A Slow Salve-ation

Worship in Song and Word

[Music]

Good morning, and welcome. We're going to start our service. Welcome to First Baptist Church of Arcadia. We're so glad you've joined us this morning. Our call to worship comes from Psalm 100, verses 1 through 3:

Let the whole earth shout triumphantly to the Lord! Serve the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Acknowledge that the Lord is God. He made us, and we are his— his people, the sheep of his pasture.

— Psalm 100:1-3 (CSB)

Join us this morning in song as we worship.

Creatures of our God and King, Lift up your voice and with us sing: Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Golden beam, silver moon with softer gleam, Oh, praise Him! Oh, praise Him! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

We are on hymn number 64. If you can't see the lyrics, that's where we are, hymn number 64.

Thou rushing wind that art so strong, Ye clouds that sail in heaven along, O praise Him! Hallelujah! Thou rising morn, in praise rejoice, Ye lights of evening, find a voice! O praise Him! O praise Him! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Verse five:

Let all things their Creator bless, And worship Him in humbleness, O praise Him! Hallelujah! Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son, And praise the Spirit, Three in One! O praise Him! O praise Him! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Our next song is in your bulletin, "Christ is Mine Forevermore."

Mine are days that God has numbered, I was made to walk with Him. Yet I look for worldly treasure, And forsake the King of kings. But mine is hope in my Redeemer, Though I fall, His love is sure. For Christ has paid for everything, I am His forevermore.

Mine are tears in times of sorrow, Darkness not yet understood. Through the valley I must travel, Where I see no earthly good. But mine is peace that flows from heaven, And the strength in times of need. I know my pain will not be wasted, Christ is working in me.

Mine are days here as a stranger, Pilgrim on a narrow way. One with Christ, I will encounter Harm and hatred for His name. But mine is armor for His battle, Strong enough to last the war. And He has said He will deliver Safely to the golden shore.

And mine are keys to Zion city, Where beside the King I walk. For there my heart has found its treasure, Christ is mine forevermore.

Come rejoice now, oh my soul, For His love is my reward. Fear is gone and hope is sure, Christ is mine forevermore.

Rejoice now, oh my soul, For His love is my reward. Fear is gone and hope is sure, Christ is mine forevermore.

And mine are keys to Zion city, Where beside the King I walk. For there my heart has found its treasure, Christ is mine forevermore.

And mine are keys to Zion city, Where beside the King I walk. For there my heart has found its treasure, Christ is mine forevermore, Christ is mine forevermore, Christ is mine forevermore.

Amen, amen. This is number 428 in your hymnal, "I Need Thee Every Hour."

I need Thee every hour, Most gracious Lord; No tender voice like Thine Can peace afford.

I need Thee, oh, I need Thee, Every hour I need Thee! Oh, bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee.

I need Thee every hour, Stay Thou nearby; Temptations lose their power When Thou art nigh.

I need Thee, oh, I need Thee, Every hour I need Thee! Oh, bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee.

I need Thee every hour, In joy or pain; Come quickly and abide, Or life is vain.

I need Thee, oh, I need Thee, Every hour I need Thee! Oh, bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee.

I need Thee every hour, Teach me Thy will; And Thy rich promises In me fulfill.

I need Thee, oh, I need Thee, Every hour I need Thee! Oh, bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee.

Please be seated.

I don't know how your week was, if you felt worn down by work, by family, or by the pressures of life. The good news of the gospel is not that you need to strengthen your own will to become more independent or self-sufficient. Rather, growing in the gospel actually means growing in our dependence, being able to say that we need God every single hour. The good news of the gospel is that He is capable of taking our weight, of holding us in His arms until we are safely home with Him. Amen.

Introduction: A Gradual Miracle

If you have a Bible, go ahead and grab it and open it to the Book of Mark. If you're using a pew Bible, that's on page 895. If you're visiting here with us and you don't have a Bible, that's our gift to you, so feel free to take that Bible and read it. We'll be on page 895, looking at chapter 8, verse 22 to chapter 9, verse 1.

We've been going through the Book of Mark, and now we are hitting the hinge point in the whole book. From this point forward, everything changes in this gospel as Jesus talks about who He is and, most clearly, what He came to do. Let's read Mark chapter 8, verse 22 to chapter 9, verse 1 together. It says this:

They came to Bethsaida. They brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and brought him out of the village. Spitting on his eyes and laying his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” He looked up and said, “I see people—they look like trees walking.” Again Jesus placed his hands on the man’s eyes. The man looked intently and his sight was restored and he saw everything clearly. Then he sent him home, saying, “Don’t even go into the village.” Jesus went out with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the road he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” They answered him, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, one of the prophets.” “But you,” he asked them, “who do you say that I am?”Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” And he strictly warned them to tell no one about him. Then he began to teach them that it was necessary for the Son of Man to suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and rise after three days. He spoke openly about this. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning around and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! You are not thinking about God’s concerns but human concerns.” Calling the crowd along with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me and the gospel will save it. For what does it benefit someone to gain the whole world and yet lose his life? What can anyone give in exchange for his life? For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” Then he said to them, “Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God come in power.”

— Mark 8:22-9:1 (CSB)

Let's pray. Lord, we know even this morning, with our best of efforts, we can still be blinded from understanding your Word. We know that even as you do help us, we are tempted to be distracted, to obscure our vision, and to have blurry sight. So we ask, Lord, this morning that you would help us by your Spirit to see your Word clearly, to understand it, and to obey it. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

I'm not very good at sermon titles. I recently had a conversation with a pastor friend of mine about this, because I don't really understand what they're used for. I always have a main point, but coming up with a pithy title is something I struggle with. This one, however, was not difficult. The title of this sermon is "A Slow Salvation."

You may be wondering why we're talking about spit in someone's face, a blind man, and Peter's denial all together. It seems like a weird hodgepodge of three dissected, divided stories. But in reality, Mark actually puts these three sections together on purpose. They are connected in understanding the main point of Christianity. The goal of the Christian life, and the goal that Mark has as he writes his gospel, is for us to see Jesus clearly and to understand what He came to do. Even Jesus' own miracle here in Bethsaida, healing this blind man, ends up serving as a living symbol—a living parable—for how we ought to think about seeing Jesus.

Our main idea this morning is to see the Son clearly. We will see that this text is divided into three parts: the symbol, the confession, and the lesson.

The Symbol: Spiritual Sight as a Process

Let's start with the symbol in verse 22. They came to Bethsaida, brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him. Last week, we saw Jesus travel through different Gentile, pagan areas, and now the author is pivoting again. Jesus is away from those Gentile areas and has arrived at this area called Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew, Peter, James, and John. When the people in Bethsaida find out that Jesus has arrived, they bring out a blind man and they plead with Jesus, begging Him to touch this blind man and heal him.

So that's exactly what He does. He takes the blind man by the hand, brings him out of the village, spits on his eyes, and lays His hands on him. Then He asks him, "Do you see anything?" The man looks up and says, "I see people, but they look like trees walking." Again, Jesus places His hands on the man's eyes, the man looks intently, his sight is restored, and he sees everything clearly. Then Jesus sends him home, telling him not to even go into the village.

Jesus takes the blind man and leads him out of the village, and after the healing, He sends him straight home, telling him not to even step foot back in the village. Why does Jesus do this? We've seen plenty of different reasons why Jesus might prefer doing a miracle in private. He has done this a number of times in His ministry, where He brings someone away in isolation to heal them.

There are tons of good reasons why you might think Jesus would prefer doing this miracle in front of other people. Doing it in public would increase His notoriety, showcase His significance, and build some hype and momentum behind His work. He could grab the attention of every single person around Him by doing something that no one had ever seen before. But He doesn't do that. Instead, He takes the blind man and brings him into private.

Why does Jesus do this? To be honest, there is no clearly identifiable reason in the text for why Jesus chooses this specific method. But there are good lessons here for us. In a day where we voluntarily publicize our otherwise private and quiet aspects of life—where we might take a picture of our Bible and coffee to post on the internet and flaunt our love of Jesus—Jesus has another category. He understands the advantage of doing things publicly, but also doing things privately.

We don't want to measure faithfulness at this church by the hype, notoriety, or public thoughts of our ministry, but by our own quiet faithfulness. But that's not the primary focus of this passage.

Jesus heals this man unlike He has healed any other person in the Bible. He takes the man by the hand and He spits on his eyes. At this time, I'd like to ask if anybody would like to volunteer and come on the stage—I'm kidding, of course. He spits on this guy's eyes, puts His hands on him, and asks, "Do you see anything?" The man answers, "I see people, but they look like trees walking." He has blurry vision. He can see, but not quite clearly. So Jesus puts His hands on his eyes again, and then the man, looking intently and squinting, suddenly has his sight restored so that he can see everything clearly.

This is the only time in the gospels where you see Jesus heal a blind man like this—where Jesus doesn't fully heal the person the first time around. The blind man only sort of sees. It's not until Jesus touches him a second time and the man tries to look and squint that he is able to see clearly.

Why does it take two steps? Is Jesus' power somehow decreasing, or is blindness an extra difficult miracle? You might see some people who claim to do supernatural miracles try to use this as a model for spiritual healing, suggesting Jesus' power was limited. But that is not what is going on. Throughout the Book of Mark, you see Jesus establish His absolute authority over the earth. We've seen Him heal the sick, cast out demons, and even command the winds and the waves. Jesus is able to heal even the Syrophoenician woman's daughter who was possessed by a demon, and she wasn't even in the vicinity of Jesus. Jesus could just declare that it would happen, and it happened.

So the issue is not Jesus' capability. If Jesus can cast out a demon miles away from His presence, He could have just looked at the blind man and healed him with the snap of His fingers. But He doesn't do that. Instead, there is a specific progression that happens in the story. This healing doesn't happen in an instant; it happens through a process. The man can't see, then he sort of sees, and then he clearly sees.

This miracle is no accident. Mark and Jesus are using this miracle to explain to us the process of spiritual sight. It teaches us two things: first, that sight is miraculous, and second, that sight is also a process.

First, sight is miraculous. There is nothing that this blind man can do to make himself see. There is no self-improvement program he can sign up for, no workout regimen that would somehow open up his eyes, no career coaching, and no self-help that can undo the physiological barrier preventing him from seeing. The only way that this blind man can possibly see is through supernatural intervention. He needs a miracle; he needs amazing grace.

At the same time, this sight is also a process. Jesus takes His time. He works on him, the man looks, and then Jesus lays His hands on him again. It happens through a process where even the man himself has to participate in looking intently. This is a miracle that is deliberately delayed, a deliberate process. The reason it happens like this is because this physical miracle serves as a symbol of a greater kind of sight—a spiritual understanding. It points to something bigger than just a physically blind man being able to see.

Notice in verse 22 that they came to Bethsaida, the home of Andrew, Peter, James, and John. It turns out, as we move to our second point, that the blind man wasn't the only one who had blurry vision.

The Confession: Who Do You Say I Am?

Let's look at Point number two, the confession, starting in verse 27. Jesus and His disciples are on the road again to a new area called Caesarea Philippi, when He asks them what they've been hearing. What are people saying about Him? Who do people say that Jesus is? They answer Him: John the Baptist, Elijah, and one of the prophets.

We are often quick to move on to the second half of this interaction, but I want to pause here and mention that these are massive figures. These names represent the absolute paragon of Jewish leadership and history: the most recent and significant prophet, John the Baptist; and legends like Elijah. To the average observer, Jesus was being included in the list of the most godly, useful, and significant figures in Israel's history. Most would be flattered, even honored, to be included on that kind of list. But Jesus is more than just a really important man. He is the most important man. We see that in verse 29:

“But you,” he asked them, “who do you say that I am?”

Peter answers Him, "You are the Messiah." Jesus shifts His focus from what the people are saying generally to what the disciples specifically think. "What do you think?" And Peter gets it right. He doesn't call Jesus a prophet or just a great leader; he calls Him the Messiah.

The Messiah is the same word for Christ, the anointed one. Christ isn't just Jesus' last name; it is a title. It means something profoundly significant. Israel had lived in exile and under the authority of pagan nations for hundreds of years. They had been enslaved, exiled, and conquered. Even now, though they had returned to the Promised Land, they were still under the heavy-handed rule of the Roman Empire. But the prophets spoke of a man who would rise up—the Messiah, a future King, a Son of David who would come and redeem Israel, deliver them from the oppression of other nations, and fulfill the promises that God had made long ago to Abraham.

Peter is saying something far more radical than what we might be tempted to say if we are just trying to be polite. Jesus is deliberately raising the ante. He is not just a respectable prophet or a great teacher. He is more than someone who legitimately speaks for God. Jesus isn't just respectable; He is royalty. He is the Messianic King who has come to rule and to reign. If Jesus is the Messiah, that means He is the rightful King of the whole world. He's not just a teacher; He is a Redeemer.

To merely respect Jesus without recognizing the office of Jesus is to reject Jesus. I'll say that again: to merely respect Jesus without recognizing the office of Jesus is actually to reject Him.

These days, it can feel like asking a simple question and having to answer it is like getting thrust into the no-man's-land of a battlefield. "Who are you voting for in this election? What are your thoughts on this or that controversial issue?" All of us have been at dinner tables where we wished we could claw through the floorboards to escape the conversation. Sometimes it is just easier to state what people are saying generally: "Well, the Democrats think this, the Republicans think that, the Baptists think this, the Presbyterians think that."

When it comes to the issue of who Jesus is, we can be tempted to do the same thing and just throw out general ideas: "Well, some think He's God, others think He was just a good teacher, or an influential leader, or maybe a prophet." But Jesus will not let you off the hook. He says, "But you, who do you say that I am?"

That is one of the most important questions you will ever answer in your life, and it comes from the most important man who ever lived. Who do you say that Jesus is?

The truth of the gospel is that Jesus is more than just a teacher or a prophet. He is the Messiah, the Savior King. The Bible teaches us that God created the world and created mankind to steward it, but rather than obeying Him, we rebelled and disobeyed. As a result of our disobedience, we are deserving of eternal punishment, dead in our trespasses and sins. In fact, 2 Corinthians 4 goes as far as to say that the god of this age, Satan, has blinded the minds of unbelievers from being able to see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.

But the good news of the gospel is that we are saved not by our own work, but by grace. By Christ's work on the cross, dying for our sins and rising from the dead after three days, Jesus provides true, amazing grace that brings us from blindness into sight. That is the good news: if you turn from your sin and trust in this Jesus, if you hear the words of God in your heart, if you feel light breaking into the darkness of your soul and you trust in Jesus, He can forgive you today. He can give you everlasting life today.

If you are not a Christian, that is exactly what we want you to do. We want you to believe, to see, and to confess Jesus Christ as Lord. Don't domesticate Him into a harmless teacher. He is the Divine Deliverer. He is the Christ, the Messiah. If you have more questions about what it looks like to follow Jesus, I will be right at the door after the service. There is nothing else I'd rather do than talk to you about what it looks like to follow Jesus.

For us as a church, this is part of the reason why we have a statement of faith. We have a document, a booklet called the Baptist Faith and Message. The reason we have a statement of faith is because we believe that truth matters. One of the things we are doing as Christians, especially when we join a local church, is saying that certain things are objectively true. We are saying we actually believe that the Trinity is true, that God created the world, and that Jesus is truly God and truly man. We believe that the words inside this Book are true.

When our church adopts a statement of faith, we are saying we believe that this document clearly articulates what the Bible teaches. The responsibility we have as a church is not just to guard who comes into membership, but to clearly communicate what we believe. That is not just the job of the preacher behind the pulpit; it is your job. It is your confession, your document, and what you believe. You have a responsibility to confess this truth together, to listen to what is spoken from the pulpit, and to listen with clear discernment and clarity to be able to say, "Yes, amen, Pastor, that's true," or to be able to say, "No, Pastor, that's wrong."

If I, or Steve, or even an angel from heaven comes to you and preaches a gospel contrary to the one you have received, Galatians 1 commands us to curse them. You have a responsibility to hold on to what is true. That is the job of every single Christian and church member. If I ever come up here and teach you something that the Bible does not teach, you have a responsibility to fire me.

Peter, in this passage, nails it. He sees Jesus for who He is—kind of. It turns out that while he nailed the confession of who Jesus is, his vision was still blurred. Right after this bold, mighty statement, we are about to see him fall flat on his face.

The Rebuke: God's Concerns vs. Human Concerns

Look at verse 31. Right after Jesus establishes who He is—the anointed Messiah—He tells them the rest of His plan for the first time. In fact, the second half of this book becomes a slow, steady slide towards the cross. Jesus tells His disciples exactly what is going to happen: He is going to suffer, He is going to be rejected, He is going to be killed, and He is going to rise from the dead.

Up until this point in the story, we've seen Jesus' ascent into greatness. In the world's eyes, this guy is untouchable. He is teaching in a manner that runs circles around the greatest teachers in Jewish society. Sickness is being reversed, death is being stopped, demons are being defeated, and Jesus has repeatedly proven that whatever He wants to do, He does. But now, Jesus is saying that He is going to suffer. That is not what kings are supposed to do.

Jesus doesn't just call Himself the Messiah here, either. Notice the title He gives Himself in verse 31: the Son of Man. If you want to understand what that phrase means, you need to turn with me back to the Book of Daniel, chapter 7. This phrase, "Son of Man," is very specific and is different from "Son of God." In Daniel chapter 7, starting in verse 13, Daniel has a vision and prophesies about a future day:

I continued watching in the night visions,and suddenly one like a son of man was coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was escorted before him. He was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, so that those of every people, nation, and language should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will not be destroyed.

— Daniel 7:13-14 (CSB)

Imagine that. Imagine, like the vision of the temple in Isaiah 6, God sitting on His throne, the train of His robe filling the temple, the pillars shaking at the voices of the cherubim, and then this Son of Man appears and God gives Him an everlasting dominion. Jesus says, "I am that man, and I am going to die."

It doesn't make sense to them that this dominion-receiving, God-approaching, glory-getting, kingdom-ruling Son of Man would suffer, be rejected, be killed, and rise from the dead. That's not in the Book of Daniel. There is no footnote in Daniel 7 that mentions He has to be killed and die. To Peter, this is not just confusing; it is deeply offensive. So Peter decides to stand in His way. Verse 32 tells us that Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. But Jesus, turning around and looking at His disciples, rebukes Peter: "Get behind me, Satan! You are not thinking about God's concerns but human concerns."

Peter rebukes Jesus. Let's just think about that for a second. Peter rebukes Jesus! In the previous chapters, we've seen instances where Jesus takes a deaf man and a blind man and pulls them aside in private to perform a miracle on them, showing them personal care. Now, Peter is the one grabbing Jesus and pulling Him aside to set Him straight, to open Jesus' eyes. How dare Jesus say such terrible things about Himself? That is not king talk.

But Jesus takes Peter's rebuke and responds back with authority: "Get behind me, Satan!" In just three verses, Peter went from being a herald of the Deliverer to being a herald of the Deceiver, because Peter's vision was blurred. He stopped thinking about God's concerns and started thinking about human concerns.

It is a danger for all of us to get caught up in human concerns, isn't it? It is so easy to start caring about the things of this world and to care only about visible results. What makes this even more dangerous is that Peter got caught up in human concerns while trying to care for Jesus. Peter still cared about Jesus' majesty, but because he cared about Jesus' majesty with blurred vision, he disregarded Jesus' methods.

Are you caught up in human concerns? There are plenty of things you can get caught up with, even here at the church. These last couple of weeks, I've been stressed about insurance, looking at different policies and wondering what is best for our church. I spent a lot of my week—time I should have spent studying God's Word and prioritizing eternal things—thinking about insurance.

When you get caught up with things of the earth, you start trying to accomplish Jesus' goals with your own plans, your own methods, and your own strategies. You focus on the way you think the church should run, the way you think the Christian life should be lived, and the way you think God can be most glorified through your actions. When you do that, you might look down and find out you're actually wearing Satan's jersey. You may share a goal with God, but He will only do it according to His plan and His way.

Submitting to Jesus isn't just wanting what Jesus wants, but following Him in His ways. That is why our priority must be teaching the Word. That is our number-one priority. The gospel call for you and me is to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him.

The Lesson: Denying Ourselves and Taking Up the Cross

That's exactly what Jesus tells us to do in our last point: the lesson. Let's look at verse 34. Calling the crowd along with His disciples, He says:

...“If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me and the gospel will save it. For what does it benefit someone to gain the whole world and yet lose his life? What can anyone give in exchange for his life? For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

— Mark 8:34-38 (CSB)

Jesus calls the crowd to gather around Him. He healed the deaf and the blind in private, but now He calls the masses because this is the key lesson He wants everyone to understand. He is saying, "This is the point I am trying to communicate to all of you: if you want to follow Jesus, you will deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me."

Following this King, this majestic ruler of the universe, does not look like moving up the ranks of society. It looks like dying to yourself. The contrast couldn't be more drastic.

As election season picks up, you will see more and more grandiose promises from politicians. "If you vote for me, you will have a perfect job, it will never rain in California again, and you will have a perfect family life. A chicken in every pot! And if you vote for the other guy, there will be a nuclear apocalypse." Jesus' statement here is not a poignant, artistic plea for you to follow Him so you can receive your wildest dreams. He is not saying, "Ask not what your God can do for you, but what you can do for your God." Jesus' statement is more blunt and offensive than that.

A Roman cross was not a cute symbol you wear on a necklace or cross-stitch into a pillow. It was the most gruesome, torturous execution reserved for the lowest of criminals. Jesus is saying, "If anyone wants to follow Me, give up everything you have, follow Me, and strap yourself to an electric chair."

Leaders have the responsibility to inspire, and great leaders usually stand in the front leading men into battle. Alexander the Great was known for standing on the front lines as he conquered lands so his men would see him sacrificing himself, be inspired, and steal their spines to give their all. But Jesus isn't calling this crowd to that kind of military revolution. You would think He would point His saber at Caesar and call for a political revolution, but He doesn't talk about His ascension to earthly glory. He talks about His descension into death. Anyone who wants to follow this King is not taking over society; instead, they are going to lose everything.

That sounds like a really bad deal—to give up everything, to take up a cross, and to follow Jesus. But in reality, it is the most rational choice any person could make. As He explains in verse 35, if you want to save your life, you need to lose it. Everything you have in this life will eventually be gone. That's what Peter didn't see. He couldn't see past the temporary glories of an earthly kingdom to understand what Jesus was doing. Earthly kingdoms do not last. All the riches of kings and queens eventually end up in wills.

Jesus did not come to bring a mere political revolution. He didn't come just to make society a little more peaceful. His goal is more significant, more impactful, and more eternal than that. After all, what does it benefit a man to gain the whole world yet lose his soul?

Jesus places infinite value on every single person, on every single soul. Society grapples with the meaning of existence nowadays. As people learn more about the vast, expanding universe, and as technology continues to overwhelm us with an avalanche of information, we start to feel like tiny ants in the grand scheme of things. So people say, "Ultimately, life is meaningless. What you should do is just try to make your own meaning in the world, care for those around you, because we're all going to die anyway."

For Jesus, His message is the polar opposite of that. He says that everything in this world—anything that exists outside of you—is not worth trading for the value of a single soul. Jesus asks, "What does it benefit someone to gain the whole world and yet lose his soul?" Jesus is saying that your life, your soul, your personhood is incredibly valuable. It is worth eternity. There is no career worth your soul. There is no hobby worth your spirit. The reason Jesus calls us to lose our lives is because He wants to save our lives.

The goal of the Christian life, and the goal of this church, is to glorify God through following Jesus. That's what we are trying to do when we worship God, when we disciple one another, and when we evangelize. We are trying to follow Jesus the way He has instructed us to follow Him. We are trying to recognize that the call of a Christian is a call to die.

It is a call to die to our own ambitions, recognizing that there is a mission greater than our personal goals. Jesus needs to be our highest priority. It is a call to die to our own preferences, recognizing that following Jesus is more important than getting our own way. Pursuing Christ demands complete surrender to His way, not our way. It is even a call to die to our own earthly hopes. When we place our hope in anything in this life, we are setting ourselves up for disappointment. Jesus is the only solid ground on which we stand. Our one foundation is Jesus Christ our Lord, and we can bank everything on Him, trusting that when He says, "If you follow Me, if you give up everything to follow Me and you lose your life, I will save it," He will do exactly that.

But Jesus' call to die is not Him giving up His Messianic, kingly authority. Peter was thinking like an earthly king, but Jesus, at the very end of His exhortation, reminds us that He is still on the throne. Let's conclude with verse 38.

Jesus' words are not just a suggestion; they are a command. Don't be deceived by the delusions of this world. Jesus is not coming just to offer another perspective. He is calling us not to be like the world, but instead to be like Him and to follow Him. Anyone who feels the pressures of this world, the tyranny of the majority, or the temptation to prioritize what the world prioritizes—if you start to feel sheepish, shy, or ashamed of Jesus in this life, when Jesus arrives with His celestial army, He will be ashamed of you.

You do not want to be the one who gets called out by the Son of Man. This King will come in blazing glory. He will return with the glory of His Father and the holy angels, and He will reign on a throne that will last forever and ever.

But the good news for you is that if you ever feel spurned by the world, if you felt that weight on your shoulders and you limped your way into the pew this morning, and you are asking yourself, "Is this worth it? Can I keep following Jesus this next week? Can I keep trusting Him more and more every single day?"—if you feel ashamed by the side-eye of the world, the spurning, the embarrassment, or the shame, the good news is that the kingdom of God is coming.

You can look up. You don't have to look down at your problems this week. You don't have to look down at sickness, pain, or suffering. All those things are real, but if you look through those things and look up to heaven, you will see your celestial King smiling on you, and He will not be ashamed to call you His son or His daughter. You can deny yourself, take up your cross, follow that Master, and know that He will make everything right.

Let's pray. Lord, we pray that you would help us to believe your Word, to trust your Word when it says that following you and losing our lives means we will save them. We pray, Lord, that you would steel our souls with confidence in all that you are doing in our lives for the rest of eternity. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Closing Announcements and Benediction

Amen. I want to thank you for coming this morning. A couple of announcements for us. First, if you'd like to give to our church, there's an offering plate in the back as well as a QR code, or you can give online. We talked today about how nothing in this world is going to last, so give us everything—I'm kidding, that's not what God calls you to do! He calls you to be faithful, to be good stewards of your life.

Whenever we give to the church, one of the things we are doing is trying to invest. You could think of our church budget in some ways like a spiritual mutual fund. Our job as a church is to use the resources God has given us to maximize Kingdom work here on the earth. Every time we give to the church, that's what we are trying to do—we are trying to invest resources to bear heavenly fruit for eternity. We are trying to invest in things that matter, and we get to do that every single time we give. So let's go ahead and pray now and give thanks to God for our offering.

Lord, we thank you for all that you've given us. We pray, Lord, that you would be able to use what we give for the advancement of your Kingdom, not our kingdom; for your plans, not our plans; and for your glory, not ours. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

We also have other gatherings here at the church. If you'd like to pray with us, we do that every Sunday at 5:00 PM right here in this room. We've been going over different types of prayer—praise, confession, and thanksgiving. Tonight we're going to be looking at supplication, and then we're going to do two more bonus ones after that: lament and even imprecatory prayers. Did you know that in the Psalms there are prayers where you ask God to curse your enemies? We'll talk about that in two weeks. So, we'll be doing that on Sunday nights at 5:00 PM.

We also have Sunday School every Sunday morning at 8:40 AM in the library if you're interested in going through the Book of Mark. If you're interested in learning more about the church and why it matters, we have a class called "Church Matters" that I teach every Sunday morning at 9:00 AM. We have one main hallway in the church, so you just come through and walk all the way to the back.

We also have a Wednesday night Bible study at 7:00 PM. Pastor Steve is going through the commands of Jesus, so if you'd like to delve more into the gospels and see what Jesus has to say about how we ought to live our lives, you can come and join us on Wednesday night at 7:00 PM.

One more announcement: I need your faces, in that I am still working on a photo directory for our church. This means if you are a member of our church, I need a snapshot of you. So if I come up to you with a phone pointed at your face, it's because I need your directory photo. If you don't like it, you can always email me a replacement photo, but I will still take a photo of you in the meantime! Just so you know, that's something I'm going to be working on for the next couple of weeks.

And now for our benediction from 2 Corinthians chapter 13, verse 14: And now, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

Let's stand, grab your hymnal, and open it to number 277. Let's remind each other of the church's one foundation: Jesus Christ our Lord. Let's stand and sing together.

The church's one foundation Is Jesus Christ her Lord; She is His new creation By water and the Word. From heaven He came and sought her To be His holy bride; With His own blood He bought her, And for her life He died.

Elect from every nation, Yet one o'er all the earth; Her charter of salvation, One Lord, one faith, one birth; One holy name she blesses, Partakes one holy food, And to one hope she presses, With every grace endued.

Mid toil and tribulation, And tumult of her war, She waits the consummation Of peace forevermore; Till, with the vision glorious, Her longing eyes are blest, And the great church victorious Shall be the church at rest.

Yet she on earth hath union With God the Three in One, And mystic sweet communion With those whose rest is won. O happy ones and holy! Lord, give us grace that we, Like them, the meek and lowly, On high may dwell with Thee.

Amen, amen. Have a blessed week.