I'm reading from the Gospel of Mark chapter 8 this morning. Mark chapter 8. And I read beginning with verse 34. And when He had called the people unto Him with His disciples also, He said unto them, Whosoever will come after Me Let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Whosoever will come after me, Christ said. Now, people are religious for many things, for many reasons. People are after many things from religion or in religion. They are after mostly what they can get from God. by being religious. But some people are after some measure of peace or happiness, health, wealth, marriage, morality, whatever. But Christ said, Whosoever will come after me. In other words, if it is me you are after or seeking. Like a man or a woman pursuing a husband or wife. In these next few verses, the Lord makes it very clear that everything, salvation, everything, life, death, eternity, is all about a relationship with Him. And a true believer, a true Christian, is a believer, a lover, a follower, or disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is their life. Now, verse 34, he said, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself. Let him deny himself. Self-denial is what our Lord is talking about. Self-denial. This is the first mark of a true believer, a true disciple. Now, man by nature, Men and women, by nature, are selfish creatures. If we are left to ourselves, we will only be concerned about ourselves, and use and abuse everyone else in order to further our own selfish cause. And our generation, this present generation, is the most brazenly selfish of all. This is the me-myself generation. Religion makes no bones about it. Religion tells us what we can get from God, what He can do for us. how we can improve ourselves. But Christ says, if any man comes after Me, if it's Me a person is after, they must deny themselves. Let him deny himself. Let me read on, verses 35 through 37. He says, Whosoever will save his life shall lose it. But 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? For what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" There's a so-called clever slogan, or many think this slogan to be clever today. I've seen it. on bumper stickers and other places which reads, which says, He who dies with the most toys wins. Have you ever seen that or heard that? Man, by saying something like that, laughs at and mocks his own judgment. Our Lord here said the exact opposite of that. He who dies with the most toys loses. To win, Paul said, is to win Christ, to be found in Him. He who dies in faith wins eternal life. He who hath the Son hath life. He who hath treasure in heaven wins. Much treasure here, no treasure there, you lose. Verse 35, he said, Whosoever will save his life. People talk about their life savings, accumulating their life savings. Let me ask you, what is it that you are trying to accumulate and to save? What do you want? What is it you desire? Now, it is natural to want to hold on to this life. That's human nature. And there's nothing wrong with loving our families and enjoying these things. But now, when God Almighty does a work in a person. He creates in them a new heart, a spiritual heart, a spiritual life, a new life. And the desires begin to change. A person begins to desire to know God, to know Christ, to have eternal life. And the things of this world begin to lose their appeal and lose their luster, and we begin to see things as they really are. Paul said the things that are seen are temporal. They're just material things which the Lord himself said moths, rust, and thieves do change these things. These things all change and we will lose everything here. Nothing to be gained here. Nothing to be kept here. The things of this world don't last. In verse 36 he says, what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his soul? What should it profit a person if they are rich and increased with goods? The goods of this world have everything that this world has to offer. What would it profit? We only live about 70 years and then after that, the scripture says, The judgment, man goes to his long home from which he shall not return, of which there is no end. There is a mad race today to accumulate wealth. Why is that? James in his book said the rust for the canker or the rust of gold and silver that men accumulate shall be a witness against men in the judgment, shall rise up against them. Well, our Lord say, what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Is not the soul of much more value than temporal happiness and pleasure? What shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Most people reveal that they would give most anything in exchange for the soul. Most people are not interested in God, not interested in eternal life, not interested in the gospel, and interested in other things. And they are, in effect, giving their souls in exchange for a few temporal things, a little temporal pleasure here on earth, while men will change their eternal souls for a ticket to a ball game, or a NASCAR race, or to bag a ten-point buck, or to catch that five-pound bass, or maybe even a six-pack of Bud Light. Man would rather have these ridiculously foolish things than to seek eternal life. How foolish man is. Well, the Lord now, He says, whosoever will save his life shall lose it. Whosoever will come after me, he must deny himself. This self-denial, this losing of one's life in order to obtain eternal life, self-denial is much deeper than the material world, the material thing. This self-denial our Lord is speaking of here, is a denial of what we are by nature, a denial of ourselves and everything about us. Now listen very carefully, listen to me if you're interested. The truth, the truth of God's Word, the Gospel, this truth, the truth speaks of man's utter depravity, corruption, God's Word does not say that man is some noble, high creature. Oh, he was created in the beginning in God's image, but he lost that image. He no longer retains that image. Man is dead in trespasses and sin. He's an unworthy creature. He is depraved. He is totally sinful and corrupt. Isaiah 1 says, from the sole of his feet to the top of his head. There is no soundness in him. Psalm 14 says, There is none that doeth good, no, not one. There is none that seeketh after God. There is none righteous, no, not one. Romans chapter 3 gives a clear description of man by nature. Romans chapter 1. There's no goodness in us. The Gospel declares that. The truth of God's Word declares that. Man's utter depravity, his corruption, his sinfulness, and his inability to do anything for himself. The will is dead. The heart is dead. Man is dead in trespasses and sin. And the Gospel, the truth, God's Word declares that salvation is 100% of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is God Almighty's choice, God Almighty's will and purpose, Jesus Christ's blood and righteousness only, the hope of lost sinners, the Holy Spirit's sovereign effectual power operating upon these dead sinners, bringing them to life, giving them faith and repentance. This is the work of God. So to deny oneself, he said, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself. To deny oneself is first of all to deny our self-worth, to deny our goodness, to deny that there's anything good in us. There's none good, no, not one. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. It is to deny our righteousness. There's none righteous, no, not one. So to deny self is to deny our worth, goodness, righteousness. It is to deny our ability. The old hymn writer writes, In my hands no price I bring. It's to deny our ability. We're poor and needy. It is to deny our thoughts, our opinions, our natural thoughts and opinions of ourselves and of God and of how we are saved. This is what repentance means, a change of mind, and only God can grant that. It is to deny our thoughts, our opinions. God says, My thoughts are not your thoughts. He said, There is a way that seems right to man, but the end is destruction. Man thinks he can do this and do that. Man thinks that God is within his own power to do with as he pleases. To deny self is to deny our thoughts, opinions. It's not like we thought it was. It is to deny anything that competes with Christ for our salvation. Deny our righteousness, our goodness, our works, our prayers, our repentance, even our faith. It is to deny our faith, I said, not the faith. It's to deny that my faith is what saves me. It's to confess that Christ and Christ alone is my salvation. Paul said this in Philippians 3. He said, what things were gained to me, those things I used to think would gain me some favor with God, he said, I count them but loss, including material things. Verse 35, our Lord said, Whosoever will lose his life for my sake in the gospel shall save it." Take up his cross. To lose one's life for Christ in the gospel is to lose one's reputation. This gospel is rare and is believed by few. Christ said, Marvel not if the world hate you. He said that to his true disciple. He said, You shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. One who denies self and follows Christ and believes the truth will lose his own reputation, lose his standing, his place in the world for the truth, for the Christ. And then he said, take up your cross. Take up your cross and follow me. This is the cross. Men killed Christ, hung him on a cross because of what he said. Not his good humanitarian effort, but what he said about himself, about man, and to take up our cross is to suffer persecution for the truth's sake. Men will hate you, and if it were lawful, they would kill you as they did Christ. hanging Him on the cross. That is the cross of persecution for the truth set. And he went on to say, Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed when he come within the glory of his Father with the Holy Angel. Until next Sunday, may the Lord bless His Word.