Mark Chapter 8

Mark 8:1-10 ~ The Compassion of Jesus

So we see a very important truth, circumstances are not created to solve, circumstances are created to serve. The Lord is the answer and we serve Him. The Lord takes whatever small resources we have to give to Him and He blesses it and multiplies it out. But we serve Christ in the situation. We do not serve people in the situation, we serve Christ.

Mark 8:11-21 ~ The Comprehension of the Disciples

So, you see, unless the Spirit reveals the truth to them they cannot know. A person cannot understand. Jesus spent three years convincing the disciples that they could not do it. They do not have the faith, they do not have the perception, and they do not have the understanding. It took three years for them to come to a point that they could receive the Holy Spirit and be totally submitted to the Spirit knowing that they could not do anything; it had to be the Lord.

Mark 8:22-33 ~ The Confessions Concerning the Christ

The disciples did not have that back in Mark chapter 8. They did not have Christ living inside of them, nor the frame of mind that would come with Christ living inside. So from now on, the Lord is going to point out the two mindsets or the two trains of thought. From here to the end, one mindset is of man and the other mindset is of God.

Please notice, this is very important that you go through and note the characteristics of the mindset which comes from Satan and is a protector of the flesh. The gospel of the preservation of the flesh. There will be suffering. There will be hardship. There is no protection for the flesh except for that which the Lord chooses.

Mark 8:34-38 Part 1 ~ The Cost of Discipleship Part 1

It is important who you believe Jesus to be. Who is this Jesus? Is He just a teacher within the Christian religion and you can believe what you want to believe.  Your belief of who Jesus is affects how you receive His teachings. If He is the anointed one of God, then the anointing of God is speaking to us whenever we study His teachings. That is very important. We cannot just dismiss it as another teaching from another religious teacher down through the years.  How we respond to his teachings depends on who we believe Jesus is.

Mark 8:34-38 Part 2 ~ The Cost of Discipleship Part 2

Some present the gospel here in America as: you receive Jesus and receive the forgiveness for your sins but you take Jesus with you wherever you go and He becomes like a lucky rabbit's foot. He helps you get what you want out of life. He helps you fulfill the American dream. That is not what the Bible says.

The Bible says that when Jesus died on the cross, you died. You died to yourself. His death was to make it possible for us to be free from that old sin nature, that we no longer should live for ourselves. When Christ died on the cross, He died our death. The self-life has been crucified. My biggest problem is not carrying my cross. My biggest problem is trying to wiggle my flesh, my sin nature, down off that cross and trying to make it work for myself.

Mark 8:34-38 Part 3 ~ The Cost of Discipleship Part 3

Then lastly, verse 38, "For whoever should be ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, also the Son of Man will be ashamed of him whenever he should come in the glory of his Father and the holy angels."  The word ashamed means to withdraw. It does not mean to be embarrassed; it means to withdraw.  So Jesus said, "If you withdraw from Me in this earthly life and My words, if My words offend you and you back off and you want to go your own way, then when I stand before the Father, I will be ashamed of you.  I will withdraw from you.  I will say, 'I never knew you.'"  Identification.  You identify with Me here, I identify with you there.  So it all boils down to this: to attain what you want, is it worth exchanging your soul for?  If you want to gain for yourself, is it worth exchanging your soul for what you want?