Mark chapter 8. And let's begin reading in verse
27. Mark 8, 27. And Jesus went out and His disciples
into the town of Caesarea Philippi. And by the way, He asked His
disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am? And they answered John the Baptist,
but some say Elias, and others one of the prophets. And he saith
unto them, but whom say ye that I am? And Peter answered and
said unto him, Thou art the Christ. And he charged them that they
should tell no man of him. And he began to teach them that
the Son of Man must suffer many things. and be rejected of the
elders and of the chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and
after three days raised again. And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, took him
aside, the margin says, and began to rebuke him. And when he had
turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter,
saying, Get thee behind me, Satan, for thou savest not the things
that be of God, but the things that be of men. And when he had
called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto
them, Whosoever will not come after me, whosoever will come
after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow
me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it. And whosoever
shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall
save it. For what shall it profit a man
if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what
shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever, therefore,
shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and
sinful generation. Of Him also shall the Son of
Man be ashamed when He cometh in the glory of His Father with
the holy angels. I wanted to read verses 27 through
verse 30 because I think it's very important here to the context. Because we see here these apostles,
and that's what the Lord referred to them as. They were His disciples,
but they were His apostles that He had chosen to send out and
preach and do miracles. We're told here in verses 27
through verse 30 that they knew the Lord. I know that Judas was
the exception. He didn't know the Lord. But
Peter knew Him. And James and John and the other
apostles knew Him. And Matthew said their confession
was this, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. So they knew Him in His glorious
person. This teaches us something else
here in our text this morning. They needed to be taught. These
men needed to be taught. And it's a mystery to us living
in our day. And I'm sure these apostles,
knowing no more than they knew, we may say, well, they sure wouldn't
fit in our day. And that's probably so. But yet
they knew the Lord. And they were ignorant. about
something that you and I count in the Scriptures essential to
know and believe for our souls to be saved. And that's the death
and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I see from
this this morning that you and I need to face this fact that
men do not know what they must know to believe and be saved. Brother Wayne was talking this
morning about morals and immorality and being moral and immoral.
And most men, unless their conscience is so seared with sin, most people
know what it is to be immoral or what it is to be moral. People
know it's wrong to steal, don't they? That's why they hide and
do it. That's why they do it during
the night or in the back alleys or something like that. Men's
conscience tells them that it's wrong to steal and kill and defraud
somebody. I'm thankful. Aren't you thankful
that God has left me in a conscience? Wouldn't it be awful to live
in a world and in a community where men had no conscience?
Nothing was wrong. They could do anything and not
be proven guilty in their conscience. But thank God, though men are
fallen, they know usually right from wrong, moral from immoral,
drunkenness and adultery and fornication and murder and lying
and filthiness in the conversation. There must be a stigma attached
to these things. We know we're living in our day
where nobody wants anybody to judge them. They want to be able
to do anything in society, never judge them for it. But if we
reach that place, brothers and sisters, we've reached a dangerous
point in our society. A stigma must be placed upon
immorality. But the knowledge of what's morally
right and what's morally wrong is not the knowledge that will
save the soul. It is this knowledge that fallen
man is ignorant of. We even see it in these apostles
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here we have Peter and James
and John and these other apostles. Don't you imagine that they sometimes
read the Old Testament Scriptures? Why, you're sure they did? And
they went to the synagogue to worship? They sometimes hear
the Old Testament Scriptures expound. They witnessed the very
miracles of the Lord Jesus Christ, and yet they were ignorant of
this knowledge that will save a man's soul. You notice the
Lord Jesus, it wasn't said of Him. He reminded them that Christ
should suffer and die and rise again. He didn't remind them
of something they didn't know. They were ignorant of this. He
taught them. He began to teach them something
that they were absolutely ignorant of and unbelieving of. We make a mistake, brothers and
sisters, when we think that because we're living in a religious society
and men have their Bibles, that they have the knowledge of this
truth that will save their souls. It's as true today as it's ever
been. There is none that understandeth. There is none that seeketh after
God. You and I need to begin to teach
those around us, and we need to teach it in hope that they'll
be brought to the knowledge of the truth and be saved. That's
what the Scripture says. God will have men to be saved
and come to the knowledge of the truth. What's the matter
with our society? Why are so many people perishing
in their sins? It's this. They're ignorant of
the knowledge of the truth. And the Lord Jesus recognized
this and He began to teach His disciples. We have neighbors. We have co-workers, we have friends. May God help us to be courageous
and not to be timid, to begin to teach people. If we go into
this thinking, well, everybody knows, we're going to be discouraged,
aren't we? Hardly anybody knows. We need
to begin, just begin. You say, Bruce, I'm not a teacher. Then begin to tell your neighbors,
And your co-workers and your friends began to tell them, if
you're saved, you know something. You know the Lord and you know
what He's done. You know the gospel. Just begin. You can't tell people very much
anyway. You can't go in with the intention,
I'm just going to fill their wagon, so to speak. You don't
go up to a little infant and fill his mouth full of ribeye
steak, do you? You choke the little fella. And
the Lord Jesus didn't give these fellas something that overwhelmed
them. He even told them in another
place, what I tell you now, you don't have any idea what I'm
saying, but you'll know later. It doesn't take much courage
or understanding just to begin to teach people, does it? Just
begin to teach people. that which will bring them to
the knowledge of the truth. And when we recognize that you
and I are living in a religious society, but they do not know
the truth, they do not know the truth, then I think that will
encourage us to begin, just begin to teach them. The Lord Jesus
here in verse 31, He gives us a little outline of what to teach.
He suggests some things to our mind and that's all He was doing
here to His disciples. He began in verse 31 to teach
them that the Son of Man must suffer. The Son of Man must suffer. As an example? Why sure as an
example. But more than that, We don't
begin with the sufferings of Jesus Christ as an example, but
He suffered for a greater reason than that. The Bible says He
suffered for sins. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquity. He was smitten and stricken of
God. Why? For human sin. For human sin. Brother Wayne
kept mentioning this morning that he paid the cost. He paid
the debt. That's what this is about, isn't
it? We often make that statement, I owed a debt that I could not
pay. And he paid a debt that he did
not owe. But what did it take to pay that
debt? The suffering of Jesus Christ,
the Son of God. Men have sinned and come short
of the glory of God, and God will not look over that. He will
not sweep it under the rug. He will not count our sins a
trifling thing, for a soul to be saved from sin and the wrath
of God. Some able person, someone full
of merit must suffer in our stead. And brothers and sisters, whatever
this country thinks it knows about Jesus Christ, it knows
very little or nothing about that. And that's the truth. That's the mystery of the Gospel.
And we can tell it with a hope that the Holy Spirit will take
it home to men's hearts. and save them thine." Without
the shedding of blood, His blood, there is no remission for sin. He must suffer. He must suffer. And He tells
His apostles here that He must raise again the third day. Oh, how important the resurrection
is. Because it's ample proof to us
His offering, His atonement for sin was accepted. That death
is defeated. He said, I am He that was dead,
and behold, I am alive for how long? Forevermore. He has not
only put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself, but He has killed
death as dead as a hammer. And those who know Him and believe
on Him don't have to fear death anymore. He has the victory over
death. He must suffer and He must raise
again from the dead. But then this little outline
here that He gave to His apostles, He mentioned something else.
The way He addresses Himself I think is very telling. The
Son of Man must suffer. Jesus is the Son of Man. He's
Mary's son. He's as much Mary's son as any
other son she had. She was truly His firstborn. He developed in her womb, and
He came forth from her womb, and she washed Him, and she hanged
Him upon her breast and she nourished Him up and He increased in wisdom
and stature with men and with God. He truly is the Son of Man,
isn't He? He is 100% man, sin accepted
as if He was nothing but man. Oh, He is the Son of Man. The
Son of Man must suffer. And what is the mystery behind
that? He is more than just the Son of Man. He is the Son of
God. We've often heard this, but I
want to repeat it this morning. I'm just trying to repeat this,
maybe to help us see that we need to begin, begin again, to
teach these blessed truths. And don't be discouraged in teaching
them, because I'm telling you, your neighbors don't even know
this in their hearts. And the sad thing is they think
they know the Gospel. But He's the Son of Man. And
He had to be the Son of Man. Why? He had to suffer. The Son
of God in His death, He can't suffer, can He? Up there in heaven,
He can't suffer. He can't be tempted. He can't
be tried. He can't cry. He can't fear. But I tell you what man can't
do. Man can't atone for sin. Man don't have the merit, he
don't have the worth. What man that's ever been born
to a woman has the holiness about him that he can take sin to himself
and has so much merit and worth that he can atone for that sin
and put it away forever. No man has that ability. No man
has that merit. But I tell you, when the Son
of God stooped down and took to Himself our humanity in a
most real sense, He had the merit too, didn't He? He could die
because He's the Son of Man. He could atone because He's the
Son of God. What a mystery He is in His glorious
person, this wonderful person. And the world thinks it knows
Him, don't it? Everybody thinks it knows Him. Old George Jones
sung his song one time, Me and Jesus, we got our own thing going. Me and Jesus, we got it all working. And poor old George found out
different than me. If he didn't in this life, he
knows it now. I tell you, there's a vast difference,
brothers and sisters, in the Jesus this world talks so often
about and the Jesus that's revealed in this Bible. And that's why
you and I should not be discouraged in beginning to teach, just begin
to teach of Him and what He's done. Somebody might say, Bruce, I
just don't believe that. Well, as far as whether or not
it's true, it doesn't matter whether one believes it or not.
This isn't up for debate. The Gospel is not some offer. Preaching the Gospel is not that
we go around offering. And if you accept it, it's the
Gospel. If you don't, it's not. It's
the Gospel. where anybody believes it or
not. The gospel is not what you believe. The gospel is not anything you
do. The gospel is Jesus Christ and
what He has already accomplished. That's the gospel, isn't it?
You talk to people and see if that's what they know. We often
use that phrase, C. H. McIntosh's little little article. What is the gospel and what's
not the gospel? And it's just two little letters,
isn't it? The gospel is not due. The gospel is done. That's the
gospel. It's what somebody in his glorious
person has already accomplished in the day of his flesh. I must
suffer. I must put away sin. I must atone. I must make reconciliation to
God for iniquity. And I must rise again. And when
was that accomplished? Two thousand years ago. Whether men accept it or reject
it, that's been accomplished. And for men to be saved is not
doing anything. It's believing what's already
been done. That's where salvation comes,
isn't it? Those who hear it and come to
the heart, faith and knowledge of it shall be saved by it. But those who will not hear it,
those who die without a saving knowledge of it, they shall be
damned. They shall be damned. Many are seeking on one hand
or another to be saved in many different ways. They seek to
obey the Bible when they don't even understand the essential
message of the Bible. They seek to be saved by morality. Some are willing to suffer for
their religious profession. But the knowledge it takes to
save the soul is not in what we're doing or in what we're
professing. The knowledge it takes to save
the soul is the gospel. It's the gospel. And whatever
we believe, whatever we know, whatever we do apart from that
will only end in an awful dilemma. He began to teach them. Verse 31, look at it again. He
teaches us something else here. We can't put any stock in organized
religion, can we? We can't put any stock in organized
religion. He began to teach them that the
Son of Man may suffer many things and be rejected of organized
religion. The elders, the chief priests,
and the scribes Those who seemingly would know more than anybody
else, they were his enemies. They were the ones who killed
him with wicked hands. One might say, and we hear it
said a lot in our day, I want to attend a large congregation. I want a mainstream church. I want to go to a church that
everybody in the community knows and brags on, that has a great
reputation. I want the children's program
and the social events and dynamic speakers. You may get all of that. You
may get all of that. And in all you're getting, you'll
lose the knowledge that it takes to save the soul. Who had the most appealing and
the widespread and the most popular and accepted religion of Christ's
day? The elders and the scribes and
the chief priests. They were the established religion
of their day. We talk about how popular the
gospel used to be in our forefathers' day. And if we are not careful,
brothers and sisters, We won't know what happened on the other
side. It wasn't as popular sometimes as we pretend it was and like
to think that it was. We often make the statement that
there was a time when any church you went into in America, you
would hear the gospel. But that's not so. That's just
not so. The gospel has always and always
will be the narrow road that leads to life. The gospel has
never been seen on the broad road that leads to destruction. How did the Lord Jesus say it?
Did He say that the religions of this world, the great congregations,
would be the ones that That God loved and God looked upon and
He gave them His promises? Is that what He said? Here's
what He said. Fear not, little flock. Fear not, little flock. I love
Hebrews chapter 13. And He was telling us there,
the Apostle was, about the Lord Jesus suffering without the gate. And he was talking about the
skin of those sacrifices. They brought the bodies into
the temple to offer the sacrifices. But they tucked the skins, the
hides, without the gate. They tucked it without the camp
and burned it. And he said, that's a beautiful
picture of Jesus Christ. He suffered without the gate. Religion put him outside the
temple. And it said, take him out on
Golgotha's hill and kill him. He suffered without the gate. And then he says, let us go forth
unto him without the camp. What's on the inside of the camp? Boy, there's a message in that,
isn't there? You remember when Moses and Joshua come down off
of Mount Sinai? And they heard the screaming
And the laughter. Joshua thought there was a war
going on, but Moses said, no, that's worship. Somebody's worshiping.
And they were worshiping this golden calf. And Moses come down
into the camp, ground the calf to powder and threw it on the
water and made them drink it. And then he tucked the tabernacle. He tucked it outside the camp.
The Bible says, for all from the camp. and everyone who sought
the Lord left the camp and went out. That is what you will do
today. I doubt seriously if you will
find Jesus Christ and His gospel and that knowledge that saves
the soul inside the mega churches of our day. You will have to
go outside to find Jesus Christ. Because brothers and sisters,
that's where He's always been. I'm not promoting any small congregations. I wish this place was bubbling
over and we had to get a bigger building. And I'm not saying
anything necessarily about large congregations. Thank God there
has been. But I'm saying this, in our Master's
day, the establishment religion was the very ones who killed
Him. And Paul said, there's many who
walk. There's many who profess Him in our day. But they are
enemies of the cross of Jesus Christ. Look here in verse 32 right quickly.
In verse 32. And He spake that saying openly,
and Peter took Him and began to rebuke Him. Here we have an
example of how the natural mind feels about the Gospel. And where
do we find that example but in Peter himself? How does the natural
mind grasp the Gospel? It doesn't. It doesn't. The natural mind does not receive
the things of the Spirit of God. And that's what we see here in
the Apostle Peter. Peter took him aside. And can't
you just see this? I can just see this. The Bible
says he took him, my reference says he took him aside. And can't
you just see him getting him by the arm and leading him over
to the side? And I can just almost hear him say, what are you doing? What are you saying? You're confusing
people to death. Be this far from you, Matthew
said. I do not know what Peter's motive
was. I will give him this much. I bet anything his motives were
good. I bet you anything he was thinking
to himself, I am going to protect the Lord Jesus. I am going to
secure him from even thinking this way. Nobody is going to
harm him. I am going to keep him alive. His motives were probably
good. But there is something more important
than motives. Well, my motives were good. May
have been. But I tell you truth is more
important than motives. Is it not? I don't know what
the Pope's motives are when he lets people come up to him and
bow down to him and kiss his ring and worship him. I don't
know what his motives are. I can't judge men's motives.
They're secret. I don't know what would make
a priest invite somebody into a little booth and absolve them
of their sins. I don't know what their motives
is. Their motives may be good. Peter's was too. But I tell you,
it got him a severe rebuke, did it not? From the Master. Truth in motives, somebody said,
is sort of like the cart and the horse. You better not get
the wrong one out in front. There were some men, the Lord
Jesus said, there's going to be a time coming when they'll
kill you. They'll kill you. But Lord, why
would they kill us? They've got excellent motives
in doing it. They think they're doing God's
service. Killing somebody? That's what
he said. I know this. when a man takes
to himself to lead others, and be a spokesman for others, and
to straighten out others, as they say, he had better judge more than
his motives. He better judge whether or not
he knows the truth himself, or he may receive not only a
severe rebuke from the Lord, But he may lead himself and others
off into the ditch of hell. Motives. Motives. In verse 33, right quickly, we
see something else here. We see what's behind this error. And here's the arch enemy. Look
what he said in verse 33, And when he had turned about and
looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind
me, Satan! For thou savest not the things
that be of God, but the things that be of man. You don't comprehend. You don't love. You're not interested
in the things of God. But you're interested in your
love, the things of men. You know what that tells us?
That fallen man in his degenerate state is more akin to devils
and Satan than he is God. He's fell into cahoot with Satan. They're interested in the same
thing. And it's not God and the things
of God. Ain't it something, brothers
and sisters, what sin's done for us, for the human race? I just wonder if Adam had any
idea what he was doing when he retched out and took that fruit
and disobeyed God. I wonder if he had any idea where
it was going to plunge him and the entire human race. In the
kingdom of darkness! In the same kingdom that Satan
is in! They abide there! And the same
word that says the Lord has reserved Satan and those fallen angels
into the day of judgment to be punished, that same word says
that He has reserved the ungodly for the same judgment and the
same punishment. Revelation chapter 20 said He
was taken, that old devil, Satan, and he was cast into a lake of
fire. And before that chapter closed,
it said, Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was
cast into the lake of fire. They're in the same kingdom,
and they have the same end. And they're interested in the
same thing. Oh, what a mess, what a dilemma the human race
has found itself in. And there's only one deliverance.
There's only one way of salvation. And all of humanity, apart from
the Holy Spirit teaching them that truth, is ignorant of it
and lost without it. And some people say, we need
to get on with it. We need to get by the Gospel.
How? Why? And let people perish in
their sins? We can't quit preaching it, can
we? Oh, Satan came to Peter. And
he sowed these seeds in his heart and they quickly sprang up. Be it far from you, Lord. You
can't suffer. You can't die. I wonder where
Mormonism got its start. We know the name of the person,
don't we? Joseph Smith? We can take it right to the man
and the date. when it had its rise. Jehovah's
Witness, Brother Larry can tell us all about who started that
and the date of it and all of these other false religions.
And it all has to do with the person and work of Jesus Christ. We know the name of the man and
the date that he started it, but I tell you there's something
behind it rather than flesh and blood. And that's Satan, the
archenemy of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's behind it. And if he slipped
into Peter's mind, he can slip into ours. He's been in this
head, I tell you. He slipped in here and deceived
this poor brain more than once. More than one time he sent me
into rage and anger to get myself in trouble and to bring shame
on the Lord's blessed name. If he did it to Peter, he can
do it to us. He can cause the temper to flare,
self-promotion, self-revenge, fill your heart with bitterness,
promote yourself and your self-righteousness. The Bible says He's deceived
the entire world, and about the time we think we've got Him defeated,
boy, here He sneaks in the back door, doesn't He? Well, let's wind this down right
quickly. Beginning here in verse 34, the Lord gives us instructions
and He gives us motives for seeking this truth. Seeking the truth
of salvation at all cost. All cost. We must know the gospel. We must be saved by the gospel
at all cost. And that's what He's going to
tell us here in verse 34. Let me repeat it to you. And
when He called the people unto Him with His disciples, He said,
Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself and take
up his cross and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life
shall lose it. And whosoever shall lose his
life for My sake and the gospel, the same shall save it. Now this is a mystery. When He
talks here about Losing your life? He's not talking about
going and joining a monastery. He's not talking about separating
yourself from this world. That's what Luther thought for
years and so many of the monks back in the 14th and 1500's.
They said when Christ said you must deny yourself and lose your
life, they interpreted that as saying you've got to come out
of this world physically. And you've got to subdue this
flesh by fasting and punishing it. That's the way you deny yourself
and take up your cross. But let's keep this in its context. What's the Lord Jesus first and
foremost saying in the context? The only way you're going to
save your life is the very way that I purpose to save it, and
that's the gospel. That's the only way your life
can be saved, is by the gospel. And he says, if you don't lose
your life for this gospel's sake right now, you're not going to
save your life. And what's he really saying by
that? If you don't lose your own righteousness, if you don't lose your own religious
works and doings as the assurance of your acceptance with God,
if you don't count everything you've ever done as dung and
sin and deny yourself and be saved by this one way, the Gospel,
then you're going to lose your life in the end. Now you compare
that to Philippians chapter 3 and that's exactly what Paul was
saying. He was saying if any man had any reason to brag, it's
me. And he told about being circumcised
when he was eight days old. He was a Hebrew of the Hebrew.
He was a Pharisee. He was very strict in his religion.
And then what did he say? I counted all that lost. I counted lost that I may win
Christ. Paul, why didn't you hang on
to that and get ahold of Christ too? You can't have Him that
way. You can't have your righteousness and His at the same time. They
won't mix. They won't mix. It's new wine
in the old bottles. They won't mix. And bud, it's not as easy to
give up self, religious self, as some men think. I was talking
to my dad, the closest I ever known him to come to sharing
the gospel. And I was talking to him about
this righteousness. And finally he said, how do I
get that righteousness? I said, it comes through faith
in Christ. It's the righteousness by faith.
He said, I believe in Christ. I said, one thing more, you have
to count your own as filthy rags. You have to lose your righteousness.
And you know what he said? Oh, he said, I'd be afraid to
stand before God without anything of my own. What was he saying? I'm going to hang on to my life.
I can't let go of it. This is the way, thy purpose
to save it. But he lost it. That's what the
Lord Jesus is saying. He lost it. And He tells us something else
here in verse 36. What shall it profit a man if he shall gain
the whole world and lose his soul? Well, here's something
else about that, isn't it? It's not just about me hanging
on to my righteousness. Counting everything lost for
Christ and be accepted in Him. Boy, there's the gain of this
world. Gain the whole world. I ain't about to stand up here
and tell you this morning, that's not appealing. Gain? You remember the fellow the Lord
Jesus told us about that He sent His servants out to call those
that were bidden to the marriage? Remember what the one fellow
said? I bought some oxen and I can't come. Another fellow
said, I bought a track of land and I've got to go see it. Have
me excused. And another said, I've married
a wife. What's the matter with marrying a wife? Nothing! Until
you love her more than you love Him. Until you choose her over
Him. Gain. Gain. Some lust to suck
on. Some temporal pleasure to entertain
rather than Jesus Christ. It happens all the time, doesn't
it? It happens all the time. What shall it profit a man if
he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? And he ends here in verse 37. And in verse 38 he says, Whosoever
therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my word, in this adulterous
and sinful generation. Of Him also shall the Son of
Man be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with
the holy angels. as we go out and work in this
world and have our friends in society and go on vacation and
whatever we do in this world. If we are ashamed of Him and
His words, He will be ashamed of us. Boy, this flesh is full of shame.
I mean, I remember when I was working, when I was working where
we used to make gears And I loved that place. I loved the men I
worked around. But they were some of the roughest men. Those
steel workers are some of the roughest guys you'll ever work
around. And I worked on a rough crew for a while. And we did
piecework. We got paid according to the
pieces that we ran. And if we'd run 500, the crew
leader would put down 550. And I seen what he was doing. And I said, I can't be a part
of this. He said, you've got no choice, buddy, to be a part
of this. I said, oh, I have a choice.
I have a choice. He said, what are you going to
do? I said, I'll march right up front where the farm is and
tell him. I've got no part in this. He said, what's the matter
with you? I said, I have a conscience. And my conscience has been washed. And now I serve God with a clear
conscience. And boy, those guys got so mad
at me, and you know what I did? I got so ashamed of myself, I
could have found a hole and crawled in it. And the devil comes, and
the flesh rolls up. Who are you? How come you to
be so tender about something that don't mean anything anyway?
He ever do you that way? Do you ever suffer shame as a
Christian? Every one of us have been there,
What do you do about it? You just go off and seek the
Lord for grace to face it the next day. And he says, those
who are ashamed of me, those who are ashamed to confess that
I've did all for them, those who are ashamed of my words,
to walk according to the rule of my word, of them I'll be ashamed. Brothers and sisters, the Lord
is coming. He's coming soon. Stand here, be faithful here,
and you won't be ashamed in that day. God bless His Word. Let's pray.