The Suffering Messiah and His Followers

Peter’s Confession and the Hinge Point of Mark

I want to invite you to take out your Bible and turn to the gospel of Mark and Lord willing we will be finishing tonight Mark the 8th chapter and going into verse 1 of Mark chapter 9. I do think that these the end verse and the first verse of chapter 8 and the first verse of chapter 9 do actually go together and just by way of reminder I want to point out the fact that last week brought us to what I consider to be the hinge point of the entire book meaning that this was the this was the the fulcrum upon which the lever of the entire book turns and that is the confession of Peter when he is asked who do you say that I am.

And Peter said you are the Christ. And of course we read in Matthew how he said you are he said you are the Christ the Son of the Living God. We talked about the importance of that phrase we talked about how the phrase that comes directly after that in Matthew's gospel is often one fraught with confusion and I did give a minority interpretation among Reformed scholars.

I gave my thoughts on it last week. I do want to clarify something that I said last week. I did say that I think that you can understand the rock as Peter understanding that Peter represents the Apostles and the Apostles are we.

We have the apostolic church which the book of Ephesians says the the church is built on the Apostles of Prophets Christ Jesus being the chief cornerstone. But that is not to say that I don't understand that there are those many men whom I respect greatly such as the late dr. RC Sproul who would desperately disagree with me and see the rock as being Peter's confession.

And so I don't want to simply discount those as saying they are absolutely wrong. I'm just saying I don't see it that way. I think that there is a simpler understanding and that was the understanding I gave last week.

The Rock, the Papacy, and Reformed Resistance to Rome

But I do understand the desire among Reformed theologians to distance themselves as far as possible from the teaching of Rome because Rome has so perverted that text as to make it the very foundation upon which the papacy is built and anything that would support the papacy.

It is a misreading of Scripture and it is my contention that the papacy is one of the most dreadful institutions that has ever been forced upon the Christian Church. And I will add to that when we consider that during the time of the Reformation when creeds and confessions were being written particularly Reformed confessions one of the confessions the 1689 London Baptist Confession which is the second Baptist confession.

Actually I identifies the Pope as the Antichrist. And that's just to give you an idea of how powerful was the feelings of the Reformers against the papacy they saw the Pope is not the vicar of Christ but in that sense the vicar of the devil he who stood in the place of Satan himself.

So as I said if what I said last week was a little difficult to understand I hope that it wasn't too bad but I do want to at least say that I understand the reasoning for wanting to distance from that thought as far as as possible.

So what we're reading tonight beginning at verse 31 is what comes after this watershed moment. This huge powerful thing has just happened. Jesus has heard from his disciples who am I the Messiah the Christ the word Christ meaning Messiah.

And then he began to teach them something they did not expect. And I don't remember if it was MacArthur or Sproul it was one of them who said that what we have here is a case of the best news followed by the worst news.

And we've all been in situations like that where someone comes to us and says I've got good news and bad news which do you want first. And typically we say we want the bad news first. That way somehow the good news might provide some balm to our pain.

Whatever the bad news is. Well Jesus gives them in one sense an encouraging word if we consider Matthew and Mark together when Jesus tells them that he's going to build his church the gates of hell will not prevail against it he's going to give them the keys of the kingdom.

They're going to be able to bind and loose. All of those things are good things. All those things are positive things. But then on the heels of that we come to Mark 8 31. And so let's read. 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 anyone would come after me let him deny himself 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 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 the holy angels.

Verse 1 of chapter 9. 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 it has come with power. May God add his blessing to the reading of his word.

The Meaning of “He Began to Teach Them”

We've already prayed. I'll simply say thank God for his word. So as I said earlier this is a difficult section and I say it's difficult in that Jesus is following up this very positive moment with the disciples with a moment that is very perplexing for them.

And I want you to notice in Mark's gospel I don't know what translation you have. I think Andy has New King James. Right. Is that right. Well in the ESV it says. And he began to teach them. Is that what it says in yours in verse 31 chapter 8 that he began.

Does anyone else have a different translation than that. Okay. Well my reason for asking is the word began there is easy to read by because you think well he just began to teach. But that's not the point.

I don't think of the word began there. Because if you compare this to Matthew 16 21 which is the passage which parallels this in Matthew's gospel it says from that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer.

See that see what the point is I is is that it seems as if after the watershed moment remember how we said Mark's kind of like going this direction. And then you get to this moment of who do. They say I am right the messianic proclamation.

And then from there it's to the cross. Right. Right. Remember what we said he's been. He's been teaching them who he is. He's been identifying who he is through his proclamation and through his miracles.

And now we get to this moment of question who who do. You say that I am. And they say you're the Christ the Son of the Living God. Okay now that you've come to that conclusion I'm going to tell you what comes next.

And what comes next is the hard part up until now we've had some skirmishes with the Pharisees and some of them have been pretty lofty skirmishes. But now we're headed to Jerusalem. Now we're headed to what I have come to do for the world.

And so when it says he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer. I do believe this is where the focal point of Jesus is teaching begins to focus on his work on the cross. In fact from now until the time of the cross he's going to prophesy this three times.

I don't have them written down. I had them in my notes. I don't have in these notes I'm sorry but I do. It was three different accounts where he tells them he is going to suffer. Just in Mark's gospel there's more of course different in Matthew and Luke but it says he began to teach them that the Son of Man that is his name for himself.

That's what Jesus identifies himself identifying himself with the Son of Man from Daniel's writings that the Son of Man must suffer many things be rejected by the elders chief priests and scribes be killed.

And after three things three days rise again. So right away just quickly you see four things that he is prophesying about himself. First he says that he is to suffer. Writing these down so I'm going to show something about this says.

First it says that he he teaches them that he is going to suffer. And that he is number two going to be rejected. Number three he tells them that he is going to die. That he is going to die. Or actually in this text says he is going to be killed.

And finally it says after three days he is going to rise again. Now what is interesting about this is several fold but I'll limit it to just a few things. One of all of the things that were expected of Messiah of all of the things that were expected of the Christ and remember what we've talked about that the Old Testament scriptures looked forward to the coming of Messiah.

In fact particularly within the intertestamental period between Malachi and Matthew there was great anticipation of the Messiah to come and there was great expectation of what Messiah was going to do.

They believed Messiah was going to rule. They believed Messiah was going to redeem. They believed Messiah was going to overthrow oppression and raise up the oppressed. This is why when Jesus rides into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey there is so much of a fanfare at his coming.

Because there is the expectation that Jesus is now doing what the Messiah is expected to do. The Messiah is expected to go and rule from Jerusalem making the state or the nation of Israel the very capital of the world with the Christ being the ruler.

Now we've talked about this at length particularly during the Easter season. We talked about the fact that one of the reasons why Jesus was crucified was because he was rejected by Judas Iscariot who sold him for 30 pieces of silver.

Why did Judas sell Jesus. Because we can assume Jesus. Jesus failed in some way to meet Judas's expectations of what Messiah would be. Some people some people try to give Judas a little bit of a break.

Some people say well maybe Judas felt like if he nudged Jesus that that would nudge Jesus to the forefront and make Jesus do what he was supposed to do which was overthrow the Romans. I think that's giving Judas a little too much credit.

The Bible gives Judas absolutely no credit. It calls him an evil man. It says he was of his father the devil and all those things. I mean it's very. The Bible doesn't give Judas any breaks. I don't think we need to either.

I remember one night this is years ago. I'm talking Wow. It's been years and years ago I had a man come up to me. He was visiting the church never saw him before haven't seen him since. But he came up and he told me Judas was the hero.

And I said how do you figure. And he says well Judas was the hero because God used Judas to get Jesus to the cross. And I thought well that may be a perverted form of logic but I guess there's some logic to the fact that yes there was a sense in which Judas was instrumental and Jesus getting to the because Judas sold Jesus and of course turned him over to the authorities but at the same time that doesn't mean that Judas is the hero that any more than the brothers of Joseph were the heroes when they sold him into slavery and then later he became the king of Egypt and and and fed all the people and saved all those lives.

I mean that would be like saying well they're the heroes. Because of what they did Joseph ended up being a savior. Well that's not how that works. They're still responsible for their sin. So too is Judas still responsible for his sin.

But I digress there was an expectation for Messiah that had been set. And Jesus has been doing many of the things that people expected. He has brought sight to the blind. Remember when remember when John sent his disciples to Jesus when he was in prison and Jesus said go and tell them the sight that the blind have their sight and the the poor have the gospel preached to them.

And blessed is he who is not ashamed of me. Remember this. Jesus said go back and tell him that and that will comfort him to know that the prophecies of Isaiah are being fulfilled in me because that's what he was quoting.

He was quoting the prophecies of Isaiah saying these things are being fulfilled in me folks here over here I thought I saw you. I thought I saw you. So it's okay. Okay. Yeah a little distracted there my bad.

So there are things that the Messiah was expected to do that Jesus has fulfilled. But the one thing that seems to have been missed by everyone and this is the it's clearly taught in the Old Testament but somehow clearly missed by so many interpreters was that the Messiah was to suffer that he was to be rejected that he was to be killed and that he was to rise again.

That was the thing that no one expected. And therefore when Jesus made that proclamation of himself Peter's response is so seemingly ridiculous and I say ridiculous because can you imagine rebuking Jesus just for a minute.

I mean I have a hard enough time rebuking an older man. I have a hard enough time rebuking anybody. You know rebuking someone. I respect rebuking so you know I'm saying I have a hard enough time rebuking anybody but particularly somebody I respect who might be older in a position of authority or whatever.

That's a hard thing to do. Peter's rebuking the man who he just I mean the breath is still warm having come out of his mouth that he said thou art the Christ. Jesus said okay understand this. The Christ is going to suffer be rejected be killed and rise again.

No you're not what a what an amazing thing that Peter is doing there he's rebuking the Lord of Glory. This it's it's so nonsensical but yet it makes perfect sense when you consider the the context of Peter's understanding of Messiah.

Peter thought that that did not fit into what he understood about Messiah. He didn't understand that Isaiah 53 clearly points to the Messiah. Some Jews believe that Isaiah 53 points to Israel. Isaiah 53 if you don't remember is about the suffering servant the one whom the the sins are laid upon the one whose stripes by whose stripes were healed.

You know you remember that passage. And that particular passage has been understood by some Jews who'd reject Jesus to apply to Israel. But that passage is not intended to apply to Israel distinctly it is intended to apply to Israel's Messiah the true Israel.

And in that sense you could say yes because Christ is identified as the true Israel he is the true seed of Abraham he is the true fulfillment of those things. But in this sense it's not about the nation it's about the nation's king.

He is the suffering servant. And that's the theme of Mark. If you go through the four Gospels each one has a theme. And Mark's theme is in a sense Christ as the suffering Messiah or the suffering servant.

And here we have this passage in Isaiah 53 which points this out. And yet it is not understood that way until after Christ and they are able to see in Christ the one whose stripes healed the nation's the one who bore the sins of many.

So as I said it makes sense that Peter would say this even though it doesn't make sense to me that he would rebuke Christ for such a thing as a fool's errand at best to rebuke the Lord. But before we move on to verse 33 I want to just mention one other thing this fourfold thing I said these things are what would not be have been understood by the people of Israel to apply to the Messiah.

These things would later by the Apostle Paul be the very foundations upon which Paul would say the gospel is laid. Remember first Corinthians 15. This is the gospel that I proclaim to you that Jesus died according to the that he was buried and that he was raised according to the scriptures.

So how does Paul identify Christ's death burial and resurrection. He he says it's by the way he's saying according to scripture. He's talking about the Old Testament. He's saying that the very things that the people of Israel could see were in the Old Testament or didn't see or didn't want to recognize were in the Old Testament.

By the time first Corinthians 15 is written Paul says we can see that the scripture clearly says that he would suffer be rejected be killed and died. Now it's not. It's not in that order. But you understand when he says he died according to the scriptures he was buried and he was raised according to the scriptures.

And so Paul not appealing directly to what Jesus had prophesied but at the same event saying this certainly was scriptural. It certainly was something that was prophesied. And therefore even more reason for those who rejected Jesus and those who didn't believe what was going to happen have missed something that was so obvious and that is that Jesus would die.

So Jesus has said I'm going to die according to the scriptures. I'm going to die. Paul says according to the scriptures. Jesus just says that the Son of Man will suffer be rejected be killed and will rise again.

Peter rebukes him pulls him to the side and rebukes him in verse 33. 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.

Get Behind Me Satan: The Temptation to Avoid the Cross

If you compare this to Matthew's Gospel and this is Matthew 16 23 it says. But he turned and said to Peter get behind me Satan. You are a hindrance to me. For you're not setting your minds on the things of God but on the things of man.

Just one extra sentence your hindrance to me. I do think sometimes we over analyze and at times over interpret meaning we put things in the text that I don't think are intended. I don't think Peter is possessed by Satan.

Here some have come to that conclusion that Satan has entered Peter right after his confession. I don't think that that is the case. I think what Jesus is saying is that you're speaking the same words of Satan.

You're you're. You're attempting to hinder my progress by by calling me out and rebuking me. You are acting as Satan in the world. You remember what Satan has already done for Jesus. Satan has already offered Jesus a fast track.

Because what is Jesus's ultimate destiny. That all the nations would be under his feet. Right. The post millennial blessing. That all the nations of the world would be under the feet of Messiah. Right.

And what did Satan do when he met Jesus in the wilderness. He said take the bread turn or take this rock turn into bread. Jesus said no man lives by bread alone. But every word that comes out the proceeds of the mouth of God.

Okay. And then he takes him up on the pinnacle of the temple and he shows them all the nations of the world. And he says all of these I will give to you if you just do what. Bow down to me. So Satan has provided Jesus a fast track because Satan does.

Satan does deceive the nations. He does. He is called in Scripture the prince of the power of the air. He does have a certain authority within the world. That is a limited authority. We would say Satan's is a bound authority.

Because God of course is sovereign over everything even the works of Satan. We see that in Job. And he's been teaching on right. Satan is still it's still not completely free. But in this moment when we see Jesus have this opportunity for the fast track he says no.

He rejects the promise of Satan. He rejects the offer of Satan to take this fast track to the destiny of having all the nations under his feet. And so here Peter is speaking like Satan. Because what did Satan not want.

Satan did not want Christ on the cross. Satan did not want Christ to die for the sins of the world. Now some would say well in a sense Satan did want that because he wanted Jesus dead. Yes. But he he wanted it.

And by his way he didn't want it the way that God intended verse 34. And calling the crowd to him with his disciples he said to them if anyone would come after me let him deny himself take up his cross and follow me.

Denying Yourself and Taking Up Your Cross

So now Jesus has Jesus has changed from talking about himself as this is Christ. And it says Christ must suffer be rejected be killed and then rise again in three days. Now he has turned his attention to the whoever.

Now the whoever in this sentence would be whoever what whoever would come after me who is that we would say they are the believers. Whoever are the believers. Whoever would come after me let him do what.

What are the things he says. One let him deny himself let him do what. Take up his cross. And then finally let him follow me and deny himself take up the cross and follow me. This is almost exact same words in in Matthew 16 24.

Jesus told his disciples anyone would come after me let him deny himself take up his cross and follow me. And same thing in Luke 9 23. This is one of those phrases that is verbatim given in all three accounts.

There is very little difference if any at all in the rendering. So consider what Jesus is saying here. You just called me the Christ. You just affirmed that I am the anointed one of God prophet priest King.

You've also affirmed that you believe that therefore you are my disciples. Here's what you need to know as the Christ prophet priest King. I am going to be rejected suffer die and rise again. Peter said no.

Oh and by the way you are also going to suffer. If you follow me first you're going to suffer the difficulty of self denial. I ask this in honesty. Is self-denial easy. No. Self-denial is the hardest thing we're called to do because the one that we tend to negotiate with worst is our self.

When our self want something we have that struggle internally not to want to give it to ourselves to treat ourselves to find a way to give the flesh or the mind what it wants. But Jesus said if you come after me you have to deny yourself now.

In a sense the disciples had already denied themselves. In one sense they had already left family and home member. Jesus said no one who's left family or home on my account will by any means loses reward.

Remember Jesus talks about the fact that they have already in one sense exercised a form of self-denial. But a greater form of self-denial is coming because very soon they would scatter when Jesus is arrested showing that they still had a sense of self-preservation.

Especially Peter. What was Peter willing to do in his self-preservation. Lie willing to tell that he didn't even know Jesus and curse for the purpose of quieting those who would call him a follower of Christ.

So we see this. We see this reality. Sir somebody coming. I keep seeing. I guess I'm just as I keep hearing things. Maybe it's just such a small group. I don't know. I just there's. I keep hearing what I think are phantom footsteps.

As if I guess I think I'm hearing Mike Smith coming down the walkway there. Well I lost my place. You understand what I was saying. When the first thing is deny himself they're going to have to deny themselves.

Probably the greatest example of this is still yet to come in the Gospel of Mark. And that is when the rich young ruler comes to Jesus. Remember the rich young ruler runs to Jesus and he says what must I do to be saved.

Jesus says deny yourself all right. That's not exactly what he says. He says sell everything you have and come and follow me. That's self-denial. Because he was a rich man and Jesus said your riches are great because or they're so great that they are you're undoing.

So self-denial is first. The second thing he says take up your cross. If any man would come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross. Now this part and I'm going to make a little note here my red pen this part I think is often somewhat well didn't work somewhat looked at anachronistically and that is there are times when I think people read back into something perhaps something that was not necessarily the intention.

Here's what I mean by that Jesus of course is well aware that he's going to die and it's very likely that he did understand he was going down across. Obviously in his in that sense he knew what was coming.

But in this phrase when he mentions take up your cross Jesus is not referring to his own cross that he will be taking up in just a short time. But he is in fact referring in my opinion and we could disagree perhaps to the thousands and thousands of crosses which littered the landscape of Palestine.

Israel at that time wasn't Palestine wouldn't call that at that time. But but you understand that there were thousands of crucifixions that occurred and therefore Jesus isn't in this passage saying look at my cross because they wouldn't have had a they would not have had a mental understanding of that yet because that event is still in the future.

Like I said it's anachronistic for them to think they're thinking about Jesus's cross we are because we have the benefit of hindsight they're not so Jesus is not saying take up your cross and follow me as I take my cross because they wouldn't even have thought of that.

Jesus is saying deny yourself and take up your instrument of execution. If it would have been in France 200 years ago he would have said take up your guillotine. That would have been in the United States a hundred years ago he might have said take up your gallows.

You understand. I mean he's he's identifying the instrument which was so commonly used to kill his countrymen. And he's pointing to them and saying you are to take up this instrument of death and understand that you're following me and following me is going to possibly and most likely lead to not only self-denial in the realm of the comfortable but self-denial to the point of death.

And so as I said I'm I just I want us to understand this from their perspective. When they heard the word cross they weren't thinking about Jesus and that moment. Now what's interesting is when Mark writes this to the to the church to the Roman Christians when he writes this to the Gentile Christians and he is the author and they are the recipient.

When he writes this to them they probably thought about Jesus's cross the same way we do. But understand Mark's not including this as a as a commentary. This is what Jesus said. So when Jesus said take up your cross and follow me he's saying take up your instrument of death be willing to die.

Self-denial and willingness to die and follow me. And and here is the proof that that's what he meant in verse 35. Remember context is King verse 35. For whoever will save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake in the Gospels will save it.

Notice Jesus identifies the real issue. The issue is if you follow me it's going to cost you everything. If you follow me it's going to cost you even up to your own life. And whoever will save his life will lose it.

Whoever loses life for my sake and the Gospels will save it. And then he gives this statement that is simple yet profound. He says what shall it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul.

Gaining the World and Losing the Soul

Now we've all seen movies where men and women are given the opportunity to sell their soul. And there's even there's even tell stories told of rock stars and famous rich people and movie stars who in their times of being interviewed some have even said that they have sold their souls for their success.

Some meaning simply that they gave up all of their integrity. Selling your soul can simply just mean to it can be euphemistic for giving up your integrity. But some people genuinely believe that they made a pact with the devil.

I forget the name of the rock star. But there was a rock star who was being interviewed and he was very confident. Yes I met the devil and I sold my soul to the devil. Now I I think that that guy was probably on drugs and he probably believes everything he said.

But whether or not it actually happened is you know likely to be something of great debate. But the reality is the idea of selling one's soul. We all understand what that means and the consequences of such a thing.

What a foolish thing. I remember I don't remember who said it. I think it was a Puritan that I was looking at but I could have been Jonathan Edwards. But I I I don't want to give that absolute because I'm not certain.

But there was a writer who said only a fool would take a thousand years of suffering for 50 years of happiness. He said imagine if you had the choice somebody says okay you have a thousand years of suffering and 50 years of happiness.

Or you can have 50 years of suffering and a thousand years of happiness. Only the fool would take the first deal. Only the fool would take the 50 years of happiness and then have a thousand years of misery.

And what. The writer. And again I don't remember who it was but what he was saying is he was saying our our issue is infinitely different. But it's the same but infinitely more. Because we may have 50 years.

Some of us may not have 50 years left. I probably don't. Right. I may not even have a year. I mean I have a day. I don't know but I mean if I live a normal lifespan I've got more behind me than I got in front of them.

Right. But 50 years of happiness 50 years of selling your soul for whatever it might be is not worth the eternity that is being forfeited. That's Jesus's point. You are giving up eternity for the fleeting pleasure of sin.

How foolish and yet how common. Jesus says wide is the road. What that leads to destruction. Many there are who find it. And narrow is the gate that leads to life. And few there are who find it. This is the reality.

So many are willing to forfeit their soul on the altar of human happiness. Verse 38 or verse 37. For what can a man give in return for. So once you get there there's nothing you can get to pay and get it back.

You can't buy it back. It's not something that you can purchase. And then we have this word. For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words of this adulterous and sinful generation of of him will the son of man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his father with his holy angels.

Ashamed of Christ in an Adulterous and Sinful Generation

Now this is Jesus reminding us that even after this there's something else he's gonna suffer be rejected be killed rise again. And then there's going to be the church age. And then after the church age is concluded there is going to be his return in power.

And he says there's coming a day and on that day you're going to be judged. And how are you going to be judged. You're going to be judged by how you responded to the call to follow me to deny yourself.

Take up your cross and follow me. And whoever's ashamed of me and my words the Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in glory. Certainly that seems to be expressing the reality that those who reject Christ here will be rejected by him in his return.

The term being ashamed of simply doesn't mean ashamed in the sense of embarrassed by but ashamed of in the sense that rejecting to reject Christ here is to reject the only hope of eternity. To receive Christ here is to receive the only hope of eternity.

And there is no third option. We find ourselves at a crossroad of rejection or reception. We will either reject him or receive him. And ultimately that work is a work of God in our hearts. But we still have to consider and ask ourselves where we are where are we.

Are we on the side of those who have received. Or are we on the side of those who have rejected. This is past Sunday after church young man and our church came up to me and said that he was wanting to talk to me about his soul and about his spiritual life.

And so we talked for a little Sunday. And then we met again last night and I told him we would begin the time of counseling because anytime someone comes to me I pray with them. But then I counseled them for several weeks.

But here's what he said. He said what affected him was when I preached the other day on being on the outside or being on the inside. Remember when I said that Sunday I said that there are those who are outside.

There are those who are inside. You know when I was preaching that someone online commented and said that sounds like a cult talk. Cults talk about people on the outside and on the inside. And cults do talk about outsiders and insiders.

So they're not necessarily wrong in that regard. But Jesus is much more profound than that because he's not talking about simple being simply being a part of the group or not part of the group. He's talking about what happens in eternity.

And what happens in eternity is how we receive Christ. And by the way this is the invitation Jesus gives. You know for years Baptists especially have been really good at giving invitations. And what is the invitation.

Come and believe in Jesus. How many times have you seen a Baptist preacher stand up in the pulpit and said if any man wants to follow Christ let him deny himself let him take up his cross and let him follow Christ.

We don't do that because we're afraid it's going to run people off. But that's the invitation Jesus gave. He said if any man come after me any man come after me. He's got to be willing to lose his life.

For my sake some say well that's that's salvation by works. No that's what faith looks like. We are justified by faith. And faith means we lay our lives in the hand of Christ trusting him. Now I did have you read verse one of the next passage.

And time is come and gone. So I'm gonna make this very quick. I just want to mention he said to them in verse 1 I do believe this is continuing the conversation. And the reason why I believe this is because if you look at Matthew's gospel and in Luke's gospel it's in the same chapter same context.