Chapter # 8 Paragraph # 7 Study # 1
October 25, 2022
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
(352)
1901 ASV
34 And he called unto him the multitude with his disciples, and said unto them, If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
35 For whosoever would save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's shall save it.
36 For what doth it profit a man, to gain the whole world, and forfeit his life?
37 For what should a man give in exchange for his life?
38 For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of man also shall be ashamed of him, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
- I. There Seems To Be A Pattern Here With This Form.
- A. Let him deny himself ... whosoever would save his life shall lose it.
- B. Take up his cross ... what should a man give in exchange for his life?
- C. Follow me ... whosoever shall be ashamed of men and of my words ... the Son Of The Man also shall be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father.
- II. Deliberately Moving From A Focus Upon His Disciples To A Focus Upon Both The Multitude And The Disciples.
- A. There is a widespread thought among "believers" that this "summons" only means a select group within the "gifted of The Church"; everyone else is "exempt". It appears to be that Mark was anticipating that assumption in order to reject it.
- 1. There is no distinction among "believers" in regard to the issue of their level of commitment.
- a. According to 1 Peter 4:10, it is decisively declared that every believer has a God-given "gift" to be used as a "stewardship" from God that, according to 1 Corinthians 4:2, will be the basis for God's evaluation of each believer in the day of judgment (1 Peter 4:17-18).
- b. Every believer has the summons upon him/her to be available to God at all times (Romans 12:1-2).
- 2. Those who do not exercise their assigned functions for the "Church" are going to find out in the day of judgment just how badly used they have been by the deceptions that they willingly "went along with" because it was more comfortable and easy.
- B. It was imperative for Jesus to sharply rebuke Peter because He was turned so that He saw the other disciples and was not going to let Peter's behavior/thinking be thought of as "acceptable".
- 1. It is an indication of just how deeply seated the "minding" of "the things of the men" is in that Peter felt comfortable in taking Jesus away and "rebuking" Him.
- 2. It is profoundly at cross purposes with "the things of The God" for men to be fixated upon "the things of the men".
- a. "The things of the men" are succinctly identified by John's "all that is in the world" comment in 1 John 2:16 [satisfaction for the body; security for the soul; and significance for the spirit].
- b. If this fixation continues (and it does so more than not), the Hebrews 5 construct of perpetual babyhood will completely undercut any significant development of men into what God created them to be.
- c. The complexity of our moments, days, weeks, and years is overcome by Colossians 3:23. As it is written in Jeremiah 10:23, "I know O Lord, that a man's way is not in himself, nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps", the responsibility of Colossians 3:23 is to take on the tasks that present themselves to 'a man" to do them "as unto the Lord".
- III. Assuming The Pattern...