The Cost of Following Christ, Part 2a

Tonight, if you have your Bible, I would invite you to turn back with me to Luke Chapter 14 as we continue our study on the parables, specifically the parable of counting the cost. It was A.W. Tozer who a number of years ago wrote a book, all dealing with the issues out of First Peter.

And in that book entitled, I call it heresy, recorded these words about the message being presented in his day about the gospel. He said years ago, no one would ever dare to raise or to rise in the media and say, I am a Christian if he had not surrendered his whole being to God and had taken Jesus Christ as His Lord as well as the Savior and had brought himself under obedience to the will of the Lord. It was only then that he could say, I am saved. Today, we let them say they are saved no matter how imperfect and incomplete the transaction, with the idea that the Christian life can be tacked on at some time in the future.

Can it be that we really think that we do not owe Jesus Christ our obedience? We have owed him our obedience ever since the second we cried out to him for salvation.

And if we do not give him that obedience, I have reason to wonder if we really are converted. I see things and I hear of things that Christian people are doing and as I watch them operate within the profession of Christianity, I do raise the question of whether they truly converted. Brethren, I believe it is the result of faulty teaching to begin with. They thought of the Lord as a hospital and Jesus as the chief of staff to fix up poor sinners that had gotten into trouble. Fix me up, Lord, they have insisted so that I can go on my way.

That, my friend, is bad teaching. That's true. That is bad teaching. And there's a lot of bad teaching going on today about Jesus Christ and what it means to be saved. We live in a self-central. We live in a self-central. society, a self-indulgent society, where everything basically is centered around us. The consumer is, or the consumer mentality is, you know, what's in it for me and how can I best progress in my own personal life if I buy this or if I do this. And so we realize that our society is becoming more and more self-indulgent.

Well, in order for the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to be effective, in that kind of society, I'm afraid that many people have deluded the truth of God's word in order to help the self-indulgence of people's lives to continue. And so when someone comes along and begins to preach about the cross of Christ and what it means to follow him, people think that those preachers are preaching heresy. But in reality, they're preaching the truth of God's Holy Word. So many times we forget that there was something that consumed our Lord's life.

There was something that consumed the language of our Lord, and there was something that would consume the love of our Lord. And that was the cross that he would hang upon. That was the hour in which he came. That's why he came to earth. And he is looking for people who are willing to commit their lives to him, not half-heartedly, not sporadically, but totally. That's why the Lord God said in Jeremiah 29, verse number 13, you will seek me, and you will seek me, and you will. You will find me when you seek me with all of your heart.

There's a great emphasis in the Bible about all of your heart. The Lord said this, here or Israel, the Lord our God is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your mind. The New Testament says with all of your strength. It's all inclusive. It speaks of the totality of one's being. Christ wants to be the preeminent one. He wants to be the only one. He wants to be the sole object of your affection in your desires. And so Christ, when he came to preach, would help people understand the truth of the cross.

It is important to understand that true conversion is communicated the clearest through consecration. It was J.C. Ryle, that Anglican bishop, who wrote these words about consecration over a a century ago. He says, I doubt indeed whether we have any warrant for saying that a man can possibly be converted without being consecrated to God. If he was not consecrated to God in the very day that he was converted and born again, I do not know what conversion means. Are not men in danger of undervaluing and underrating the immense blessedness of conversion?

Are they not when they urge on believers to the higher life as a second conversion, underrating the length and breadth and depth and height of the great first chapter which Scripture calls the new birth, the new creation, the spiritual resurrection?

I may be mistaken, but I have sometimes thought while reading the strong language used by many about consecration in the last few years that those who use it must have had previously a singularly low and inadequate view. of conversion. If indeed they knew anything about conversion at all, in short, I have almost suspected that when they were consecrated, they were in reality converted for the very first time.

He's right. You see, we like to think that we can have fire insurance and once obtaining fire insurance that gives us our get out of hell free card. In order that we might one day, maybe if need be or if we want to be somehow consecrate our lives to God with some deeper kind of commitment. That's not what the Bible teaches. And yet that's what seems to be promoted by many people. In Luke chapter 14, there was a crowd, a large crowd of people. You know why there was a large crowd of people? Because Christ had given a parable.

He had just given a parable in Luke 14, versus 16 and following, about the great supper, the great dinner. And Christ said that we need to go out and compel men and women to come in, compel them to be a part of the great kingdom feast, because those who had been invited are not going to be there. That was the Jewish religious leaders. And Christ made that very clear in verse number 24, for I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner. And so the disciples obeyed the Lord.

They went out and compelled people to come. but just because they came, it didn't mean that they were true followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Just because they were on the bandwagon of Jesus, it doesn't mean that they were truly born again. And so when you come to verse number 25, there was a great multitude of people going along with Jesus. A lot of people following Christ. Why? Because the disciples had gone out and invited them to the feast, had invited them to be a part of the great supper of God.

Whether they be rich, whether they be poor. No matter what their ethnicity, the disciples compelled them to come in. And Christ seeing all these people and their great curiosity with all their religiosity, wanted them to understand the totality of following Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. And so by way of introduction, he just cuts right through the chase. He just spells it right out for him. I'm glad you're here. It's good to see you. I'm glad that you're on this road with me, but let me spell it out for you right here in just a couple of sentences so you understand what exactly you're getting yourself into.

And if you want to keep following me, great. If you don't, I understand. But here's the deal. 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. There it is. That was the heart of the message of Christ. That was the essence of the gospel. And then he gives the parable. He gives a parable, which we're not going to get to this week, about counting the cost.

But it's important for us to understand what Jesus is saying in Luke 14, verses 25 and 26. He's calling them to a life of consecration. He's calling them to a life of true Christianity. He's calling them to a life that is designed to follow him. and to be like him because the followers of Christ are like the Lord Jesus Christ. We must understand that the Bible helps us understand what a disciple is. The disciple is one who believes in Jesus Christ. The Bible says in Matthew 28, 19, that we are to go into all the world and make disciples, and we are to teach them, we are to baptize them, which helps us to understand that not only is the disciple someone who believes in Jesus Christ, but is someone who is baptized in the name of Jesus.

Christ as well. The Bible says in Acts chapter 6, in Acts chapter 14, that there were many people that were becoming disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Disciples were even called Christians until Acts chapter 11 in Antioch. Everybody was known as a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. A disciple is someone who believes in Jesus. A disciple is one who is baptized in the name of Jesus. I like what it says over in Acts chapter 8 when Philip would come upon the Ethiopian. eunuch who was reading a portion out of the scriptures in the book of Isaiah and he began to preach to him Jesus and it says in verse number 36 and as they went along the road they came to some water and the eunuch said look water what prevents me from being baptized and philip said if you believe with all there's a word again your heart if you believe with all your heart what i've just said you may be baptized and he answered said i believe that jesus christ is a son of God.

And that man was baptized. And so a disciple is one who not only believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, but is baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. A disciple is one who acts like Christ. Luke 6, verse number 40, says that when a disciple is fully trained, he will be just like his teacher. A disciple is one who abides in the word of Christ. John 8, 31, and 32 says, you are truly my disciples. If you abide in my word and my word abides in you, then you are a true disciple of mine. A disciple is one who loves one another.

John 13, 34, and 35 says a new commandment I give in to you that you love one another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you have love one toward another. How are they going to know you're a follower of mine? How are they going to know that you're a learner of me? That is, you love one another. John 158 says this, that a disciple is one who bears much fruit. By this, is my father glorified that you bear much fruit and thus prove yourselves to be my disciple? And then Luke 1433 tells us that a disciple is one who forsakes all to follow Christ.

He says in verse number 33 of Luke 14, so therefore no one of you can be my disciple who does not give up all his own possessions. Now let's talk for a moment about what that means. What is Jesus actually saying in Luke 14, 25, 26, 33 as to a follower of his? What is he saying? And how does that apply to my life in terms of where I am today? Where we are in 21st century Christianity. Is 21st century Christianity different than first century Christianity?

Is 21st century Christianity a little easier than first century Christianity? What is actually happening today versus what happened way back when when Jesus was here and he was was preaching the gospel and he died and rose again in the church age began? Three things I want you to see about what Christ said in Luke 14, 25, 26 and verse number 33. Okay? First of all, there must be a willingness to serve God as the priority.

there must be a willingness to serve the Lord God. That's what he means when he says, if anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brother and sister, yes, and even his own life. Now, people have a problem with that. I say, wait a minute, Jesus expects me to hate my wife. What about Ephesians 525 when it says, husbands love your wives? Jesus expects me to hate my parents when the Bible says the next is 20, verse number 12, that I am to honor my mother and father.

And Ephesians 6 says, I don't obey my mother and father. So what is Jesus saying? On one hand he says, obey and honor. Other side, he says hate. Then he says, love your wife. And he says, hate your wife. What does Jesus actually mean when he says, if any man conduct to me and hate not, father, mother, brother, sister, yay, even his own life. He cannot be one of my disciples. Well, that's a good question. Because do you ever think for a moment that Jesus hated his own mother? No. but he had a priority.

And that priority took precedence over his mother. And Christ talks about a willingness to make him the priority. That he will be at the forefront in every situation. That you love your mother and father, but you don't love your mother and father more than you love your God. You love God so much that the love you have for your family looks like hate because you are so committed to God. You see, he wants to be the total object of your family. affection. God doesn't want to share places with your parents.

God doesn't want to share places with your husband or with your wife. He's got to be number one. Let me tell you something.

If God's number one, you can effectively love your husband and your wife as God wants you to love them.

If God's number one, not number one, you can't do that. If God's number one, you can love your parents the right way.

If God's not number one, you cannot love your parents the way you need to love them as the Bible says.

So when God says, I got to be the priority, I got to be numeral uno, I've got to have preeminence in your life.

He's saying that because everything else that you do in life is affected because of that relationship with Jesus Christ himself. When Jesus Christ was hanging on the cross in John 19, verses 25, 26, and 27, he looked at his mother. And he said, woman, behold, your son. He looked at John and said, behold, your mother. That's very important. Because you see, Christ loved his own earthly mother so much that he would make sure that he would provide for her after he was dead and gone. That's important, isn't it?

He didn't hate his mother, but he was never going to let his mother come between him and his number one priority, which was to obey the will of his father, and that was to die in the cross.

No mother wants her son to be hanging naked up on a cross being shamed in front of the entire world. But Christ would provide for his mother. And by the way, he never called her mother. He always called her a woman. It's very important for you to understand that. He called her woman, a term of respect, a term of endearment. But there needs to be a willingness to serve the Lord. The Bible says in Matthew 16, verse number 24, that we are to deny ourselves.

We are to consider ourselves dead in Romans 614, and we are to lay our own self aside. You see, to understand verse number 25, you need to understand, yea, even your own life. You see, we don't want to hate our own lives. In fact, we might even say, I don't mind hating my wife or hating my husband, hating my daughter, my son, my parents. But no one wants to say, I hate my own life. Because the Bible says no one ever hated his own flesh, right?

So the Bible says. In fact, you'll find it very interesting that in Ezekiel chapter 20 versus 42 to 44, Christ says, you'll know me as Lord when you loathe yourself.

In a society that preaches, you got to love yourself, you never know Christ's Lord. You won't. So God says, when you loathe yourself, when you see your condition, when you see your sinfulness, and you loathe your condition, then you'll see me as Lord, then you'll follow me, then you'll understand me.

So Christ comes along and says in the New Testament, Luke 14, says, you've got to hate even your own life. You've got to give yourself away and be totally sold out to me. That's what I want you to do. I want you to understand this up front before you ever get yourself into something so thick, you don't understand it. A willingness to serve me no matter what. Number two, a willingness to stand for a moment.

me no matter what. You've got to stand for Christ. Turn back with me if you would to the book of Matthew. The book of Matthew the 10th chapter. Christ says something very interesting as he talks about the meaning of discipleship and what it means to follow him.

He says this in verse number 32. Everyone therefore who shall confess me before men I will also confess him before my father who is in heaven but whoever shall deny me before men. I will also deny him before my father who is in heaven. Christ says, listen, you've got to stand for me.

You've got to confess me before men. The Bible says in Romans chapter 10 that if you confess Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised it from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

When you confess something, you are affirming, you are acknowledging, you are agreeing that what the Bible says about Jesus Christ is true.

Therefore, not only is it true, but it will cause you to stand for the Lord Jesus Christ. You must not only be willing to serve the Lord as your number one priority, you must be willing to stand for the Lord no matter what it costs you.

Christ says that's what I got to have. Because, you see, if you don't confess me before men, I'm not going to confess you before my father who was in heaven. And what does that mean? Very simply this. There are going to be many people in Matthew chapter 7, verse number 20, He went to say, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many marvelous deeds in your name? He's going to say, I'm sorry, I never knew you. Why? Because you see, you never confessed me before men.

Therefore, I'm not going to confess you before my father who is in heaven. You denied me. You were not willing to stand for me. You were not willing to walk with me. You got to do that. That's important because Jesus Christ wants you to speak for him, to confess him before man. That's why Paul would say in Romans 116, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God and to salvation to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

I'm not ashamed, he says. In fact, over in 2 Timothy chapter 1, verse number 8, what does he tell Timothy about being ashamed? He says this. Verse number 8, therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering. for the gospel according to the power of God. Second Timothy, great book, 25 times.

There is a comparison between being ashamed of Christ or suffering for Christ. And you have one or two options. And Paul tells Timothy, Timothy, don't start being ashamed. Don't start backing away. Don't stop standing for Christ. Stand for Jesus Christ. The Bible says to be a disciple of Christ, to follow him.

You must be willing to serve him no matter what. You must be willing to stand for Christ no matter what. Complete surrender. A willingness to serve him, a willingness to stand for him, and lastly, a willingness to suffer for him. Take up your cross. Luke 923 says you need to take it up daily and follow him. Take it up daily and follow him. The cross and scripture is that symbol symbol of death. For the Christian, it's the death of self, a willingness to deny it all to follow Christ. The cross is suffering that comes as a result of your stand for Jesus.

If you are willing to serve him above all else, if you are willing to stand for him alone, then you will ultimately suffer for him alone. And that's what Christ wants. Christ wants you to follow him. Nobody else. Just follow him. And those listening, they knew the cross was an instrument of death. They knew that. They knew the cross wasn't a nagging wife. They understood that. They knew the cross wasn't a disobedient child. The cross was a symbol of death. Torture, suffering, shame. They knew that.

And so Christ, he spells that out for him right at the outset. That's how he introduces his gospel message. This is the way it is. This is where we're going. Are you with me? Who's with me? Very few wanted to be with him. And that's why Paul would say all those who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Christ said in Luke 646, beware. Beware if all men speak well of you. Be aware. A true disciple of Christ will cause waves and those waves will cost him to some degree. Now let me say this.

What does my religion cost? good question of what does it cost you Christ says it cost me everything in order for you to obtain it if you're going to be a follower of me it will cost you let's pray Father we thank you Lord for the opportunity tonight to spend a brief moment in your word and trust that as we examine our own lives in light of the word of God that our hearts be stirred and challenged it's so easy for us Lord to sit back and revel in easy street thinking that everything's hunky dory and maybe it is for some of us.

Maybe there's no problems at all. And yet, Lord, the words of the gospel are so clear. And that's why you say. Broad is the way that leads to destruction. And many, many people find that road. But narrow is the gate that leads to life and few. Oh, so very few that find it. We realize, Lord, that there are many people who believe with all their heart that they know you. But one day will wake up and realize that it was never the case. because they would never count the cost. I pray, Lord, that all of us here tonight, those who would eventually listen on tape and by way of radio, that they would count that cost.

They'd be willing to say, yes, Lord, I will serve you no matter what. Lord, I will stand for you no matter what. If need be, I will suffer for you, no matter what. We pray that that would be all of our heart's ambition. In Jesus' name, amen. Yeah.