1. On the front page of a newspaper, there was a picture of a man with his head hung low. He looked sad – worse than sad, he looked very distraught. He looked like his whole world had caved in.
2. Perhaps he had lost his wife and children. Maybe his mom and dad died in a horrible car wreck.
3. No, the reason for this man’s depression was that he lost the most important thing in the world to him. He lost the closest thing to his heart. He lost his money. He was a Wall Street trader and the stock market took a dive.
4. Then the next day, the newspaper had on the front page a group of smiling faces – the market bounced back up! It is obvious that for most people, money is their god.
5. In 1923 a group of the world’s most successful businessmen met at a hotel in Chicago. These were the men:

• Charles Schwab – the president of Bethlehem Steel. He was a billionaire, but wasted his fortune and died penniless.
• Richard Whitney – the president of the NY Stock Exchange. He wound up doing time in Sing Sing.
• Albert Fall – a member of President Harding’s cabinet. He was convicted of bribery in 1929 and went to prison. He was eventually given a pardon so he could die at home.
• Jesse Livermore – "the greatest bear on Wall Street." He committed suicide.
• Leon Fraser – the president of the Bank of International Settlement – he too committed suicide.
• Ivar Kruegar – the head of the world’s greatest monopoly – he also committed suicide. I think this is fairly representative of men the world considers successful.

6. I have entitled today’s message, "What Really Matters in Life."
7. To find real purpose in life, to find true happiness, our Lord gave us instructions (Mark 8:34).

1. Our Lord made it very plain. But how little of this do we hear these days? We are to deny every selfish impulse. We are to forsake personal comforts, social enjoyments, earthly ties, worldly ambitions, material riches – yea, even life itself (8:34-36).
2. Judson Van de Venter was born on a farm in Michigan. After graduating from college, he became an art teacher and later a supervisor of art in the public schools of Sharon, Pennsylvania. But God called him to preach the Gospel. After entering full-time Christian service as an evangelist, he wrote these words:

All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him, in His presence daily live.
I surrender all, I surrender all.
All to Thee, my blessed Saviour, I surrender all.
All to Jesus I surrender, humbly at His feet I bow;
Worldly pleasures all forsaken, Take me Jesus, take me now.

3. Can you sing that from the bottom of your heart?
4. There are three keys to this passage. Please note them: self-denial, surrender, and sacrifice.
5. While multitudes are perishing – millions right here in our own NYC area, plus the billions in India, China, Africa, Latin America – how can Christians be so cold? Jesus says, "Let him deny himself" (8:34).

2. WE HAVE TO TAKE UP OUR CROSS (8:34).

1. The great British preacher, W. Graham Scroggie, said: "This is a truth which the world cannot understand, and which it is to be feared, the church does not practice."
2. God does not just want a couple of hours on Sunday – God wants total submission.
3. To take up the cross means the willingness to endure shame and suffering for our Lord’s sake (8:38).
4. This might even involve being imprisoned or martyred for the cause of Christ. And yet the average Christian here in America is too lazy to get off his couch on Sunday evening and go to church.
5. It is a fact that the typical American church today is teaching the very opposite of what our Lord said here in Mark 8. They are promoting a worldly self-esteem gospel with no mention of the cross or self-denial. There is no mention of sin or hell or judgment.
6. People are actually surprised when they discover that I preach about hell!
7. Our Lord says, "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it…" (8:35). This refers to man’s natural desire to save himself from discomfort, pain, loneliness, or loss. But can a man really "save his life?"
8. Months ago, Swissair Flight 111 crashed into the ocean, killing all 229 passengers and crew. Were they able to save their lives?
9. I wonder if any of those people were saved. Where are they now? Did their money do them any good when they had to stand before God? (cf. 8:36,37).
10. Some we are told had important jobs. Did that do them any good when they left this world?
11. Our Lord said, "But whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it" (8:35). Those who pamper themselves, those who live only for themselves, those who live only for this world – they will never find true contentment.
12. That is why so many of the rich and famous run back and forth to psychiatrists, and fortune tellers and psychics. That is why so many of them destroy themselves with drugs and alcohol.
13. That is why they are not happily married. Do you think Donald Trump is happy? Talk to his first wife, or his second wife, or to some of his mistresses. How can a couple expect to have a happy marriage when their lawyers have to put together a "pre-nuptial contract" beforehand?

3. WE HAVE TO FOLLOW CHRIST (8:34).

1. Most people do not follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Some might object and say, "But Pastor, there are millions of people in church this morning." Yes. But who are they following? Their church? The pope? Their friends?
2. Maybe the husband is following his wife but not the Lord. Maybe the children are following the parents. But once they grow to maturity, they stop going to church.
3. We had better get this thing settled. Our Lord has laid down three requirements for true discipleship? And you cannot be a Christian if you are not a disciple. That is like being an accountant who cannot add, or a soldier who cannot fight. Or a carpenter who cannot tell a screw driver from a hammer!
4. We are to follow the Lord wherever He leads. Are you willing to do this? What if He calls you to the mission field?
5. What if He leads you in a direction you do not wish to go? Many people hold back because deep down they are afraid God will ask them to do something they do not want to do.
6. This might seem hard to understand for some people. Are you sure you are saved? (cf. 8:31; 9:31,32). Do you understand the Gospel?

1. I referred earlier to the jet that crashed in the ocean months ago. In the paper there was an interview with Jake LaMotta, who was a famous boxer 50 years ago.
2. His son died in the crash and back in February his other died of cancer.
3. In the interview, LaMotta said these words: "What is God trying to tell me?"
4. The answer is found in the Bible: "Prepare to meet thy God" (Amos 4:12).
5. Voltaire, the French infidel, cried out on his deathbed: "I am abandoned by God and man…I am going to hell!"
6. Mirabeau, the famous French politician: "Give me more opium, that I may not think about eternity."
7. Edward Gibbon, who wrote The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: "All is dark and doubtful!"
8. T.H. Huxley devoted his life to fighting God and promoting the theory of evolution: "So it is true!"
9. Queen Elizabeth: "I’ll give millions of money for an inch of time!"
10. Compare her with Queen Victoria, who on her deathbed asked everyone to sing "Rock of Ages."
11. Charles Dickens: "I commit my soul to the mercy of God, through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."
12. D.L. Moody: "This is glorious! Earth is receding, Heaven is opening, and God is calling me!"