Transcript

It is an honor and a privilege to be with you as we study the word of God. A Bible study should lead to a life change. As we hear and learn from this living book, we should end up being more like the author, Jesus. Walking with Him, learning from Him, and growing more like Him, this is discipleship.

Are you a disciple of Jesus? Has there been a radical change in your life? If your first answer was yes, the second answer can’t be no. Following Jesus is radical; it is a big deal. Today, we look at radical discipleship, and J Mark will discuss three areas where being a disciple of Jesus will make a radical difference. Let’s turn to Mark 9 and learn from Jesus, our Master.

No one wants to be called a radical. It’s a word that makes us uncomfortable. It suggests extremes in viewpoints, habits, beliefs, or lifestyles. Radicals are people you want to stay away from! Most people want to be somewhere in the middle rather than the extremes.

As we learned last time, our core values, or roots, determine our lifestyle choices.  Disciples of Satan, of the kingdom of darkness, live out of their core values: pride, selfishness, sexual perversion, etcetera. As disciples of Jesus, we are called to live out his core values: humility, service, moral purity, and love. That’s radical discipleship. That’s what we find in Mark 9:42-50, “Radical Discipleship.” This is God’s Word to us.

⁴² “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea. 

⁴³ If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched— 

⁴⁴ where ‘Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’

⁴⁵ And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched— 

⁴⁶ where ‘Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’

⁴⁷ And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hellfire — 

⁴⁸ where ‘Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’

⁴⁹ “For everyone will be seasoned with fire, andevery sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. 

⁵⁰ Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another.”

In these verses, Jesus teaches us several essential QUALITIES of radical discipleship that identify us as His genuine followers.

Verse 42 begins with the word but. It carries a warning about offending “one of these little ones.” That connects with verse 37. Jesus said, “Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me.”

The First QUALITY (of radical discipleship) is,

Radical Love

Think carefully about what I just read. By loving these “little children,” we love Jesus; if we love Jesus, we love God. How do we get radical love from this? First, “little children” isn’t confined to actual children. In John’s epistles, he often refers to Believers as “my little children.” It’s a term of endearment and is also used for the spiritually immature.

Jesus told the disciples, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.” Jesus is zealous for our righteousness and the righteousness of His church. Since Jesus lives in every believer, how we treat them is how we treat Christ, and how we treat Christ. When Saul was struck down on the road to Damascus, Jesus didn’t demand, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting the believers?” He said, “Why are you persecuting me?”               

In First Corinthians 8:13, after discussing meat offered to idols, Paul says, “Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.” What a radical idea! Again, Paul wrote, “And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?” Am I willing to risk someone’s eternal loss to indulge my desires? That hits hard! Maybe my choices aren’t so harmless after all.

Radical love focuses not on what I want but on how I can benefit the other person. We will refuse to lead others into sin, intentionally or inadvertently, if we genuinely love them.

Another QUALITY (of radical discipleship) is,

Radical Purity

Here, the focus shifts from causing others to sin to the things that cause me to sin. Jesus’ use of the hand, the foot, and the eye emphasizes that our battle against sin includes all aspects of our lives. What we do, where we go, and what we look at have a tremendous impact on our spiritual health. We too often fail to understand the seriousness of what we call “minor sins.” We don’t comprehend how our sin offends God’s holiness.

In each of these verses, the word, causes, is in the present tense. “If your hand is causing you to sin…” This is an ongoing struggle against temptation and sin.

What is the remedy? It is radical. Jesus said that if our hand, foot, or eye is causing us to sin, we need to amputate them! Some say Jesus was speaking metaphorically. If so, the first command about drowning must also be metaphorical. I’d be very cautious about taking that path. These commands can be applied to amputating things other than body parts, but there is no way to soften them, and we are not free to disregard them. Jesus calls us to take radical action against anything that hinders our pursuit of holiness, righteousness, and purity.

However, cutting off part of your body will not completely solve the problem of temptation. Some misguided ascetics of centuries past foolishly assumed the way to victory was self-mutilation. But they discovered that sin remained in their hearts. Our minds and desires control our hands, feet, and eyes.

Our problem is that we don’t like the radical purity that Jesus demands here. We want to be “middle of the road” Christ-followers. However, Jesus said it is better to enter into life with a damaged body than to suffer eternal punishment. If we refuse the commands, what is the result? Jesus said we will “be cast into hell where the worm does not die and the fire is not extinguished.”

The fire is unquenchable in this place of torment, and the worm doesn’t die. The worm is just what you think: maggots or worms that prey specifically on dead bodies. It’s a revolting picture. The word also carries the ideas of gnawing and anguish. If this is a literal worm, it eats without consuming its prey. Could the torment include the gnawing of the conscious mind that knows this fate could have been avoided?

As bad as these word pictures are, they cannot equal the dread reality of what Jesus describes. The prophet Isaiah wrote these words. “And they shall go forth and look upon the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me. For their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh,” Isaiah 66:24.  

Hopefully, now you understand why radical purity is necessary for the followers of Jesus.

The Final QUALITY (of radical discipleship) is,

Radical Obedience

The meaning of verse 49 is a bit of a mystery. We gain insight by examining the passages in Scripture where salt and fire are mentioned together. Salt and fire are connected with the Old Testament sacrifices. Salt was added to the sacrifices as a symbol of God’s enduring covenant.

Leviticus 2:13 reads, “And every offering of your grain offering you shall season with salt; you shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your grain offering. With all your offerings, you shall offer salt.” The grain offering was a consecration offering. It symbolized total devotion to the Lord, which is most likely why Jesus used it as an illustration in His teaching on radical discipleship. According to the Law, no one is fit to offer himself or any other sacrifice unless it has been appropriately salted. 

Jesus said, “Salt is good.” But what happens if the salt loses its ability to season or preserve? Jesus asked, “If the salt becomes unsalted, who will make it salty again?” Jesus said in Luke 14:35 that tasteless salt is unfit for the soil or the manure pile. In other words, it is worthless.

Then He added, “Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.” This is a call to radical obedience, to a holy life preserved by righteousness. Immediately, Jesus applied what a “salty” life looks like. He said, “Be at peace with one another.” Jesus made this statement because the Twelve were arguing about who would be the greatest.

Unfortunately, too many of us have allowed the impurities of the world to corrupt the purity of our salt. Thus, we lose our ability to preserve the culture around us. As believers, we should bring positive and preserving influences on the world. This underscores the idea that followers of Jesus should be a source of positive change and impact in their societies.

Preservation and positive change can occur when, by the grace of God and the enabling of the Holy Spirit, we practice radical love, radical purity, and radical obedience.

The love Jesus taught about isn’t a nice, warm feeling. No, it is a love that invests in others, sometimes at a high personal cost. It is the kind of love that motivated Jesus to go to the cross to purchase our redemption and to pay the penalty for our sins. That is radical love.

Radical purity calls us to remove from our lives those things that would lead us into temptation and sin. It makes no sense for a Christ-follower struggling with pornography addiction to carry a smartphone or be active on some social media sites. Every Christ-follower must discover their weaknesses and protect themselves. Most failures begin with small compromises. The activities we choose for our family and ourselves, the places we go, and the things we prefer to watch or look at all prove that our purity may not be as radical as we think.

And finally, radical obedience. Does the world know by observing your life that you follow Jesus? Do they see your love for your fellow believers and wish they could experience it, too?  Do you bring positive, transformative, and preserving influences to your community and your sphere of influence? Is your salt still salty?

If you’re feeling uncomfortable or convicted, good, I am, too. Let’s commit to radical discipleship to express our love for Jesus and gratitude for all He’s done for us!

What thought-provoking comments, thank you, J Mark. His review covered many practical areas of life—love, purity, and obedience. Thankfully, Jesus doesn’t demand perfection, as disciples, that is what we are striving for. Don’t quit, too many people fall short and quit trying. No, brothers and sisters, keep fighting. Pick yourself up, repent, and stay in the fight. We may need to take radical steps, and the things Jesus suggested are not easy. You can do it; this is worth fighting for and giving your all.

Love, purity, and obedience. I would love to sit down with you and discuss these. What advice would you give a young person in their fight for purity? How do you keep obedience from being drudgery? Our email address is hope@heraldsofhope.org, and our website is heraldsofhope.org. There you will find “contact us,” under the partner tab on the top right. Click that to message us directly. If you have any thoughts for us, we would love to hear from you.

Another time when Jesus was teaching, he said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” There it is. The core of discipleship. Think about it, take up a cross and follow Him, just grab your electric chair, take a thing that will kill you, and follow Jesus. Wow, Jesus’ disciples are radical.