The Disciple and the World

by Jeff Curtis

Mark 8:34-38 should be seen as having a connection with the previous verses, 8:27-33. Jesus had just heard the confession of His apostles and revealed to them His approaching death in His first passion discussion with them. In those discussions, and in Peter’s rebuke of Jesus, two approaches to life come to the surface. One is seen in Peter. It is the human, conservative view. It emphasizes saving what we have. Jesus held the second view, the view of yielding completely to God’s will. It emphasizes giving what we have to God.

This text says that Jesus gathered the crowd and His disciples so He could give them direct teachings on what discipleship means. He goes to describe His followers by what they must believe and how they must live.

Who is a follower of Christ?

1. A devoted disciple. Jesus said, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me” (8:34b).

No one is a disciple of Christ involuntarily. Each Christian is a disciple because he has chosen to be a disciple. Discipleship is following and learning from whomever or whatever we are following. The only way we can be disciples of Christ is by following Him and learning from Him.

2. A sacrificial Servant. Jesus said, “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it” (8:35).

His follower understands that the wrong kind of living means dying and the right kind of living means dying and the right kind of dying means living. The word “life” has a double meaning. Jesus was saying, “Whoever will give up his life and well-being in this world will gain higher spiritual life and eternal life in the world to come.” He said the converse is true also: “Whoever determines to preserve the life of this world, with its pleasures, profits, and popularity, will lose his spiritual life and eternal life.” If we give ourselves to spiritual things of God and to the gaining of eternal life, we will gain everything that has any real value. Henry Barclay Swete paraphrased this teaching this way: “The man whose aim in life into secure personal safety and success, loses the higher life of which he is capable, and which is gained by those who sacrifice themselves in the service of Christ.”

3. A Wise Servant. Jesus said, “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? What will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (8:36-37).

He conveyed this truth by asking two questions. The first one sets before us, in the realm of the moral and spiritual, the alternatives of profit and loss. He used exaggeration to make His point. If the price for the soul were the whole world, the loss would be entire and eternal. The whole world, when put on one side of the scale, is lighter than a feather when the soul is on the other side of the scale.

The other question is this: “For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” The implication of the question is that nothing ins the physical world is worthy of this exchange. Once the soul is lost, nothing can buy it back. Character determines destiny; and character does not remain fluid, but becomes fixed.

Jesus has called each of us to be a certain kind of follower. The Christian is called to bear a cross. A choice must be made between temporal and eternal values. The present determines the future.

At the center of all His teachings, Jesus is the model character and the standard of truth. Our relationship with Him is what matters now and forever. Which philosophy will we choose? One philosophy says, “Keep this world so that you can live.” The other says, “Die to the world so that you can really live.”

Paul’s Last Words

by Jeff Curtis

Someone has said that a person can never have too many friends – and some people would agree. Solomon wrote in Proverbs, “A friend loves at all times” (Proverbs 17:17); “There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24). The popular preacher Marshall Keeble used to say, “I may not have a million dollars, but I have a million friends.” Then he would grin and add, “And each of those million friends would give me a dollar if I needed it.”

Paul had enemies who opposed him and his ministry (Romans 3:8; 15:31; 2Cor.11:26; Phil. 3:18). However, he also had friends (Acts 19:31; 24:23; 27:3) and he was thankful for each of them. Altogether, Romans 16 mentions thirty-five people by name; most of them were friends of Paul. We are familiar with a few of these names, but many are known only because they are listed here in this text. Whether unknown or well known, all of them were important to Paul.

Some scholars have said that Paul’s last words in Romans were his best words. He closed his letter with these thoughts:

1. A word of warning; Watch out for false teachers and give them no opportunity to spread their error (16:17-20a).
2. A word of encouragement; Heartily greet those of like faith, show them that care for them (16:20b-24).
3. A word of praise; Never forget that the purpose of life is to glorify God – in lifestyle as well as in words (16:25-27).

As we close out the book of Romans, I hope we realize that Paul, through the Spirit, was also writing to us. No, Paul didn’t know us personally, but neither did he know most of the Christians in Rome. We don’t live in the first century, but we do live in a day and age characterized by the same evils details in chapters 1 and 2. The Jew and Gentile controversy of Paul’s day isn’t with us today, but we are still surrounded by division and schisms of every kind. Above all, the age-old error of salvation on the basis of living a good life is still being taught. Paul’s letter may be more than nineteen hundred years old, but it is as fresh and as important today as when he first wrote it.

Paul’s final word in Romans is “Amen.” “Amen” doesn’t mean “I hope this is so” or “I wish this were so.” It expresses deep conviction: “This is so.” Can you close our study with a sincere “Amen”? Do you believe the message of this letter with all your heart? Has our study led you to “the obedience of faith”? Have you confessed your faith in Jesus (6:3-6)? Are you now walking in newness of life (6:4), according to the Spirit instead of the flesh (8:4)? If not, let us be encouraged to do whatever is needed to do next in order to appropriate God’s wonderous love and grace. Let me assure you that “the first moment in heaven will be worth more than whatever it costs to get there.”

Prayer

by Wayne S. Walker

Do you pray? If you do, how often? David said in Psalm 55:17, “Evening, and morning, and at noon will I pray.” Paul said, “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17). Why should we do this? What will prayer do?

Is there a need, something that is lacking in your life? “Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Matt. 7:7). Is there a sickness within you or a loved one? “The prayer of faith shall save the sick” (James 5:15). Is there a sin that has beset you? “Pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart be forgiven thee” (Acts 8:22). Is there a blessing you have received? “Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving” (Col. 4:2). Is there a joy in your heart? “Rejoice in hope; …continuing instant in prayer” (Rom. 12:12). Is there time left over from life’s busy ways? “Enter into thy closet, and …pray to the Father which is in secret” (Matt. 6:6).

“Men ought always to pray, and not to faint,” said Christ in Luke 18:1. Paul told Timothy, “I will therefore, that men pray everywhere” (1 Tim. 2:8). “The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16). “Oh, what peace we often forfeit; Oh, what needless pain we bear; All because we do not carry Everything to God in prayer” (Joseph Scriven).