Count the Cost, Part 4

We trust you'll be with us this weekend as we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord. You know, as I think about our Lord and think in the past, we are a people who adore the miracle of the cradle. We love Christmas and we adore the miracle of the cradle. You look into the future and we anticipate the manner in which our Lord will come again. But in the present we are ashamed of the message of the cross. Some even abhor the message of the cross. And yet, there was the cradle, so there would be a cross.

There was a cross, so there would be a coming again. Instead of acclaiming the cross and applauding the cross, we are ashamed of the cross. Some of us even abhor that message of the cross. But the message that Jesus preached was the method of salvation is about the cross. The message of salvation is about the cross. And we as Christians should be people of the cross. And so Jesus on this day in Luke 14 speaks to a multitude of people, thousands of them, many thousands of them, telling them these words.

Luke 14, verse number 25, now great multitudes were going along with him. And he turned and said to them, 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, verse 33. So therefore no one of you can be my disciple who does not give up all his own possessions. We have been here three weeks. This is week number four.

We're still on the introduction. We've looked at the crowd and their curiosity, and we've been looking at the Christ and his commands. We will finish, Lord willing, the introduction today. If not, we'll finish it in two weeks. But the reason we stay here is because the message and method of salvation is the cross. And how Jesus presents it is absolutely crucial for us to come to grips with. He wants his followers to be disciples of his. And I know that there are many people around our country that teach that to be a disciple is a deeper walk with God.

You can become a Christian and then one day make a life consecrated to God where you are a true disciple of his. But that's not what the Bible teaches. To be a disciple of Christ is to be a true, genuine believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. For you can be a Christian, okay? You can be a Christian, or if you are a Christian, you are a disciple of Christ. But because you are a disciple, it doesn't mean you are a Christian. There is a difference because there are many disciples. One of them was Judas.

He was a disciple, but he wasn't a true believer in the Lord God. If you are a Christian, a true believer in the Lord God, you are automatically a disciple. Do you get that? You make that, you understand that? You need to come to grips with that. In fact, turn with me in your Bible to Acts chapter six just for a moment so we understand this.

In the book of Acts, which is that transition book, that book of history, that tells us about how the church was birthed and how it began to blossom. It's a great book. We've gone into great detail over the years studying the book of Acts. We have a whole series on Acts. It's called the Acts of the Spirit. It's not the Acts of the apostles. It's the Acts of the Spirit because it's the Spirit of God who works in and through the apostles. But in the book of Acts, the word disciple is a synonym for Christian.

Look at verse one of Acts six. Now at the same time, while the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews. Verse two. And the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples. They were called disciples. Verse seven. And the word of God kept on spreading and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem. So a disciple is a synonym for Christian. Look what it says in Acts chapter 11. Acts chapter 11. Verse number 26. And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch and it came about that for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

So disciples weren't even called Christians till Acts chapter 11. In Antioch they were always called disciples, followers, learners of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now note this. The Bible says in that familiar verse in Matthew 28 verse number 18, 19 and 20.

All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you. And lo, I am with you always even to the end of the age. Do you understand that verse? The Bible says as you go or having gone, make disciples.

The command is make disciples. As you go through life, you make disciples. And those disciples are to be baptized and those disciples are to be taught. Now if you want to distinguish between a disciple and a Christian and you say well you go into the world and you make people understand Christ, they become Christians and then somewhere down the line they decide to commit their life and then be a disciple, you got a major problem. Because that means you can't baptize Christians. You got to wait till they become disciples to baptize them.

And then you can't teach Christians. You can only teach disciples. So you got to wait till they make a deeper commitment to teach them and to baptize them. That's moronic. That's ridiculous. Our responsibility is to go into all the world and make disciples. What Christ did was make disciples. A disciple is a believer. A believer is a disciple when you go to the book of Acts. But in the Gospels, not all learners, not all followers, that's what the word mathetes means, were truly believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.

In fact, the Bible says over in Luke 6 verse number 40 that when a disciple is fully trained he will be just like his teacher.

Over in John 8 verse number 31 and 32. We'll begin at verse number 30. It says, as he spoke these things many came to believe in him. Verse 31, Jesus therefore was saying to those Jews who had believed him, that is, they believed about him but they didn't believe in him. There's a difference between verse number 30 and verse number 31. And he says, if you abide in my word then you are truly disciples of mine and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. If you remain in me you are a true disciple of mine.

If you don't remain with me and you don't remain in me you were never truly a disciple of mine. Jesus makes that distinction. And then it says over in John 13, 34 and 35, by this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you have love one toward another. One of the distinguishing marks of the believer is that he has great love for the brethren. And then of course it says in John 15 verse number 8, and this is my father glorified, that you bear much fruit proving you are my disciples. How do you prove that you are a true disciple in the Lord Jesus Christ?

You bear not a little bit of fruit but much fruit. And then the Bible says in Luke 14 verse number 33, so therefore no one of you can be my disciple unless you are willing to give up all of your possessions.

So the Bible is very clear when it comes to understanding discipleship. And so Jesus when he is preaching he's saying look this is what it means to be a follower of me. This is what it means to be a Christian. You don't do these things to get saved. These things are what saved people do. Therefore you got to count the cost. Therefore you must understand what it is the requirements are so that when you give your life to me you understand where you're going. See Jesus didn't hold back any news. He made sure they all knew right up front what it meant to be a Christian, what it meant to follow him.

Because if you don't do that, you don't understand that, then you don't understand what you're getting yourself into. You gotta know. That's why that whole illustration of Simon the Cyrene who's compelled out of the crowd to carry the cross was that last vocal message of our God. This is what it means to be a Christian. As Simon the Cyrene would carry that cross beam to Calvary's cross and everybody would know that this is what it means. This is what I've been saying to you for three years. This is what it means.

Are you willing to do this? And none of them were willing to do that. Because we're ashamed and abhor the message of the cross. How we adore the cradle. We anticipate his coming. But we abhor the cross and its message. Because it requires absolute surrender, submission, self-denial. And that's what Christianity is. That's why the road is narrow and the gate is small. And few there be that find it. And of the few that find it, even fewer get in. Because they count the cost. And they say, that's not for me.

I hope it's for you. I hope you've made that commitment to Christ. And you're willing to follow him. Because we're looking at this commands of Christ in Luke 14. We've said to you already that to be a follower of Christ you must serve him more than anyone else. And serve him alone. You must stand for him. You must suffer for him. And you must surrender to him. That's what it means to be a believer, a disciple in the Lord Jesus Christ. When you serve him, it conveys your priority. When you stand for him, it confirms your loyalty.

When you suffer for him, it clarifies your identity. And when you surrender to him, it communicates your authority. That's the message of the cross. That's the message of Luke 14. You need to understand this. And he does it so deeply and so sincerely. Because as we embark on Luke 15, Luke 15, that great chapter that spells out for you what true biblical repentance is. Because people who understand Luke 14, 25 and 35 fall in the category of true biblical repentance in Luke 15. And we'll go into great detail about what it means to repent of your sins and what that looks like based on what the Bible says when it comes to people who give their lives to Jesus Christ our Lord.

So you're willing to serve him no matter what. We've talked about that. You're willing to serve him because you love him more than you love father or mother or brother or sister or wife, even your own life. In fact, you love him so much, the love you have for those closest to you looks like hate because he's the priority. He's the one you follow no matter what. You serve him. And that's why Jesus said in Matthew 10, you must love me more than them. It's a term of preference. I am the preference. I am the priority in your life.

Number two, you must be willing to stand for Jesus. Go with me to Matthew 10, Matthew chapter 10. Jesus says in verse number 32, everyone therefore who shall confess me before men, I will also confess him before my father who was in heaven.

But whoever shall deny me before men, I will also deny him before my father who is in heaven. Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword for I came to set a man against his father and a daughter against her mother and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man's enemies will be the members of his own household. He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. He who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

And he who does not take his own cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. He who has found his life shall lose it. And he who has lost his life for my sake shall find it. Not only are you willing to serve Christ, which conveys my priority, you're willing to stand for Christ, which confirms your loyalty. You stand strong for Christ. You confess him before men. The Bible says in Romans 10, verse number nine, if we confess Jesus as Lord and believe in a heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved.

But you must confess Jesus as Lord of all. Our confession is saying the same thing that the Bible says about who Jesus Christ is.

And we are unashamed of the Christ. We are unashamed of the message of the Christ. Listen, if you deny me in your high school, I will deny you before my father in heaven. If you deny me in the marketplace, I will deny you before my father in heaven. You think that Jesus Christ is joking? You think it's an April Fool's joke? April Fool's? No, that's not true. No, no, no. The whole realm of Christianity is standing firm for Christ. I serve him, so therefore I will stand for him. And I will stand strong for him.

And I will stand up when others speak against him. And I will stand true on the truth of Jesus Christ, my Lord. I will confess him before men. I will say the same thing he says about truth. The same thing he says about creation. The same thing he says about sin and how he's against it. I will say the exact same thing he says because I stand with him and for him forever. That's what Christians do. They don't go and cower in a corner and go run and hide for fear of losing their job or losing an A in class or losing some kind of promise with their friends.

They stand strong no matter what it costs them because they don't really care what anybody else thinks. They only care about what God thinks. And folks, it's high time we stopped caring about what everybody else thought about us. We think too much of ourselves. Just stick it out there and stand for Jesus and say, he is my Lord. He is my God. He is my Savior. And I will stand. He saved me from hell. He took away my sin and I will stand for him forever. That's what Jesus said. You confess me before men.

I will confess you before my Father who is in heaven. Second Timothy 2 verse number 13, if you deny me, he is faithful.

To what? To deny you. He's true to his word. Are you standing for Christ in your school where you go? Are you strong in the gospel? In your neighborhood? In your workplace? Does everybody know there that Jesus reigns supreme in your life? So much so they won't even ask you to compromise because they know you won't because you've stood strong for Christ. Paul told Timothy in second Timothy chapter one, verse number eight, he said these words, verse seven, for God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and of love and discipline.

You know, I've never known a Christian who had a spirit of timidity. Did you know that? I've never known a Christian who had a spirit of timidity because Christians don't have that spirit. We've got a spirit of love, discipline, and power. It says, 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, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity.

Wow. Suffer with me, Timothy. Be a part of the fellowship of the suffering of Christ. Stand strong with me. Do you have a favorite character in the Bible? I do. In fact, we could probably sit here and have you guess what that character's name is and we could be here until the Lord comes again. You probably wouldn't guess him because this is a little brief little statement about him in scripture. He's my favorite. In fact, he's, you might get it, get it now.

He is so much my favorite that if we would have had a boy instead of Avery, I'd have named him this name. Get your Bible, turn to Revelation 2. Revelation 2. This guy was a member of the church of Pergamos, the compromising church, but he didn't compromise. His name? Antipas. So if I had a boy instead of Avery, he'd have been named Antipas because all my kids begin with A anyway, right? So I had to think of a good A name. Antipas was the best name I could come up with. Look what it says. Verse 12.

And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write, the one who has a sharp two-edged sword says this, I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is, and you hold fast my name and did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas, my witness. Wow. My faithful one who was killed among you where Satan dwells, that's my man, Antipas. He is so strong. He is so strong. His name means against all. Isn't that a good name? Against all. He's against everything that is against God. He's against it all. That's what his name means.

And there are some of you in Pergamum who were able to stand and did not deny my faith. He did not deny me. That's why John was on the Isle of Patmos. Because the testimony of the Lord and the witness of the gospel, he would not compromise the gospel. And when he would not compromise, he was exiled to the Isle of Patmos and there he received the great revelation of Jesus Christ our Lord. And Antipas was one who would not deny the faith. So you know what church history tells us? He was summoned before the pro-council and commanded to say, curious Kaiser, Caesar is Lord.

He would not. So he took a brazen bowl and he put him in it and they lit it on fire and they baked him to death. But he never denied the faith. He never denied the gospel. He was strong. He was against everybody. Isn't that the way you want to be? I know you don't want to be, you know, baked or boiled to death. I understand that. I get that point. But, but don't you want to be against everything that is against God? Don't you want to be for everything that God is for? Well, then you got to be like Antipas against everything else that's against God.

Because you are so for God, you will never deny God. That's the kind of people we need in the church today who will stand strong no matter what happens to them. Here was Antipas. He was going to die and we're afraid about losing a job. Are you kidding me? You can always get a job, but we're afraid to lose a job for staying strong for Christ. But Antipas is willing to give his life away. That's why I've never met a Christian who had a spirit of timidity because it's a contradiction in terms. I'm afraid.

Really? Afraid of what? What are you afraid of? Where is the person who stands strong and never relinquishes the reins and says, Jesus is Lord. I will stand for him. I will. We got people that won't even pray in, in a public, public arena for fear of what people might think about them. Are you kidding me? What is wrong with us that we can't stand strong for the sake of the gospel? Antipas was that way. We might not deny him in words. We just might deny him in interactions, denying that he's Lord of our lives, ruling every aspect of our lives.

Be like an Antipas. Be strong. Jesus says, those who follow me, who are disciples of mine, they serve me only.

It conveys a priority. They stand for me only. It confirms their loyalty. And number three, number three, they are the ones who suffer for me only.

And that will clarify your identity. Jesus says simply, whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

Wow. Now let's, let's get something straight here. The cross is not a nagging wife. That's not your cross, fellas. The cross is not a rebellious child. That's not a cross. Okay. Your cross is not your aches and pains. Your cross is not your discomfort in life. That's not your cross. Please understand that. You see, when Jesus says this, these people weren't thinking of long term difficulties of physical ailments.

They weren't thinking about that. They weren't thinking about their nagging wives or, or dictatorial husbands. They weren't thinking about those things. They weren't even thinking about Calvary because Calvary wasn't even there yet. Hadn't happened yet. It's a few months down the road. So they weren't even thinking about Calvary. They were thinking about torture. They were thinking about humiliation. They were taking, thinking about death because that's what a cross represents. Humiliation, torture, and death.

That's what was conjured up in their minds when Jesus says, if any of you decides to come after me, Luke 9, he says, you got to take up your cross daily.

You got to die for me daily. You got to be willing to die for me. Who will you die for? Will you die for Jesus? So he's saying, simply, you must be willing to suffer for me because there's nothing that clarifies your identity more than cross bearing. That's why there was Simon of Cyrene. This is the identity. This is what it is. Through the throng of people in the streets of Jerusalem, Simon of Cyrene was compelled out of the crowd to carry the cross because this was the last sermon that would be etched in the minds of the Jewish nation.

Everything he said was being modeled by Simon of Cyrene behind him. It's cross bearing. A symbol of death, humiliation, and torture. And they understood that. They came to grips with that. Does it mean that if you follow Christ you're going to die? No. But you got to be willing to die. Right? You got to be willing to give it all away. To give away your life. You got to be step aside and say, yes, Lord, it's yours. Take it. Even my life. So Paul said, I am crucified with Christ. It's a denial of riches.

It's a denial of reason. It's a denial of rights. It's a denial of reputation. I'm willing to deny everything the world gives me. I'm willing to put it all away. It makes no difference to me. The only thing that makes a difference to me is what Jesus thinks. What Jesus says.

What Jesus wants me to do. That's all that matters to me. That's what Christianity is. Christ matters. His cross matters. And the message of that cross matters. It matters so much that that's what I will live for and that's what I will die for. That's Christianity. And Jesus says, if you're not willing to take up your cross and follow me, you cannot be one of my...

You just can't. You might want to be, but you can't. You'll be of the few who find the narrow road and don't get in because you're not willing to give it away. For what will a man give in exchange for his soul? Are you willing to exchange your rights for God's, your reason for God's, your reputation for God's, your riches for heavenly riches? Are you willing to exchange all that for what God offers? If not, the narrow gate is closed to you. You can't get into the kingdom of God because there's another God that you serve.

There's something more important to you than the one true God. It's how people see me. It's me. I'm the God. It's my riches. I'm the God. It's my rights. I'm the God. It's me I worship. And I'm not going to worship him because that means I can no longer worship me. I'm not going through that narrow gate. That's why so few who find it get in. They're unwilling to relinquish what God says you must relinquish.

You must be willing to give it all up for me. See, the good thing about that is that when you come to face your sin and you realize that your destiny is separation from God forever, you'll say, Lord, whatever you want, you can have. Because I'm not taking any of it with me anyway. It's all going to be left behind. It's all temporal anyway. None of it's eternal, but Christ himself is eternal. And then lastly, a willingness to surrender everything. And this communicates my authority. Verse 35. So therefore, no one of you can be my disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.

You know, the believer says it's all his anyway, right? It's all his anyway. What do you have that you did not receive from the Lord? Can you tell me one thing that you have that you did not receive from the Lord? Your house, God gave it to you. Your paycheck, God gave it to you. Your car, God gave it to you. Your children, God gave them to you. Your wife, your husband, God gave them to you. Whatever you have, you have because God in his grace gave it to you. If at any point you think that you earned it, you got it because of what you did, oh my, that means you're God.

And we know that's not true. That's obvious. What do you have that you did not receive from God, what Paul says? Everything. So when he says, if any man came after me and is not willing to give up all his possessions, he can't be mine. The Christian says, hey, you know what? That's okay. It's not mine anyway. It's not my car. It's not my money. It's not my house. They're not my kids. It's not my wife. They're all God's. They're gifts that he gave that I'm to be a good steward of, right? I'm to watch over because I want to be a good steward, a household manager of what God has entrusted to me.

And so I will do that for the sake of the gospel and for the sake of the glory of the kingdom of God. I will do that for him. But Christ says, surrender our possessions.

We can't even surrender our time. We can't even surrender a little bit of time for Jesus. So our prayer life is minimal. Our Bible study, our Bible study becomes optional. And church life, an hour and 15 minutes a week. Are you kidding? Who's got time for that? He says, surrender possessions. We can't even surrender a little bit of our time to God each day, once a week. We can't even do that. So when we read these words, we think, wow, who can ever be saved? Those who truly want what God has to offer.

Those are born again people. And that's why Christ goes from the introduction to the instruction about counting the cost. You got to weigh everything here. You got to make sure this is what you want, because this is what Christianity is. See? And when it's all said and done, it's over. Nobody repents. Nobody says, that's what I want. Oh yes. There's no music that's played, no invitation that's given. Jesus just states it because they got to count the cost. Some of you today must learn to count the cost.

It was Bishop J.C. Ryle, that Anglican Bishop who lived years ago, who said it so well. Very likely, he says, your religion costs you nothing. Very probably, it neither cost you trouble, nor time, nor thought, nor care, nor pains, nor readings, nor praying, nor self-denial, nor conflict, nor working, nor labor of any kind. Such religion as this will never save your soul. It will never give you peace while you live, nor hope while you die. It will not support you in the day of affliction, nor cheer you in the hour of death.

A religion which costs nothing is worth nothing. Awake before it's too late. Awake and repent. Awake and be converted. Awake and believe. Awake and pray. Rest not till you can give a satisfactory answer to my question, what does your religion cost you? It's a good way to end. What does your Christianity cost you today? If it cost you nothing, you probably have nothing. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your Word and the truth that it portrays. And our prayer, Father, is that everyone here today would understand the implications of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

So important. Time is short. You are coming again. We need not wait another day to make that decision that says, Jesus, I am yours. I will do whatever you ask. I want to follow you. As we partake of the Lord's table this morning, Lord, may we be reminded that Christianity means I am crucified with Christ. Pray in Jesus' name. Amen.