The Cost of Following Christ, Part 4b

Turn with me once again in your Bible, if you would, to Luke chapter 14. Lord willing, we will conclude this parable this evening. And so Christ would come in Luke chapter 14 and give a parable. He would tell them, first of all, to count the cost.

Again, another crowd, huge crowd. And he would want them to understand, listen, I want you to follow me. But know this. If you come after me, you're going to have to hate your father, your mother, wife, children, brother, sister, even your own life, or you can't be one of my disciples. And who never does not carry his own cross, it comes up to me, cannot be my disciple. Can't do that. So I'll tell you what. Let me give you a parable.

Give you a parable about a building and a parable about a battle. You said, listen, if you're going to build a building, you better make sure you can finish it. If you're going to battle, you've got to make sure you can face it. Count the cost. Count the cost. Understand what's involved. Now let me say this.

I think this is important. Because, you know, when you came to Christ, you didn't understand all of what it meant to follow him, did you? Of course you didn't. I didn't. I can remember the day that I gave my life to Christ. It was March 19, 1972. I was 14 years of age. That tells you how old I am today. I know exactly the day. I know exactly what happened. I know exactly. exactly how God worked in my life. And I can trace the pattern of that through, to this day here in January of 2003. But when I gave my life to Christ, I didn't understand all that would take place in my life or all that God demanded of me.

Although I was told it, I didn't get it. You know what I'm saying? Let me illustrate that for you. Remember we talked about the disciples in Mark chapter 10? and how they, or Matthew chapter 20, I think it was the passage we used, and how their mother had, James and John's mother had come and said, hey, listen, you know, I want you to grant to my two boys, one sitting in your right hand and one of something you left. And Christ said, you don't know what you're asking me. And he talked to them about, you know, can you drink from the cup that I'm going to drink, which symbolize the wrath that they would face?

Can you be baptized with my baptism? And what did they say? Yes, we can. Yes, we can do it. Did they understand it? No, they did not. They didn't get it. But they were arrogant enough to say, oh, man, no problem. Jesus, if you can drink it, we can drink it. If you can be baptized in it, we can be baptized in it. If you can do it, we can do it. Because we're your followers. We can do it, Jesus, yes. And Jesus said, you know what? You will drink the cup that I'm drinking, and you will be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with.

Great. No problem. Well, when you come to Luke chapter 22, you have the Lord's Supper, the night of the night before the crucifixion. And it says, and there also arose a dispute among them as to which of them was regarded to be the greatest. This was the third time it happened in their three-year ministry with Jesus.

Another dispute. Who's the greatest? They couldn't get it out of their minds. They just couldn't forget about being great. And he said, and the kings of the Gentiles loaded over them, and those who have authority over them are called benefactors, but not so with you, but let him who is the greatest among you as the youngest and the leader as a servant. For who is greater the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who are those who have stood by me in my trials.

And just as my father has granted me a kingdom, I grant you that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and you will sit on thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel. Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat. Satan has come to me and said, I want Peter. And Peter said, what did you tell him? Jesus said, I've prayed for you, Peter. I've prayed for you. That your faith may not feel. fail and you when once you have turned again strengthen your brothers i prayed for you peter that your faith will not fail verse 33 peter said to him lord with you i am ready to go both the prison and to death oh lord i am your man i'm not your man i am the man i am the man you can count on me I'm with you.

And Jesus said, I say to you, Peter, the cock will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know me. You see, there's something very important to understand. This side of eternity, I'm not sure we ever really get it. I like to say we do, but for the most part, we don't. And the whole issue here is this. There are going to be times in your Christian walk with God. God, you are going to fail. You are going to flounder and you are going to fall. But you will never fail, flounder, or fall totally, utterly, and completely.

You know why? Because Jesus has prayed for you. And God the Father always answers. Jesus' prayers, because he always prays according to the will of the Father. In John 17, he prayed for you and me. Did you not? He prayed for his disciples. He prayed for you and me. He prayed for all those that would believe on his name. He has prayed that we would not fail. There's going to be times your life where you're not going to fulfill what the demands of the gospel are. You're not going to be willing to always take up your cross and follow Christ.

There's going to be times where you're going to flounder in that whole area. you. There's going to be times where you're going to struggle in your affection for your wife, your children, and your mother, your father versus your affection for God. Those things are going to happen. They're inevitable. But the good news is that Jesus has prayed for you. They'll never fall, fail or flounder, utterly, totally or completely. But there will be times will you blow it. Peter did. Peter, you can die me three times.

He did. all the disciples kind of blew it didn't they sad verse in the bible they all forsook of and fled every one of them we doubted but you know what because Jesus Christ prayed for them those guys man became unbelievable in their ministry efforts that's where God wants you right he wants to be able to use you in an unbelievable kind of way we know we're not going to fail because Jesus said way back in the book of Jeremiah, the 32nd verse, verse number 40, we read it last week. I will do, or excuse me, he says that they will have the fear of me in their hearts, so they will not turn from me.

God said it. In the new covenant, I will put my fear in their hearts, and those people will not turn from me. They will be committed to me. They will live for me. They will die for me. Why? Because they're going to fear me more than they fear anybody else. That's what God said. So important for us to get that. It says over in Jude 24 and 25, Now unto him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to preserve you. See that? Who is the one that keeps you from falling? utterly and totally and completely away it's Jesus Christ himself who will preserve you so that he can present you blameless and spotless before the throne of God that's God's promise to us that's good news that's great news so Christ says you need to understand that the people in my kingdom understand that they They will complete the building all the way to the end.

They'll persevere. They'll fight the battle through and through. There'll be times they'll want to quit. There'll be times they'll want to stay home and not do it, but you know what? For the most part, they all finish. Why? Because that's the way it is. Which leads us to our third point in our outline.

Sorry, you don't have that line tonight. For some reason, I guess they get printed off. Sorry about that. But we've already talked about the introduction. We've talked about the instruction, and now we're going to look at the implications.

And two things in the implications you need to see. Number one is the preparation, and number two is the promise.

The preparation, we've got to hurry because we're running out of time. I know you don't want me to have a part five for this parable. First number 33, Luke chapter 14, what does Jesus say?

He says these words. So therefore, no one of you can be my disciple who does not give up all his own possessions. Therefore, in the same way, unless you give it up for me, that's the lesson. That's what Christ wants to understand. renounce your own plans, renounce the desires of your own life. You have to be prepared to walk away from everything. It doesn't mean you're going to have to walk away from everything, but you need to be prepared to walk away from everything if God asks you to. That's important.

Are you willing to do whatever God asks? We said it before. We said last week, what will a man give in exchange for his soul? What will he give? he'll give everything he'll give everything he'll give up his family ties he'll give up his goals in life he'll give up his comfort in life he'll even give up his reputation in life because he wants to live forever illustration of that is over in Philippians chapter 3 Paul said in verse number 4 of Philippians 3 although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh if anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more.

He says there isn't anybody who should be more confident in their achievements than me. Nobody. Paul says, I am unbelievable in the flesh. He says, I was circumcised the eighth day. When it comes to ritual, there is nobody who holds the ritual more than I do. I will circumcised the eight day. He says, of the nation of Israel, I am. When it comes to race, I am in the right one. I am in the nation of Israel. Whether it's ritual, whether it's race, or whether it's rank, I'm there. He says, I'm also from the tribe of Benjamin.

I am of the highest rank. And then he says, I am a Hebrew of the Hebrews. When it comes to rituals, I'm there. When it comes to race, I'm of the right one. When it comes to rank, there isn't anybody higher. When it comes to responsibility, nobody better. I am Hebrew of the Hebrews. He says, as to the law, a Pharisee. If there's anybody who can claim righteousness, it's me. because as a Pharisee, I kept the letter of the law. He says, as a zeal, a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness, which is in the law, found blameless.

He says, listen, I am the most religious man that ever lived. I got it all. But Verse 7 Whatever things are gained to me Those things I have counted as loss For the sake Of Christ More than that I count all things to be lost In view of the surpassing value Of knowing Christ Jesus My Lord For whom I have suffered the loss of all things. And count them but rubbish. Scuba. You know what scubelon is? Scubelon is excrement. Scubelon is dung. He says all those things, all my religiosity, all the rituals I did, all the righteousness that I thought I had, my high ranking as an individual, all the responsibilities that I had and fulfilled, they are all dung.

scubelon rubbish he thought of the worst word he could think of in the Greek language to explain his achievements why is having rituals bad no is being religious bad no of being a part of the right race a Jew is that bad no is having a high rank is that bad no no none of those things are bad in fact in and of themselves they're all good but They are scubilon. They are scubelon. They are excrement. Why? Because if you trust those things, they will damn your soul to hell. That's why. And that's what he trusted in.

I kept them all lost. What will a man give in exchange for his soul? Paul says, everything. Everything. Because those things don't give me eternal life. They don't give me a relationship with the living God. He says, I understand that these are all lost in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. This is what I gain. I gain Jesus. I gain in relationship with the living God. I gave freedom from my sin. I gain everything that I did not have before. I gain everything for the sake of eternity.

And Christ says, if you don't do what I ask you to do, you cannot be my disciple. You can't. It's not that. Well, I guess you. you can come along for the ride for a while and you can hit your ride and you know you'll be okay no he says you can't deal you're out can't do it now think about that think about that see christ wants commitment christ hates lukewarmness read it revelation three church elated asia he spews the lukewarm out of his mouth people think well that's just the carnal christian that's the mediocre no it's not no it's not no it's not no to spew something out of your mouth is to get rid of it the bible says says very clearly, John 6, He who comes to me, I will in no wise ever cast out.

Church later to see you, the lukewarmness, he spewed out of his mouth as to get rid of it. I want you hot or cold, but not lukewarm. I want committed people. I don't want half-hearted people. I want whole-hearted people. I want all of you. I don't want part of you. I don't want some of you. I want every bit of you. I want it all. That's what God wants. The story in the Old Testament about a man, you know him well. His name is Elisha. One day Elijah came, saw Elisha, didn't even say anything to him.

Just took off his mantle. Threw it on Elisha. Walked away. Symbolized that if this great prophet or one of such would come and fill their mantle upon you, it would be your call, your commission to follow them and to be a part of what they were doing. Elisha has this mantle fall upon him. The Bible says that Elijah found Elisha, the son of Shafat, while he was plowing with 12 pairs of oxen before him.

That's 24 of them. That's a lot of oxen. Elisha was a rich man. And he with the 12th, and Elijah passed over to him and threw his mantle on him. He left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, please, let me kiss my father and my mother.

Then I will follow you. you? Elijah, let me go back and kiss mommy and daddy. I'm a mommy's boy. Is that what Elijah is saying? At first glance, you think, what is this guy doing?

No man having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. That's what Jesus said. Listen to what it says. He said to him, go back again. For what have I done to you? Consider Elijah. what I've done. Count the cost, Elisha. This is what it's about. You consider what I've done to you. So he returned from following him, took the pair of oxen, sliced them up, boiled their flesh, with the implements of the oxen, and gave it to the people, and they ate. then he arose and followed Elijah and ministered to him.

You know what Elijah did? No, why he went back? He went back to make sure there was no temptation to ever go back again. He slaughtered the oxen. He slaughtered the plow, cut it up, used it for firewood. I'm out of here. I ain't never coming back. I'm gone. I've counted the cost and I'm following Elijah and Elisha was a great man of God count of the cost and knew that he would exchange everything to be God's man that's the point of the parable of kind of the cost I'm not even close to being done yet you've got to come back next week man but I want to say this to you I got to say this to you God's looking for people who are going to count the cost and say the cost is everything it's worth it let me illustrate this way if you have a job let's say and please don't take this the wrong way because I like Burger King let's say you work for Burger King and you've been working there for a while and your boss calls you up in the middle of night and says hey man you got to come in we got a problem in the restaurant here we got to have you come into Burger King and help us because we can't flip burgers no more unless you get in here and help us fix this thing I don't want to do that I'm tired I'm sleeping my wife's in bed my kids are in bed I'm not going to get up at 2 o'clock in the morning go to Burger King and fix your oven call somebody else if you're working for the president the United States 2 o'clock in the morning he calls and says hey you got to come down here we got some issues we got to deal with you don't say, you know what, Mr.

President? I'm a little tired. It's been a long day. I was there for 14 hours today. I'm tired. Now, what do you do? You get up, you go. Great commitment is no problem if you serve a great cause. Right? No problem. And Christ is looking for people who are going to serve a great cause, who are willing, who have counted the cost and yes, I'll do it. And if you're working for that president and you're working long hours and you've worked all, you've worked All week, 24-hour days, you haven't been home.

Your wife says, oh, honey, please come home. I can't, honey. The president wants me. Got to be there. Got to be there for him. He's the leader of our country. He needs my support. He needs me to be with him, and I will be there. Honey, you got to understand. Tell the kids I'll be home when I can, but now I've got to be with the president because our country needs me along with him. Most people, that's not a problem. When you serve Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, he who demands the greatest of all commitments.

And yet, I'll find people who will call their wives some work and say, you know, honey, I got to work late tonight. I've got to work late all week. I just can't make it home? She'll say, oh, honey, please. Can't you just call it quits for the night and come up? No, I got to be here, got to be here, got to do it. And yet, come Sunday. Come Sunday. He'll say, you know, let's just stay home to this. today. It's been a long week. I worked all week, 15, 16, 18 hour a day. Let's just stay home and not go to church today.

She says, oh, that's great, honey. We can spend time together as a family. It seemed to me like the almighty dollar takes precedence over the Almighty himself in a lot of people's lives. And then Jesus said you can't serve two masters. You can only serve one. And the one you don't serve is the one you hate and the one you despise. Isn't that true? Let me tell you something.

When Jesus calls for a great cost, he wants you to fulfill that commitment. No matter what. Are you? Better yet. Will you? I'm sorry I didn't finish tonight. I got some things I want to say that if I figured I got into, I wouldn't be able to finish him anyway. I got to answer the question I didn't tell I was going to answer tonight. And that is, what's in it for me? Right? Jesus, Peter said, we'll have to all to follow you. What about us? Wasn't it for us? There's a lot in it for you. We're going to tell you next week, okay?

Thanks for coming. Have a great night. Let's pray. Thank you.