Careful Considerations Luke 14 Vs 25 35

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Well, good morning, everyone. Welcome to Faith Bible Church. You made it here with all the horrible storms and the three inches of rain that we were supposed to get yesterday and today.

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You wouldn't know it. It's beautiful sunshine outside. And as we joke sometimes, being a weathercaster, you'd be wrong half the time and still keep your job.

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And I think they really were way off on this one, but that's OK. I'll take the sunshine.

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I think it's a beautiful, beautiful day. So glad to see everybody here this morning.

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We're just the usual announcements. Bible study is this

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Wednesday at 530, studying the Book of Jonah. And you can read up on our missionaries of the month,

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Jim and Joan Hansen. And next Saturday are the biblical counseling course that's coming up at 930.

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So please try to consider coming out to that if you haven't been out there before.

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It's not like you needed to just bone up and get ready for the lesson.

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You can just come out, and you will absorb much just listening to. So there's always more in the studying part of it, but there's also blessing in hearing it as well.

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Psalm 92, the first four verses, it is, it is good to give thanks to the

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Lord and to sing praises, as our young person is doing, to your name, O Most High, to declare your loving kindness in the morning, in your faithfulness every night, on an instrument of 10 strings, on the lute, and on the harp, and with harmonious sound.

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For you, Lord, have made me glad through your work. I will triumph in the works of your hands.

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And that's just a beautiful picture as we come to worship the Lord in our hearts and on the outside with our voices and as we listen to what

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God would have for us today. He is the focus of our attention this morning and in our lives if we know him.

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And so let's consider that as we go to the Lord in prayer. So if you would join with me in prayer.

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Lord God, we thank you, Father, for being a faithful God, a loving God, a

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God that helps each one of us, Father, to be able to walk with you, to have fellowship with you, to know you,

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Lord, and we can triumph in you. Lord, the world can't say that.

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We know that, Father. And we have a special gift, a special blessing, having a relationship with you.

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So God, may this morning, I pray, Lord, that we would be attentive to your word, that we would be listening for the truths that you have for us, the nuggets that are there in the songs and in the sermon,

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Father. We pray for a pastor that you would give him all means and ability, Lord, to convey what you would have him to in the

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Holy Spirit, Father. God, we pray this morning for those that are sick, those that are nearby, that are in this local,

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Lord, that are not feeling well today. Father, we pray that you would have your hand of blessing and comfort and healing on them.

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We pray for our sister, Carol, that's in a faraway land, Lord, may you fortify her body, that she would get better, that she would improve, and that you would give her no limitation in being able to come back when she planned on coming back to the

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States. So, God, bless her and bless Jack as he waits patiently for his wife and wanting to be there to help her but can't.

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So, Lord, comfort his heart as well. So, God, we pray this morning that you would be glorified in all that we do, that we would honor you, and that we would just rejoice as saints together, lifting our voices to proclaim your holiness, for you are a good and gracious God, and we thank you that we can come together at Faith Bible Church to do that.

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So, God, bless our time now, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen. You'll see that a lot of the verses, the passage, songs this morning are about following Jesus, about making a decision about it is not me but Christ that is in me, and it's kind of a call to surrender, to submit voluntarily.

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It's an act of humility. As believers, you don't come to God with a strong will or pride.

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You come to God in all humbleness and meekness, and Christ himself is the greatest example of what that ought to look like.

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And so, let's stand together. ♪ I come, I come, I come to thee ♪ ♪

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I come,

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I come, I come to thee ♪ Today's reading is taken from the

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Epistle of Philippians, chapter three, verses from seven through 11.

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Today's scripture reading is from Epistle of Philippians, chapter three, verses from seven through 11.

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But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing

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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

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Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible,

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I may attain the resurrection from the dead. That's all today's reading.

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May God bless us. Let's stand again as we continue our singing. ♪

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Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen ♪

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Before I read from Luke this morning, I would like to announce something about the

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Bible study just a couple of weeks more in advance, almost a month in advance.

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We have decided to, after studying Jonah, we're going to probably finish the book of Jonah this upcoming

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Wednesday. And for those of you who join us in person or online, it's been a great journey.

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After the book of Jonah, we're going to be going through a book called Praying with Paul, Praying with Paul by D .A.

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Carson. Normally we don't study books during the

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Bible study. And that's right, because we want to study God's Word.

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However, this book, this book is special because he is not telling us how to pray from his own word.

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He's going over the prayers found in the New Testament by Paul. So there's a lot of exegesis as an interpretation of how

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Paul prays in the Bible. And this book is, in my opinion, the best book on prayer written.

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And this is because Don Carson, who's a New Testament theologian, probably the most famous and best

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New Testament theologian of our days, goes over each passage of Paul's prayer and helps us to clearly understand and correctly apply.

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Even if you're not going to join us in person or online because you're you're busy on Wednesday night, which is understandable,

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I completely recommend you go read this book.

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It is perhaps the most transformative book on prayer.

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After all, prayer is how we talk to God, and it's how we relate to God.

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And in fact, it's one of the most frequently asked questions when I meet with someone, whether new or old in faith, how do

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I pray? How do I talk to God? And the best way to learn to talk to God is how

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God tells us how to talk to God in Scripture. So whether you are going to join us in person or online or can't join, please consider getting this book.

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Now with that, I would like us to turn to Luke chapter 14 verses 25 through 35.

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Luke chapter 14 verses 25 through 35. Now great multitudes went with him and he turned and said to them, if anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

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And whoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

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For which of you intending to build a tower does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it.

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Lest after he has laid the foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying this man began to build and was not able to finish.

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Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with 10 ,000 to meet with whom who comes against him with 20 ,000.

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Or else while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.

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So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple. Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?

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It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but man throw it out.

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He who has ears to hear, let him hear. This is the word of the Lord.

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Let us pray. Father, we're grateful that you have called us to be yours.

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And we pray that you would help us to consider and assess what it means to follow

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Christ. Not to begin, not only to begin following Christ, but also to follow him daily.

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Help us to consider Christ as the most precious treasure in our lives and that everything else is just far second.

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Help us to honor and devote to Christ as we ought in Jesus name.

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Amen. In this text, we get a shift in the audience.

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Remember the beginning of chapter 14 to verse 24 of chapter 14.

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It was all about the banquet because Jesus was at a feast with the

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Pharisees. Here we get a shift from the Pharisees to the crowds.

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And the message here is what it looks like to follow Jesus. Jesus here is not meant to be just one of many important things in your life, one of many important people in your life.

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But when we do assess and count the cost, he has to be the most important person.

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He is not meant to be one of many, but one and only. And how he starts this passage is that you're not supposed to love

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Jesus the same way that you love your family. And it goes on really.

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You're not supposed to love Jesus the same way as you love your cars.

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You're not supposed to love Jesus the same way as you love your country. There is a different level of devotion when it comes to relating to Christ.

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And this notion of the primary priority follows well from last week's lesson on the

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Pharisees misplacing their priorities. They have desired something else other than following Jesus when it came to responding to the invitation from the king.

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There's a new land I have to see. There are these animals I have to take care of. There's a new wife that I've just married.

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Here, Jesus gives us what we must prioritize instead.

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Ultimately, trusting Jesus and following him requires us to prioritize

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Jesus as the most important being in our lives. The structure of this passage goes like this.

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The first verse gives us the context. The next two verses, 26 through 27, lay out the importance of prioritizing

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Jesus. Verses 28 through 32 show us the illustrations of what we must do before we follow

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Jesus. And verse 33 summarizes the whole lesson on putting

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Jesus as the primary priority in our lives. And then verses 34 through 35 show the result of a disciple who does not prioritize

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Jesus. What it means if a disciple is not following Jesus wholeheartedly.

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So, the main question that this text asks this morning is, what must you consider before you follow

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Jesus? What must you consider before you follow Jesus? And this question is quite crucial for us this morning because there are way too many people who excitedly follow

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Christ and then just fizzle out. And if you've lived long enough, if you've been in the church long enough, you know that is all too common.

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Many kids who make public testimonies of faith after a fun summer retreat yet leave

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Christ behind when they're adults. Many adults who come to faith in Christ but when there are relational problems, financial problems, they're all too sudden, too busy for Christ.

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And you might even have mentors, pastors, teachers who led you to Christ or discipled you personally and you find out that they have left the faith.

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And this doesn't help when the modern American church pushed this packaged cookie -cutter way of following Jesus where, okay, you hear the gospel and now are you ready to pray that prayer?

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Okay, then you're good. Check. There's no counting the cost because when you do choose to follow

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Christ, you do have to give up certain things.

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And counting the cost is also positive. You're not just giving up certain things, you're gaining something else.

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What this text shows us this morning is that following Christ requires a careful consideration and calculation.

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In fact, Christianity is not a coping method. Christianity is not the opiate for the masses.

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It is a well -calculated, wise choice that you make.

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Not only when you believe but what you continue to do as you follow Christ.

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In one sense, it is economical. You have to consider the risks before considering following Christ.

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First, because true disciples prioritize Jesus above all, you must carefully consider all of the implications before following him.

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Because true disciples prioritize Jesus above all, you must carefully consider all of the implications before following him.

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Now, verse 25 sets the context for today's passage on following Christ.

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Now, great multitudes went with him and he turned and said to them, notice the intended audience is no longer the religious establishment, the

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Pharisees, but the crowd. And of course, this is not only to the disciples who have chosen to follow

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Jesus, but rather who are considering following Jesus. This is a message to not just the disciples only, but also the potential future disciples.

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His description of discipleship starts from verses 26 through 27.

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He makes two statements regarding what discipleship is. If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, in his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

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First, a disciple means a student. A disciple means a learner, someone who is learning from Jesus.

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And this is why Jesus is often called rabbi or teacher throughout the gospel accounts.

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However, Jesus, unlike all the rabbis and teachers, he requires his students to devote all when they start following him to learn of the way of God.

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Most teachers don't require you to give up everything to learn from them.

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Not this teacher. Hence, this verse may be troublesome for most of us.

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Unless you hate your mother and father, wives and children, brothers and sisters, and even your own life, you cannot be his disciple.

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And I want to assure you, this was probably more troubling for the ancient Jews. After all, they had a more family -oriented culture.

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They had to put their family first. They had to honor their family, honor their parents.

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I do want to go over what love means. Love does not mean just this fuzzy feeling.

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It does include your emotions. There's an emotional response when you love someone. But love in the

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Bible is first and foremost a commitment, devotion to someone or something.

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Love is relational. Love can be concrete.

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It's how you commit to someone. It's not just words. It's not just this warm fuzziness.

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But it's a sense of loyalty. Now first, we do have to note that when it says you must hate all of these family members, it's not meant to be taken literally but rhetorically.

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The reason why we need to take this rhetorically is because elsewhere in Luke and elsewhere in the

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New Testament, Jesus actually commands us to love. Love your family, but love even your enemies.

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For example, Jesus affirms that we're to love our neighbor. And he illustrates that with the parable of the

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Good Samaritan. This Good Samaritan goes above and beyond in taking care of even a stranger, a

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Jew who would have hated him. After all, we don't call him the parable of the

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Hateful Samaritan. This is a rhetorical device. What Jesus is using is hyperbole.

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Hyperbole is an enormous exaggeration to drive a point home. It's an exaggeration to drive a point home.

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Even we do this millions of times. And that just now was the example.

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So what does this mean? Notice the list of all these intimate family members present.

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Parents, wife, children, siblings, even your own life. These people are some of the closest earthly relationships you can possibly have.

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And these people are some of the earliest close intimate relationships you can possibly have, such as parents.

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Yet, Jesus says if you follow him, even your utmost love and commitment to the most intimate personal relationships must look like hatred in comparison to how you love and devote to Christ.

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What this hyperbole does is that it magnifies your relationship with Christ above all other things.

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Your love for Christ must outshine your love and commitment to anyone else in the whole wide world.

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Negatively, your commitment for another person pales in comparison to your devotion to Jesus.

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What he's saying is he cannot be equal to another item on the list of your priorities, but rather he is the one and only on the list of priorities.

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In fact, that was the reality for many of the early

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Jewish followers of Christ. When they chose to follow Jesus, they were often kicked out of the synagogues.

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That was their main community of worship. When they chose to follow

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Jesus, they were often disowned by their family. In fact, there's a book in the

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New Testament that revolves around what do the early

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Jewish Christians must do when they are persecuted by their own community.

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That's the book of Hebrews. In fact, when they chose to follow

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Christ, some were stoned to death. After all, the early Jews were the first persecutors of the church because they could not fathom the idea that God would become man to save.

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Prioritizing Christ often meant losing friends and family. So, in that regard, these early

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Jewish followers of Christ experienced hatred for following Christ.

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They didn't hate their family, but their family despised them for following Christ.

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Second, verse 27 shows us the process of following Christ.

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And whoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. The description shows the manner in which we follow

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Jesus. The attitude and posture of discipleship is marked by suffering and sacrifice.

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The cross was a tool for not just execution, but also humiliation. It was not the most efficient way to kill someone, but it was an effective way to humiliate them in their death.

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The pagan Romans did not even let their citizens to be crucified because it was so shameful.

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What Jesus tells here is that his potential followers will be marked by self -sacrifice and persecution.

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And ultimately, this is because that the master himself carries his own cross for his followers to his death and humiliation.

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To suffer for their sin, to bear their shame and guilt, and to receive the wrath of God on their behalf.

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Following the suffering Messiah means identifying with him in his suffering.

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True disciples willingly live for Christ even when it hurts, even when it starts to get costly.

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True disciples prioritize their relationship with Christ over themselves.

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That's true loyalty. And considering the costly choice of following Christ is illustrated by two illustrations.

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Jesus shows with two illustrations what how we must consider following Christ.

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The first illustration shows the careful calculation for completion is necessary from verses 28 through 30.

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Careful calculation for completion. For which of you intending to build a tower does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it.

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What this mini parable is saying is before taking on a giant project, you need to do a careful assessment.

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Here the person needs to calculate whether the cost is even feasible. Can you afford that?

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Is there enough material to build this? Is there enough funding to finish it?

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After all, a half built tower is just as useless as no tower. That's because it fails to serve its purpose when it is left unfinished.

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And as Californians, we fondly remember the billions of dollars of our taxpayer money that's spent on the high -speed rail system that will go from NorCal to SoCal.

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It doesn't matter whether it's 50 % finished. It's useless if it's not finished.

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But now we don't have the funding. Now what will be the result of not completing the building project?

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Less after he has laid the foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him saying, this man began to build and was not able to finish.

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An incomplete project is a magnet for mockery. After all, anyone who passes by it will witness the result of a huge miscalculation.

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An unfinished project is a proof of a miscalculation.

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Someone at some point did not do the math right. And that's what it will be for anyone who jumps into Christianity without thinking what that entails.

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Are you willing to lose these things in order to gain

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Christ? Or would you be one of those who leave

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Christ the moment it starts to get costly? The second illustration depicts the need for a careful calculation of capability from verses 31 to 32.

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The need for a careful calculation of capability. Or what king going to make war against another king does not sit down first and consider what he is able with 10 ,000 to meet him who comes against him with 20 ,000.

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Now we have a king who needs to figure out whether his 10 ,000 soldiers can adequately fight against the enemy king's 20 ,000 soldiers.

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The problem is not about completion here but about capability. Is it even possible?

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After all, the cost of losing a battle is more than just mockery and shame. Lives are at stake.

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The king's life is at stake if he loses. Moreover, the nation, the state of the nation is at stake if he loses.

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Hence, after a careful investigation, the king decides to not fight.

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Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.

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The delegation here means diplomacy. They're the diplomats. They are sent because the king has assessed the situation and there's just no way of winning this fight.

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And instead of losing everything, let's find a way of peace.

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Let's talk. Let's delegate. Let's choose diplomacy over destruction.

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What both these illustrations stress is the need to carefully consider and calculate the cost of following Christ.

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And this is important. This is why we don't want to rush people into following Christ. They really need to know what it means to be a follower of Christ.

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After all, the last thing we want is to have this false hope or false expectation of what following Christ is.

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And that is not meant because Jesus never promised that. I think that's the real trouble with the prosperity gospel preachers.

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They promise all these good things, material wealth and blessings, frankly, that Jesus never promised.

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And of course, when many people do not receive that, their heart turns cold toward God.

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It's as if God failed them. But in the end, it's the prosperity preachers who did because it's never emphasized what counting the cost means and how necessary it is to do so before following Jesus.

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Then Jesus summarizes discipleship with one verse, verse 33. So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple.

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All that you have. Are you willing to follow Jesus if it means all that you have can be up for sale?

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All that you have is touchable. All that you have is at risk.

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Following Christ requires complete commitment. There is nothing in your life which you will not have what you will not hold back from Christ.

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There's nothing in your life which you will not hold back from Christ. There is no portion of you that will not surrender to Christ.

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And this sermon's application would have been drastically different if I had preached this 10 years ago or 20 years ago.

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For the first time in history, U .S. history, Christians in the United States are publicly shamed and mistreated for their faith in Christ.

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20 years ago, even 10 years ago, it was applauded if you're a

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Christian. It was common if you're a Christian. There was no risk. There was no threat of being publicly attacked or mocked for being a

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Christian. That's not the case this morning.

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If you're a student, you put your academic success on the line if you publicly proclaim that you're a

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Christian. If you work a secular job, you place your livelihood on the line if you publicly live for Christ.

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It's happening right now. Some people do lose their jobs over this. Some people have been sued up the wazoo over this.

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And if you come from a non -Christian family, you risk breaking relationships because of your relationship with Christ.

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Because at some point, the tolerance that this culture preaches will become very intolerant.

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It may not be one thing. It may not be about moral purity. It may not be about Christian sexuality.

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But at some point, they will not be able to take it. They will not be able to take it because you devote your life to Christ.

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And some of you may question, how is this even a fair trade? I could lose everything by following Christ?

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I may be worse off after following Christ. That's precisely the point.

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The calculation is that it is possible to lose everything when you follow Christ.

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However, you're not worse off because you gain

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Christ when you follow Christ. The core of discipleship in the end is

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Jesus himself. When you decide to follow

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Jesus, you gain the Savior who gave himself to have you.

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When you start to trust Jesus, you gain God who suffered on the cross to forgive and to love you.

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In the end, after the careful consideration, gaining

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Christ is far superior in value than whatever you may lose when you follow

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Christ. Some of you may not lose a lot. And you don't need to feel guilty over that.

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That's a blessing if your family still loves you even though they may not be

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Christian. It's a blessing that you can keep your job and still publicly proclaim

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Jesus. However, that's not a secured entitlement.

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It's not a guarantee. What Jesus is saying is there's no relationship.

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There's no wealth. There's no future potential that is worth holding on to if you're going to not have

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Christ. Christ is greater than whatever you have right now.

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What he's saying is unless you see that gaining Christ is more valuable than what you may lose for Christ, you cannot fully follow

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Christ. In this sense, Jesus is not looking to fill up a stadium.

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He's just looking for undying loyalty and faithfulness, even if it's just a few.

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He's not really looking for the big numbers. He's just looking for genuine, authentic commitment to him.

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And in order to follow Christ, despite knowing what you may lose, you have to look at the precious person of Christ.

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You have to look at the outstanding value of Jesus. You have to look at the insurmountable insurmountable gain that you will have in Christ, not what you will lose for following Christ or else this calculation is significantly skewed towards not following Christ, which is not the purpose of this text.

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It is despite knowing what you could lose. You can follow Christ because you'll gain a lot more in the person of Christ.

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It's not about you'll lose your job, but you'll get a better job from God. It's not the case. It's not about you.

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You may lose wealth, but you will win that court case by the Supreme Court. That's not the case.

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It's that you'll gain Christ. You've got to look to Christ. You've got to see Jesus as the most treasured person in your life, so much so that everything you hold on dearly, good things, good people, friends, family, parents, siblings, children, wives, husbands, even yourself, all of those are worth losing if you can have

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Christ. And Isaac Watts knew this well when he wrote his hymn,

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When I Survey the Wondrous Cross. I read just a couple of verses because he looks to not what he's losing, but what he's gaining.

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His dying crimson, like a robe, spreads over his body on the tree.

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Then I am dead to all the globe, and all the globe is dead to me.

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Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were a present far too small.

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Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.

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Isaac Watts knew what he was gaining, and he calculated.

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A brilliant mathematician, and I'm not kidding.

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He was a professor. He knew what he gained in Christ was far superior to what he would ever lose.

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Now, what about disciples who do not prioritize Jesus? Disciples who do not prior prioritize

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Jesus are useless in God's kingdom. Disciples who do not prioritize Jesus are useless in God's kingdom.

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Jesus illustrates the absurdity of a disciple who would not prioritize him.

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Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?

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A disciple of Christ who does not commit completely to him is like salt that has lost its flavor.

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What he's saying is salt does start out with good because it has use. It's useful, and normally salt is used for seasoning and also preserving food.

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In fact, the minerals found in salt is crucial to most living things on earth.

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People will die without salt, but what's the problem?

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Well, what if it's lost its saltiness? What happens when salt loses its natural property that makes it useful in the first place?

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Jesus tells us it is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but man throw it out.

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He who has ears to hear, let him hear. This is rather a bizarre scenario.

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How can salt lose its saltiness? Oftentimes, we don't think about this.

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We just consume salt. It's salty, and it does its job in making your steak taste really good. Daryl Bach, a world -renowned

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Lucan theologian, shares two ways in which salt can lose its saltiness. The first way is the ancient

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Jews, they got their salt from the Dead Sea. The salinity of the Dead Sea is beyond the ocean salinity, so what happens is that there are puddles around the

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Dead Sea, and it's really salty, and over time, because it's scorching hot, the puddle dries up and the salt remains, and then you can use that salt for preserving, cooking, even fertilizing.

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However, if that salt is mixed with impurities and dirt, it's no longer salty, and you cannot use that on food.

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You cannot use it for its intended purpose. Therefore, it's no longer good.

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It's no longer good to be used in any possible way. It must be thrown out.

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The second way in which they used salt was the bakers. Bakers in ancient

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Israel used salt as a catalyst for fuel. They would burn cattle dung, dried cattle dung, into the fire, and the salt would help the burning process, and after multiple uses, the salt would lose its natural property, and when the salt lost its saltiness, it had to be thrown out.

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You can't just keep reusing salt that's not salty anymore. It's not serving as the catalyst for the fuel, so after it no longer can be used for its purpose, it had to be thrown out.

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Either way, the key point remains, which is Christians who no longer prioritize

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Christ are as useless as tasteless salt. It has no use other than to be thrown out.

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Christians who are not focused on Christ are like saltless salt.

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They have lost their main property that makes them Christian. That's what

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Jesus is saying, and this is crucial for us this morning because oftentimes

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Christians want to distance themselves from their Savior and the gospel. Their priority is no longer

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Jesus, Jesus, but what would be acceptable by the world, and it is no wonder so many denominations and so many seminaries and academic institutions once started out to serve

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God, to train up pastors to preach the gospel. Harvard, Yale, Princeton, denominations such as PCUSA, Methodism, Methodists, they have all swayed, and the reason is they've lost the saltiness when they traded their acceptance by the world over who

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Jesus is and his gospel, and this is not just in the institutional level but individual level as well.

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Christians who want to be accepted by the world, they celebrate the same moral perversity as the world.

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They don't even have to celebrate the same moral perversity as in going to the pride events, whatever.

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You could compromise by staying silent. Many Christians have done that, and they've pulled a fast one saying, we don't, we, no one can quite understand the correct interpretation of what the

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Bible says. I think that's worse than just denying it. You're causing confusion.

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You're actually saying that God has spoken unclearly.

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You're blaspheming God. At least say,

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I don't want to answer that. The second type of saltless

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Christians are Christians who gut the gospel by getting rid of sin, judgment, and substitutionary atonement.

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There are many pastors this morning who will never mention sin or the judgment that's coming in their whole ministry, and the big question becomes then, what is anyone being saved from?

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Why is your news even better than any alternative news? And they quote it with this facade saying,

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I want to preach about love, not about hatred, and that's also blasphemous too.

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How dare we characterize God's judgment as anything but compassionate? How dare we see ourselves more compassionate than God himself?

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Even in God's judgment, he is more compassionate than a human can ever be.

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We cannot separate God's mercy from his justice. And then there are

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Christians who chase after their pleasures and falsely hope that Jesus will co -sign them. Well, it's fine if I get into these substances, but you know,

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Jesus forgives, right? It's fine if I sleep around for a little bit, but he'll forgive me.

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That's called presuming upon his grace. And then there are

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Christians who want to meet the bare minimum level of faithfulness. What's the bare minimum

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I have to go to? What's the bare minimum of purity that I have to reach? What's the bare minimum of love that I need to show to those

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I don't really like? What's the bare minimum of number of times I forgive someone?

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And then there are Christians who are lukewarm. And you may know these people.

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They go to church. They've been part of the church. But when you actually talk to them,

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Christ never comes up. You may talk about all the things you have in common, politics, hobbies, but what we do need to consider is that we often talk about what we're most excited about.

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And if Christ doesn't really come up, there's something going on between that person and Christ.

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Christ is not really in their daily life. Maybe reading the verse of the day is the far as they go.

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They don't really pray. They might pray before a meal. That's lukewarmness.

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There's no passion for Christ. There's no excitement for Christ.

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It could have been there in the beginning when they first followed Christ. But it's just Christ has become a chore.

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That's lukewarmness. And that is saltless salt.

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What we do need to have in mind, the correct mindset when following Christ is that every decision we make, every word we say, every interaction that we have, we have to ask the question, how does this honor

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Christ? That's what it means to prioritize Jesus Christ. I get all these questions on what's the correct boundary for dating?

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What about this hobby, pastor? What about this song?

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Have you listened to this artist? Have you watched this celebrity? Have you watched this movie? They want to hear, well, it's not rated

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R, so yes, you may watch it. They want to hear there's no curse word, so yes, you may listen to it.

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But that's the wrong question. The question that we all ought to ask is, how does this grow my love toward Christ when

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I partake in that? It may not be outright sin. Don't get me wrong. I'm not calling all movies sinful.

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I'm not even calling all shows sinful. Many of them are, but the question has to be, how am

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I prioritizing Jesus when I do say or think this way?

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That's what it means to be the good salt, the one that prioritizes, one that focuses, one that concerns

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Jesus first and foremost. And if you start to drift away from that mindset, pray to God.

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Pray that he may light that passion back in you.

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He may put that desire to put him first and foremost back in because saltless salt will remain useless to the kingdom of God.

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Let us pray. Father, we pray that you would help us to calculate and consider what it means to follow

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Jesus and help us to correctly and clearly view the enormous gain that we have in Christ, which even when it hurts, when we face suffering and loss in trials for our faith, all of those are nothing compared to what we gain when we gain

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Jesus. And we pray that you would remove anything in our lives that's preventing us from recognizing and valuing and treasuring and living as the good salt and recognizing and valuing

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Jesus as superior. Help us to seek Christ clearly this morning and rejoice and enjoy and delight in Jesus Christ.

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In his name we pray. Amen. And may that be the desire of our heart to follow