"The Gospel of Luke" (64) May 19, 2024

First Baptist Church Leominster

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Now, there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon, who was called

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Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manan, a lifelong friend of Herod the

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Tetrarch, and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, set apart for me

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Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. Then after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

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So being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

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When they arrived at Solomus, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogue of the

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Jews, and they had John to assist them. When they had gone through the whole island, as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a

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Jewish false prophet named Barjesus. He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence who summoned

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Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. But Elemus, the magician, for that is the meaning of his name, opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from them, away from the faith.

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But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said,

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You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the

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Lord? And now, behold, the hand of our Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.

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Immediately, mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand.

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Then the proconsul believed when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the

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Lord. Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia, and John left them and returned to Jerusalem.

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But they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And on the

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Sabbath day, they went into the synagogue and sat down. After reading from the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them saying,

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Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it. So Paul stood up and motioning with his hand said,

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Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen. The God of this people, Israel, chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt.

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And with uplifted arm, he led them out of it. And for about 40 years, he put up with them in the wilderness.

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And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance.

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All this took about 450 years. And after that, he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.

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Then they asked for a king and God gave them Saul, the son of Kish, a man from the tribe of Benjamin for 40 years.

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When he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said,

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I have found in David, the son of Jesse, a man after my heart who will do all my will.

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Of this man's offspring, God has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus, as he promised.

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Before his coming, John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John was finishing his course, he said, what do you suppose that I am?

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I am not he, no, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet

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I am not worthy to untie. Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear

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God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation. For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophet, which are read every

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Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him. And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked

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Pilate to have him executed. And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb.

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But God raised him from the dead. And for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people.

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And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us, their children, by raising

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Jesus. As also it is written in the second Psalm, you are my son, today

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I have begotten you. And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way.

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I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David. Therefore he says also in another

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Psalm, you will not let your holy one see corruption. For David, after he served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption.

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But he whom God raised did not see corruption. Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.

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And by him, everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.

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Beware therefore, lest what is said in the prophets should come about. Look you scoffers, be astounded and perish, for I am doing a work in your days, a work that you will not believe even if one tells it to you.

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As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath. And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many

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Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who as they spoke with them, urged them to continue in the grace of God.

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The next Sabbath, almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. But when the

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Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul reviling him.

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And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly saying, it was necessary that the word be spoken first to you.

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Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the

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Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us saying, I have made you a light for the

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Gentiles that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the

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Lord. And as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. And the word of the

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Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their district.

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But they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the

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Holy Spirit. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you that salvation is from you.

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And that while it started in Jerusalem, it went out to Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

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And Lord, we are the recipients of that because salvation is from you. And Lord, we rejoice that we know you.

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We rejoice that we can be here this morning to exalt you and to lift your name on high.

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And we pray, Lord, that you would help us in this endeavor. Help us now as we hear the word of God proclaimed.

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We pray, Lord, that we would line ourselves up to it. Help us to be free from any distraction, but help us to focus on you.

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And we pray, Lord, that our worship would be pleasing to you. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus name. Amen.

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Well, let's turn in our Bibles to Luke 14. And today, we'll give attention to verses 25 through 35.

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And what's emphasized here is the cost of being a true disciple of Jesus Christ, an important word.

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Now, biblical truth teaches us that although eternal life is free and freely given by God through Jesus Christ, for one to enter eternal life will cost everything that one has or is.

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It's free, but it'll cost you everything. Bible clearly teaches this.

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The Lord Jesus made this clear in his commands to those who desire to become his followers, to those who wish to be named and numbered among his true disciples.

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And this is an emphasis, by the way, of Luke's gospel. As one rightly wrote, the theme of the cost of accompanying

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Jesus runs like a refrain throughout Luke. And that certainly is what we have before us in Luke 14, 25 through 35.

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Now, we had addressed an earlier passage in which our Lord pressed upon his hearers what he demanded of them back in Luke 9.

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And he, Jesus, said to them all, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

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For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

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For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and is himself destroyed or lost or as a parallel passage says, and lose his own soul?

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Well, let's rehearse again the emphasis of this teaching of Jesus that we considered carefully in Luke chapter 9.

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First, Jesus gave forth a query to all present. If anyone desires to come after me, the expression to come after me describes what it is to become a disciple of Jesus Christ.

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To come after means to come behind Jesus, to follow Jesus in order to be taught by him, to live according to his instruction, according to his precepts, his laws, and to follow his lead in the path or way that he travels.

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And so a disciple is a devoted and committed believer in Jesus and follower of Jesus through life.

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We then read that Jesus said the one who desires to come after him, let him deny himself.

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Ever since Adam fell into sin in the garden of Eden, man is determined to be his own master, his own

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Lord. He desires not to deny himself, but to affirm and to assert himself.

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He thinks, expects, and demands that all others and all things conform to his worship with regard to his worship, wishes, and purposes.

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He wants to be served rather than to serve the Lord. He desires that everything serves him to make his life easier, richer, and more happy and secure.

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And we're all born into this world with this thought, this resolve. I purpose that my will will be done.

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My desires, my interests, my concerns, my goals that which I believe will secure my well -being and my happiness are foremost on my heart.

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This is the driving force and guiding goal of my life. We're self -serving.

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That's what sin is. That's how it's manifested. However, Jesus declared that if you desire to be one of his disciples, you must repudiate and relinquish your right and insistence to do your own will.

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You are deceased to be the governor, the arbitrator of all your desires, decisions, and determinations.

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Jesus Christ alone is Lord, not you, not me. The disciples of Jesus Christ have come to understand and embrace this way of life.

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But then in addition, Jesus said to them all that desired to come after him that they were to take up his cross daily.

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To take up your cross speaks, of course, of crucifixion. Crucifixion was a common form of Roman execution in the first century.

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It was a torturous, extremely painful way to experience death.

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Coupled with the physical suffering was the public shame which was associated with this form of death.

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All regarded the person who was sentenced to this form of death as having been cursed and forsaken by God, being hung on a tree.

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And to carry your cross on the way to the place of execution would be accompanied by public ridicule heaped upon you.

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Interestingly, Luke's account differs slightly from the parallel passages in Matthew and Mark in that Luke added to the words of Jesus daily.

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Every day the disciple of Jesus Christ is to take up his cross. And then lastly,

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Jesus said to them all, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

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The disciple of Jesus must follow Jesus. What does this mean? Well, it implies obedience, of course.

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To follow Jesus implies obeying him in all aspects of life. His teachings direct our lives.

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Jesus is our Lord. Now, that's what we dealt with in Luke chapter nine.

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But what we have before us here in Luke 14 is quite similar. It fills it out somewhat.

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We see it from a different perspective somewhat. But really here Jesus calls for the full commitment of his followers.

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Luke 14, 25, 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. 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, 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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For what king going to make war against another king does not sit down first and consider whether he's able with 10 ,000 to meet him who comes against him with 20 ,000 or else?

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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, he cannot be my disciple.

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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 men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

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These verses we just read, Luke 14, 25 -35, contain an introduction, which is simply verse 25.

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And then two sayings of Jesus on discipleship, and then that's followed by two parables on discipleship, and then we have a concluding metaphor given in verse 34.

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So let's work through these verses considering these matters. First, Luke's introduction to his teaching session, verse 25.

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Now great multitudes went with him. The Spirit of God once again brings before us the final journey of our

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Lord to his cross. The Lord is journeying to Jerusalem where he would suffer, die, and rise again to be glorified, and great multitudes went with him.

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Who were these multitudes? Certainly there were many among this throng of people who were enamored with Jesus due to the miracles of healing that he performed everywhere he encountered the need.

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They followed him closely, knowing that God was manifesting his mercy and power through the life and the teaching of Jesus.

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And among these multitudes, there were many who followed him because they had come to believe that he was the promised

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Messiah, the son of David, whom they believed would soon assert his reign over Israel in the glorious kingdom foretold by the

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Old Testament prophets. But there were probably many of these multitudes who were traveling to Jerusalem for the annual

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Passover celebration. They had joined with Jesus, following him to Jerusalem.

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Of course, the law of Moses required all Jewish males to travel to Jerusalem on three occasions a year to worship

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God at his temple. God had declared this to Israel back in Exodus, three times, you shall keep a feast to me in the year.

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You shall keep the feast of unleavened bread. And that's the Passover, of course, is included in that.

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You shall eat unleavened bread seven days as I commanded you at the time appointed in the month of Babe. And for in it you came out of Egypt, none shall appear before me empty.

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The second being the feast of harvest, the first fruits of your labors, which you have sown in the field, that would be a reference to Pentecost.

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And the feast of ingathering at the end of the year when you've gathered in the fruit of your labors from the field, time of harvest.

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Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord God. So there must have been a solid stream of people coming down from Galilee, heading to Jerusalem, and they found themselves going with Jesus, who also was going to Jerusalem.

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And so these multitudes who went with him were a mixed gathering of Jewish people, some desiring to be committed disciples of Jesus, some who were considering and carefully weighing his true identity, and some who were traveling to Jerusalem who had found themselves going with him as they journeyed to Jerusalem.

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Matthew Henry wrote of this group, here was a mixed multitude like that which went with Israel out of Egypt, such we must expect there will always be in the church and it will therefore be necessary that ministers should carefully separate between the precious and the vile.

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And it seems to me that's what the Lord did with this multitude on this occasion. And so the

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Lord gathered large crowds who were traveling with him, and I suppose if you or I could perform the miracles he performed, we'd be gathering crowds like he did.

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But our Lord's concern was not to gather large crowds, he desired committed faithful followers, true disciples that would follow him in faith and faithfulness.

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And so Jesus was faithful to the crowds who gathered about him and desired to travel with him.

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He'd let them know what it would cost them to follow him, to become his disciples.

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And we should attempt to make the same kind of converts. The Great Commission is not merely to evangelize as it's regarded in these days, that is get people to say they believe in Christ, rather we are to make disciples.

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That entails baptizing converts, teaching them to obey all things that the Lord Jesus ever taught.

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And we do a disservice to God and to those who see themselves as believers if we do not fully press upon them the claims of Christ.

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And so we desire Christians who are fully aware of the costs of their conversion to Christ, we desire disciples who are fully aware of the difficulty of their decision to follow

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Jesus. Jesus wanted dedicated followers, not fascinated crowds.

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I read this morning a news article that there's a band of churches, quite a hundred, several hundred of them out in California, that are planning to baptize up to 30 ,000 people on one

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Sunday, not too far of the distance. Well I hope there's 30 ,000 true converts to Jesus, but in the light of the kind of message being proclaimed today,

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I question whether that would be the case. Jesus had many followers who were impressed with him, but he wanted them to be fully committed and submitted to him.

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And so he'd make these very confronting, challenging, and exclusionary statements to drive away all that were fully committed, leaving only those fully dedicated to him and his cause.

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And these are the kind of people who should comprise church membership, dedicated disciples of Jesus Christ.

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Just as when the ancient farmer harvested his wheat, the Lord Jesus sifted the crowds. The farmer would gather great sheaves, bundles of grain stock, huge piles of the harvest, but only the small kernels of grain were valued to him.

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And so he would take the stocks of grain and beat them with sticks to knock the grain from the stocks. He'd then throw the heaps into the air and let the wind blow away the useless chaff, and only the grain remained falling to the floor.

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And this is what the Lord was doing with these crowds. He spoke very directly to them, often in a confronting style designed to drive away all but his dedicated disciples.

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These alone would follow him through hardship as well as through prosperity. If we had time, we could go to John 6 and show how the

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Lord did this very thing. He opened John 6 with over 5 ,000 people that wanted to make

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Jesus king. And so he began teaching them the doctrines of grace, and by the end of John 6, he barely had his disciples.

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The Lord would wean out the crowds. Only true disciples are

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Christians, and he wanted them and them only. Perhaps we need to remind ourselves of a matter that is of extreme importance.

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Not all of you have been with us for a very long or extended period of time, so it's good to reiterate this.

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When we speak of discipleship to Jesus, we're not speaking of a special, more advanced stage of being a

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Christian. And oftentimes, discipleship is presented in that way.

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Some think it's one thing to be a Christian, it's quite another to be a disciple. It's commonly believed to be a disciple, they say, is to be a fully dedicated

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Christian, Christian on fire. And so Christians should strive to be disciples, but it's really not essential to be a disciple to have eternal life.

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Yes, you should desire to become a disciple, but if you're a Christian, that's enough. And that's not biblical, because only true disciples are true

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Christians, according to the scriptures. The scriptures teach if you're not a disciple of Jesus Christ, you are no

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Christian. A believer to be a true believer must be a submissive, obedient follower of his

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Lord. Faith in him must have its fruit toward him. A fruitless life is a faithless life, for the fruit of obedience is the evidence of the spiritual life that God imparts to his followers.

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If Christ is known truly, believed upon rightly, obedience will be evident fully.

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Not perfectly, but it'll be there. If submission and obedience is not present, you do not have and you will not have eternal life regardless of what you claim to believe.

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This is foundational. The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch.

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Christians and disciples are one and the same. You must be a disciple before you can legitimately claim the title

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Christian. And repeatedly the Lord Jesus made it clear that to hear and obey him, in other words to be his disciple, would result in entrance into life, but to disobey him would result in exclusion and damnation.

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Here the Lord Jesus turned to his would -be followers and told them of the cost of following him.

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Earlier in Luke's gospel, we read of our Lord's words when he pressed upon those who heard him teach to respond obediently to him.

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Back in Luke 6, Jesus asked the question, why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what

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I tell you? Everyone who comes to me, hears my words and does them,

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I will show you what he's like. He's like a man building a house, who dug deep, laid the foundation on the rock.

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When a flood rose, stream broke against that house, could not shake it because it had been well built.

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But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation and when the stream broke against it, immediately it fell and the ruin of that house was great.

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Obedience is necessary. It is what it is to be a Christian, a disciple.

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Our Lord Jesus set forth the nature of being a true disciple. It's a life of obedience unto him.

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A true Christian is one who has both ears, both hears and obeys his words and so when we were converted, we ceased to be governed by our own thoughts and opinions and we submitted to Jesus Christ as the

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Lord to govern our lives. Jesus is Lord. We purpose and seek to live holy lives as we are directed by him.

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We do so with view to the final judgment when our lives will be assessed, the outcome of which will be eternal life or eternal damnation and certainly that is not saying we're saved because of our works but rather that our works will either prove or disprove our faith, saving faith on the day of judgment.

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Works are evidential. Works will show for true faith.

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Jesus did not command us to make believers of everyone but rather we're to make disciples, that is true believers.

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To make a disciple of someone, he must be taught to embrace and submit to Jesus Christ as Lord who has the authority to instruct, correct and direct his people.

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Our Lord told us that we're to teach our converts to obey him, teaching them, the great commission teaching them to observe all things that he had commanded them.

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True disciples submit to Jesus as Lord of their lives. Disciple makers must press total submission to Jesus Christ as a condition of baptism and church membership.

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Unless one submits to Jesus as Lord, he's not a disciple of Jesus Christ and if one is not a disciple of Jesus Christ, he's not a

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Christian. He does not have nor will he inherit eternal life. Again, the

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Christians or disciples were first called Christians at Antioch, extremely important and not frankly broadly or widely proclaimed.

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Was taught as long as you know who Jesus is and you believe that and what he did, that's all that's necessary, you're a

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Christian. No, only if that governs how you live. Saving faith is a life of faith in Jesus Christ, the

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Lord and Savior. Well after his initial charge to the multitude, Jesus gave forth two sayings on discipleship.

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In verse 26, we read that Christ must be loved above all other loves.

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Jesus said, 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, that's the hardest part, he cannot be my disciple.

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And so the Lord in a very abrupt and confrontive manner, in order to perhaps sober the enthusiasm of the crowds, made this demand of them and really it's the word hate which would have shocked the crowds and it shocks us as we read it.

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He uses the word to arrest their attention, to emphasize the point that he must be first in their hearts.

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But it's the way he stated the matter which is so offensive. Can you imagine being a Jew in that day, you hear of a young rabbi passing through town, you've heard much about him, you go to hear him, you gather in the crowd following him and then he suddenly, he turns abruptly and makes a statement like this, you can't follow me unless you hate your mother, your father, you know, your siblings and your own life also.

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How should we understand our Lord's words? Well, John Calvin addressed the spiritual meaning and application of these words.

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It would be absurd to insist on a literal interpretation of the phrase as if no man were a disciple of Christ till he threw into the sea all he possessed, divorced his wife and made farewell to his children.

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Such idle dreams led foolish people to adopt a monastic life as if those who intend to come to Christ must leave off humanity.

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Yet no man truly forsakes all that he possesses till he's prepared at every instant to leave all, gives himself free and unconstrained to the

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Lord and rising above every hindrance pursues his calling and thus the true self -denial which the

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Lord demands from his followers does not consist so much in outward conduct as in the affections, in other words what you love, so that everyone must employ the time which is passing over him without allowing the object which he directs by his hand to hold a place in his heart.

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You have to love the Lord Jesus above anything else in life and above anybody else in life.

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He takes preeminence. Our Lords are forceful,

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John Gill wrote, such who would be accounted the disciple of Christ should be ready to part with their dearest relations and friends, with the greatest enjoyments of life and with life itself when

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Christ calls for it or otherwise they are not worthy to be called his disciples.

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Of course the only ones who can do that are ones who are worked upon by the grace of God, right? The Lord has to put that in somebody's soul because it's not natural, it's very unnatural.

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So our Lord's words were indeed a hard saying both then and today. At least we should say it is for the unregenerate person, for the child of God who has been the object of saving grace who has been born again by the

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Spirit of God, this is really not a hard saying. Of course I love the Lord most and best above all things.

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Really it's natural for the Christian who possesses a new nature to love Christ supremely above all other loves, the

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Spirit of God has been given to us and he has shed abroad in our hearts the love for God that we currently possess.

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Peter could write of true Christians, in this you greatly rejoice, and he's talking about their sufferings for being

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Christians, though now for a little while if need be you've been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith being much more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ whom having not seen you love, and that's true of every true

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Christian. The Christian loves the Lord Jesus, though now you do not see him yet believing you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory receiving the end or the outcome of your life of faith, if I may paraphrase, even the salvation of your souls.

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Now certainly it's true that even the true child of God, and I'd say every child of God at one time or another, may lapse and struggle with this.

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The Christian's love may wane for a time, take a wife and mother for example, she may tend to elevate the loved ones which are before her eyes to a place that rivals her loved one whom she cannot see.

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But words like our Lord's in these verses quickly jar her to her sentences and devotion to Jesus Christ is reaffirmed, and if asked, if pressed, the statement is made, yes

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I love the Lord above all other loves, and so here is the first demand that the

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Lord places upon his disciples, do you love the Lord Jesus more than any other person and by extension any other thing on this earth?

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If you do not, you cannot be his disciple, and remember all non -disciples will be damned.

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This shows us that we can only be saved by sovereign grace, Lord unless you shed abroad your love in my heart,

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I'm a goner, is what the non -Christian should say. We should also point out that to love the

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Lord more does not mean that you're to love others less than what you currently do. It is not disloyalty nor diminishing of your love for loved ones to say that you love the

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Lord more than them, rather your love for them will become stronger, less selfish, purer of kind, more expressive of affection if you love the

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Lord Jesus supremely. Believer, do you not love your earthly brother or sister more now than before you were converted?

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Do you not love your father and mother more deeply, your spouse and children more fully because you see them as God's gifts to you?

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Some of us might find it difficult loving some members of our extended family if it were not for the fact that we love

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God and it spills over in our relationship with others. It is not disloyalty to say you love the

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Lord more and you cannot be a disciple of the Lord Jesus, a true Christian, if you do any less.

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Christ must be loved above all love, including your love for yourself. By the way, the present day emphasis of a need to develop love for yourself is unbiblical nonsense.

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They argue and reason, how can you love God unless you love yourself, so you got to focus on loving yourself, they tell you.

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Now, the Bible says the real problem is you already love yourself. Problem is you don't love others and you don't love

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God. That's the problem. Problem isn't because you love yourself, or the problem is because you love yourself, not because you don't love yourself enough.

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Paul wrote, for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it. Common sense should tell you this, and yet some will try and tell you today that this problem must be remedied.

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The problem you have is you don't love yourself enough. Whenever I think of this,

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I think of my old friend Doug Moore. He was an elementary school teacher, he was the only white teacher in an all black school in North Sacramento.

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They had a teacher's meeting one day, and they were all sitting in the room, all the teachers, because little

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Johnny had stabbed, a second grade student had stabbed another student with a pencil.

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And this was back in the 80s, and so they were all sitting around. What the problem was, how do we deal with it?

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Well, the problem is Johnny doesn't love himself enough. And Doug spoke up, said, no, the problem is

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Johnny doesn't love others enough. And this is exactly right. Well, Christ must be followed regardless of the cost.

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Not only must he be loved above all loves, he must be followed regardless of the cost of doing so.

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Jesus said, whoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

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This is the same demand we read back in Luke 9, 23. The cross, again, an implement of death, a cruel, agonizing death, hands and feet were generally tied to the cross.

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The base, which was put in a hole in the ground, suffocation was ultimately the cause of death.

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Our Lord suffered additional tortures, having been beaten, whipped, fastened to his cross with nails. To bear one's cross means that a disciple of Jesus Christ must live as a dead man with respect to his own desires and decisions.

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And we're to do so daily when we get up in the morning. Lord, don't let me live for myself today, but let me live and order my life according to your will in service to others.

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If we were thinking rightly, feeling rightly, that's how we would think as we got up in the morning.

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The Christian dies to self -will. He denies himself. That is, his interests and goals are no longer primary.

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He no longer sees his life, family, his friends as his servants. Rather, he's a servant to them.

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The disciple regards life in this world as already finished. Take up your cross.

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To bear one's cross and to follow Jesus means obedience to his teaching, following his leading.

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Christianity isn't a one -time sinner's prayer. It's not a one -time decision to trust something or even a one -time decision to trust

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Jesus. If there's a decision, it's I have decided to follow Jesus. That's what faith does.

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The Christian confesses, I will as he enables me, do his will, seek his glory all the days of my life.

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Again, if anyone refuses to do this, he cannot hope to have eternal life that's in him. He's not a man.

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She's not a woman of faith. You cannot claim to be a disciple and disregard these words.

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Well then our Lord gave two parables on discipleship. We have the would -be builder, verses 28 through 30.

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He gave this parable of a wise builder who must first calculate if he can afford to complete his building project before commencing work upon it.

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For which of you intending to build a tower does not sit down first, count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it, lest after he has laid the foundation 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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These verses always came to my mind as I was putting that second floor on my house. I can't stop here.

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People be mocking me for starting and not being able to finish. It was a motivation to get it done, thankfully.

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But again, as we stated earlier, the Lord would have his would -be followers know at the outset that they had a great task ahead of them, which would involve all their effort, their total dedication, and the expenditure of all their resources.

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Count the cost in advance. Like a building you want to build, be aware of the work, the costs involved before you start on it.

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Else the unfinished building will be a perpetual monument of your failure. Finishing is all important.

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Do not set out to follow Jesus in faith and obedience unless you're aware of what it entails.

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The thought of John Bunyan in his classic Pilgrim's Progress, he makes this point. Christian set out for the celestial city from his hometown, the city of destruction.

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He had a conversation with one whose name was Pliable, who had been persuaded to journey with Christian because he heard

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Christian speak of the wondrous things they would receive from the Lord. And of course, the first thing that happened was they fell into a bog called the

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Slough of Despond. They got depressed. And after some struggle,

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Pliable managed to climb back out and determined to return home. And these were his words to Christian.

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Bunyan was brilliant. At this, Pliable began to be offended and angrily said to his fellow, is this the happiness you told me all this while of?

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If we have such ill speed at our first setting now, what may we expect betwixt this and our journey's end?

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May I get out again with my life and you shall possess the brave country alone for me. And with that, he gave a desperate struggle or two and got out of the mire on the side of the slough, which was next to his own house.

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So away he went and Christian saw him no more. Bunyan didn't drop him there.

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Bunyan went on to describe Pliable having reached home. Now, I saw my dream that by this time,

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Pliable got home to his house again so that his neighbors came in to visit him. Some of them called him wise man for coming back.

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Some called him fool for hazarding himself with Christian. And others again mocked at his coward saying, surely since you began to venture,

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I would not have been so base to have given out for a few difficulties. So Pliable sat sneaking among them, but at last he got more confidence and then they all turned their tails and began to deride poor

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Christian behind his back and thus much concerning Pliable. Our Lord does not want his ranks peopled with Pliables.

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He warned them at the outset that they had a difficult course before them. It's better not to set out than to set out and not finish.

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And that's what he's emphasizing to these people. We might ask the question, what would be the results of large evangelistic crusades if at the invitation, the preacher would say something like this.

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Now wait, although salvation is free, you cannot earn it with any of your works, but coming to Christ will cost you everything.

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You must give up all for him. You must put your family, your friends, your hobby, your sports, your longings and aspirations aside and secondary to this one thing.

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You must be willing to submit to Jesus Christ as your Lord and follow him through all of life no matter what it may cost you.

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Now knowing that, come to him, come down to the aisle. Would there be fewer come?

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I suspect so. And there would be far fewer in our ranks which would claim to be

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Christian. But our testimony in the world would be much stronger if churches were characterized by true disciples of Jesus Christ.

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And we would not have scores of people who are deluded that they have eternal life. We would make them aware of their true condition.

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This is how Charles Spurgeon dealt with this passage. He wrote a sermon on Luke 14, 25 and following.

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Our Lord Jesus was far too wise to pride himself upon the number of his converts.

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He cared rather for quality than quantity. He rejoiced over one sinner that repented, but 10 ,000 sinners who merely professed to have repented would have given him no joy whatever.

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His heart longed after the real. He loathed the counterfeit. He panted after the substance and the shadow he could not content him.

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His fan was in his hand with which to thoroughly purge his floor, and his axe was laid to the root of the trees to hew down the fruitless.

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He was anxious to leave a living church like good seed corn in the land as free as possible from all admixture.

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And hence in this particular instance, one might even think that he was repelling men rather than attracting them to his leadership.

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But indeed he was doing nothing of the kind. He understood right well that men to be truly one must be one by truth, that the truest love is ever honest, that the best disciple is not a disciple is not he who joins the class of the great master in a hurry and then afterwards discovers that the learning is not such as he expected, but one who comes sighing after just such knowledge as a teacher is prepared to give.

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Nothing is more injurious to a church and a large dilution with half -hearted members and nothing more dangerous to the persons themselves than to allow them to put on untrue profession.

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And therefore did the master take most care at that time when that care was most needed that none should follow him under misapprehension, but should be made fully aware of what was meant by being his disciples so that they should not say afterwards we've been misled.

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We've been beguiled into a service which disappoints us. Unlike the enlisting sergeant who sets forth all the glories of military service in glowing colors in order to gain a recruit, the great captain of our salvation would have his followers take all things into consideration before they cast in their lot with him.

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And then we have the second parable that of a defeated king. Verses 31 and following are what king going to make war against another king does not sit down first and consider whether he's able with 10 ,000 to meet him who comes against him with 20 ,000 or else while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation ask conditions of peace.

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So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple.

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So what option do you have? You must surrender and do so unconditionally.

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The Lord demands unconditional surrender of all and every one of his disciples.

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The alternative is utter destruction by the Lord. We must capitulate.

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God's forces are too great. The thought of resistance is futile. No one will be able to withstand him.

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God has sent his commander, the Lord Jesus, to take back this world and he will be victorious and we can either surrender and participate in the blessings of his kingdom or suffer the consequences for failing to do so.

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So Matthew Henry wrote, note first, those that persist in sin make war against God and most unnatural, unjustifiable war.

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They rebel against their lawful sovereign whose government is perfectly just and good. And secondly, the proudest, most daring sinner is no equal match for God.

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The disproportion of strength is much greater than here supposed between 10 ,000 and 20 ,000.

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Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? No, surely. Who knows the power of his anger?

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In consideration of this, it's our interest to make peace with him. We need not send a desire conditions of peace.

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They're offered to us and are unexceptionable and highly to our advantage. Let us acquaint ourselves with them and be at peace.

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Do this in time while the other is yet a great way off for delays in such a case are highly dangerous and make after applications difficult.

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Why would anyone hesitate? We were to surrender all to the

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Lord unconditionally. Jesus has taken captivity captive and we ourselves, all we have have become his spoils.

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He is one. He's the victor. We belong to him. And all that once belonged to us now belongs to him.

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The disciple must surrender and always be ready to surrender everything he has to the Lord. As one put it, discipleship means saying a final goodbye to one's possessions.

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It's the Lord's. I am a steward now of his property and must manage it accordingly.

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Refusal to respond to the ultimatum means forfeiture of the blessing which he has for his people alone.

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Jesus said, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. That's what a

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Christian is, a disciple is. And then he concludes his words with this illustration, the savorless salt.

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Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It's either fit for the land, it is neither fit for the land nor the dunghill, but men throw it out.

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He who has ears to hear, let him hear. And so failure to follow

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Jesus will result in exclusion of every eternal blessing. A half -hearted disciple has no basis of hope.

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He's like savorless salt, casted away. It's of no use to the Lord, as one commentator explained it, the closing saying appears to express the ultimate uselessness of the half -hearted disciple who can expect only judgment.

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This is a very hard -hitting passage and it certainly shows that, you know, if a sinner is going to become a disciple, it's going to be due to the grace of God powerfully working in him or her.

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If you're like me, you didn't grow up in church, but you were living the life of a rebel. This was very undesirable.

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Giving up everything, submitting to Jesus, I want no part of that. I want to be the Lord of my life, thank you.

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And then the Lord, of course, so afflicts you, makes you so miserable until you come to the place where that's what you desire and you willingly submit to him as your

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Lord and Savior. And you love it in doing so. That's only the result of the grace of God working powerfully in the soul.

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Well, what about reactions to our Lord's teaching of this passage? They're possible reactions.

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Again, it's a hard passage, but really it's only hard for the non -disciple, the non -Christian.

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For when a person is born again by the Spirit of God, these very things which Christ taught and commanded become the longings and the delights of the heart.

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Indeed, his commandments are not grievous to the Christian. We want to surrender all and we grieve when we don't.

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The true Christian hears these things and gives forth an amen from the heart. This is his desire.

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And yet it is so that true Christians can become sidetracked and they must be brought back to a place where they belong and genuinely desire to be.

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The passage like this serves us quite well in performing this as we look to Christ to set our priorities straight once again before us.

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Lord, I have wandered, I have strayed. Bring me back to where I want to be and should be, that I know where is the place of blessing.

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Forgive me for my defection and my departure. But to the unconverted person, the words of this passage must be grievous and they can be no less.

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For these demands are not only unnatural, but they are not naturally desirable.

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They are true impossibilities. You cannot work this up as a non -Christian.

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It has to be worked in you by the Holy Spirit. The sooner this is recognized, the better off that person will be, for it's in a place of desperation when one is aware of one's own sensualness and helplessness to affect any permanent change.

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That is when the person is humbled before God, will look to Christ alone, both to pardon and to pour out the

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Holy Spirit to affect his new life, to transform him. So it would do us well to consider possible reactions to the teaching of Jesus in this passage.

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First, consider the unbeliever. This message may seem to be unusual and uncommon.

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Most often the gospel of salvation is not popularly set forth in terms of what you're to do or how you're to live if you desire to be a true

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Christian, but that's what Jesus does here. This is what he said before the great multitudes.

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Most evangelistic efforts today focus solely teaching, proclaiming who Jesus Christ is, what he did, and that he is to be believed upon alone for salvation.

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This appeal to believe is occasionally preceded by the preaching of God's law, as it should be, but the aim or goal of the one witnessing is to gain a profession of faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation.

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But our true design and effort in evangelism is to make disciples of the

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Lord Jesus, not simply believers in Jesus. We've got enough believers. We need disciples.

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And in making disciples, we're to tell people not only what they're to believe, but how they are to live according to one's profession that Jesus Christ is both

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Savior and Lord. And so we are to tell them of their sin from which they need to turn.

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In other words, they must show forth true repentance from sin. For the unbeliever, he may see that his faith falls short of what the

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Lord Jesus sets forth before these people. And so the Holy Spirit may use this message to convict that unbeliever of his sin, to stir his heart to truly seek to know and follow the

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Lord. The Lord, therefore, may use this message to draw the heart of a lost man or woman to true saving faith in Jesus Christ.

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Whatever I am, whatever I have had, is not what is described here. There's something terribly faulty about my profession.

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And secondly, for the superficial or nominal Christian, this message may seem to be an errant false message of way of salvation.

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It confuses them or troubles the nominal Christian. For they've been told and taught that salvation is free, not based on any works, not dependent on anything you do, which is certainly true when discussing justification by God's grace through faith alone in Christ alone.

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But they have been taught, therefore, you do not need to do anything but believe on Jesus Christ.

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It does not matter what you do or fail to do, for Jesus paid it all. That has a ring of truth, but it has fatal error.

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J .C. Ryle wrote of the many false Christians produced due to this defective message.

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For want, or old English word for absence, for the absence of counting the cost, and this is from his book,

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Holiness, he wrote a chapter on the cost, and it was based on Luke 14, 25 and following.

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For the absence of counting the cost, the hearers of powerful evangelical preachers often come to miserable ends.

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They are stirred and excited into professing what they have not really experienced. They receive the word with a joy so extravagant that it almost startles old

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Christians. They run for a time with such zeal and fervor that they seem likely to outstrip all others.

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They talk and work for spiritual objects with such enthusiasm that they make older believers feel ashamed.

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But when the novelty and freshness of their feelings is gone, a change comes over them. They prove to have been nothing more than stony ground hearers.

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The description the great master gives in the parable of the sower is exactly exemplified.

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Temptation or persecution arises because of the word and they are offended. And little by little their zeal melts away, their love becomes cold, and by and by their seats are empty in the assembly of God's people, and they're heard of no more among Christians, and why?

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They had never counted the cost. See, Jesus is telling people, count the cost.

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For absence of counting the cost, hundreds of professed converts under religious revivals go back to the world after a time and bring disgrace on religion.

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They begin with a sadly mistaken notion of what is true Christianity. They fancy it consists in nothing more than a so -called coming to Christ and having strong inward feelings of joy and peace.

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And so when they find after a time that there is a cross to be carried, that our hearts are deceitful, and that there's a busy devil always near us, they cool down in disgust and return to their old sins, and it's pliable.

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And why? Because they had really never known what Bible Christianity is. They had never learned that we must count the cost.

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I am bold to say that it would be well if the duty of counting the cost were more frequently taught than it is.

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Impatient hurry is the order of the day with many religionists. Instantaneous conversions and immediate sensible peace are the only results they seem to care for from the gospel.

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Compared with these, all other things are thrown into the shade to produce them as the grand end and object, apparently, of all their labors.

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I say without hesitation that such a naked, one -sided mode of teaching Christianity is mischievous in the extreme.

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But then, lest he be misunderstood, he expressed his belief in and desire for instantaneous conversions.

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Let no one mistake my meaning. I thoroughly approve of offering men a full and free, present, immediate salvation in Christ Jesus.

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I thoroughly approve of urging on man the possibility and the duty of immediate instantaneous conversion.

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In these matters I give place to no one, but I do say that these truths ought not to be set before men nakedly, singly, and alone.

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They ought to be told honestly what it is they're taking up if they profess a desire to come out from the world and serve

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Christ. They ought not to be pressed into the ranks of Christ's army without being told what the warfare entails.

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In a word, they should be told honestly to count the cost. And that's what Jesus was doing here in Luke 14, 25 through 35.

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Calvin wrote, the reason why many persons yield to very slight temptations is that they have pictured to themselves unmixed enjoyment, as if they were to be always in the shade and at their ease.

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No man will ever become fit to serve Christ till he has undergone a long preparation for warfare.

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What about for many preachers the message that we have heard from Jesus today?

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For many preachers this message is viewed as either legalistic or that it should be proclaimed only to Christians with view to their progressive sanctification.

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They might say that the message we've set forth today, which Jesus himself declared to the multitudes, didn't he, is law, not gospel.

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So they'd have the attitude like this fellow, the law reflecting God's holy and righteous nature shows us what

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God requires and wills, amen. The law reveals sin, amen. The law shall do.

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The gospel declares to try on God's favor and free salvation in Christ Jesus. The gospel comforts in saying it is done.

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When the law and gospel are confused or mingled, this is what they would say we did this morning.

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The gospel, which means good news, turns Jesus into a new Moses, albeit a seemingly less formidable one.

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The strict gospel is not an exhortation, it's a promise, it's a declaration, not to -do list.

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Yet it's very easy for the difference of law and gospel to be eclipsed. But this is exactly what

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Jesus did, didn't he? He told them what they needed to do. This is how faith is demonstrated and shown forth.

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And so although we would acknowledge the truthfulness of this statement in many contexts, it would be a mistake to classify this message of Jesus as law and not gospel.

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The Lord Jesus proclaimed these words of exhortation, not to his committed disciples only, but to the great multitudes who were traveling with him.

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This was an evangelistic message given by our Lord, telling them what was involved, what was required to be regarded as one of his true disciples.

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And obviously, Jesus was teaching these people that they were to put their faith in him alone for salvation, but he was faithful to set before them the nature of that life of faith in which he would lead them.

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And so this message will correct the false teaching of cheap grace or easy believism. And again, to quote

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Ryle, but it does cost something to be a real Christian, according to the standard of the

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Bible. There are enemies to be overcome, battles to be fought, sacrifices to be made, and Egypt to be forsaken, a wilderness to be passed through, a cross to be carried, a race to be won.

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Conversion is not putting a man in an armchair and taking him easily to heaven. It's the beginning of a mighty conflict, which it costs much to win the victory.

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Hence arises the unspeakable importance of counting the cost. Amen. J .C.

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Ryle. Well, lastly, for true disciples, what does this message mean?

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Well, it's instructive and challenging, isn't it? It often is the case that our Lord converts a sinner who becomes a true

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Christian, but that Christian is not fully informed as to what lies before him and what would be the cost and trials for living as a disciple of Christ in the fallen world.

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And so messages like this informs, instructs, and conforms the Christian to greater degrees of holiness in thought and life.

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When I came to Christ in January 1972, I had no clue about these matters, but when they were taught,

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I embraced them, I believed them. And so maybe some of you have been true disciples of Jesus Christ, but perhaps you didn't fully see the cost involved.

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You see it now. Move forward. Step into it. And so the

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Lord will use a message like this to convict a true Christian of some aspect of life, perhaps a relationship that needs to be reformed or more conformed to the will of Christ.

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The Lord may use a message like this to instill faith, courage, resolve to press forward in the face of trial and opposition in order to follow the

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Lord fully and faithfully. And so may our Lord enable each of us to receive and respond to this message in this manner.

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May the Lord truly enable us to live lives of faith, of saving faith, following our

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Lord, denying ourselves, taking up our cross daily. This is the life of the true

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Christian. May he enable us, may he reinvigorate us with the desire and infuse us with the ability by the

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Holy Spirit to do so. Amen? Let's pray. Thank you, Father, for your word.

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Our Lord Jesus, we thank you for these words that we have in Luke 14 in which you challenge the multitudes and our

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Lord, we ourselves are challenged by your words. Be merciful and gracious, our

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God, rekindle in our hearts a true resolve, a full commitment, our

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God, to order our lives in faith to you, to order our thinking, our

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God, and our living, our daily lives according to your will. Jesus, we confess that you are

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Lord, not we ourselves. Help us, our God, to live accordingly, to live out our faith in a way that you've set before us in your word, for we pray these things, our