Sermon Tone Analysis

“[Jesus] began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.

And he said this plainly.

And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan!

For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.’

“And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.

For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

For what can a man give in return for his soul?

For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.’”

[1]

“For Christ’s sake!”

The jarring oath is heard far too frequently in this day.

Though it adds nothing to the conversation, the recurrent and thoughtless oath is blurted out for emphasis.

Its use may express exasperation, a sense of awe or simply serve as a tag line for intensity.

Tragically, the words find their way too often into the conversation of believers.

The reason I say “tragically” is that seldom are we speaking of our service to God when the phrase escapes our lips.

Rather than speaking the language of Zion, we are speaking the language of this dying world.

However, I hope with this message today to challenge us to think of what we do and why we do what we do on an ongoing basis.

Are our choices truly for Christ’s sake?

Or are we prone to do what we want, even in the congregation of the righteous?

I am not castigating anyone for coarse language, though the Bible does caution us against such speech.

Christians are taught, “Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving” [EPHESIANS 5:4].

Perhaps more disturbing than the knowledge that crude language is even heard among God’s people is the association of such speech with other unrighteous acts.

The Apostle continues by warning, “You may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

Therefore do not become partners with them” [EPHESIANS 5:5-7].

In that same missive, the Apostle warned against “corrupting talk,” or “foul language.”

He wrote, “No foul language is to come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear” [2] [EPHESIANS 4:29].

These warnings from the Ephesian Letter are similar to the warning that was given to the Church in Colossae.

“Make sure [that ungodliness and immorality are] all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk” [3] [COLOSSIANS 3:8].

However, our speech as Christians is not the focus of the message.

Our walk with the Master is the focus of the message.

*IF WE WILL WALK WITH THE MASTER, WE WILL DENY OURSELVES—FOR CHRIST’S SAKE.* “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself.”

Having just spoken of His Passion, Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke Him.

Imagine that!

The Master had just spoken of His sacrifice, and Peter—impetuous Peter—began to rebuke Him!

However, Jesus turned and noting that the disciples were watching closely sharply rebuked Peter.

“Get behind me, Satan!

For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man” [MARK 8:33].

Do you not find it shocking that Peter would attempt to dress down the Master?

Don’t be too harsh on Peter; such actions may not be as unusual as we imagine.

We do similar things, discounting the commands of Jesus when our desires take precedence over what He teaches.

When we exalt ourselves, we do so at the expense of the revealed will of Jesus.

In these cases, it is as though we were rebuking Him, telling Him that we are much better at controlling our lives than he is at directing how we should live.

Consider a few examples of our callous acts.

Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” [JOHN 13:34, 35].

Shortly after saying this, Jesus commanded His disciples—consequently, including us who are believers in this generation—“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

You are my friends if you do what I command you.

No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

These things I command you, so that you will love one another” [JOHN 15:12-17].

What does Christian love look like?

Love will reveal respect, esteem, consideration, compassion, gentleness, honesty—qualities that are often in short supply among the churches of our Lord.

It will require that we incorporate into our lives the instructions Paul has provided.

“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” [PHILIPPIANS 2:3, 4].

Ask yourself if this is how contemporary congregations conduct themselves.

Can we say that self-promotion and self-aggrandisement are absent among the faithful today?

Do we actually look out for the welfare of others rather than looking out for our own benefit?

Are we careful to consider the interest of others just as we consider our own interests?

If these questions leave us uncomfortable, is it possible that we are tacitly telling Jesus that we know better than He does?

Are our actions an attempt to rebuke to the One whom we call Master?

Other commands of the Master that cause me to wonder if we are trying to rebuke Him include His warnings against storing up treasures on earth.

Jesus said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” [MATTHEW 6:19-21].

Akin to this command is that which warns against anxiety concerning our personal needs.

Remember Jesus words, “I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on” [MATTHEW 6:25].

Our Lord continued by urging His disciples to put God first in all things when He said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” [MATTHEW 6:33].

An obedient disciple will put the welfare of God’s Kingdom first rather than seeking benefit for himself.

To fail to place God’s Kingdom first is tacitly to rebuke the Master.

In far too many instances we are guilty of failure to put His Kingdom first, I fear.

I cite but a couple of other passages that reveal that we Christians may be guilty of acting just as Peter acted.

Jesus warned those who would follow Him not to exalt themselves.

“Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” [MATTHEW 23:12].

When we promote ourselves, we are rebuking the Master.

We are also taught to settle disputes between ourselves and fellow believers quickly.

Jesus taught, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone.

If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.

But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.

If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church.

And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector” [MATTHEW 18:15-17].

Apparently, He didn’t understand that it is better to ask others to join us in praying for the sins of our brothers and sisters, or that it is far better to simply get upset and walk away.

Related to this teaching is the instruction that we are to forgive those who offend us.

This is taught in an exchange between Peter and the Master.

“Peter came up and said to him, ‘Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?

As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times’” [MATTHEW 18:21, 22].

Modern Christians seem to struggle to forgive once, and even that is done grudgingly.

Above all, we are to seek reconciliation, as taught in the Sermon on the Mount.

“If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go.

First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” [MATTHEW 5:23, 24].

Jesus commanded us to be perfect [see MATTHEW 5:46-48] and to cultivate a servant’s heart [see MATTHEW 20:26-28].

He commanded that His house is to be known as a “House of Prayer” [see MATTHEW 21:13] and that those who follow Him are to “watch and pray that [they] may not enter into temptation” [see MATTHEW 26:41].

Jesus’ final command issued to all believers is known as the Great Commission—“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” [MATTHEW 28:19, 20].

For far too many of us, this Great Commission has become the great omission.

Making disciples is hard work; we’re uncomfortable risking our otherwise tenuous relationships by speaking of our Faith.

My point in citing these various commands delivered by the Master is not to castigate the people of God, but to make a point—we have difficulty excluding the “self” from the equation whenever we are seeking to follow the Master.

Nevertheless, if we will walk with the Master, He was quite clear in insisting that we will be required to deny ourselves.

Denying one’s self is far more difficult than we imagine when we are only looking at the matter superficially.