“For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shalllose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it” (Mark8:35).

The Gospel of Mark is theshortest of the 4 Gospels. Many commentators believe that it was the first ofthe Gospel accounts to be written, and that Matthew and Luke relied heavily onit. But that is not to say that the other accounts did not contain originalmaterials. In fact, it is believed that Matthew probably kept some kind of a journaland it was in limited circulation before any of the inspired accounts werepublished.

Nevertheless, Mark appears tobe the most strictly chronological of all the other accounts. Thus, if you wantto do a time-line of the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus, you will probablyfind the account of Mark to be most helpful for clarifying the actual sequenceof events.

In any case, in our text, theLord Jesus was ministering in the towns of Caesarea Philippi. It was during thelast 6 months of His ministry on earth.

For more than 3 years our Lordhad been showing His disciples who He was. But now He is beginning to make surethat His disciples understand clearly who He was and what would happen shortlyafter. He asked His disciples who they thought He was. When He was sure thatthey understood who He was, that He was the Messiah, He began to remind themthat He must suffer many things in the hands of the scribes and chief priests,and then die on the Cross.

Butas soon as He said that, Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. Itappears that Peter had not fully understood the mission of the Lord. The Lordadmonished Him. Then He called together the crowd and His disciples and beganto instruct them on how they should respond to what He was about to do at thecross of Calvary.

He did not tell them to believethat He was dying for their sin. Those for whom He would die would believe. Butthe Christian life is more than believing that Christ died for your sin. Onewhose life remains unaffected by the Cross is simply not a Christian even if heclaims to believe that Christ died for his sins.

Thus the Lord says:

“Whosoever will come after me, let him denyhimself, and take up his cross, and follow me. ³⁵ For whosoever willsave his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake andthe gospel’s, the same shall save it. ³⁶ For what shall it profit aman, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul” (Mk 8:34-36).

In this study, the Lord helpingus, we want to focus on our Lord’s promise: “Whosoever will save his life shall lose it; Whosoever shall lose hislife for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it” (v. 35).

This, you will realise, is avery profound and ironical statement of promise. But let’s consider thisstatement under two heads.

·        First, we must ask ourselves:What does it mean to lose our life when we seek to save it.

·        Secondly, we must askourselves: What it means to save our life while losing it for the sake ofChrist and the Gospel.

1. Losing Life by Saving It

TheLord says: “Whosoever will save his lifeshall lose it.”

Now, it is quite obvious thatin the context, the Lord is referring to life in this world. “What shall itprofit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul” He says(v. 36).

When a worldly man thinks abouthis life, he is not simply thinking about the fact that he is breathing and hisheart is beating. He is thinking rather of his wealth, his status, and hisenjoyment of the things of this world. The wealthier he is, the more he willcongratulate himself on the greatness of his life. This is why the Lord Jesuswarns that “a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which hepossesseth” (Lk 12:15).

But the sad fact is thatactually many people, including professing Christians, seem to think that thisis what life is. Well, they may not say so, but they spend most of their energyand time for the cultivation of their life in this sense of the word.

There is nothing wrong withworking hard, but they work hard for the cultivation of their material wealthat the expense of their spiritual life.

And likewise,the majority of their decisions and directions that they take in life aremotivated by economic considerations, in addition to pleasures and conveniencefor themselves. Their life centres on their own happiness in this world. Andtheir happiness is determined by their wealth, health and pleasure in thisworld.

The Lord is saying that anyonewho tries to preserve and promote his life in this way will lose it. Indeed, hewill lose his life in two senses of the word.

In the first place, he canbring nothing of his wealth and reputation into the grave with him. When hislife on earth ends, it will be the end of all that he accumulated for himself.

Andnot only so, but in the second place, he will lose his life in the sense thathe will continue to remain spiritually dead in sin and trespasses and willsuffer eternal death. His life is a vanity and has no meaning, and it willcontinue for all eternity with much regret, pain and sorrow.

The fact is: all men whose lifeconsists in the abundance of the things he possess are already dead in sinwhether they profess to be believers or not. But they do not realise nor dothey admit that they are dead even as they try to stoke life into their soulby pumping it materially. But the day will come when they can no longer denythe reality and the truth of our Lord’s statement: “Whosoever will save his life shall lose it.”

Beloved brethren and children,take heed. Examine your life and attitude to see how you are living it. If youhave been trying to build your life in the way of the world, cease to do so.There is great danger on the broad way that leads to damnation. “Remember Lot’swife. Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it” (Lk 17:32-33a).

But thank God there is hope. There is hope of…

2. Saving Life by Losing It

Forthe Lord has promised: “Whosoever shalllose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it” (v.35).

What does it mean to lose one’slife for the sake of Christ and the Gospel? Well, to save one’s life for thesake of oneself is to cultivate material wealth and comfort for one’s ownpleasure. Therefore, to lose one’s life in the context must be to do theopposite.

The Lord Jesus Christ gave usthe ultimate example. He laid His life down for us. He became poor so that wemight be rich. He suffered intensely so that we might be freed of pain. He wasforsaken so that we might know God’s reconciliation. He was inundated withsorrow so that we might be filled with joy.

The Lord Jesus is teaching usto imitate His example. He is not calling us to be martyrs, though we should beready to be martyred for His sake and the sake of the Gospel if need be. He iscalling us, rather, to lay down our lives for His sake and the sake of theGospel.

Theapostle John understood this call when he says in 1^st John 3:16—

Herebyperceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we oughtto lay down our lives for the brethren.

This is the Christian life andwalk. The Christian life is not merely about attending church and giving thanksat meals. The Christian walk is not merely about having daily devotions.

Rather, it is a life that constantlyoverflows from a heart of faith, love and gratitude towards the Lord JesusChrist. It is based on what the Lord has done for us in His suffering and deathfor us at the Cross. It manifests itself in our taking up our cross, and livingfor the sake of Christ and the gospel.

It is about magnifying Christand furthering the Gospel in our lives. This means, in the first place, givingpriority in our thoughts, words and deeds to the glory of Christ, thefurtherance of His kingdom and the good of those for whom He laid his life downfor. This means, in the second place, considering others as more important thanourselves in our decisions, proclamations and actions. 

These things must becomeautomatic in the life of the true believer. This is what the Lord is teachingin the parable of the sheep and goats, for the sheep did not even realise thatthey have served the Lord when they visited the poor, helped the sick, relievedthe thirsty, etc.

But sanctification is aprocess. Therefore, the Lord is actually encouraging us to practice that kindof life of giving. And practice we must according to the numerous opportunitiesthat life presents us.

They present themselves in bigdecisions that we have to make: jobs, education, relationship, church, marriageetc. But they also present themselves in our day to day struggles. What do youwhen a child irritates you by childishly repeating something over and overagain? For the sake of peace you can tell the child to stop. But there is aChristian way and there is an anti-Christian way.

The anti-Christian way is adisplay of anger and selfishness: Shut up! You are irritating me! You aredisturbing my peace! If you don’t keep quiet I will kick you!

This is the way of I-dolatry: Iam god, do my bidding. My pleasure is most important. Don’t you dare to spoilmy peace and pleasure!

Almost every time we yell atsomeone, we are allowing the flesh to rule us and practising I-dolatry.

Beloved brothers and sistersand children, when the Lord teaches us to lose our life, He is teaching us toimitate His love and meekness. We must consciously seek to be a witness forChrist and His Gospel not only by our decisions and use of our time, but by ourbehaviour.

Unless we are Christian in theway we conduct ourselves towards others, we will bring disrepute to Christ andtarnish the Gospel. Our children and unbelieving friends will not come tobelieve and love the Lord until they see the love and meekness of Christ in us.

Unless we lose our life, Christwill not increase in our life. And we will also lose our life.

Butif we lose our life by way of ceasing to worship ourselves, we will gain ourlife. This is our Lord’s promise. “Whosoevershall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it”(v. 35). What does Christ mean by saving our life? No doubt, He is referring toeternal life or a life of knowing and enjoying God, a life of blessing and lovethat will extend to all eternity. This is eternal life. The Lord Jesus makes itclear that He is referring to eternal life in our text, for He says in John12:25—“ He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life inthis world shall keep it unto life eternal.”

No, no; the Lord is notteaching us salvation by works nor by stoicism. He is teaching us, rather, thatthe true Christian will find it in his heart to imitate Him. And moreover, Heis teaching us that they will find true blessedness in losing their life. It ismore blessed to give than to receive. This is the Christian paradox. This isalso the promise in our text.

Conclusion

Beloved brethren and children,“whosoever shall lose his life for mysake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.” Some of us find our livesrather draggy and meaningless. We are at a loss what to do with our life. Wefeel guilty and empty at the same time. We have lost confidence and at the sametime we are too proud to talk about it. What is the solution? It is right herein our text: “whosoever shall lose hislife for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.”

The question is: Have you beenlosing your life. Have you been seeking first the kingdom of God and Hisrighteousness? Have you been seeking to imitate Christ in your relationships?Have you been seeking to lay down your life for Christ and for your brothersand sisters in Christ?

If you have, then blessed areyou. You are enjoying eternal life, even a life abundant and free.

But if you have not, may Iinvite you to seek the Lord’s grace to begin this day to lose your life byfaith that you may gain it by grace. Amen. Ω