Easter (Part 1)

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No Compromise Radio Thanks for tuning in to No Compromise Radio with pastor and author,

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Dr. Mike Abendroth. Today on No Compromise Radio, we'll be hearing Pastor Mike open the

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Word of God in a recent message he preached at Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston, Massachusetts.

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Now let's join Pastor Mike in progress as he preaches through the Scriptures, verse by verse with no compromise.

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Usually on Easter, pastors get up and they say, Jesus Christ is risen. And the congregation says,

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I don't know why we do that, but it's interesting. I've got a question for you.

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You say he's risen indeed. I'm not sure I believe it. I'm not really sure

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I believe that you think he is risen. For many of you,

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I know you believe it. And I think I know how to tell if you believe it or you don't.

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I can't read motives, I'm not omniscient, but show me someone's life who's committed to follow

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Christ Jesus no matter what, like Lisa's, and then I'll tell you if you really believe he's resurrected.

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Show me someone's life who doesn't follow Christ Jesus, who doesn't want to submit themselves to his lordship, and I'll show you someone who does not believe in the resurrection no matter what they say.

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Because ideas have consequences. One of the things I loved about Jesus' preaching when he was on earth and I see it in the

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Scripture, he tells the people the truth and then he says, either directly or indirectly, so what?

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What are you going to do about it? You say the resurrection is true? Does your life show it?

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Oh, I don't mean perfectly, but to some degree, if you believe in the resurrection of Christ Jesus, and I think most of you do or else you probably wouldn't be here today, could

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I tell your beliefs from your life? If you really believe something, it will affect the way you live, think, and act.

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And if you'll turn your Bibles this morning to Mark chapter 8, I want to show you from Mark 8, 9, and 10, this very thing.

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Now often we go to resurrection services on Easter, Resurrection Sunday morning, and we learn about Jesus' literal resurrection, and I think that's good.

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But now we're going to look at Jesus before he was crucified, before he was raised from the dead, and three times in the history of the

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Gospels, Jesus says, I'm going to suffer, I'll be crucified, I'll be raised from the dead, and in light of that, you must follow me wholeheartedly.

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It's very interesting. In chapter 8, chapter 9, chapter 10, Jesus says, I'm going to be raised from the dead, and then he uses that as a springboard to talk about real discipleship, real faith.

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You say you're going to believe in this resurrected God, then follow him. And I could say this morning very simply, if Jesus is in fact

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God, if he in fact did raise himself from the dead, isn't God by definition worthwhile and worthy of you following him for your whole life?

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If you have forgiveness of sins, you can just start doing the calculations. If you sin once a day, how many years are you, how old are you, it wouldn't take very long to think,

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I've got a lot of sins to pay for, and if Jesus has paid it all on the cross, then shouldn't I live unto the glory of God?

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And so Jesus is prepping them, and he's going to say these three times, chapter 8, chapter 9, chapter 10,

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I'm going to die, and then right after he says that, he says to the men, and then we say to you, so what are you going to do about it?

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Doing nothing means you don't believe what Jesus has said. So today I'm going to look at these three chapters, chapter 8, chapter 9, and chapter 10, three predictions from Jesus that talk about his life, no, his death and his resurrection, and then in light of that, he demands all your loyalty, all your commitment to follow him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

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In other words, you say you believe in the resurrection, prove it. So let's look at Mark, chapter 8, 9, and 10,

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I look, I love the book of Mark, I call this the Indiana Jones of the

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New Testament Gospels, because it is action -packed. It is go, go, go, and you just see this person of Christ, and you just look at Jesus Christ and listen to him, and you say, there's no person like him ever.

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There's no king like him, no savior, no captain, no man, no general. This man, the way he speaks, the way he preaches, it doesn't just demand respect, it inspires awe, confidence.

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And here we have the God -man himself preaching, and he preaches about his resurrection, and then he says, in light of this resurrection, what are you going to do?

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You should be fully devoted to following me. The first one is found in Mark, chapter 8, verse 31, and again, we're going to look at three predictions from Jesus that should inspire you to live for him.

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If you're a Christian, great. We can just say, God, by your grace, I'd like to follow you more wholeheartedly.

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And if you're not a Christian, I want you to know, as you leave here today, if you're not following Christ, then you don't really believe in the resurrection.

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You don't really believe in this Jesus, because if you realize your sin and Christ's greatness and what he did, like Lisa just sang about, and his love offering for you, you would follow such a man.

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The first prediction is found in Mark, 8, 31. If you don't have a Bible, you've got to follow along, because this is just one of the most amazing passages you'll ever read about.

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And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days, rise again.

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I don't know if you've ever got slapped in the face before, with a hand, or with a cold hand, but that's what this sentence was like, figuratively, to these men.

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Aren't messiahs supposed to be political victors? These men who come along and say, the

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Roman oppression is over, and here we're going to liberate you all, and Jesus says,

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I'm not that kind of messiah, by the way, I'm the kind of messiah that's going to suffer and be killed, and then be raised three days later.

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The tradition in those days said something like this, thinking about God as king and messiah.

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How fine is the king, the messiah, who will arise from those from the house of Judah. He girds his loins and goes forth and sets up the ranks of battle against his enemies, and kills the kings together with their commanders, and no king and commander can stand before him.

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He reddens the mountains with blood, their blood, from their slain garments, dipped in blood.

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Here's this messiah that people wanted, and he was a messiah that would come in and clean house, literally.

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And now Jesus says to these men, I'm going to die and be raised from the dead. What are you talking about?

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He says four things. What does he say? I must suffer. I must suffer.

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It is the eternal purpose of God for me to suffer. I'm not going to set up this messianic kingdom fully until later.

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Not just suffer to be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes. Don't you think the messiah, thinking kind of naturally and normally, would have the elders say, we affirm that.

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Yes, we're the leaders and we see the messiah and we sign off on his credentials. They're not even supporting him.

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These are the leaders. And then the messiah must be lifted up and exalted and worshiped.

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No. What does the text say? Coronated, promoted, killed, and after three days, rise again.

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Now, what would you do if you were there? You probably do what I would do, which was what

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Peter did. Look at what happens. It's not going to be a military coup.

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There's going to be suffering. There's going to be a resurrection, death in between, and the apostles must have gone apoplectic.

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And verse 32 says of Mark 8, and he said this plainly, this was not some hidden parable, allegory, cloak saying that only inside people could know what

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Jesus said. You've got to assign a number to and then figure it out and some kind of signature of God.

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This was plainly, and he said it over and over and over. He said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and said, hallelujah, praise the

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Lord. We love suffering servants. We like suffering. You like suffering. Let's all suffer together.

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And Jesus was took aside by Peter, and Peter began to rebuke Jesus. This is the same language where the disciples watched

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Jesus rebuke demons. And now Peter is rebuking Jesus. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked

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Peter and said, get behind me,

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Satan, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God but on the things of man.

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Peter, put down the megaphone for Satan because you're spouting Satan's language.

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You're not talking about God's will where the Old Testament and the knowledge of God was we are going to have

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Jesus go first, suffer, be killed, and then be raised from the dead. Just earlier in chapter 8,

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Peter said, you're the Christ, the son of the living God, A for the letter grade.

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And now he's saying, no, don't do that. And now he's gone from A student to dunce cap in about a few short verses.

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Jesus had been on the Mount of Temptation in Matthew 4 and in Luke 4 and in Mark chapter 1 and Satan was tempting

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Jesus, just take the easy route and all these kingdoms will be added unto you. And he's already rebuked

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Satan and said, be gone, Satan, in the exact same language here he says to Peter, stop this, Satan's M .O.,

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the way he operates is always this, glory, no suffering. Get the glory but have no suffering and God's M .O.,

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his way is always suffering is transformed into glory. One of the other gospels says that Peter said to Jesus, God forbid it,

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Lord, this shall never happen to you. Jesus said, you're a stumbling block to me for you're not setting your mind on God's interest but man's.

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God had planned the crucifixion of Christ, this was not some kind of accident. Acts chapter 2, this man

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Jesus delivered up by the predetermined plan of God. Acts chapter 4, thy hand and thy purpose,

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God, predestined this crucifixion to occur. And basically

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Peter is told this, this is not my program, here is my program, you follow me to the death and beyond.

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And look at what he does, he gives these demands of discipleship. The stakes are high, it's difficult.

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And what Jesus says now is like Churchill in World War II, what do I have to offer you men?

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Nothing except blood, sweat and tears. It's not easy but forgiveness of sins is worth it.

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If you're going to live forever in heaven or hell, you want to have your sins forgiven so you can live in heaven and if you have your sins forgiven based on the work of another, it's worth all this.

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And here are the demands of discipleship, I kind of call them spiritual gut checks. You say you're a Christian, prove it.

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This is not, you know, accept Jesus in your heart and live the way you want, this is all, it's all or nothing.

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Mark 8, 34, and calling to the crowd, calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, if anyone, not just the disciples now, not just Peter, but anyone, anyone listening today, if anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.

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You say you believe in the resurrection, Jesus says it's going to cost you everything, it could cost you everything, including your life.

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What does he say first, do you notice? Deny himself. Just say no to self.

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How hard is that in our day and age in this culture? Prideful self?

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No. Self -righteous self? No. The self that says there's many ways to heaven? No.

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The self that says I don't want to trust in that man and his word? No. You want to follow

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Christ? Deny yourself. Total surrender.

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Yeah, but how far are we going to take this? I mean, if you've got to deny yourself, just how extreme? Let's just, you know, figure out how little we have to give to follow that and we'll be okay.

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And Jesus gives a second demand. How far are you willing to take this self -denial? Up to death. How about that?

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And pick up your cross. Now, this is not some person in your life that's kind of bugging you.

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I got a cross to carry. My wife, you know, is my cross. I'm just talking for someone else.

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I'm not talking about Kim at all. I've got some physical ailment. It's my cross.

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Here he says it could cost you your life. How about living in America now where the death penalty is passe?

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If necessary, you have to be willing to follow Christ Jesus up to the point of death if he deems it necessary.

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It's like you're having a halter around your neck being drug down to the spot where Jesus is going to be crucified.

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Jesus says, I'm the sin bearer. I'm the Messiah. There's only forgiveness found in me.

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And I'll prove it to you by being killed on the cross. I'll raise myself from the dead. So now that that's going to be true, then it's going to cost you everything to follow me.

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Take up your cross. By the way, the disciples did.

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Peter was crucified according to tradition, head downward. Andrew, all these according to tradition, died on a cross in a

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Grecian colony. James, thrown off the pinnacle of the temple and then beaten to death with a club.

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Bartholomew, flayed alive in Armenia. James, the elder son of Zebedee, beheaded at Jerusalem.

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That's in the Bible. Thomas, the doubter, run through the body with the lance in the

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East Indies. Philip was hanged from a pillar in Abyssinia.

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Thaddeus was shot to death with arrows. The other Simon died on a cross in Iran. But if heaven is found through following and trusting and believing in this

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Christ Jesus, and I have no guilt, no shame, no penalty of sin, then it's worthy of my affections to follow him no matter what.

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If you say, I confess Jesus as my Lord, I believe he was raised from the dead, but I won't follow him anywhere, let alone to my death, then you're not really a believer in Christ Jesus.

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And look what he says there at the end. The person who loves Christ will follow him and follow me.

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Keep on following me. That's the way they taught back in those days. Oh, I have some disciples, you just kind of follow me.

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And where I walk, you walk right behind me. Follow me. A cross is in my future, men, and a cross is in your future, too, if I ordain it.

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You say, give me some reasons for this. This is kind of extreme. Look at the first reason found in verse 35.

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These are the reasons behind these demands. God's ways are not like our ways.

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For whoever would save his life, physically, will lose it eternally.

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But whoever loses his life, temporally, by living for Christ, for my sake, and the gospel, shall save it eternally.

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One man said, this is the way of total freedom. If you clutch your life wholly to yourself, protecting it against all others, asserting all your rights, needs, and privileges, you lose it because it isn't life any longer.

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If, however, you acknowledge that life is not yours by right, that all is privilege, and that it is to be lived in the love that the gospel story reveals, self -giving love, then you possess it wholly.

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I have a question for you. Verse 36. Salvation seems pretty reasonable and profitable, if you put it this way.

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For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? Answer?

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What if I owned everything? What if I was Warren Buffet, or Bill Gates, or anybody else, and I owned it all?

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Will you exchange all that you have if I could own the whole world? And then say on judgment day,

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God, here's what I'm going to give you in exchange for my soul. He asks another question in verse 37.

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You can't buy salvation. For what can a man give in return for his soul?

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God, here's my gold bullion for you. Thanks for letting me go to heaven. God, here's all my

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Google stock. I've kept it all together, please, heaven. Look at the serious consequences, verse 38.

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For whoever is ashamed of me, not follow me up to and including death if necessary, and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, sounds like today, of him will the

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Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

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I usually don't think of hell this way, but it's a good thought. It's a horrible thought, but it's a true thought.

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Hell is a place where God puts those who are ashamed of Jesus Christ. Let's go to Mark chapter 9.

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It's so much easier to say, Jesus Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. That's the easy part.

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But what you say is confirmed by what you believe. That is to say, if you really believe something, your life will show it.

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That's why Jesus preaches repentance. Change your mind, because if your mind is changed, everything changes. Now we go to prediction number 2,

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Mark chapter 9. I mean, already, just kind of, you know, it's overwhelming. Thankfully, what

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God commands, the Spirit of God attends to and gives grace so that we're able.

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Mark chapter 9, verse 30. Here's the second time Jesus told these men who wanted a political

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Messiah, that he was going to have to suffer and be raised from the dead, and then it will cost you something. There's a response to truth.

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Truth has consequences. Mark 9, verse 30. They went on from there and passed through Galilee, and he did not want anyone to know.

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Still in this kind of private, isolated ministry leading up to the cross. For he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, the

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Son of Man, an Old Testament term from Daniel to talk about the Messiah, is going to be delivered into the hands of men?

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What do you mean, into men's hands? This is the Messiah, and they will kill him? What do you mean the Messiah is going to get killed?

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And when he is killed, after three days he will rise. Matthew says they were deeply grieved.

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Verse 32 of Mark says, they did not understand the scene and were afraid to ask him. Guys, remember what happened last time

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Peter rebuked Jesus after he said this? Let's just kind of keep quiet. We're afraid to say something now.

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Let's not have any more bad news. Get thee behind me, Satan, to Peter. Every one of you, if you're a parent, knows there are certain times in life where there's a child, you're just living your life, and something happens, either good or bad, and you go, this is a teachable moment.

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Come here, daughter. Come here, son. We've got a good lesson. This is a good teachable moment, and that's exactly what's going on here.

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Jesus is going to die, and in light of his death, what's the response? The response is, be a humble servant of Christ Jesus.

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Verse 33, when they came to Capernaum, when he was in the house, it was probably Peter's house, in the house he asked him, what were you discussing on the way?

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That's a bad thing coming up, I know. By the way, I just told you guys I'm going to be killed, suffer, be killed.

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And you can tell Jesus, it's like he just let them go talk on their own. He's walking this way.

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I'm just going to walk up a little ahead and let them talk among themselves. What were they talking about?

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Answer? Who's going to be the greatest? This is pre -Muhammad Ali, though, still in the heart of men and women.

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Verse 34, but they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest.

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The text says they just held their tongue for a long time. Yeah, Jesus is going to go get killed, and how great am

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I going to be? I'm better than you. Maybe all this talk of the kingdom made them think of who's going to be in the upper echelon of the kingdom, but it's still sinful nonetheless.

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Here comes the lesson, verse 35. And he sat down and called the twelve. You'd sit down as a rabbi for formal teaching.

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I stand up to teach. This way would be sitting down formally. And he said to them, if anyone would be first, like all you guys sitting there, he must be last of all and servant of all.

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If I'm the resurrected king and I am God incarnate, I'm going to call you to be servants just like I'm a servant.

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If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all. You say you believe in the resurrection?

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You should be willing to be a humble servant for Christ Jesus. If you're not at all, and you don't even want to be, and you're not even maturing in that area, then you need to go back to step one, and that is, do

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I really believe in the risen Christ? By deliberate choice, I'm going to be last.

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By voluntary decision, I'm going to be last. And Jesus, just like he does so wonderfully, he uses a living illustration.

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What living illustration should we use? Verse 36. Perfectly. And he took a child, infant, toddler, right around that age, put him as a little boy in the midst of them.

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I'm great, I'm great, I'm great. One of the things we know about children, they don't contribute anything to their greatness.

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And taking him in his arms, he said to them. This is a very tender picture.

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Here's Jesus, the great teacher. Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives not me, but him who sent me.

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You want to be great? It entails dealing and loving insignificant people like this.

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Me he receives. Children don't have rank. They don't have prominence.

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They don't have eminence. They have no influence, no accomplishments, no fame.

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They're just children. They're immature. They're undeveloped. They're inarticulate. They're weak. They're needy. They have no power, no status.

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They're vulnerable. They're subject to authority. They are dependent. No influence, no child.

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Children, by definition, need things. And so Jesus says, here's my illustration.

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I'm going to go die. I'm going to be raised from the dead. I am, in fact, the God who created the universe with a word.

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And since that's true, here's what I'm asking you to do. I'm asking you to be a humble servant just like me.

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It's amazing. No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

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Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible -teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life -transforming power of God's Word through verse -by -verse exposition of the sacred text.

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Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at 6. We're right on Route 110 in West Boylston.

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You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.

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The thoughts and opinions expressed on No Compromise Radio do not necessarily reflect those of WVNE, its staff or management.