing self-interest. Taking up your cross positively means decisively saying yes to God's will and way." So just picture this. The believer is one who is shunning self-interest, must shun self-interest. Conversely, is taking up God's interest. Gotta leave one, pick up the other. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, make no provision for the flesh. Do you see that?
Believers must set aside self-interest, take up God's interest. Come what may, come what may.
The third is "follow Me." And I love the word, the Greek word means accompany, accompany Me. It's not a word we use a lot today, accompany. But it sort of gives the motif of sort of someone putting their arm around you and saying, "Let's go." Let's go together. We're together. I'm leading, you're coming with Me. Accompany.
It's a present imperative. The word for follow is a, the Greek word is a present imperative. It means keep following Me. Keep following Me. Say no to self, yes to God, follow Jesus. And keep following.
Turn to Philippians 3:7. Let's have the Apostle Paul describe this to us a little bit further. Philippians 3, verse 7: "But whatever things were gained to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ." You see it? "The things that were gained to me I count as loss for the sake of Christ." Verse 8: "More than that, I count all things to be loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish, so that I may gain Christ, and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God upon faith, that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead."
Paul understood what it meant to follow Jesus. Count all things as loss. Self-interest is gone. Took up his cross. God's will is everything. Follow Him. Do you see the self-denial in that passage in Philippians? Do you see him taking up the life of Christ and his willingness even to suffer? Do you see Paul's devotion? It’s God. And what's the benefit? Knowing Him, the power of His resurrection, and being resurrected oneself.
If you're a believer here today, if you're a follower of Jesus, can you put yourself in this passage? Can you put yourself in this passage? Look at it again in Philippians 3:7: "Whatever things were gained to me, those things I have counted as loss." You have a great education, doesn't matter. You have great skills, you've got lots of money, you've got land, property, you're living your best life now, doesn't matter. That's not the purpose of life. Two ways of life. Now those things aren't bad, but they can't have your heart. Two ways of life.
Many of us are pursuing those things out of self-interest, and that is displeasing to God. We are to be pursuing God's interests. So all those things have their proper disposition in our lives. They're not the goal of life. Jesus is the goal of life. That I may know Him, adore Him, love Him, live for Him who saved your soul. Who are you living for? Where are you setting your minds?
Peter and the disciples, they were believers in Jesus Christ, but their minds were set on self-interest, not God's. Not God's. But by His grace, Jesus taught His disciples the mindset required to follow Him. It may sound strong that He says, you've got to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Me. But that's grace. He's actually saying, you're not stuck going away behind Me, Satan. Here's how to follow Me. Here's how to follow Me. And that same Peter, who was a fisherman, gave up his job. On the day of Pentecost, he preached and thousands were saved. Peter was incarcerated, beaten. Peter learned what these words meant. He denied himself. He took up his cross and he followed Jesus, come what may.
Look at 1 Peter 4. Let's listen to Peter. Let's listen to Peter. 1 Peter 4, verse 1: "Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh," – this is Peter speaking to other Christians – "Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose." Notice that. Arm yourself. Jesus suffered. Arm yourself with the same purpose. "Because He who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lust of men, but for the will of God."
Look at verse 12: "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed." – If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you're blessed. – "Because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you."
You see the two ways of life? Following Jesus must include disowning your self-interest, pursuing God's interests, His will, His way, come what may, and accompany Jesus through this life to glory. Believers here today, brothers and sisters here today, how are you doing in the enabling of the Holy Spirit? How are you doing in the enabling the Holy Spirit to disown your own interest and to follow Jesus' interests in every area of your life?
Who are you living for? Can you look at your life and see the denial of your self-interest and the taking up of God's interests in every area of your life? And are you doing this continually? Are you following Him? Present imperative, continual action. Conversely, if you're a believer here today like Peter in Mark 8:32, seeking Christ to do your will, seeking God to do your will, because that's what Peter had in mind, right? He wanted Jesus, but he wanted Jesus who's a conquering Jesus. He wanted God to do his will.
If you're a believer who is always praying, God do stuff for me in one way or another, you're on the wrong track. He's God, you're not. You're setting your mind on self-interest. You're setting your mind on the interests of men. And what does that do? It puts you behind Jesus. Get behind Me. What are you setting your mind on each day? What do you read? What do you watch? What do you listen to? What goes into your mind? Remember Eve saw. What goes into your mind? What's your mindset? Do you have a mindset that honors Him? How do you process life? Do you process life biblically or based on your opinion or someone else's opinion? Or on your upbringing? When you set your mind and you do, it's not like, well, we don't. We do every day, all the time. Where are we going to go? What are we going to do? Got to decide about this, decide about that. Constantly. Our minds are going all the time. What do you set your mind on?
What happened to Peter when Jesus' plans didn't fit his plans? What happened to Peter when Jesus' plans, suffer, rejected, killed, didn't match Peter's plans? Jesus rebuked Peter. If you're a believer like the Peter of Mark 32, 8:32, your approach is displeasing to God. It's worthy of rebuke. But there's hope. There's hope. As we see in verse 34, it's a call to repentance, actually. It's a call to repentance. If you want to follow Me, you must turn away from your self-interest. Pursue His will, His interests, and follow Him. That's repentance.
As Jesus continues, He continues to express more implications. Look at verse 35, and we're coming towards the end of our time. "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it." Do you see the two ways of life there? Whoever wishes to save their life, man's interests, will actually lose their life. And the one who wants, then the one who is willing to lose their life, set aside their self-interest, actually gains.
This is a word for the crowd. Look at 35a, the first part of this. Implicit in this phrasing is that those who pursue self-interest are doing so to save their lives. Self-preservation. They want to control their life. They're trying to save their life, meaning they're trying to have life go the way they want. What's the outcome of that? They actually end up losing their life. Their lives are self-directed and self-preservation is what's on their heart. Their minds are set on themselves. But Jesus teaches that this pursuit does not lead to actually saving one's life. The thing they're pursuing will not result in what they're seeking.
And the word for lose, look at the text. "Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it." It's almost in the English not strong enough. The Greek word under that word lose is the same word in John 3:16 translated "perish," which means utterly destroyed. It means to destroy fully and by implication in hell. Setting your mind on your interests attracts God's rebuke, and if you're a non-believer, you're headed for hell. You will perish.
If you're a non-believer here today, this is Jesus' message to you. Seeking to live for yourself to save your life is literally a dead end. Literally a dead end. But look at 32, sorry, 35b, "but whoever loses his life for My sake and the Gospels will save it." This is the gospel. In fact, this whole passage is the gospel. Theological, doctrinally, Jesus is preaching the gospel.
There's two ways of life. This is good news. If you repent, turn from sin and self-interest, turn your mind to Jesus. And through believing He's the Christ, and that He suffered and sacrificed and died, which He had just said, you will save your life. Put more accurately, He will save your life. You will obtain eternal life.
John MacArthur puts it this way. "This paradoxical saying reveals an important spiritual truth. Those who pursue a life of ease, comfort, and acceptance by the world will not find eternal life. On the other hand, those who give up their lives for the sake of Christ in the gospel will find eternal life."
Who are you living for? Verse 36. We're back at verse 36. Now you've seen that vital context that helps us to understand really what verse 36 means. "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?" You've now seen this verse in its context. What Jesus is saying to those who set their minds on self-interest, what is Jesus saying the implication is for those who set their minds on self-interest? Even if you could have everything under the sun that you like, what good would it be if you lost your soul?
But there's a deeper meaning here in the context. The Jewish disciples were thinking He was going to take over the world. Now think about this. If Jesus doesn't suffer, be rejected, and killed, but He conquers Rome, there's no Savior. Every soul is forfeited. You see it? Did you catch that? If Jesus did what Peter said at that time and did not go to the cross, did not die, every soul is forfeited. What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul? That's the meaning of this verse. It has those two applications.
For the crowd and those here today that are unsaved, if you obtain everything you want, everything your heart desires, as you try to sustain and preserve your life, but you forfeit your internal soul, what benefit is that?
Alexander McLaren quoting here, "The men who live for self are dead." – Very blunt. The men and women who live for self are dead. – "As Christ has been saying, suppose their self-living had been successful to the highest point. What good would it do if they're dead?"
And if you need biblical examples of this, read the book of Ecclesiastes and watch Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, doing whatever his heart desires. Chapter after chapter. And you'll notice if you read that book as an illustration of this principle, you will see he literally says it. I set my mind to do everything I wanted to do. I went wherever I wanted to go. I did whatever I wanted to do. I built stuff. I bought lands. I did this. I did that. I had wealth beyond compare. I had everything this world had to offer. And I still had my health and I was still the king. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity, says the preacher.
Read Ecclesiastes. If you want another example, in Luke 16, the rich man and Lazarus. Luke 16, you can read it there. The rich man had all that this world had to offer, ends up in hell. Lazarus was poor, took the crumbs off the table of the rich man. He ended up in heaven, Abraham’s bosom. Powerful illustrations, one from the Old Testament, one from the New.
So for the crowd, what will it profit you if you gain the whole world, you lose your soul? If you're here today and you're not saved, what good does it do you if your self-interest leads to hell? If you're here today and you're not saved, what good does it do you if your self-interest leads to hell? If you're here today and you're not saved, what good does it do you if your self-interest leads to hell? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. You can do that right now, today. Your life could be transformed today.
Who are you living for? For Peter and the disciples and those here today who are seeking God, you're a believer, but you're also seeking self-interest. You want God to do your will. If Jesus did your will, if Jesus did not go to the cross, we would all lose our souls. What profit is that?
One commentator put it this way, listen carefully: "One who decides to maintain a self-centered life in this world by refusing Jesus' requirements, deny yourself, take up your cross, follow Me, will ultimately lose his life to eternal ruin. Conversely, a person who will lose or deny themself, their life, their preferences, in loyalty to Jesus and the gospel by accepting His requirements will actually preserve their lives forever. If you're a follower of Jesus, you are an heir to eternal life forever with God." So, set your mind on the things of God in every area of your life.
So, as we conclude, may we all ask ourselves this question every day. Ask yourself this question. Who am I living for? When you lay your head down at the end of the day, it's quiet. Ask yourself, who am I living for? When you wake up, ask yourself that question. Who am I living for today? God has just given me the beginning of a new day. Who am I living for today? Set your mind on the things of God, not on the things of men.
And as we go through this passage, I pray that you will give your full attention to the Word of God. When we're under the preaching and teaching of God's Word, it is not just for information. It is not just for education. It is not just for our edification, which it is, it's for our transformation. When we come under the Word of God, whether it's right now, this morning, or when you listen to preaching, when you open your Bible and read, when God's Word speaks, it's for change. It's not just information. It's not just head knowledge. It's not so that we can be delighted in knowing the God of the universe and what He’s thinking. And we love that. And these things are good. But what it's really for is change.
In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. And He said, He spoke, and change took place. And when you see this through scripture, when God speaks, things change. He spoke reality into existence. So when you are reading your Bible, it's so that you can change. When you read your devotion, it is not just to check a box, I did my devotion for today and I go on my way. And I can say, I did my devotion. It's for change.
And in this passage, we are going to see two ways of life. Two ways of life. And my prayer, as I've been preparing, has been that all of our hearts would change today. That we would be transformed today. That our lives would be different after we leave today. Not because of me. At all. But because of Him. Christ is all. All in all.
So we're going to begin in Mark 8:36, briefly. And then we're going to go to verse 27 and work our way back to verse 36. Let's begin. Verse 36: "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?" This verse is our focus today. And it reflects Jesus' point of view on one of the two ways of life. This verse, in its context, contrasts two ways of life. An existential view and an eternal view. An existential view and an eternal view.
This verse is a question, you will notice, and it's a question for the ages. It's a question that every human being who has lived, is living, or will ever live, has to answer. The implications of this question are profound and transformative. And right from the beginning of scripture to the end, underneath this question is another question. Who are you living for? Who are you living for? Implicit in the question of verse 36 is that question. Who are you living for?
Now the contrast in this verse, we can see it's a contrast because it begins with the word for. So what is the for there for? It's because it's connected to the preceding verses. It's inextricably connected to the preceding verses. The context is critical to understand this verse. Now the context is well known, but it's not always associated with this verse. This verse is often taken out of its context, and people will be talking, and maybe it's a believer speaking to an unbeliever, who says, what will it benefit you if you gain the whole world and you lose your soul? And it's thought-provoking in that context, in that conversation. But as I say, it's often wrenched out of its context.
There's a deeper meaning here than the way that it's typically used, and we're going to learn that today. But as I said, we don't want to just learn this. It's for change, change, transformation. So this question in verse 36 that has an implied question underneath it, who are you living for, is what we're going to explore today. So to begin our exploration, for your heart and mine, we want to look at the context, this vital expository context.
So let's now look at verse 27 through to verse 30, and I'll read these verses, and then we're going to go through them one by one. Verse 27: "Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He was asking His disciples, saying to them, 'Who do people say that I am?'" And they told Him, saying, "John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; but others, one of the prophets." And He continued questioning them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered and said to Him, "You are the Christ." And He warned them to tell no one about Him."
Now in verse 27, you see right away that Jesus and the disciples are headed for Caesarea Philippi. They're on their way, and if you look quickly at verse 22, you'll notice that they were in Bethsaida, and they're heading north within Israel. And actually, if we're honest, what we have to really say is that this is a land that is not in Israel's hands. It's dominated by Rome, it had been dominated by Greece, and before that the Persians, and before that the Babylonians, and before that the Assyrians. It's not their land. But they're moving through, and Jesus has been preaching and teaching and doing miracles in this land, and if you glance back to the prior chapters and based on the headings in your Bible, you'll see He's been doing miracles. But they're moving north towards Caesarea Philippi.
Caesarea Philippi was a region of a lush landscape at the foot of Mount Hermon. It's a lush region, but it's a region that was steeped in Baal worship, and you can see that in Joshua 11:17 and Judges 3:5. This region had been steeped in worship for millennia, for hundreds of years. Even when it was in Israel's possession, it was steeped in Baal worship, the northern part of Israel. Under Greek occupation, the area was related to the Greek god Pan, and you may have heard of this Pan, the half-god, half-goat deity, so-called, who played the pan pipe. We get our English word panic from this god, and he was a frightful god who had a thirst for carnal pleasure. It was a place of pagan worship, a lush place at the foot of Mount Hermon, but a place of idolatry.
Under the subsequent Roman occupation after the Greeks, it was named Caesarea, after Caesar. It was named by Herod's son, whose name was Philip, and he wanted to differentiate between Caesarea that's on the Mediterranean and Caesarea up north, so he called it Caesarea Philippi, to distinguish it. So this is the setting, and we see this in verse 27. The disciples are heading in this direction, Jesus is leading them, and along the way, as we see in verse 27, Jesus asks a question: "Who do the people say that I am?" Jesus is asking the disciples for the people's perspective on who He is. One commentator says, and I quote, "Often Jesus's questions were springboards for new teaching". So He's asked this question, verse 27.
Verse 28, the disciples relate the opinions of the people, so they share. They say Jesus is John the Baptist, Elijah, or one of the prophets. The people believe that Jesus was John resurrected. Remember that he had been beheaded by Herod, and there's a story all pertaining to that. And so the people are wondering, is this John? Has John come back? Is that who this is? Or is He a prophet, an Old Testament prophet? And you can see a bit of this discourse in Luke 9:7 to 9. The people thought Jesus was special. Just like many people today think Jesus is special.
I was recently at an ultrasound, and I was talking with the ultrasound technician that happened to be Iranian. This was probably about five months ago, and through the discussion, it came out that I was a Christian, and she said, "Oh, I love Jesus. He's a messenger. He's a messenger." And I was lying there with gel on me, thinking, okay, I want to say something about this. But she's like, let me let her finish, then I'll bring up what I want to say, because I didn't want her hand to go all over. So afterwards, I started sharing a little bit about who Jesus really is. Well, the people in that day are thinking that Jesus is special, but they don't really know who He is.
And Jesus is now going to challenge His followers, His disciples, with the same question. Clearly, the people are wrong. Verse 29, "But who do you say that I am?" We see that question. "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus is asking the disciples, who am I? Who am I? What's my identity? And Peter answers. We can count on Peter. He's got an opinion. "You are the Christ." "You are the Christ."
Now in Matthew 16:15–19, in a parallel passage, there's more about Peter's answer and Jesus' response. But we'll simply state here and note here that Peter's right. It's been revealed to him by God who Jesus is. Jesus is the Christ, and that word Christ means anointed. He is the chosen one. He's the long-awaited Messiah. The Messiah's arrived. Jesus is here. He's the Christ. He's the anointed one. This is cause for jubilation.
The disciples, the Jews, were awaiting their conquering ruler, a leader like Moses or David, who would defeat their enemies. Just a few moments ago, I went through this litany of empires that had crushed this area of the world, one after the other. And there are prophecies concerning the coming of a Messiah. And Peter, under God's illumination, has identified that Jesus is Christ. But while this is true, this is Jesus' identity, it was not His purpose at that time.
And we see in verse 30 that Jesus admonishes and forbids the disciples from divulging His identity. He warns them. The word, the Greek word, is ‘epitimao’. It's a strong word, and it really speaks to Him restricting them from saying anything about His identity. But then He does tell them His purpose. Look at verse 31 and 32a. He tells them His purpose after strictly warning them not to say who He is.
Verse 31: "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 was stating the matter openly. Isn't it interesting? Peter, under God, has indicated who Jesus is, and Jesus has said, don't tell anyone. And then He tells them His purpose openly. It's interesting. It's interesting.
Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of Man. And this is essential. This truth is essential. We've just read that Jesus is the Christ. The disciples know this. They heard it, even though they are not to repeat it at that time. And now they're seeing His purpose. But just consider the juxtaposition of knowing who Jesus is as the Christ, having this sense of jubilation, and then hearing this. That the Son of Man is going to suffer and be rejected and be killed, but rise on the third day.
First, Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of Man, a title used here emphasizing His humanity and His humility. Secondly, and vitally, Jesus uses the word must. Don't miss that. Must. Not maybe. Must. Must what? Suffer. Be rejected. Be killed. The Son of Man must suffer. Be rejected and be killed. Yet after three days, rise again. And He was saying this publicly, openly, publicly.
The disciples were incredulous, incredulous, stunned. Here's the Christ. He has come, one like Moses or David, to overthrow in their context the Roman Empire. We're going to have our land back. He's going to suffer, be rejected, killed. One commentator notes, "This announcement stunned the disciples. If He is indeed the Christ of God as they had confessed, then why would He be rejected by the religious leaders? Why would these leaders crucify Him? Did not the Old Testament scriptures promise that Messiah would defeat all their enemies and establish a glorious kingdom for Israel? There was something wrong somewhere and the disciples were confused."
And you can imagine that. You can imagine it. They're confused. They're more than confused. They're indignant. And we'll see this. They expected a conquering Messiah. And we won't turn there, but I'll just give you a couple of passages for reference: Jeremiah 23:4-8 and Zechariah 6:12-13. If you read those passages, you will see prophecies of a coming Messiah who's going to rule. It's those types of scriptures they had in their minds.
So they understood His person, but not His work. They understood He was the Christ, but not what He came to do at that time. This was totally destabilizing. And we know this because of what happens next. We don't have to guess. We don't have to posit that they were indignant because we're going to see it. We're going to see it.
Look at verse 32b. "And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him." Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. The word for rebukes is the same word that Jesus had just used in sternly warning them, ‘epitimao’. Jesus had just sternly warned them not to say who He is. Now Peter uses the same word to rebuke Jesus.
Now turn to Matthew 16:22. Let's see Peter's rebuke. Because here in the book of Mark, it says that he rebuked Him, but it doesn't say what he said. What was the rebuke? What was the content of the rebuke? Matthew 16:22: "And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, 'God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.'" Peter rebukes Jesus. And look at the language of this. He's speaking to the Christ, who is God. And he says, "God forbid it, Lord." Think about this. Here's a human being saying to God, "God forbid it, Lord." It is almost as if Peter doesn't understand the words he's saying.
God is sovereign over all things. Lord, ‘Kyrios, is supreme. He's actually saying, "God forbid, God." That's how indignant he is. He's losing his mind. That's how indignant he is. It's just not computing. It's not, it makes no sense. You're the Christ and You're going to be rejected and suffer and die? They're stunned.
Notice that language: "God forbid it, Lord." Has there ever been a stranger statement? Peter invokes God to forbid God's plan. The audacity of Peter. He's a follower of Jesus. He's been following Jesus. He has seen the miracles. He just identified that Jesus is the Christ. He just identified that Jesus is the Christ under inspiration. Jubilation turns to consternation and admonition. Jesus is admonishing—sorry, Peter is admonishing Jesus.
Can you sense and feel the tension? Can you imagine if you were one of the other disciples? And you're thinking just like Peter, but Peter's the one who says it. As you look at the language and as you study the text, there's almost a part of you that feels like Jesus should say, "Off with his head." Well, He's going to say something worse, actually.
Verse 23, But turning around and seeing His disciples, He, ‘epitimao’, rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind Me, Satan!"..... "for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's.’" "Get behind Me, Satan."
Peter had rebuked Jesus. Jesus now calls Peter Satan and directs him to "get behind Me." Get behind Me. And it's that same word in the rebuke, ‘epitimao’. Jesus refers to Peter's admonition. Jesus refers to Peter's admonition, right, forbid it, as influenced by Satan.
Now, we don't have time to go there. But when you read the broader account in Matthew, and I alluded to it already, Peter had just said that Jesus was the Christ. But in the other account, Jesus says, flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but the Father in heaven. So here is Peter. He has just identified Jesus as the Christ, illuminated by God. Jesus tells him and them His purpose. Peter rebukes Jesus: forbid it. God forbid. Forbid it, Lord. And now Jesus says, "Get behind Me, Satan." Peter was having a day.
They were having a day, like no other day.
But do you see the two ways of life? You see it? Jesus is the Christ. This is His purpose. Don't go that way, Jesus. Get thee behind me, Satan. You see it? Now, I want you to notice this, because the juxtaposition of these two ways of life is in this verse.
Look at the text. "For you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's." This is Jesus speaking. He's speaking to Peter. He's just told him to get behind Me, Satan. You are not setting your mind on the things of God, one way of life, the things of man, the other way of life.
God, one way of life, the things of man, the other way of life. Take note. Two ways of life.
This is a contrast for the ages. And this contrast is not just that these are two ways of life, and it's just two options. These are two contrary ways of life. They are diametrically opposed to one another. Setting your mind. Setting your mind.
Turn to Genesis, Genesis chapter 3. And as you turn, remember the title of this sermon. Who are you living for? Who are you living for? Two ways of life. In Genesis chapter 3, we see the origin of this. Look at verse 6. And what do you see in verse 6a? Eve is looking. She saw. And she coveted the fruit. And she took the fruit.
Who influenced Eve? What's in the first five verses of this chapter? In verse 1, it talks about a serpent. Two ways of life. That's where it starts. Genesis 3:6. Eve had in her mind God's direction. Don't eat of that tree. Or what? You'll die. She also had in her mind the serpent's temptation. If you eat of that tree, you will not die. But you will be like God, knowing good and evil. Two ways of life.
You will notice in verse 6, Eve is not saying anything. Where's the epicenter of her decision making? Her mind. Her mind. And you will notice Eve saw. Input to the mind. Input to her mind was the word of God. Don't eat of the tree. The word of the serpent. Go ahead. It's no problem. And that's input. But she looked. Input. Input to the mind. Input to the mind influences the mind.
As an old IT guy, garbage in, garbage out. Garbage in, garbage out. What do you put in your mind? What goes in your mind every day? If we were to pause and hand out sheets to everyone and say, I want you to write what you think about every day. And I want you to write what comes into your mind every day. What is your mind set on? What is your mind set on?
When you make decisions. When you consider your aspirations, your hopes. When you're working, you're at school, in your relationships, in your friendships. Are you setting your mind on the things of God or the things of man?
From the Garden of Eden to that lush foothills of Mount Hermon, to your heart and my heart, God's interests, man's interests. Setting your mind is the pivot point for your life. Setting your mind is three words in English. In the Greek, it's one word, ‘phroneo’. And it means to exercise the mind, to interest oneself. To put another way, self-interest. What are your interests? Because you see, you set your mind on your interests. That's what Peter was doing. But Jesus has just said, don't set your mind on the interests of men. Set your mind on God's interests. You see it? Jesus rebukes Peter for setting his mind on his own interests. God's interests, self-interest.
What's your mindset? What's your mindset? What's your mindset each day? As I mentioned, when you make decisions, what's your mindset? As you think about your life; you're raising your children; you're driving your car; you're on the TTC; you're at home; you've put your head down at night and before you fall asleep and you're thinking about many things. Are those God's interests or man's? Do you see how crucial this mindset is? What goes on in your mind?
So Jesus is now going to powerfully illustrate and exhort the disciples and the people as to the implications. He's called Peter out and He's indicated you're setting your mind on man's interests, not God's. Now, someone might say, okay, so what? Jesus is going to answer that question.
But before we look at that, I want you to turn to Romans 8. Romans 8. The Apostle Paul writing to the church at Rome. I love the way he articulates this very same motif. Romans 8, verse 5. Look at this text. Romans 8, verse 5, down to verse 8: "For those who are according to the flesh set their minds – the same word ‘phroneo’ – on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit."
Listen carefully now in verse 6: "For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God, for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh are not able to please God."
Peter was displeasing to God, to Jesus, so much so that He said, get behind me, Satan. And just parenthetically, the language of get behind, it's as if Jesus is saying, get behind me and go the other way. Get behind me and turn backwards. And He used that term Satan, and the Greek there is the word for accuser. In effect, Jesus was saying to Peter, you're acting like an adversary. So it's not only that you set your mind on the things of men, you're actually acting against Me.
When you and I set our minds on our own self-interest, we are not serving God, living for God, walking in His ways. Who are you living for? Who are you living for?
So now, back to Mark 8. Jesus is going to illustrate the implications of these two ways of life. In the outline, we're now at the implications of following Jesus. Mark 8:34 and 35. Verse 34: "And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, 'If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me.'" If anyone wants to follow Jesus, three things: deny themself, take up their cross, follow Me. God's interests.
First, Jesus' teaching continues. He summons others to listen. You notice that all of a sudden, there were disciples headed to Mount Hermon region. While there clearly were other people around, Jesus actually summons the other people. He says, come on over here. Come. He summons the crowd. He summons the crowd. He summons the crowd to listen. And it's only in this, of the parallel passages, it's only in Mark where there's this unexpected crowd mentioned. The presence of the crowd.
One commentator put it this way: "Mark alone notes the unexpected presence of a crowd up here near Caesarea Philippi in heathen territory. In the presence of this crowd, Jesus explains His philosophy of life and death" – Jesus explains His philosophy of life and death – "which is in direct contrast with that offered by Peter. And it was evidently shared by the disciples and the people. So Jesus gives this profound view of life and death to them all." There's a crowd. Jesus is going to teach the implications.
Second, notice the word if. If. As you look at the text in verse 34. If. If anyone wishes. If. Why does Jesus say if? Because Jesus is explicating the implications of setting the mind on God's interests and man's interests. If. God's interests, man's interests. Two lines of implications are in the following verses.
Third, Jesus' next word is anyone. If. Anyone wishes to come after Me. Anyone. And it reminds us of John 3:16. Whosoever. Whosoever. Anyone. Jews. Gentiles. Doesn't matter. Anyone. Anyone.
If you're here today, you're an anyone. I'm sorry. I was just thinking all the people out there are anyone's too. Anyone. Anyone. Anyone. Not just the Jews. The Gentiles as well. Again, think of the disciples. They're Jews. Jesus has just said, "If anyone wants to come after Me." Don't miss it. Don't miss it. The Jews in that crowd would have went, what? Anyone? We're Your people. Anyone? Yes, anyone.
So already in this teaching when He says, "If anyone," this is more destabilization. Don't miss it. Don't just keep reading. If anyone. If anyone. If anyone what? What's the next phrase? Wishes to come after Me. Wishes to come after Me. The Greek here is really interesting because it's very similar to the words forget behind Me. Think about it. Someone says to get behind you, they mean get behind them. If someone says come after Me, they mean come behind Me. The language is very similar, but the nuanced difference is that this is coming behind and following Me. Not getting behind like get lost. Or go away.
The two paths of life, either one, you're going to be behind Jesus. The question is, are you going to be following Him or are you going to be going away? Every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. Every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.
Fourth, you see in verse 31 that Jesus, and I said it before, but just catch this, when Jesus was speaking about Himself, He said He must suffer, be rejected and killed. But note where the must is here for those who wish to follow Jesus. They must deny themselves. They must take up their cross, and they must follow Jesus. You see it? The must for Jesus is suffer, rejected, killed. The must for believers is deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him. There's what Jesus must do. There's what we must do. This is not if here. The if was above that. We're now down the path of following Jesus, and that's where the must comes. Must.
Let us look briefly at each of these three elements, just briefly. Time will not permit us to really dig into each one of them. The first is to deny yourself or deny themselves. The Greek word means to utterly deny, to disown your self-interest. Deny yourself, disown your self-interest. One commentator puts it this way, and it's the same commentator I'm going to quote for this portion and the next. This commentator says, "Negatively, one must deny himself decisively, turning away from the idolatry of self-centeredness. And every attempt to orient one's life by the dictates of self-interest".
To deny yourself is to turn away from the idolatry of self-centeredness. In effect, putting yourself first. Deny that. Deny yourself. And don't orient your life towards self-interest.
Second, take up their cross represents lifting up a cross. Now, is Jesus saying that you're going to have to be crucified like Him? It says take up, it doesn't say take up My cross, it says take up your cross. Figuratively, this means self-denial. Now, you might say, deny yourself and take up your cross. Sounds like they sort of mean the same thing. Listen to the same commentator. "Negatively, the first part, deny yourself, means eschewing self-interest. Taking up your cross positively means decisively saying yes to God's will and way." So just picture this. The believer is one who is shunning self-interest, must shun self-interest. Conversely, is taking up God's interest. Gotta leave one, pick up the other. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, make no provision for the flesh. Do you see that?
Believers must set aside self-interest, take up God's interest. Come what may, come what may.
The third is "follow Me." And I love the word, the Greek word means accompany, accompany Me. It's not a word we use a lot today, accompany. But it sort of gives the motif of sort of someone putting their arm around you and saying, "Let's go." Let's go together. We're together. I'm leading, you're coming with Me. Accompany.
It's a present imperative. The word for follow is a, the Greek word is a present imperative. It means keep following Me. Keep following Me. Say no to self, yes to God, follow Jesus. And keep following.
Turn to Philippians 3:7. Let's have the Apostle Paul describe this to us a little bit further. Philippians 3, verse 7: "But whatever things were gained to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ." You see it? "The things that were gained to me I count as loss for the sake of Christ." Verse 8: "More than that, I count all things to be loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish, so that I may gain Christ, and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God upon faith, that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead."
Paul understood what it meant to follow Jesus. Count all things as loss. Self-interest is gone. Took up his cross. God's will is everything. Follow Him. Do you see the self-denial in that passage in Philippians? Do you see him taking up the life of Christ and his willingness even to suffer? Do you see Paul's devotion? It’s God. And what's the benefit? Knowing Him, the power of His resurrection, and being resurrected oneself.
If you're a believer here today, if you're a follower of Jesus, can you put yourself in this passage? Can you put yourself in this passage? Look at it again in Philippians 3:7: "Whatever things were gained to me, those things I have counted as loss." You have a great education, doesn't matter. You have great skills, you've got lots of money, you've got land, property, you're living your best life now, doesn't matter. That's not the purpose of life. Two ways of life. Now those things aren't bad, but they can't have your heart. Two ways of life.
Many of us are pursuing those things out of self-interest, and that is displeasing to God. We are to be pursuing God's interests. So all those things have their proper disposition in our lives. They're not the goal of life. Jesus is the goal of life. That I may know Him, adore Him, love Him, live for Him who saved your soul. Who are you living for? Where are you setting your minds?
Peter and the disciples, they were believers in Jesus Christ, but their minds were set on self-interest, not God's. Not God's. But by His grace, Jesus taught His disciples the mindset required to follow Him. It may sound strong that He says, you've got to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Me. But that's grace. He's actually saying, you're not stuck going away behind Me, Satan. Here's how to follow Me. Here's how to follow Me. And that same Peter, who was a fisherman, gave up his job. On the day of Pentecost, he preached and thousands were saved. Peter was incarcerated, beaten. Peter learned what these words meant. He denied himself. He took up his cross and he followed Jesus, come what may.
Look at 1 Peter 4. Let's listen to Peter. Let's listen to Peter. 1 Peter 4, verse 1: "Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh," – this is Peter speaking to other Christians – "Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose." Notice that. Arm yourself. Jesus suffered. Arm yourself with the same purpose. "Because He who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lust of men, but for the will of God."
Look at verse 12: "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed." – If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you're blessed. – "Because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you."
You see the two ways of life? Following Jesus must include disowning your self-interest, pursuing God's interests, His will, His way, come what may, and accompany Jesus through this life to glory. Believers here today, brothers and sisters here today, how are you doing in the enabling of the Holy Spirit? How are you doing in the enabling the Holy Spirit to disown your own interest and to follow Jesus' interests in every area of your life?
Who are you living for? Can you look at your life and see the denial of your self-interest and the taking up of God's interests in every area of your life? And are you doing this continually? Are you following Him? Present imperative, continual action. Conversely, if you're a believer here today like Peter in Mark 8:32, seeking Christ to do your will, seeking God to do your will, because that's what Peter had in mind, right? He wanted Jesus, but he wanted Jesus who's a conquering Jesus. He wanted God to do his will.
If you're a believer who is always praying, God do stuff for me in one way or another, you're on the wrong track. He's God, you're not. You're setting your mind on self-interest. You're setting your mind on the interests of men. And what does that do? It puts you behind Jesus. Get behind Me. What are you setting your mind on each day? What do you read? What do you watch? What do you listen to? What goes into your mind? Remember Eve saw. What goes into your mind? What's your mindset? Do you have a mindset that honors Him? How do you process life? Do you process life biblically or based on your opinion or someone else's opinion? Or on your upbringing? When you set your mind and you do, it's not like, well, we don't. We do every day, all the time. Where are we going to go? What are we going to do? Got to decide about this, decide about that. Constantly. Our minds are going all the time. What do you set your mind on?
What happened to Peter when Jesus' plans didn't fit his plans? What happened to Peter when Jesus' plans, suffer, rejected, killed, didn't match Peter's plans? Jesus rebuked Peter. If you're a believer like the Peter of Mark 32, 8:32, your approach is displeasing to God. It's worthy of rebuke. But there's hope. There's hope. As we see in verse 34, it's a call to repentance, actually. It's a call to repentance. If you want to follow Me, you must turn away from your self-interest. Pursue His will, His interests, and follow Him. That's repentance.
As Jesus continues, He continues to express more implications. Look at verse 35, and we're coming towards the end of our time. "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it." Do you see the two ways of life there? Whoever wishes to save their life, man's interests, will actually lose their life. And the one who wants, then the one who is willing to lose their life, set aside their self-interest, actually gains.
This is a word for the crowd. Look at 35a, the first part of this. Implicit in this phrasing is that those who pursue self-interest are doing so to save their lives. Self-preservation. They want to control their life. They're trying to save their life, meaning they're trying to have life go the way they want. What's the outcome of that? They actually end up losing their life. Their lives are self-directed and self-preservation is what's on their heart. Their minds are set on themselves. But Jesus teaches that this pursuit does not lead to actually saving one's life. The thing they're pursuing will not result in what they're seeking.
And the word for lose, look at the text. "Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it." It's almost in the English not strong enough. The Greek word under that word lose is the same word in John 3:16 translated "perish," which means utterly destroyed. It means to destroy fully and by implication in hell. Setting your mind on your interests attracts God's rebuke, and if you're a non-believer, you're headed for hell. You will perish.
If you're a non-believer here today, this is Jesus' message to you. Seeking to live for yourself to save your life is literally a dead end. Literally a dead end. But look at 32, sorry, 35b, "but whoever loses his life for My sake and the Gospels will save it." This is the gospel. In fact, this whole passage is the gospel. Theological, doctrinally, Jesus is preaching the gospel.
There's two ways of life. This is good news. If you repent, turn from sin and self-interest, turn your mind to Jesus. And through believing He's the Christ, and that He suffered and sacrificed and died, which He had just said, you will save your life. Put more accurately, He will save your life. You will obtain eternal life.
John MacArthur puts it this way. "This paradoxical saying reveals an important spiritual truth. Those who pursue a life of ease, comfort, and acceptance by the world will not find eternal life. On the other hand, those who give up their lives for the sake of Christ in the gospel will find eternal life."
Who are you living for? Verse 36. We're back at verse 36. Now you've seen that vital context that helps us to understand really what verse 36 means. "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?" You've now seen this verse in its context. What Jesus is saying to those who set their minds on self-interest, what is Jesus saying the implication is for those who set their minds on self-interest? Even if you could have everything under the sun that you like, what good would it be if you lost your soul?
But there's a deeper meaning here in the context. The Jewish disciples were thinking He was going to take over the world. Now think about this. If Jesus doesn't suffer, be rejected, and killed, but He conquers Rome, there's no Savior. Every soul is forfeited. You see it? Did you catch that? If Jesus did what Peter said at that time and did not go to the cross, did not die, every soul is forfeited. What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul? That's the meaning of this verse. It has those two applications.
For the crowd and those here today that are unsaved, if you obtain everything you want, everything your heart desires, as you try to sustain and preserve your life, but you forfeit your internal soul, what benefit is that?
Alexander McLaren quoting here, "The men who live for self are dead." – Very blunt. The men and women who live for self are dead. – "As Christ has been saying, suppose their self-living had been successful to the highest point. What good would it do if they're dead?"
And if you need biblical examples of this, read the book of Ecclesiastes and watch Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, doing whatever his heart desires. Chapter after chapter. And you'll notice if you read that book as an illustration of this principle, you will see he literally says it. I set my mind to do everything I wanted to do. I went wherever I wanted to go. I did whatever I wanted to do. I built stuff. I bought lands. I did this. I did that. I had wealth beyond compare. I had everything this world had to offer. And I still had my health and I was still the king. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity, says the preacher.
Read Ecclesiastes. If you want another example, in Luke 16, the rich man and Lazarus. Luke 16, you can read it there. The rich man had all that this world had to offer, ends up in hell. Lazarus was poor, took the crumbs off the table of the rich man. He ended up in heaven, Abraham’s bosom. Powerful illustrations, one from the Old Testament, one from the New.
So for the crowd, what will it profit you if you gain the whole world, you lose your soul? If you're here today and you're not saved, what good does it do you if your self-interest leads to hell? If you're here today and you're not saved, what good does it do you if your self-interest leads to hell? If you're here today and you're not saved, what good does it do you if your self-interest leads to hell? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. You can do that right now, today. Your life could be transformed today.
Who are you living for? For Peter and the disciples and those here today who are seeking God, you're a believer, but you're also seeking self-interest. You want God to do your will. If Jesus did your will, if Jesus did not go to the cross, we would all lose our souls. What profit is that?
One commentator put it this way, listen carefully: "One who decides to maintain a self-centered life in this world by refusing Jesus' requirements, deny yourself, take up your cross, follow Me, will ultimately lose his life to eternal ruin. Conversely, a person who will lose or deny themself, their life, their preferences, in loyalty to Jesus and the gospel by accepting His requirements will actually preserve their lives forever. If you're a follower of Jesus, you are an heir to eternal life forever with God." So, set your mind on the things of God in every area of your life.
So, as we conclude, may we all ask ourselves this question every day. Ask yourself this question. Who am I living for? When you lay your head down at the end of the day, it's quiet. Ask yourself, who am I living for? When you wake up, ask yourself that question. Who am I living for today? God has just given me the beginning of a new day. Who am I living for today? Set your mind on the things of God, not on the things of men.
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