Sermon Central
-
Live For Today And Die Forever
Contributed by Stephen Belokur on Feb 11, 2020 (message contributor)
Summary: Sounds pretty harsh, right? Jesus said the very same thing on four different occasions and it is recorded six different times in the Gospels. What can we do about it?
Live For Today and Die Forever
Please stand as we read our newest memory Scripture together …
“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”
And our memory refresher verse(s) for today is(are) …
“In your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”
Please open your Bibles to Mark 8:27-38
This past week I was wondering about the teachings of Jesus.
I had heard some preachers say that Jesus taught the most about money; and when He did it was almost always in the context of the danger of idolatry money poses.
Others say that Jesus spoke more about hell than He did about heaven.
One author was looking at the frequency of subjects in the Gospels.
For instance, Len Lacroix says that Jesus spoke most frequently about God.
“God (166) verses spoken by Jesus containing the word ‘God.’ [Please note: These were not necessarily teachings about God. However, if you add to these verses all the instances where Jesus spoke about the Father (61), Himself (117), and the Holy Spirit (32), that adds an additional 210 verses, which would bring the total to 376 verses altogether.]”
So, God, in His various Persons, would obviously be the focal point of Jesus’ thoughts and teaching. The ENTIRE BIBLE is about the Creator, the creation (us), the broken relationship and the mending of that relationship!
God is IT!!!
That is why we focus so much on Jesus! Jesus is the ONLY way to eternal life. Jesus is NOT about behavior modification. Jesus is about spiritual transformation and that transformation naturally results in behavior modification!
We can force ourselves to modify our behavior on our own.
We can act good.
We can ACT righteous but we cannot BE righteous without being born again. We cannot BE righteous until we are made into a new creation through faith in Jesus Christ!
Following Jesus’ focus on God would be His teachings on the eternal dwelling of the righteous (273) and the eternal dwelling of the damned (172).
Interestingly, though, when you look at the actual teachings of Jesus you most often find them recorded in two or three of the Gospels. This is talking about different parables and ideas recorded as Jesus spoke to crowds or to His disciples or in private as with Nicodemus.
However, there is one succinct teaching that is found six different times in the four Gospels. And, of the six different times it is recorded, we see that it He spoke it in four different events.
Obviously over Jesus’ three plus years of ministry He repeated the same teaching points and thoughts many times. So, what is this thought that is recorded six times in the four Gospels?
Let’s see … Mark 8:27-38
(Prayer for help)
“Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for My sake will find it.”
“Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me will find it.”
“For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me and for the gospel will save it.”
“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me will save it.”
“Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.”
“Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”
Jesus is talking about perspective here. What is REALLY important???
I have to warn you. This is not an easy teaching. The commitment Jesus is speaking about is not what we see today. Often today Christianity is equated with “going to church”. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
Although attending church for worshiping our Lord, hearing the Word of the God and Christian fellowship is a part of the life of a Christian it is far from the entirety of a life devoted to Christ.
Christianity in many areas has been reduced to attending church as a type of legalistic obligation. Something a person would rather not do but more of a begrudging duty.
Others may think of the Christian life a more of hobby.
You know about hobbies, right? Hobbies are something you are interested in but only when you have time and the money to spend on them. They are not a top priority in life. Hobbies come after what is important is done.
