Making Disciples – part 3

Jul 12, 2026 • Rory Mosley

054 Making Disciples – part 3

Mark 9:30-50 (43-48)

July 12, 2026

We started studying this passage last week.

It is a segment in which Jesus sits down with His disciples

And addresses attitudes and mindsets

That the disciples need to have corrected.

JESUS IS MAKING DISCIPLES.

Often when people think of making disciples

It is associated only with evangelism.

That is certainly part of it.

But we do not forget that Jesus also said that

We are to “teach them to obey all that He has commanded us”.

We aren’t just making converts, we are making disciples.

Our calling is to make people who will

“Deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Jesus”.

And so you understand why Jesus must engage this process with the 12.

He told them plainly when they were in Caesarea Philippi.

Mark 8:34-35 “And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.”

That was the clear requirement for being a disciple of Christ.

But the disciples have yet to fully embrace that requirement.

· When Jesus first mentioned His own death Peter rebuked Him.

· When Jesus told Peter, James, and John a second time they ignored it.

· And here in the text we have been examining we find that they still aren’t

interested.

They know who Jesus is.

But they are not yet the disciples they must become.

SO JESUS IS WORKING ON THEM.

He is addressing some CHARACTER ISSUES

That HINDER them from being faithful disciples.

We are thankful for this study,

Not only does it give us an example of how to make disciples,

But we often see ourselves in the flaws of the disciples.

· The things they struggled with we often struggle with.

· The things Jesus will correct in them are things we need corrected.

If we are to be faithful to the call of Christ in our lives

Then this same discipleship work must take place in our lives.

And once these truths have taken root in our lives,

Then like these disciples,

We must also go out and apply these truths to others.

We are being discipled to go and make disciples.

THIS IS SO IMPORTANT,

· I want to recap a little this morning.

· It is good for us sometimes to look at the same things more than once.

5 attitudes Jesus is correcting

#1 STUBBORNNESS

Mark 9:30-32

Jesus is returning south from Caesarea Philippi.

· He is headed back to Capernaum.

· He is going privately because the public ministry in that area is over.

Judgment has already been pronounced on Capernaum, Chorazin, and Bethsaida.

· They heard the truth

· They saw the power

· They rejected Christ

NOW HE IS FOCUSING ON THE 12.

And on the way home He reminds them again of the truth

They have thus far failed to embrace.

(31) “The Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise three days later.”

Jesus again reminds of the sovereign plan of God for the death and resurrection of Christ.

· It has been determined.

· This is happening.

But that is when we again recognized the stubbornness of the disciples.

(32) “But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him.”

· It DOESN’T MEAN they don’t know what death and resurrection is.

· It MEANS they don’t know why Jesus insists on talking about it.

This is not a subject they want to discuss or embrace.

And they don’t want to ask Him about it either.

They want Him to leave this topic behind.

The disciples had failed to grasp

That the call of Christianity is a sacrificial call.

· We are called to lose our lives.

· We are called to be living sacrifices.

· We are called to lay down our lives for our brethren.

You cannot be a disciple of Jesus without embracing this reality

Luke 14:26-27 “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”

BUT THE DISCIPLES HAD NOT EMBRACED IT.

· So Jesus brought it up again.

· And indeed He will again and again until they finally do embrace it.

I WOULD JUST REMIND YOU AGAIN THIS MORNING THAT

The Christian calling is a calling to sacrifice

If we are not willing to embrace that

Then we cannot call ourselves disciples of Jesus.

Jesus left glory

Jesus embraced suffering

Jesus called His followers to self-denial and cross-bearing.

Matthew 10:24-25 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. “It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household!”

THAT IS THE CALLING TO DISCIPLESHIP.

Jesus laid down His life – we do the same.

Stubbornly refusing to recognize that is not being a disciple of Jesus.

Jesus confronted the stubbornness of the disciples.

#2 ARROGANCE

Mark 9:33-37

On the way, while Jesus was discussing His death and resurrection,

The disciples were in an argument regarding who was greatest.

Jesus needed to address that too.

· Their expectation for following Jesus was now becoming clear.

· They wanted Jesus to reign and they wanted to be in His cabinet.

· The only thing they couldn’t figure out was their personal rank.

But they had it all wrong!

It’s not wrong to seek a great position, but the reason you seek it matters.

We don’t seek positions of greatness so that people will serve us.

We seek positions of greatness so that we might serve people.

Jesus said:

“If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”

And then He illustrated it.

He grabbed the smallest person in the room, and embraced them.

Jesus picked up that child and hugged them and pointed out

1) These are the types of people we serve

2) And this is the way we serve them.

· No one is too small…

· No one is too poor…

· No one is too old…

· No one is tool insignificant…

We serve them all, and we serve them in a real and genuine way.

Jesus embraced this child.

Jesus loved this child.

And then He said:

(37) “Whoever receives one child like this in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me does not receive Me, but Him who sent Me.”

He linked it to salvation as if to say,

“If you can’t love and serve the least then you can’t love and serve Me.”

THIS IS THE CALLING

The Christian calling is to a life of sacrifice and service.

· We die to self that we might love and serve others.

· If we aren’t willing to do that then we cannot be a disciple.

Get the stubborn commitment to comfort out of your head.

Get the arrogant desire to be first out of your head.

Jesus addressed their stubbornness and arrogance.

#3 SNOBBERY

Mark 9:38-42

When Jesus pointed out that they were to embrace the little and insignificant person “in His name” John was instantly convicted.

John remembered back when they saw a man “casting out demons in Jesus name” and they tried to stop him, because he wasn’t one of them.

JESUS CORRECTED JOHN’S SNOBBERY.

And there are reasons John was in the wrong.

1) Anyone who does anything in Jesus’ name will not immediately become and enemy of Jesus.

(40) “For he who is not against us is for us.”

In this world there are plenty of enemies of Christ

Without you making new ones.

2) God rewards men for their service, even insignificant service done in His name.

(41) “For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as followers of Christ, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.”

John was opposing a man God intended to reward.

It revealed John’s jealousy and desire for glory.

· But the Christian is not seeking his own glory.

· He is seeking the glory of Christ.

Consider Paul in prison:

Philippians 1:15-18 “Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some also from good will; the latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel; the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice,”

It is the glory of Christ, not our own glory.

Don’t reject one whom Christ is using.

3) In his snobbery John ran the risk of causing that man to stumble, or fall away from Jesus altogether.

What if John’s uppity mentality

Had caused that man to no longer believe in or serve Jesus?

That would not only be horrific,

It would be absolutely counter to the work we are called to do.

We are called to make disciples not decommission them.

And Jesus gave a scathing warning there.

(42) “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea.”

· There is certainly a reference there to the little child in His lap,

· But that is also a reference to the insignificant man who was casting out demons in Jesus’ name.

1. John had better learn to love all the brethren.

2. John had better learn to recognize every act of service done in Jesus’ name.

3. John had better figure out that His approval is not the criteria by which others are measured.

4. John had better focus on making disciples not stopping them.

Romans 14:5-13 “One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God. For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall give praise to God.” So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this—not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way.”

It’s the same point, and the disciples had not yet understood it.

THEY NEEDED TO BE CORRECTED.

· They needed their stubbornness confronted.

· They needed their arrogance corrected.

· They needed their snobbery rebuked.

THAT’S WHAT WE’VE COVERED SO FAR

But now let’s move on to the 4th attitude Jesus addresses.

#4 AMBITION

Mark 9:43-49

I nearly called this one worldliness, which may be more accurate.

· But I think we tend to easily dismiss the warning for worldliness,

SO I WANT TO CALL IT AMBITION

To see if we can’t be a little more direct in confronting the issue.

We are talking about the ambition to obtain and enjoy

The comforts, luxuries, and benefits of the world.

The ambition of the disciples is not hard to spot.

· The very fact that they were arguing over who was the greatest makes that obvious.

But it will become even more apparent later.

Mark 10:35-37 “James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, came up to Jesus, saying, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.” And He said to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?” They said to Him, “Grant that we may sit, one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your glory.”

THAT’S PRETTY AMBITIOUS.

· They want the power.

· They want the glory.

· They want the authority.

WHAT WE FIND HERE ARE MEN ON A MISSION,

But it is NOT a mission of sacrifice or service,

It is a mission of ambition and glory.

Now, I want you to recognize the subtle shift in the conversation.

In verse 42, (in response to John’s snobbery),

Jesus warned the disciples against making others stumble.

But in the twitch of an eye Jesus changes direction

He no longer talks about making someone else stumble,

He starts talking about the danger of causing yourself to stumble.

· (43) “If your hand causes you to stumble…”

· (45) “If your foot causes you to stumble…”

· (47) “If your eye causes you to stumble…”

He’s not talking about you making others stumble here,

He’s talking about YOUR STUMBLING.

First of all, WHAT IS STUMBLING?

We saw the word Sunday night, but I’ll give it to you again.

(scan-da-LEED-zo)

It means “to entice to sin” or “to cause to fall away”

Let me give you some other places we see it.

Mark 6:3 “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?” And they took offense at Him.”

Remember when Jesus went to His hometown,

They wouldn’t believe in Him because they were too familiar with Him.

· They “took offense” (scan-da-LEED-zo)

· They refrained from believing in or following Jesus.

This sort of thing will happen again in the end times.

Matthew 24:9-10 “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. “At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.”

· The persecution that will occur in the end will cause many people who claimed to be followers to stop following Jesus.

In fact, THAT VERY THING happened temporarily even in the disciples:

Matthew 26:31 “Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, ‘I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered.’”

WHAT JESUS IS TALKING ABOUT HERE

Are things that can cause a person to abandon Christ.

Now look, I know that we believe in security of the believer.

It is a doctrine that is clear in Scripture.

Christ keeps those who are His.

Jude 24 “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy,”

· We know that no one can snatch us out of Christ’s hands.

· We know that we are sealed by the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption.

· We know that Christ intercedes for us.

Even the Old Testament prophet told us:

Isaiah 40:31 “Yet those who wait for the Lord Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.”

We are well-aware of the glorious promises of security and assurance.

And certainly we believe that those who are saved are absolutely secure in their salvation.

But do not let such a doctrine cause you

To just flippantly overlook what Scripture also teaches.

Scripture also warns of the danger of stumbling or falling away.

Hebrews 12:3-6 “For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, Nor faint when you are reproved by Him; For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.”

Isaiah said those who wait won’t faint.

But there we receive a command not to faint.

THAT IS TO SAY, Even though there is a promise that true believers will not faint, we still concern ourselves with not fainting.

We are secure in Christ,

But that does not mean we give no attention to endurance.

Listen to another statement from the writer of Hebrews.

Hebrews 3:12 “Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.”

Hebrews 10:36 “For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.”

Even Jesus said:

Matthew 10:22 “You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.”

MY POINT IS THIS.

· While we do believe that Christ seals those who are His.

· While we do believe that the true believer is secure in Christ.

· WE ALSO BELIEVE that a true believer will persevere to the end.

AND IF THEY DON’T PERSEVERE,

It does not mean that Christ lost one of His own,

It indicates that they were not a true believer.

BUT YOU MUST PERSEVERE!

1 John 2:19 “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.”

That means that I should very much be focused on not stumbling.

It should absolutely be the focus of my life

· To not be led into some sin that pulls me away from Christ.

· To not fall into some mindset that causes me to walk away from Christ.

I get there is a tension there, I do.

(And I get that you really want to just jump into the security side without worrying about endurance)

But while there are certainly passages

Where Jesus greatly encourages our assurance,

This passage is one where Jesus demands our endurance.

And we would not be accurate to the text if we overlooked the warning.

THE WARNING HERE:

Is that those who claim to follow Jesus

Might stumble into sin and even out of the faith.

And Jesus is warning them about the things that can cause that.

So let’s look at this text and answer the question:

WHAT KIND OF THINGS RUN THE RISK OF MAKING ME STUMBLE?

Well according to Jesus it is:

· Things the hand grabs.

· Things the feet pursue.

· Things the eye desires.

That list is actually given by Jesus in reverse chronological order.

· In our lives it typically starts with something the eyes see and our desire for it begins. We see it and we want it.

· The next step is that we pursue it with our feet. We go to the place where the thing we want can be found.

· And then when we arrive and the thing is before our eyes, we reach out and grab it with our hands and we have the thing we desired.

And Jesus looks at that process and screams – “WATCH OUT!”

AMBITION IS THE ENEMY OF DISCIPLESHIP.

Craving the things of the world pulls your heart away from Christ.

1 Timothy 6:6-10 “But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

Do you see the threat?

When you want to get rich you fall into temptation.

· And ultimately a snare.

· And then ruin and destruction

Go read the story of Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, who ruined his life for a couple changes of clothes and a couple talents of silver.

Or go read the story of the Rich Young Ruler and see how his refusal to give up the things of the world led to the destruction of his soul.

Jesus saying, “It is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven”

Or go read Acts 8 when Peter is offered money by Simon the Magician and listen to what Peter tells him:

Acts 8:20-23 “But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! “You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. “Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. “For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.”

Or listen to Paul lament the fall of Demas:

2 Timothy 4:10 “for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica…”

Or listen to James

James 4:1-4 “What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

DO YOU HEAR THEM?

The closer you draw to the things of the world

The further away you draw from God.

1 John 2:15-17 “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”

· You can’t love God and money.

· You can’t seek God and the world.

· Scripture is clear on this.

JESUS SAID IT.

Mark 8:35 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.”

And that is what the disciples are not figuring out.

· They are trying to use Jesus to obtain the world.

· They are trying to use Jesus to obtain comfort and glory and honor.

But Jesus warns that their love of worldly comfort and glory

WILL BE THEIR DOWNFALL.

SO HE TELLS THEM

· Before you reach out and grab the things of the world you should cut off your hand!

· Better yet, before you even pursue the thing that you would grab you should keep yourself from going by cutting off your foot!

· Or even better yet, before you even desire the thing you might pursue and grab you should pluck out your eye!

WHY?

(43-48) “If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. “If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. “If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.”

WHY? BECAUSE YOU DON’T WANT TO GO TO HELL!

Loving and pursuing and grabbing the things of this world

Will cause you to end up in hell.

Jesus has called us to lose our lives and follow Him TO GAIN LIFE.

But that coveting eye that is filled with greed and discontentment,

It goes after the world and ends up in hell.

That is why Paul told Timothy, after warning him about the dangers of loving money:

1 Timothy 6:11 “But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.”

· That’s the equivalent of “cut off your hand”.

The disciples have a massive problem in their lives.

They are ambitious and ambitious for the things of the world.

· They want the comfort.

· They want the glory.

· They want the honor.

· They want the high standing.

They want all the things the Pharisees want,

They’re just using Jesus to try and get them.

And Jesus is confronting it!

“If you guys don’t stop pursuing the things of the world

You’re going to end up in hell.”

And so let’s just ponder that for a moment.

What is “Hell”?

The Greek word is (GE-en-a)

· It’s a transliteration from the word Hinnom in the Hebrew.

Just outside of Jerusalem there is a valley.

· It is known as “The valley of Ben-Hinnom”. It has a horrible history.

Jeremiah 7:30-34 “For the sons of Judah have done that which is evil in My sight,” declares the Lord, “they have set their detestable things in the house which is called by My name, to defile it. “They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, and it did not come into My mind. “Therefore, behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when it will no longer be called Topheth, or the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of the Slaughter; for they will bury in Topheth because there is no other place. “The dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the sky and for the beasts of the earth; and no one will frighten them away. “Then I will make to cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; for the land will become a ruin.”

· It was a valley where people burned their children in the fire to Molech.

· God was so disgusted that He announced that it would be a place to slaughter and burn His enemies.

A few years later a young King came and defiled that place.

2 Kings 23:10 “He also defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire for Molech.”

That place then became the city dump.

By the time of Jesus that’s what it was.

It was filled with trash and rotting food and maggots

And there was a constant fire burning off the refuse.

That was the place Jesus used to illustrate hell.

A place of maggots and smoke.

But make no mistake, hell is real, and it is filled with fire.

Every other reference we have to it reminds us of that.

When the book of Revelation

· Warns against taking loving the world or comfort

· And thus being motivated to take the mark of the beast,

· God warns what will happen to those who do:

Revelation 14:9-12 “Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. “And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.”

Revelation 20:11-15 “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

Do you remember the rich man and Lazarus?

Luke 16:24 “And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’”

Jesus used the local city dump as an analogy,

But the real hell is real fire and torment forever.

· Jesus said “the fire is not quenched”

· Jesus said “the worm does not die”

Incidentally Jesus was quoting from Isaiah 66 when Isaiah spoke of the end:

Isaiah 66:22-24 “For just as the new heavens and the new earth Which I make will endure before Me,” declares the Lord, “So your offspring and your name will endure. “And it shall be from new moon to new moon And from sabbath to sabbath, All mankind will come to bow down before Me,” says the Lord. “Then they will go forth and look On the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me. For their worm will not die And their fire will not be quenched; And they will be an abhorrence to all mankind.”

DO YOU GET THE POINT?

YOU DO NOT WANT TO GO TO HELL

Now, I know at this point we would typically make an application

For people who have yet to believe in Jesus.

And certainly that is an applicable sermon.

· If you have not believed in Jesus, what is your plan for escaping this place of

God’s wrath and judgment?

Only Jesus can satisfy God’s wrath.

If you reject Him you will pay that penalty yourself.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

Certainly a non-believer in here this morning should run to Jesus and believe in Him that He might escape the horrific sentence of hell.

BUT YOU MUST SEE THAT