Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm19961009.htm

MARK: GOSPEL OF THE SERVICE OF CHRIST, GOD'S SERVANT
Part XXXII: Learning To Accept The Way Of The Cross To Build God's Kingdom
(Mark 8:29-9:8)
  1. Introduction
    1. The believer has been called to gain recruits for Christ's Kingdom, Mtt. 28:19-20. In keeping with this calling, many today are investing time and talent in human methods, policies, programs and machinery.
    2. However, strange as it may seem, God's Kingdom does not sprout by way of these, but by another route.
    3. That route is taught in Mark 8:29-9:8, and it is important to follow in view of our Church's 150th anniversary celebration coming up, for we want to follow it to insure the future health of Nepaug.
  2. Learning To Accept The Way Of The Cross To Build God's Kingdom, Mark 8:29-9:8.
    1. When Jesus was transfigured with Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter was so awed that he recommended constructing three tabernacles for these transfigured people, Mark 9:2-6. This view of Peter's that one must broadcast displays of power and grandeur to promote God's Kingdom fits the route many churches take.
    2. However, in response to Peter's statement, God the Father shrouded the three translated figures with a cloud, and made a statement correcting this errant view of Peter's:
      1. God covered the radiant glory of Jesus and the translated Moses and Elijah so that the disciples could no longer focus on the glorious display that had impressed them, Mk. 9:7a.
      2. Then God the Father spoke, giving glory only to Jesus, and not Moses and Elijah who had lived as mortal sinners on earth, Mk. 9:7b.
      3. Additionally, the Father told the disciples to hearken to Jesus' words, Mark 9:7b. This statement corrects the notion that God's Kingdom is built by human methods, policies, programs and machinery:
        1. The words Jesus had spoken just before the transfigurations were His prediction that some would see the Kingdom's glory in the near future, Mark 9:1.
        2. These words were given in conjunction to His claim that all who would follow Him into His Kingdom of necessity had to go the way of suffering for righteousness' sake, Mk. 8:34-38.
        3. This prediction followed Jesus' announcement that He Himself would be crucified and raised from the dead en route to the Messianic throne, Mk. 8:29-31.
        4. However, Peter had resisted accepting the idea of a cross before the Messianic crown, and had rebuked Jesus privately for announcing such an unsavory route to the Kingdom, Mk. 8:32.
        5. Nevertheless, Jesus countered Peter's claim, saying that shying away from the cross en route to the throne was of Satan, and was to be resisted, Mk. 8:33!
        6. Thus, when the Father commanded the disciples to hear Christ, it was mainly in conjunction to their accepting the news that before the Kingdom, there is a cross not only for Jesus, but for them as well, cf. Mk. 8:34-38 with 9:7. (cf. G. Campbell Morgan, The Gospel According To Mark, p. 191)
Lesson: As Paul taught in 2 Timothy 2:12, "if we suffer, we shall reign with Him." God's Kingdom advances by Christ's disciples taking up their crosses and saying "no" to their lusts of the flesh, to their lusts of the eyes and their pride of this life. As G. Campbell Morgan put it, "We are seeking to establish the Kingdom by the methods of men, by their policies, and their programmes, and their machinery. The Kingdom of God can never be so established. The Kingdom of God only comes in power by t he way of the Cross."

Application: (1) If Nepaug Church seeks to advance the Kingdom of God to proceed as a viable spiritual force beyond its first 150 years of existence, it must "die" to its own interests and visions and accept a spiritual cross of suffering or persec ution--Mark 8:34-38 teaches it. What programs we produce, what changes we make in the building, etc. must necessarily submit to the way of the Cross. (2) If we as individuals seek to advance for the sake of Christ, we must go through a daily process of dy ing to ourselves, a process Paul described as "dying daily" in 1 Cor. 15:31b.