Cost of Discipleship
The Cost of Discipleship - Luke 14:25-35
Luke 14:25-35 - 25 Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, 26 “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. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?
29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. 34 “Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? 35 It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
I. Introduction
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In 1948, when global analytics and advice firm Gallup began tracking religious identification, the percentage who were Christian was 91%. By the mid 80’s, the number dropped to 85%; then to 77% by 2008 and finally, to 68% in 2020.
If US Population is 331 Million, it means that approximately 225 million people in the US still identify themselves as Christians.
Do we really believe that there is 225 million... lets go down in half, 112 million people... have in them the same Spirit that rose Jesus from the death??
Bob Utley - Modern Western Christians have turned biblical faith into a weekly event, a place where we park our car for a few hours, rather than a full-time, seven-day-a-week relationship in the service of Christ. We only give God what is left over from our plans and from our busy lives. We praise him and adore him with little and insignificant things. That is why we have such large and beautiful churches, with well-thought out programs and organization, but without any spiritual power, no transformed lives, and no self-giving attitudes! May God forgive us for our cultural and secondary beliefs!
1. Too many people today call themselves Christians because they made a superficial declaration of faith in Christ, motivated by false promises of prosperity, comfort, peace, power, influence, etc. They did not get the full message of the Gospel and it’s implications to our lives!
a) Since when is following Christ synonymous with personal fulfillment or comfort?
Brothers and Sisters... Following Christ has a High cost!
ThemessageofthecostoffollowingJesusischallengingandconfrontational... but highly necessary.
2 Timothy 3:10-12 - You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, 11 my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. 12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
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II.
Luke 14:25 - 25 Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, A. Christ'stransparencyregardingfollowinghim
D.
(1) Charles Spurgeon - Oh, calculate, therefore, the cost! And if any of you have assumed a religion that costs you nothing, abandon it and flee from it, as it will be your curse and your ruin.
WAIT.... If we say that following Christ has a high cost, where is the grace in all this?
Jonathan Edwards - “You contribute nothing to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary.”
Romans 3:28 - 28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
Ephesians 2:8-9 - 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not
your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Charles Spurgeon - Far be it from us to create any confusion of thought here. God's gifts of grace cost us nothing and his salvation could not be bought with money, or with merit, or thanks to vows and penances. We are "justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." However, if a man is a Christian, it will cost him everything.
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The Lord was careful not to be followed by anyone under a misunderstanding, but they had to be fully aware of what it entailed to be his disciples.
In Christ’s terms, there are no small letters.
Christ NEVER had to hide the reality of the cost of discipleship to attract people. And everyone who does it today commits a great offense to the Lord. An incomplete gospel is NOT the Gospel of Christ and can only generate false believers.
NOT all who proclaim being followers of Christ are true followers of Christ
1. SomepeoplefollowJesusoutofcuriosity,oroutofconvenience,butjustafew followed him out of the affection they had towards Jesus.
a) We often come across people who say such things as, my friend is not a Christian, but he or she is seeking or searching for God. However the Scriptures tell us that in our fallen condition no one seeks after God.
As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. ~Romans 3:10-11
Thomas Aquinas - People desperately search for the things that only God can give them, while at the same time they are fleeing from Him.
Matthew 7:21 - 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
III. V.26 - 26 “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.
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To Follow Christ is to consider Him above all relationships
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The phrase “he cannot be my disciple” is repeated 3 times in this story (v.26; 27; 33).
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Jesus is First, Last and everything in between.
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Follow Christ = Be Christian = Be Disciple
(1) DiscipleAstudent,pupil,followerorlearner.AdiscipleofJesusisonewho "believes in his doctrines, trusts in his sacrifice, is directed by his Spirit, and imitates his example.”
b)
2. WhatisJesusreferringtobythisverse?IsthisacontradictionoftheScriptures?
a) b)
c)
Luke's language is very strong, and emphasizes the radical demand for discipleship. Jesus does not mean that a disciple has to leave home, family, properties, or work; but rather, that He he must be the top priority.
Hebrew idiom comparison
(1) Rhetorical figure - Hyperbole = A hyperbole is a type of figurative language. Therefore, a hyperbole is not meant to be taken literally. A hyperbole is an overstatement that exaggerates a particular condition for emphasis.
Scriptures interprets Scriptures
(1) Matthew 10:37 - 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
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He is the Alpha & Omega, The beginning and the end. The Creator, The Savior and the Sustainer.
(1) Who’sopinionsaremoreimportanttoyourlife?
(2) Who’s approval are you searching?
(3) Matthew 22:37 - You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
(a) The best way we can love our family, is loving Christ above all things!
Notice that Jesus uses the most meaningful relationships a person can have to point that HE is above all
a) Father and mother - Exodus 20:12; Leviticus 19:3; Deuteronomy 5:16; Ephesians 6:1-3.
b) Wife and children - Efesios 5:25; Efesios 6:4
c) Brothers and sisters - Mark 12:31; Galatians 6:10
d) evenhisownlife-Mark12:31
3. Whatisthemeaninghereofthewordhate?
IV. V.27 - 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
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To Follow Christ is to die to self every day
1. Take up your cross
a) To follow Jesus, is to take up your cross DAILY.
(1) Mat. 10:38; 16:24; Mar. 8:34; Luke 9:23 - 23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
2. AncientviewsonCrucifixion
a) Cicero described crucifixion as “the cruelest and most terrible punishment” (Verr.
2.5.165).
b) Josephus called it “the most pitiable of deaths” (Jewish War 7.203).
c) Ancients also considered crucifixion to be the ultimate shame. In crucifixion, everything was done to humiliate and dishonor the victim in addition to torturing him or her to death.
d) Every person that sentenced to die on a cross, had to carry the bar of the cross and people got together on the streets to see it. A guilty man carrying his cross on his way to his own death.
(1) Jesus is the just that died for the unjust. He did not carry the wages of his sin... He carried the wages of our sins.
3. Therefore,YourcrossisNOT:
a) Your circumstances... as you can rejoice in the Lord in the worst case scenarios.
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(Valley of shadow of death, the furnace, while being stone, etc).
b) People around you... as God uses relationships to keep shaping us...
c) Lack of material prosperity... as Paul said: I can do all things through him who strengthens me. He said this not talking about how much you can bench press, but about contentment.
d) Your cross is NOT everything and every one that attempts against your plans, your comfort and your own purpose.... Your cross is what attempts against HIS plans, His Glory and his purpose for your life... Your Sin!
To take up your cross is a mandate to die to our sin every day... To Die to self!
(1) As disciples of Christ, we can NOT operate with the mentality that God missed a few things (Covid, Politics, Oppression, Division, etc)... we have to operate with the mentality of the Bible that says that God is Sovereign and that all things work together for good, for those who love God.
(2) The conversation of the cross is difficult because it is against your own sin.
V. Jesus uses two parables in verses V.28-32 - 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him,
30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.
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Count the cost: To Follow Christ is Construction and War
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Jesus uses two parables in verses: Construction & War. These 2 parables are a picture of verse 27: Take up your cross...WAR, and come after me... Construction
a) Construction
(1) To Follow Christ is to grow in the Spiritual Disciplines
(a) Joshua 1:8 - 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
(b) 1 Timothy 47-8 - 7 Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; 8 for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
(c) Proverbs 4:23 - 23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.
(2) To Follow Christ is to love like Christ, to forgive like Christ, to give like Christ, is to live like Christ
(a) 1 John 2:6 -6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
b) War
(1) To follow Christ is to be in War against sin
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(a) Romans 8:13 - 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
(b) John 3:30 - 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
(c) Galatians 2:20 - 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Question: Do you have enough to complete the tower? Is 10,000 enough for you to come against the twenty thousand?
(1) OF COURSE NOT... he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.
(a) To follow Christ is to follow Him under his terms, not ours.... Because we don’t have what it takes to save ourselves!
(b) STOP trusting in You!
VI. V.33 - 33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
A. To Follow Christ is to assume the cost of following Him will be total.
1. I know following Christ is costly. But how do I know exactly how much it will cost me? In other words, how do you count the cost?
a) John Piper - you assume the cost could be total. All relationships given up, all possessions given up, all of life giving up.
VII.V.34-35 - 34 “Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? 35 It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
A.
To Follow Christ our way is useless
We are called to be the salt of the earth through the work of Jesus Christ. He is the one that establish the terms to be his followers...there is no other way. We are useless for His Kingdom when we try to follow Christ in our own terms.
Is your life dedicated to the service of God?
Are your plans aligned with His plans?
IsthemainpurposeofyourlifetoGlorifyGod?
VIII.This is a hard saying...
A. John 6:60-68 - 60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” 61 But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? 62 Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) 65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” 66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,
1. EverypersonsthatturnsawayfromJesus,lovesthedarknessmorethanthelight; and believes that what he/she as to give to the Lord is more and better than what the Lord offers in His Son.
IX. Following Christ has a GREAT COST!... It will cost all of Who You Are so you can get all of who HE IS!
Matthew 13:44-46 - 44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
Romans 8:31-39 - 31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 3
C. Examples 1. Paul
a) Philippians 3:4-9 - 4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more:
5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in himb) Philippians 1:21 - 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
D. Charles Spurgeon - Hey, everyone who wants to have Christ, come and receive him! You who would like to have salvation, accept it as the gift of his sovereign grace, but do not receive it under a wrong interpretation; understand what it means. Salvation is not just a release from hell; it is deliverance from sin. If you want to have justification, you have to have sanctification; if you want to have forgiveness, you have to have holiness; If you want to be one with Christ, you have to separate yourself from sinners. If you want to walk in the streets of gold above, you have to walk the path of holiness here below. May God grant you his Holy Spirit to enable you to do so, and His be the praise forever. Amen.