1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:04,880 Now lets turn to the greatest book and open at Marles Gospel, and chapter eight. 2 00:00:04,880 –> 00:00:08,800 And we’re going to begin today at verse thirty-four. 3 00:00:08,800 –> 00:00:15,600 I’ve given the message today a new title,and that is, Jesus Calls His People to Sacrifice. 4 00:00:15,600 –> 00:00:19,559 Sometimes it’s only when you get really into the thick of studying a passage of the Bible 5 00:00:19,559 –> 00:00:22,280 that you get some new and fresh light. 6 00:00:22,280 –> 00:00:24,280 Something you didn’t see before. 7 00:00:24,280 –> 00:00:29,920 And that was very much my experience and I’m very much grateful for it. 8 00:00:30,180 –> 00:00:35,400 So let’s begin at verse thirty-four where we’re told by Mark, that Jesus called the 9 00:00:35,400 –> 00:00:40,160 crowd to Him along with His disciples. 10 00:00:40,160 –> 00:00:44,799 Now that’s significant, because if you look back in verse twenty-seven, you’ll see that 11 00:00:44,799 –> 00:00:49,639 Jesus was speaking specifically just to the disciples. 12 00:00:49,639 –> 00:00:54,560 And then when we come to Mark chapter nine, as we will do in a few moments time this morning, 13 00:00:54,619 –> 00:00:58,840 see that Jesus is relating just to the inner circle of disciples. 14 00:00:58,860 –> 00:01:00,840 Just Peter, James, and John. 15 00:01:00,840 –> 00:01:02,799 Just these three. 16 00:01:02,799 –> 00:01:07,580 But in the verses we’re going to begin with today, at verse thirty-four, Mark specifically 17 00:01:07,580 –> 00:01:13,080 tells us that Jesus called the crowd to Him along with the disciples. 18 00:01:13,080 –> 00:01:18,959 So Jesus is speaking here to the visitors, to the folks who were just dropping by, to 19 00:01:18,959 –> 00:01:22,099 the folks who were vaguely interested, to the curious. 20 00:01:22,139 –> 00:01:29,660 To the pool of people who potentially might become disciples in the future. 21 00:01:29,660 –> 00:01:34,739 And I want you to notice what Jesus says to them because it really is quite astonishing. 22 00:01:34,739 –> 00:01:39,820 Jesus called the crowd to Him along with the disciples and said, 23 00:01:39,820 –> 00:01:47,019 If anyone would come after me he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 24 00:01:47,019 –> 00:01:52,419 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for me and for 25 00:01:52,419 –> 00:01:56,260 the gospel will save it. 26 00:01:56,260 –> 00:02:00,820 Now, what do you make of that as a sales pitch? 27 00:02:00,820 –> 00:02:02,120 Some of us are in sales here. 28 00:02:02,120 –> 00:02:08,059 What do you make of this as a sales pitch? 29 00:02:08,059 –> 00:02:11,759 If you’re going to follow me, you’re going to sign up, if you’re going to become one 30 00:02:11,759 –> 00:02:13,979 of my disciples, you better be ready to die. 31 00:02:14,139 –> 00:02:17,380 You better take up your cross and follow me. 32 00:02:17,380 –> 00:02:24,479 You’ve got to realize that if you become a Christian that this is a kind of march to 33 00:02:24,479 –> 00:02:26,320 your own death. 34 00:02:26,320 –> 00:02:35,880 Isn’t that an astonishing thing this is, to say to the crowd, to folks who are not 35 00:02:35,880 –> 00:02:39,580 yet even committed? 36 00:02:39,580 –> 00:02:46,320 You know, in most advertising what we do is we hide the costs and the risks in the small 37 00:02:46,320 –> 00:02:47,320 print. 38 00:02:47,320 –> 00:02:49,279 I was thinking about this. 39 00:02:49,279 –> 00:02:53,919 You know, suppose we had a new wonder drug that gives you all kinds of energy and takes 40 00:02:53,919 –> 00:02:57,139 10 years off your age. 41 00:02:57,139 –> 00:02:58,380 Suppose we were marketing this. 42 00:02:58,380 –> 00:03:02,479 And we think, we’re going to make an absolute fortune out of marketing this new wonder drug. 43 00:03:02,479 –> 00:03:04,119 I’ve invented a name for it. 44 00:03:04,119 –> 00:03:07,119 Let’s call it Slivacic. 45 00:03:07,399 –> 00:03:09,380 I hope that isn’t actually on the market yet. 46 00:03:09,380 –> 00:03:12,139 I just made it up, the other day. 47 00:03:12,139 –> 00:03:15,960 But you see, if we were advertising this new wonder drug, the advert would go something 48 00:03:15,960 –> 00:03:16,960 like this. 49 00:03:16,960 –> 00:03:18,720 It’s a familiar kind of pattern. 50 00:03:18,720 –> 00:03:22,240 Are you suffering from aches and pains? 51 00:03:22,240 –> 00:03:26,419 Do you wish that you had the energy that you had 10 years ago? 52 00:03:26,419 –> 00:03:32,080 Do you wish you could bounce out of bed every morning with a zest for life as you’ve never 53 00:03:32,080 –> 00:03:33,279 known it before? 54 00:03:33,279 –> 00:03:36,479 Try Slivasic. 55 00:03:36,479 –> 00:03:41,220 Ask your doctor if Slivassic is right for you. 56 00:03:41,220 –> 00:03:49,360 Then in a low tone, almost an imperceptible mumble, there would be something like this. 57 00:03:49,360 –> 00:03:54,000 Slivassic has been known to cause certain side effects, including nausea, headaches, 58 00:03:54,000 –> 00:03:57,440 vomiting, skin irritation, blood clot, strokes, and heart attacks. 59 00:03:57,440 –> 00:04:00,759 In rare cases, Slivassic has been known to cause death. 60 00:04:00,759 –> 00:04:03,960 You should not take Slivassic if you are pregnant or if you have a liver condition, 61 00:04:03,960 –> 00:04:05,240 etc., etc., etc. 62 00:04:05,240 –> 00:04:11,479 Then after that mumble has gone on, the bright and cheerful voice would come back full force 63 00:04:11,479 –> 00:04:14,240 and say, Slivassic will change your life. 64 00:04:14,240 –> 00:04:18,299 Talk to your doctor about Slivassic today. 65 00:04:18,299 –> 00:04:20,339 Take ten years off your age. 66 00:04:20,339 –> 00:04:24,940 Now, we’re all familiar with this formula and we see it on the television every day 67 00:04:24,940 –> 00:04:26,959 in advertising, don’t we? 68 00:04:27,959 –> 00:04:31,160 We should minimize the benefits, minimize risks, and say as little as possible about 69 00:04:31,160 –> 00:04:33,480 the costs. 70 00:04:33,480 –> 00:04:37,959 And because we live in that culture it would be very easy for us to think, well then that’s 71 00:04:37,959 –> 00:04:40,100 how we should do evangelism. 72 00:04:40,100 –> 00:04:43,320 That’s how we sell the gospel. 73 00:04:43,320 –> 00:04:45,839 Very easy for us to think like that. 74 00:04:45,839 –> 00:04:49,760 The problem, of course, with misrepresenting the product is that you end up with a lot 75 00:04:49,760 –> 00:04:53,880 of disappointing customers. 76 00:04:53,880 –> 00:04:59,899 And so if our approach to communicating the gospel to the unbeliever is simply to say, 77 00:04:59,899 –> 00:05:06,359 tell them about heaven, tell them about forgiveness, tell them about fulfillment that God can bring 78 00:05:06,359 –> 00:05:13,600 in their lives and keep the rest for the small print maybe in the discipleship class later, 79 00:05:13,600 –> 00:05:18,920 then we are actually doing something very different from what our Lord Jesus Christ 80 00:05:19,000 –> 00:05:20,500 models for us here. 81 00:05:20,500 –> 00:05:25,239 Now I have to say the more I’ve thought about this, when you think about the astonishing 82 00:05:25,239 –> 00:05:31,679 statistics these days in this country of folks who are abandoning a profession of faith, 83 00:05:31,679 –> 00:05:37,059 a profession of Christian faith that they once made, I think that raises some serious 84 00:05:37,059 –> 00:05:46,260 questions about the way that we are presenting the gospel in this culture in the first place. 85 00:05:46,859 –> 00:05:51,660 Now I want you to notice, I find this very striking again as I’ve studied it this week. 86 00:05:51,660 –> 00:05:59,019 The absolute candor of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 87 00:05:59,019 –> 00:06:07,660 To the crowd, to the seeker, to the person not yet committed, to the unbeliever in your 88 00:06:07,820 –> 00:06:19,820 office or in your street, the Lord Jesus lays out a full picture of what following Him will 89 00:06:19,820 –> 00:06:22,239 mean. 90 00:06:22,239 –> 00:06:28,239 And I think those who are in sales know well that normally what we do is we talk about 91 00:06:28,239 –> 00:06:34,200 the benefit, then a little about the risk, and then we slide in somewhere down the line 92 00:06:34,200 –> 00:06:37,320 the cost as quietly as we can. 93 00:06:37,399 –> 00:06:42,480 But I want you to notice that Jesus does this precisely the opposite way around. 94 00:06:42,480 –> 00:06:48,959 He takes what would normally be in the small print, the cost, and He makes it the headline, 95 00:06:48,959 –> 00:06:50,399 blazes it out there. 96 00:06:50,399 –> 00:06:55,660 Let us look at this together, what is the cost? 97 00:06:55,660 –> 00:07:02,359 Remember if we look back just to Mark chapter 31 that Jesus has spoken for the first time 98 00:07:02,359 –> 00:07:04,339 about His own suffering and death. 99 00:07:04,339 –> 00:07:09,559 Mark 8.31 is the first announcement of the passion of Jesus Christ. 100 00:07:09,559 –> 00:07:15,640 He began verse 31 to teach that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected 101 00:07:15,640 –> 00:07:19,660 by the elders, chief priests, and teachers of the law, that He must be killed and after 102 00:07:19,660 –> 00:07:22,519 three days rise again. 103 00:07:22,519 –> 00:07:26,420 From this point on in Mark’s Gospel everything is heading to the cross. 104 00:07:26,420 –> 00:07:32,140 Jesus now begins a long journey from Galilee to Jerusalem. 105 00:07:32,140 –> 00:07:36,720 As he arrives there Mark gives us detail of the last week before the crucifixion. 106 00:07:36,720 –> 00:07:42,380 The whole of the second half of Mark’s Gospel is all about Jesus’ progress towards the 107 00:07:42,380 –> 00:07:47,079 cross, because this is central to the Gospel. 108 00:07:47,079 –> 00:07:50,420 Jesus Christ has come into the world to die. 109 00:07:50,420 –> 00:07:55,359 This is His great purpose and this is how He saves His people. 110 00:07:55,359 –> 00:08:00,920 And so those who are going to follow Him needs to understand that this is what He is about. 111 00:08:01,100 –> 00:08:04,980 If you’re going to follow Me, He’s saying, you need to know what I’m heading. 112 00:08:04,980 –> 00:08:13,980 I am going to die, and not just die, you need to know I’m going to suffer greatly. 113 00:08:13,980 –> 00:08:16,839 I’m going to be rejected. 114 00:08:16,839 –> 00:08:21,760 Then in 3 days I will rise again and if you follow Me this is what you’re getting yourself 115 00:08:21,760 –> 00:08:24,260 into. 116 00:08:24,260 –> 00:08:27,500 You need to understand that. 117 00:08:27,519 –> 00:08:34,960 If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. 118 00:08:34,960 –> 00:08:40,039 And notice that Jesus does not say if you become a real Christian there might be a cost. 119 00:08:40,039 –> 00:08:43,799 Jesus says there will be. 120 00:08:43,799 –> 00:08:47,820 It’s in the very nature of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. 121 00:08:47,820 –> 00:08:55,119 If anyone would come after Me he must deny himself. 122 00:08:55,119 –> 00:09:03,340 Following Jesus means saying no to self in order to say yes to God. 123 00:09:03,340 –> 00:09:09,599 It means saying no to the flesh in order to say yes to the Spirit. 124 00:09:09,599 –> 00:09:16,679 It means saying no to a life of comfort in this world in order to say yes to a life of 125 00:09:16,679 –> 00:09:18,559 ministry. 126 00:09:18,559 –> 00:09:24,320 And so what Jesus is saying very clearly is, look if what you really want is a comfortable 127 00:09:24,640 –> 00:09:29,039 life in this world don’t become a Christian. 128 00:09:29,039 –> 00:09:33,760 Because it won’t be like that if you are truly my follower. 129 00:09:33,760 –> 00:09:37,599 Not when you understand what that really means. 130 00:09:37,599 –> 00:09:45,580 There are much more comfortable ways for you to live Life in this world than being a Christian. 131 00:09:45,580 –> 00:09:49,760 So Jesus again takes the small print and He makes it His headline. 132 00:09:49,880 –> 00:09:55,760 First I’ll tell you what it costs, then I’ll tell you what it’s worth. 133 00:09:55,760 –> 00:10:02,280 He moves from the cost to the risk, really the question what’s at stake? 134 00:10:02,280 –> 00:10:03,520 And His words here are very powerful. 135 00:10:03,520 –> 00:10:09,780 I hope you have your Bible opened just to see what Jesus says to us here. 136 00:10:09,780 –> 00:10:16,219 What is at stake when you are thinking about following Jesus Christ? 137 00:10:17,219 –> 00:10:21,320 The reality is that in our six services on a Sunday morning every week there 138 00:10:21,320 –> 00:10:23,559 are going to be some folks. 139 00:10:23,559 –> 00:10:27,020 And you’re thinking about this question through the service. 140 00:10:27,020 –> 00:10:28,679 You’ve been in church world for awhile and 141 00:10:28,679 –> 00:10:30,400 you’re saying, well, should I really commit myself? 142 00:10:32,359 –> 00:10:32,979 Maybe I will. 143 00:10:32,979 –> 00:10:35,099 Maybe I won’t. 144 00:10:37,099 –> 00:10:42,619 And while you’re thinking about that question, what is at stake in your decision? 145 00:10:42,820 –> 00:10:46,159 Some of us have been sitting on the fence 146 00:10:46,159 –> 00:10:46,940 for a long time. 147 00:10:46,940 –> 00:10:51,020 We’ve become settled in the environment of church. 148 00:10:51,020 –> 00:10:54,719 But we know in our hearts that we have not really made a life-changing 149 00:10:54,719 –> 00:10:57,260 commitment to Jesus Christ. 150 00:10:57,260 –> 00:10:59,780 We’ve not taken that step. 151 00:10:59,780 –> 00:11:05,679 Now, what is at stake, as you kind of ponder this and think it through? 152 00:11:07,159 –> 00:11:09,400 Well, Jesus says three things are at stake, and 153 00:11:09,400 –> 00:11:11,059 you need to understand them clearly. 154 00:11:11,960 –> 00:11:15,640 The first, verse 35, is your life is at stake. 155 00:11:16,700 –> 00:11:22,239 Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life, for 156 00:11:22,239 –> 00:11:25,880 me and for the gospel, will save it. 157 00:11:25,880 –> 00:11:31,419 An extraordinary principle universally true for 158 00:11:32,679 –> 00:11:37,099 every circumstance every person, that what you try 159 00:11:37,140 –> 00:11:41,900 to hold onto in your life in this world, eventually you will lose. 160 00:11:43,619 –> 00:11:47,299 And everything you lose, give up for the sake of Christ and 161 00:11:47,299 –> 00:11:49,179 the gospel in your life in this world. 162 00:11:49,179 –> 00:11:53,419 You will gain, you will have for eternity. 163 00:11:55,159 –> 00:11:57,419 And so Jesus is saying, as you think about your life, 164 00:11:57,419 –> 00:11:59,200 you can choose to live for yourself. 165 00:12:00,179 –> 00:12:03,500 But then when your life is gone, you won’t be able to get it back. 166 00:12:04,380 –> 00:12:09,559 And if you live for yourself, you will come to a day either in your old age, 167 00:12:09,559 –> 00:12:13,340 or in not in your old age but in eternity itself. 168 00:12:13,340 –> 00:12:18,320 You will come to a day when you will wish that you could have your life back. 169 00:12:18,320 –> 00:12:20,780 You will wish that you could live it again and 170 00:12:20,780 –> 00:12:23,039 that you could live it for Jesus Christ. 171 00:12:24,979 –> 00:12:28,500 But you will not be able to do that because you only get one run and 172 00:12:28,500 –> 00:12:30,260 when your life is spent, it is gone. 173 00:12:30,780 –> 00:12:35,400 So, your life is at stake. 174 00:12:36,539 –> 00:12:43,099 And whoever wants to save his life, whoever wants to live for himself and 175 00:12:43,099 –> 00:12:47,859 to pursue his or her own self as the very center of everything, 176 00:12:47,859 –> 00:12:52,239 will find at some point, either in later life or else. 177 00:12:52,239 –> 00:12:56,380 In eternity, you will find it’s gone, it’s lost, and you can’t get it back, and 178 00:12:56,380 –> 00:12:59,179 you would wish that you could have it back in order to live in again in 179 00:12:59,659 –> 00:13:00,400 a different way. 180 00:13:00,400 –> 00:13:01,000 You really will. 181 00:13:01,000 –> 00:13:02,900 That’s what Jesus is saying. 182 00:13:04,820 –> 00:13:09,380 And not only is your life at stake, but your soul is at stake. 183 00:13:09,380 –> 00:13:11,679 Verse 36 and verse 37. 184 00:13:11,679 –> 00:13:17,739 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? 185 00:13:17,739 –> 00:13:21,900 Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 186 00:13:22,000 –> 00:13:31,500 The word, soul, reminds us that your life will never end. 187 00:13:31,500 –> 00:13:37,700 God has made you a living soul, eternal. 188 00:13:37,700 –> 00:13:45,140 Every time a baby is born into this world, a new life begins that will never end. 189 00:13:45,380 –> 00:13:50,380 because you are a living soul, will never, never, never end. 190 00:13:52,460 –> 00:13:57,919 The world as we know it will end, the Bible says that the earth will melt with fervent 191 00:13:57,919 –> 00:14:01,260 heat, and then God will create a new heaven and a new earth. 192 00:14:01,260 –> 00:14:07,940 So, the world as we know it will end but your life will never end. 193 00:14:07,940 –> 00:14:14,219 And even a person who may choose, and we should never do this, but even if a person should 194 00:14:14,280 –> 00:14:21,500 choose to take their own life, you do not end your life by doing that, you merely move 195 00:14:21,500 –> 00:14:29,000 your life to another place, because you have been made by God a living soul. 196 00:14:29,780 –> 00:14:34,299 Now Jesus is saying when you think about that, you will begin to see that while the cost 197 00:14:34,299 –> 00:14:40,400 of following Christ is great, the cost of holding back is far greater, because what 198 00:14:40,400 –> 00:14:43,159 you lose is your own soul. 199 00:14:43,900 –> 00:14:55,719 And hell has many pains, but surely one of the greatest must be this, for a person to 200 00:14:55,719 –> 00:15:03,659 know what they could have been, for you in eternity to ponder what you could have become, 201 00:15:03,659 –> 00:15:09,479 what you might have experienced, to know that you are wasting away, while you could have 202 00:15:09,479 –> 00:15:15,280 been a son or a daughter of God, feasting at His table for all eternity with all that 203 00:15:15,280 –> 00:15:23,400 that means. So your life’s at stake, your soul’s at stake, 204 00:15:23,400 –> 00:15:28,840 and Jesus says to us here, your eternity is at stake, verse 38, if anyone is ashamed of 205 00:15:28,840 –> 00:15:33,960 me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, then the Son of Man that’s Jesus 206 00:15:34,799 –> 00:15:39,960 ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels. 207 00:15:39,960 –> 00:15:48,719 Imagine the Son of God being ashamed of you. Here you were, embarrassed about Jesus. I 208 00:15:48,719 –> 00:15:55,080 didn’t want your friends to think that you were associated with Him, and now Jesus comes 209 00:15:55,080 –> 00:15:59,760 in all of His glory, and Jesus doesn’t want anyone to think that he is associated with 210 00:15:59,760 –> 00:16:05,640 you. Remember these awful words of the Lord Jesus Christ that there would be some people 211 00:16:05,640 –> 00:16:10,260 to whom He would say depart from me because I never knew you? You were never really associated 212 00:16:10,260 –> 00:16:17,820 with me. Your agenda was your own life, you were just religious. And as you were never 213 00:16:17,820 –> 00:16:23,880 associated with me so now I am not associated with you either. 214 00:16:24,400 –> 00:16:26,320 Now, the 215 00:16:26,320 –> 00:16:35,280 cost of following Jesus Christ is very great. But what’s at stake is even greater. Your 216 00:16:35,280 –> 00:16:45,500 life, your soul, your eternity. So here we are, got ourselves out of bed, got ourselves 217 00:16:45,500 –> 00:16:52,359 here to church, and our minds are packed with all this stuff of life and even with everything 218 00:16:52,359 –> 00:17:02,299 you’re going to do today. And our lives are stuffed full of sports and relationships and 219 00:17:02,299 –> 00:17:07,719 career and money and travel and leisure and family and friends and all good and wonderful 220 00:17:07,719 –> 00:17:22,560 things but Jesus is speaking to you about your life, your soul and your eternity. And 221 00:17:22,560 –> 00:17:33,839 are you giving appropriate weight to this, the thing of supreme value in all the business 222 00:17:33,839 –> 00:17:40,239 of your life? What is the intention that you are really giving to this? Have you grasped 223 00:17:40,239 –> 00:17:45,319 what is at stake as you sit there saying, shall I be committed or shall I not be committed? 224 00:17:45,319 –> 00:17:52,680 Your life, your soul and eternity’s at stake. Could not be bigger. Could not be bigger. 225 00:17:52,680 –> 00:17:58,280 Now, that really leads to the obvious third question. What’s the cost? What’s at stake? 226 00:17:59,160 –> 00:18:06,579 You got to ask the question, what’s the gain? What is to be gained here in this calling 227 00:18:06,579 –> 00:18:12,640 of Jesus Christ, to come and take up a cross and deny ourselves and follow him? The most 228 00:18:12,640 –> 00:18:18,680 costly thing in the world, what is in it? Why would you do this? Why would anybody do 229 00:18:18,680 –> 00:18:23,400 this? Why when you’re discouraged as a Christian, you feel like giving up. Why would you keep 230 00:18:23,400 –> 00:18:30,239 following on after Jesus Christ at this point in your life? What will sustain you? Now I 231 00:18:30,239 –> 00:18:34,780 think it’s very important to see that when Jesus calls us to deny ourselves and to take 232 00:18:34,780 –> 00:18:49,959 up the cross, he is inviting us to deny lesser joys in order to savor greater joys. And you 233 00:18:49,959 –> 00:18:56,959 won’t deny yourself. I won’t deny myself. And we won’t take up the cross unless we can 234 00:18:56,959 –> 00:19:05,859 see that in this there is great and eternal and overwhelming gain. Nobody takes up the 235 00:19:05,859 –> 00:19:11,540 cross. Nobody denies themself. Nobody really fights against sin in the battle of the Christian 236 00:19:11,540 –> 00:19:16,099 life. No one lays themselves out in ministry with all the cost that’s involved in that 237 00:19:17,000 –> 00:19:21,739 really seen the gain. Not even Jesus. 238 00:19:21,739 –> 00:19:27,380 The Bible tells us how it was that Jesus bore the weight of the cross and all that was involved 239 00:19:27,380 –> 00:19:34,380 in that. Hebrews 12 and verse 2. Do you remember? He bore the cross for the joy that was set 240 00:19:35,300 –> 00:19:41,459 before him. That’s how he was able to despise the shame and triumph through it all and sit 241 00:19:41,540 –> 00:19:46,699 down at the right hand of God. And if you are going to follow Jesus, if we are going 242 00:19:46,699 –> 00:19:53,699 to persevere in costly discipleship, then we have to see the gain. 243 00:19:54,359 –> 00:20:01,359 When I was a kid, we used to sing in church a song with… some good words but a pretty 244 00:20:01,500 –> 00:20:06,400 awful tune. I have to say, I’ve got a home in glory land that outshines the sun. You 245 00:20:06,400 –> 00:20:13,400 know that one, yeah? I’ve got a home. There is a verse that says if you will not bear 246 00:20:17,119 –> 00:20:23,160 the cross, you cannot wear the crown. Remember that? If you will not bear the cross, you 247 00:20:23,160 –> 00:20:30,160 can’t wear the crown. Now, I want you to think about this. The opposite is also true. 248 00:20:30,359 –> 00:20:37,099 If you cannot see the crown, you won’t bear the cross. Think about that. If you can’t 249 00:20:40,400 –> 00:20:47,400 see the crown, if you can’t see the gain, if you can’t see the glory that is ahead, 250 00:20:50,520 –> 00:20:57,520 you will never, never, never live a life of sacrificial following after Jesus Christ. 251 00:20:58,400 –> 00:21:05,400 And, that brings us to Mark’s gospel in chapter 9. See, Jesus lays out the cost of what it 252 00:21:06,800 –> 00:21:11,880 is really going to mean and the stakes of what’s actually involved in really being 253 00:21:11,880 –> 00:21:17,780 a Christian. And, when you see the cost and what’s at stake, what you have to see, 254 00:21:17,780 –> 00:21:24,780 then, is the crown. The glory. And that is where Jesus shows Peter, James, and John His 255 00:21:28,280 –> 00:21:34,319 glory in the transfiguration because it’s only when they see His glory that they’re 256 00:21:34,319 –> 00:21:39,800 going to be able to follow after Him in all that lies ahead in the agonies of Jerusalem 257 00:21:39,800 –> 00:21:46,800 and of Golgotha that are to come. Now, let’s then look in to chapter 9, together, 258 00:21:49,000 –> 00:21:54,560 and see how they are compelled, these disciples, by Christ’s glory. Why would you take up 259 00:21:54,560 –> 00:22:01,560 the cross? Why would you deny yourself? Only if you are compelled as they were by Christ’s 260 00:22:02,020 –> 00:22:07,000 glory. Chapter 9 in verse 2, after 6 days, Jesus 261 00:22:07,000 –> 00:22:11,260 took Peter, James and John with Him and led them up a high mountain where they were all 262 00:22:11,260 –> 00:22:18,260 alone, and there He was transfigured before them. Of all the miracles that the disciples 263 00:22:19,199 –> 00:22:25,739 had seen, surely to this point this is the greatest of them all. He was transfigured 264 00:22:25,739 –> 00:22:32,739 before them. What does that mean? The glory that was hidden in the Lord Jesus Christ, 265 00:22:37,819 –> 00:22:44,020 the glory of His true person that was as we sing in one of our great Christmas carols 266 00:22:44,140 –> 00:22:51,140 that was veiled in His flesh, that glory that was in Him simply burst out, burst out and 267 00:22:54,660 –> 00:23:01,660 for a few minutes the disciples see Jesus as you will see Him and I will see Him and 268 00:23:03,400 –> 00:23:10,400 that every person will see Him when He comes in power and in glory. They saw Jesus in His 269 00:23:10,479 –> 00:23:16,479 glory in the same way as John the Apostle saw Jesus in His glory, in a vision recorded 270 00:23:16,479 –> 00:23:20,660 at the beginning of the book of Revelation. But this was not simply a vision because Jesus 271 00:23:20,660 –> 00:23:27,660 was physically present with them and the glory, the radiance that is in the person of Jesus 272 00:23:28,380 –> 00:23:35,380 Christ just bursts out for these moments and they are absolutely overwhelmed by the dazzling 273 00:23:35,900 –> 00:23:42,900 glory of Jesus. Mark tells us His clothes became dazzling white, verse three, whiter 274 00:23:47,079 –> 00:23:54,079 than anyone in the world could bleach them. Now think about this, when you take all of 275 00:23:55,099 –> 00:24:02,099 the colors of the spectrum, all of the colors of God’s palette of creation and you combine 276 00:24:02,640 –> 00:24:09,640 all the beauty of color in this created order together, what you have is white light. And 277 00:24:13,140 –> 00:24:20,040 what the disciples saw here was a white light, an illumination, a brightness, coming from 278 00:24:20,040 –> 00:24:25,520 within Jesus that Mark says was whiter than the whitest-white, or whiter than anyone in 279 00:24:25,520 –> 00:24:35,219 the world could ever produce. What we’re learning here is simply this, that the glory of Jesus 280 00:24:35,219 –> 00:24:47,280 Christ is of more beauty than all the spectrum of color in this created order combined. Think 281 00:24:47,280 –> 00:24:57,260 of the beauty of all created color, and combine it together into whiteness. But this whiteness 282 00:24:57,260 –> 00:25:02,819 is whiter than anyone in the world could ever produce. It’s greater than all the spectrum 283 00:25:02,819 –> 00:25:10,579 and beauty of color in all the created orders. Nothing, nothing greater than this. The brightness 284 00:25:10,579 –> 00:25:20,160 of Christ’s glory is brighter than the stars in the sky at midnight. And the purity of 285 00:25:20,160 –> 00:25:28,239 Christ’s glory is whiter, purer than the finest of snow. There is, in other words, 286 00:25:28,239 –> 00:25:37,680 in Jesus Christ, beauty, brightness, purity, that is beyond comparison with any beauty, 287 00:25:37,719 –> 00:25:43,239 brightness or purity known in this world. And this glory does not come upon Him, it 288 00:25:43,239 –> 00:25:53,239 bursts out from within Him. And the disciples are so stunned that Peter does not even know 289 00:25:53,239 –> 00:25:55,579 what to say. 290 00:25:55,579 –> 00:26:01,079 Then the cloud comes. Now, of course, in the Old Testament there isn’t just any cloud. 291 00:26:01,140 –> 00:26:08,099 There was a pillar of cloud that was the visible expression of God’s actual immediate presence 292 00:26:08,099 –> 00:26:12,640 with his people. And the cloud comes. And they would have known what the significance 293 00:26:12,640 –> 00:26:15,640 of this was, and the cloud envelops them, Mark says. 294 00:26:15,640 –> 00:26:21,660 So now they’re caught up in the presence of God with the glory of Jesus Christ. Because 295 00:26:21,660 –> 00:26:27,699 being with Jesus and seeing Jesus’ glory is to come to know and be with God, and to 296 00:26:27,780 –> 00:26:34,739 enter into all that his presence means. And from the cloud comes this voice, the 297 00:26:34,739 –> 00:26:40,060 same voice as spoke from the cloud in the Old Testament, this is my son, the voice 298 00:26:40,060 –> 00:26:46,939 of the Almighty says, who I love, listen to him. 299 00:26:46,939 –> 00:26:52,119 Of all the experiences the disciples had during the earthly ministry of Jesus, don’t you 300 00:26:52,560 –> 00:27:03,040 would just love to be there in this moment. And of course it made a lasting stamp on their 301 00:27:03,040 –> 00:27:10,239 lives. John suffered greatly for the gospel. He ended up languishing in prison on the Isle 302 00:27:10,239 –> 00:27:18,800 of Patmos in isolation. Peter’s tradition has it at the end of his ministry, was crucified 303 00:27:18,800 –> 00:27:28,599 upside down. Can you imagine that? And how were these men sustained in their ministry? 304 00:27:28,599 –> 00:27:33,640 How did they manage to take up the cross and deny themselves and live sacrificially for 305 00:27:33,640 –> 00:27:42,400 the cause of Christ? Well they had seen His glory. And they both speak about it. John 306 00:27:42,400 –> 00:27:46,420 at the beginning of his gospel – we’ll read it perhaps many times over the Christmas 307 00:27:47,380 –> 00:27:47,859 He says, 308 00:27:52,859 –> 00:27:58,920 And we have seen His glory. John’s speaking, he’s talking about 309 00:27:58,920 –> 00:28:05,719 the transfiguration of course. We’ve seen His glory. We’ve seen it. And Peter in his 310 00:28:05,719 –> 00:28:10,839 second letter in chapter 1 puts it this way – he says, look, you folks writing to Christian 311 00:28:10,839 –> 00:28:15,180 believers, he says you need to know we didn’t follow cleverly invented stories when we told 312 00:28:15,180 –> 00:28:23,280 you about the power and coming of Jesus. We were eyewitnesses of His majesty. He received 313 00:28:23,280 –> 00:28:27,660 honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came from the majestic glory saying, 314 00:28:27,660 –> 00:28:32,280 this is my son whom I love. With Him I’m well pleased, and we ourselves heard this 315 00:28:32,280 –> 00:28:42,180 voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. Notice that Mark 316 00:28:42,239 –> 00:28:52,780 says here in verse 2 that Jesus was transfigured before them. Before them. Not just Jesus was 317 00:28:52,780 –> 00:28:58,540 transfigured, but Jesus was transfigured before them. In other words this happened for the 318 00:28:58,540 –> 00:29:07,560 good of the disciples. Cause, if you are to follow Jesus for a lifetime, if we are to 319 00:29:08,520 –> 00:29:14,380 lives of costly and sacrificial service, which is what he is calling us to, we have to see 320 00:29:14,380 –> 00:29:20,339 his glory. We have to be compelled by something far, far bigger than ourselves and far bigger 321 00:29:20,339 –> 00:29:26,859 even than the greatest cost we pay. If you do not see his glory you will not follow far. 322 00:29:26,859 –> 00:29:36,160 You see if you ask the question, why are you a Christian? Why did you become a Christian? 323 00:29:36,180 –> 00:29:41,219 You see you get all kinds of answers to that question. One of the ones you’ll hear quite 324 00:29:41,219 –> 00:29:47,040 often if you ask that question, why are you a Christian? I have often heard this answer, 325 00:29:47,040 –> 00:30:01,319 I don’t want to go to hell. I don’t like pain, and I want to avoid pain, and hell is 326 00:30:01,319 –> 00:30:05,359 obviously going to be painful, and so, I don’t want to go there, so what do I have to do 327 00:30:05,380 –> 00:30:14,000 to avoid hell? Believe in Jesus. OK, I believe in Jesus. But you see if your motivation for 328 00:30:14,000 –> 00:30:24,060 believing in Jesus is simply to avoid pain, then what will happen when He says to you, 329 00:30:24,060 –> 00:30:31,400 you need to deny yourself and take up your cross and follow Me? Well you won’t do it. 330 00:30:31,400 –> 00:30:39,380 You just won’t do it. You won’t do it because you can’t do it because the unchanged agenda 331 00:30:39,380 –> 00:30:47,140 of your life is your own comfort. And surely as Jesus announces His own Passion, the timing 332 00:30:47,140 –> 00:30:52,680 of the transfiguration is of huge significance here. Peter, James, and John, the core group 333 00:30:52,680 –> 00:30:58,579 of the disciples, they are going to be following Jesus now to Jerusalem, to all the agony that 334 00:30:58,579 –> 00:31:06,420 is lying ahead for Him and for them. And comfort Christianity won’t sustain them in 335 00:31:06,420 –> 00:31:15,099 Jerusalem. So Christ gives them a glimpse of His glory because that is what sustains 336 00:31:15,099 –> 00:31:21,380 a Christian man or woman in the hardest circumstances of life. And it is not just here. There’s 337 00:31:21,380 –> 00:31:26,660 a pattern that you find here in the Scriptures. Do you remember the story of Moses in the 338 00:31:26,719 –> 00:31:33,060 Old Testament? And Moses had experienced God’s grace, he was in leadership of God’s people, 339 00:31:33,060 –> 00:31:39,319 he’d confronted Pharoah’s power, he had led God’s people out of Egypt. But remember 340 00:31:39,319 –> 00:31:46,119 when he got to Mount Sinai he was just about at the end of himself. And he goes up to the 341 00:31:46,119 –> 00:31:50,780 top of the mountain and he receives the commandments and there’s this idolatrous festival that 342 00:31:50,780 –> 00:31:54,780 begins at the bottom of the mountain and the people break all the commandments and then 343 00:31:54,979 –> 00:31:59,520 Moses smashes the stones and comes down and it just, as you read the story you think, 344 00:31:59,520 –> 00:32:04,160 he just doesn’t know what to do with himself and I wouldn’t have known what to do either. 345 00:32:04,160 –> 00:32:08,260 At one stage he says, Lord why don’t you just block me out of Your book. I think he was 346 00:32:08,260 –> 00:32:12,739 at the point at saying, you know I don’t care if I live or die anymore, this can’t go on 347 00:32:12,739 –> 00:32:22,099 like this. And at that point he makes one request of God that is record in Exodus chapter 348 00:32:22,359 –> 00:32:34,319 thirty three and verse eighteen, if you remember what it was. He prays, Lord show me your glory. 349 00:32:34,319 –> 00:32:40,300 That’s what I need. If I’m going to go on in the costly work of leading these people, 350 00:32:40,300 –> 00:32:45,680 if I’m going to go on in all that it’s involving for me to be involved in this life that You’ve 351 00:32:45,800 –> 00:32:52,800 called me to. I can’t sustain it unless You show me Your glory. Remember that that was 352 00:32:54,060 –> 00:33:00,400 what God did for him. God said, I’ll cause my glory to go by, but you must be hidden 353 00:33:00,400 –> 00:33:05,300 in the cleft of the rock. And I will cover you, God said, with my hand, and my glory 354 00:33:05,300 –> 00:33:11,540 will pass by, and then afterwards you will see the afterglow, really that’s what it is, 355 00:33:11,699 –> 00:33:17,780 the afterglow of God’s glory having passed by, and Moses did see that, and seeing the 356 00:33:17,780 –> 00:33:23,099 glory of the God he serves. He’s wonderfully renewed and is able to move forward in all 357 00:33:23,099 –> 00:33:26,540 that God is calling him to endure. 358 00:33:26,540 –> 00:33:33,540 It’s a wonderful thing that Moses never got into the Promised Land except here he is brought 359 00:33:34,540 –> 00:33:41,540 into the scene on the top of the Mount of Transfiguration. He actually did get there, 360 00:33:44,260 –> 00:33:51,020 and God fulfills beyond the course of his life the dream that was not fulfilled within 361 00:33:51,020 –> 00:33:58,020 his years. A wonderful thing. He doesn’t just see the afterglow of God’s glory, now he 362 00:33:58,180 –> 00:34:05,180 sees the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. With John and Peter and James. Now, 363 00:34:12,300 –> 00:34:18,020 you might be thinking, as I was pondering this this week, you know, well, this is marvelous 364 00:34:18,020 –> 00:34:22,600 for Moses and it’s marvelous for Peter, James, and John, and wouldn’t we have loved to have 365 00:34:22,600 –> 00:34:27,040 been there, and how marvelous it would be if we had actually seen his glory in that 366 00:34:27,080 –> 00:34:33,260 way, but of course we haven’t seen his glory, have we? No. Wait a minute. Wait a 367 00:34:33,260 –> 00:34:39,360 minute. Listen to what the Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 6. He’s 368 00:34:39,360 –> 00:34:44,459 talking to all Christian believers, and he says this, God has made his light shine in 369 00:34:44,459 –> 00:34:49,080 our hearts. If you’re a Christian, this is what’s happened to you. God has made the 370 00:34:49,080 –> 00:34:57,479 light shine into your heart to give you the light of the knowledge of the glory of God 371 00:34:57,479 –> 00:35:06,760 in the face of Jesus Christ. Now, he’s not saying what he might have said, if you’re 372 00:35:06,760 –> 00:35:12,219 a Christian, one day you will see Christ’s glory. That’s wonderfully true. Faith will 373 00:35:12,219 –> 00:35:16,679 be turned to sight, and you will see face to face the one you now know and trust heart 374 00:35:17,300 –> 00:35:20,300 to heart, but that’s not what he’s saying here in this verse, what he’s saying here 375 00:35:20,300 –> 00:35:25,600 is if you’re a Christian believer, you have seen His glory. God has made the light shine 376 00:35:25,600 –> 00:35:31,320 into your heart so that you have come to see something of the greatness and the glory of 377 00:35:31,320 –> 00:35:37,459 Jesus Christ, and that is what compels you. That is what sustains you to live life in 378 00:35:37,459 –> 00:35:45,820 this diffcult and often painful world. A Christian is a person who has seen the glory 379 00:35:45,899 –> 00:35:51,719 of Jesus Christ, and being compelled by Him, you begin to feel more and more as you follow 380 00:35:51,719 –> 00:35:57,540 Him, as the disciples did, that He is worth great sacrifices, and then when you make them, 381 00:35:57,540 –> 00:36:02,399 you begin to feel that He is worth greater sacrifices, even, than you have made. And 382 00:36:02,399 –> 00:36:07,580 more and more as you follow Him, you feel other thing seem cheap and less valuable than 383 00:36:07,580 –> 00:36:12,379 you used to think they were. So that with Paul you say, I count other things just like 384 00:36:12,379 –> 00:36:20,100 loss, really, in comparison with the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus Christ as my Savior 385 00:36:20,100 –> 00:36:27,139 and as my Lord. This is what has sustained Christians in the most desperate circumstances 386 00:36:27,139 –> 00:36:39,100 for centuries. This is what puts courage into the spine of pioneer missionaries and martyrs. 387 00:36:39,540 –> 00:36:44,739 Don’t die saying, well, it’ll be worth it because I escaped from hell. Martyrs die 388 00:36:44,919 –> 00:36:50,500 saying it is worth it for the sake of the name of Jesus Christ because they’ve seen 389 00:36:50,500 –> 00:37:07,979 His glory. This is how God will sustain you through loss and pain and hard work and discouragement 390 00:37:08,540 –> 00:37:17,260 and conflict and overwhelming pressure. This is the fire that God lights under the living 391 00:37:17,260 –> 00:37:22,239 church. Let me make this application to the men of 392 00:37:22,239 –> 00:37:25,840 the church. It would be equally true for the women, but I just want to say it to the men 393 00:37:25,840 –> 00:37:50,679 today. You will sing and pray and give and serve gladly as you see his glory. You really 394 00:37:50,820 –> 00:38:02,560 will. Lord, make us a church taken up with the glory of Jesus Christ. A church that more 395 00:38:02,560 –> 00:38:11,439 and more feels that it is worth making great sacrifices in order to do more for the gospel. 396 00:38:11,439 –> 00:38:18,820 That the advance of the gospel is worth the lives of our own sons and our own daughters. 397 00:38:18,820 –> 00:38:24,219 But it is worth the sacrifice of our comfort and our convenience and our pride and our 398 00:38:24,219 –> 00:38:26,899 possessions. 399 00:38:26,899 –> 00:38:32,919 Because the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and the sheer wonder and privilege of belonging 400 00:38:32,919 –> 00:38:40,979 to Him reinvests our lives here and our values here with entirely different meaning, because 401 00:38:40,979 –> 00:38:50,060 we are living in the light of His calling and in the light of His eternal glory. 402 00:38:50,060 –> 00:38:51,520 What’s the gain? 403 00:38:51,520 –> 00:38:57,459 They’re compelled by the glory of Jesus. 404 00:38:57,459 –> 00:39:00,120 By the way, this is progressive. 405 00:39:00,120 –> 00:39:04,379 This experience was well, well down the line for Peter, James and John. 406 00:39:04,379 –> 00:39:09,199 You follow in the light that you have in obedience and sacrifice and faith, and you will see 407 00:39:09,260 –> 00:39:13,479 more of His glory, and then you will follow further in obedience and sacrifice and faith 408 00:39:13,479 –> 00:39:16,260 and you will see more of His glory. 409 00:39:17,459 –> 00:39:24,699 There’s one last thing, just in a few moments, very briefly that we have to see here, I think, 410 00:39:24,699 –> 00:39:26,540 just to fill out the picture. 411 00:39:26,540 –> 00:39:32,580 And that is that as they are compelled by Christ’s glory so they are called into Christ’s 412 00:39:32,580 –> 00:39:35,300 work. 413 00:39:35,300 –> 00:39:40,520 And you’ll see in verse 5 that Peter, just so taken up with the wonder of what happened 414 00:39:40,520 –> 00:39:43,959 on the top of the mountain, he says, master, it’s good for us to be here. 415 00:39:43,959 –> 00:39:46,260 Well, he was right there. 416 00:39:46,260 –> 00:39:49,399 Peter gets a hard time for preachers, for all the things he said. 417 00:39:49,399 –> 00:39:54,459 I think all preachers, myself included, will have to apologize for Peter for being too 418 00:39:54,459 –> 00:39:57,060 hard on him in what we said about things that he said. 419 00:39:57,060 –> 00:39:58,919 Let’s give him some credit here. 420 00:39:58,919 –> 00:40:02,439 You seeing the glory of Jesus, he just wants to hold on to the moment. 421 00:40:02,899 –> 00:40:05,939 Let’s have some tents here so we can stay. 422 00:40:05,959 –> 00:40:12,939 Let’s just go on savoring the fellowship of the saints in the presence of Jesus. 423 00:40:12,939 –> 00:40:18,479 And that’s a natural instinct, but it’s not going to happen, because verse 9, Jesus 424 00:40:18,479 –> 00:40:21,439 leads them down the mountain. 425 00:40:21,439 –> 00:40:25,679 And the reason that Jesus leads them down the mountain is that at the bottom they find 426 00:40:25,679 –> 00:40:32,379 the disciples there are struggling to help a young person, probably a teenager, who is 427 00:40:32,479 –> 00:40:38,860 possessed by a particularly violent evil spirit that is destroying him and is destroying his 428 00:40:38,860 –> 00:40:40,020 family. 429 00:40:40,020 –> 00:40:45,260 And in the trauma of this, Jesus comes, and delivers the boy. 430 00:40:45,260 –> 00:40:46,679 He rebukes the evil spirit. 431 00:40:46,679 –> 00:40:50,040 You can read the story later at the end of Mark chapter 9. 432 00:40:50,040 –> 00:40:52,719 You put these two stories together. 433 00:40:52,719 –> 00:40:54,679 And you see the full picture. 434 00:40:54,679 –> 00:40:59,120 Peter, James and John are rejoicing in the glory of Jesus at the top of the mountain. 435 00:40:59,120 –> 00:41:01,419 And they needed that. 436 00:41:01,459 –> 00:41:05,060 But the same time as they are rejoicing in the glory of Jesus at the bottom of the mountain 437 00:41:05,060 –> 00:41:08,260 there is a world of great need. 438 00:41:08,260 –> 00:41:13,699 A tormented teenager, a broken family, pain everywhere. 439 00:41:13,699 –> 00:41:18,780 And you see, the greatest temptation for us as believers, is to sit around savoring the 440 00:41:18,780 –> 00:41:24,659 joy of experiencing Christ, while the world continues in its torment and in desperate 441 00:41:24,659 –> 00:41:27,100 need of his saving power. 442 00:41:27,100 –> 00:41:31,179 And the disciples follow Jesus, not only because they have seen his glory, but also because 443 00:41:31,300 –> 00:41:33,020 they share in his work. 444 00:41:33,020 –> 00:41:38,899 They have a calling, they have a trust, they have a ministry. 445 00:41:38,899 –> 00:41:50,239 And as you picture Jesus Christ coming down, leaving behind as it were the radiance that 446 00:41:50,239 –> 00:41:58,739 had burst out of him, and now just appearing in his ordinary appearance and coming down 447 00:41:58,780 –> 00:42:03,320 from the mountain, that’s our Jesus. 448 00:42:03,320 –> 00:42:08,639 He won’t stay in heaven remote from a world of desperate need. 449 00:42:08,639 –> 00:42:15,159 He lays aside his glory we celebrated at Christmas in order to come into the world to suffer 450 00:42:15,159 –> 00:42:21,179 and to take up his cross and to die and to give his life in order to redeem a world of 451 00:42:21,179 –> 00:42:26,699 trauma and pain and suffering, and he says this is what I call you to. 452 00:42:26,699 –> 00:42:29,580 He says to us. 453 00:42:29,580 –> 00:42:35,040 Christ did not endure the agonies of Golgotha in order to make us more comfortable in this 454 00:42:35,040 –> 00:42:38,739 world. 455 00:42:38,739 –> 00:42:41,320 We are given a great trust. 456 00:42:41,320 –> 00:42:45,919 And you know, the whole of the Christian life is a kind of ascending and a descending. 457 00:42:46,080 –> 00:42:53,459 We ascend in worship, that by faith we might glimpse again in His presence, His glory, 458 00:42:53,459 –> 00:42:59,179 so that we may descend in service and ministry into the world of great need where He sends 459 00:42:59,179 –> 00:43:05,199 us and where we go in His name. 460 00:43:05,199 –> 00:43:14,399 Jesus calls His people to sacrifice, and He’s absolutely candid about what it means to follow 461 00:43:14,419 –> 00:43:16,300 Him. 462 00:43:16,300 –> 00:43:17,300 What’s the cost? 463 00:43:17,300 –> 00:43:22,899 You have to deny yourself and take up your cross to follow Him. 464 00:43:22,899 –> 00:43:24,399 What’s at stake? 465 00:43:24,399 –> 00:43:29,419 Your life, your soul, and your eternity. 466 00:43:29,419 –> 00:43:32,419 What’s the gain? 467 00:43:32,419 –> 00:43:42,800 Compelled by His glory and called to His service. 468 00:43:42,800 –> 00:43:51,340 Let’s bow in prayer together. 469 00:43:51,340 –> 00:44:06,459 We have seen the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 470 00:44:06,600 –> 00:44:18,540 Lord, however hard, Lord, however costly, compelled by who you are. 471 00:44:18,540 –> 00:44:28,580 We say simply, today we love you, we treasure you, we count to you as of 472 00:44:28,580 –> 00:44:40,020 surpassing worth, Thus, that seeing your glory, we may do whatever you’re calling 473 00:44:40,020 –> 00:44:52,860 us to do as your followers with your work in this place and around the world 474 00:44:52,860 –> 00:44:57,179 and we ask it in Jesus’ name, Amen.