Disciple - Luke 14:25-35 (Pastor Jeff Shipley)

Now I want you to pay attention. It wasn't anything in Israel. It wasn't their military size.

It wasn't the type of people. We're going to be in Luke chapter 15 today.

Luke chapter 15. And we're going to be talking about discipleship.

The sound is perfect guys. Thank you. Discipleship. How many of you in this room are

Christians? Raise your hand. Okay. Good, good, good. I see some not hands raised.

We'll get to you in a minute. How many of you are disciples? Okay. Alright.

Here's what's amazing. In the New Testament, the word Christian is only used three times.

Jesus never used the word Christian. But over 297 times, over 297 times,

He used the term disciple. He used that term to describe the true believers.

So the question I have today is not whether you are a Christian. The question

I have for you today is are you a disciple of Jesus Christ?

Now before you answer, I think it's fair to note and to describe what that means before you commit to it.

At the end of this sermon, we're going to have a time for you to respond. If you are not a

Christian and want to become one, that's going to be a time for you. But also, if you are a

Christian but you need to refocus and become a disciple,

I'm going to ask you to come down here front too. Because you need God's people to help accomplish that.

So let's set the context harmonetically. Go to Luke 14. And we're going to see what this passage in Luke 15 is all about.

So Luke 14 .1, We're told that Jesus is invited one

Sabbath when he went to dine at the house of the ruler of the Pharisees. So this would be like the archbishop.

This is like a big preacher guy. When he went to dine at the ruler of the

Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy.

That's kind of like edema. His body was retaining fluid. And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees saying,

Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not? But they didn't say a word.

Now, let me put this to you in context. This was not a chance meeting.

Okay? This was not a chance meeting. They invited Jesus over to dinner and they had this sick person all swollen laying in the road in front of the house.

Jesus walks up and he knows exactly what they're going to do because God said keep the

Sabbath holy. That's all he said. Keep it holy. But the religious people that we still do it today, we take

God's law and add 330 things to it to try to make it more exclusive for us.

But as God said, I want everybody. Not just the religious right. So God's sitting there.

Jesus is sitting there. And He walks up. He knows what's up. He walks up and He turns to them.

And before they even have a chance to spring the trap, He asks them the question, Is it lawful for a man to heal on the

Sabbath? Verse 4, But they remained silent. Then He took him and healed him and sent him away.

And He said to them, Which of you having a son or an ox that falls into a well on the

Sabbath day will not immediately pull him out? And they could not reply to these things.

Now just a couple of things before we get going. There was no band.

No light show. There was no praise team. There was no great healing crusade.

I loathe that terminology. I loathe it. There was no

Benny Hinn. There was nobody getting slapped in the head. There was nobody falling on the ground giggling.

Jesus saw a need. Picked him up and said, You're healed. Go home. That's it.

You know why? Because Jesus is the epicenter which all glory should go.

Even when we have seen miracles. We have had a lady cured of cancer in here. I'm not going to mention her name.

And most of you don't know her. Because she is not the object of worship. God is the object of worship.

But you have these idiots on TV that claim in the name of Jesus to heal.

Let me tell you something. The only miracles that are ever done is by Jesus Christ Himself.

You don't look at a beautiful piece of art and praise the brush. You praise the artist, right?

But we have in a world today, we praise the brushes, the tools that God can use.

And in today's time, we even mimic Him trying to get money for ourselves. But I want to turn now.

So Jesus is at the dinner. He goes through the dinner. And there's this awkward silence.

Because they just saw a miracle. Now remember, they hated Jesus. Because Jesus was taking the attention off of them and put it on Himself.

And so they hated His guts. They were trying to find a way to kill Him. And so they're sitting in dinner.

And it's this awkward silence. And you can read 14 and it will tell you this. There's this awkward silence.

One of the pastors looks around. Blessed be he who eats the bread of God.

And that's about what it sounded like. And they didn't know what to do. And they were feeling very awkward.

And Jesus said, hey, thanks for dinner. I'm leaving. So now go to Luke 14 .26

and watch what happens afterwards. So He finishes dinner.

And He gets up and leaves in verse 25. And great crowds accompanied

Him. And He turned to them and said, If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters and yes, and even his own life, he could not be

My disciple. Let me tell you the first characteristic about being a disciple of Christ. You are going to be a minority.

You're going to be a minority. And I ain't talking about all that bull crap, racial stuff that you people are eating up like pigs on slop.

I'm talking about a real minority. I'm talking about where the world is going to hate you for the name of Jesus.

How many of you seek approval? I'm looking at some of you 18 -year -old men in here.

How many of you seek approval from your friends and your, what's that thing called, the

TikTok thing? Y 'all are on the Snapchat, the TikTok, the Facebook, and followers.

That's the word I was looking for. You want followers for yourself, but you don't want to be a follower.

Oh, you'll follow the dude with tattoos on his face with rap music holding stacks of money because that's something to emulate.

That guy's an idiot and going to hell and you're going to follow him there. Some of you girls want to follow the prettiest, most popular chick on that stuff.

Listen, if you're going to be a Christian, you are going to be different than the rest of the world.

Some of y 'all's language, some of y 'all's language as born -again believers sounds way too close to the world.

Pastor, you know, I don't think it's wrong to cuss. Okay, you want to talk about right and wrong, that's fine.

I'm talking about where is the marked difference in your words and actions that are different from the world.

Do you blend in like you're wearing world camouflage or are you so different the world says there's something different about that guy?

Here it says a large crowd followed Jesus. Now watch Jesus' strategic marketing plan for growing a church.

They're following him. He stops and says, You people want to come after me?

If you want to come after me, you've got to hate everybody else. Have a good day. What?

You mean I've got to hate my mama? I've got to hate my daddy? I've got to hate my children?

As long as grandchildren isn't in there, we're good, right? I've got to hate everybody to follow you?

I didn't stutter. How can you do that? I remember when my kids were growing up, my wife and I took every opportunity to explain to them, we don't love you like we love each other.

We don't. Y 'all are just passing through. Me and her are going to be together for 50 years.

And guys, let me tell you something. I've heard about this empty nest thing. It ain't true. You hear what

I'm saying, sister? It ain't true, man. Me and Gwen are having the time of our lives.

And we like it when the grandkids come over and say, Hey, yeah, here, go, bye. You know,

Paul, Cindy, you know what I'm saying? Later, we told our kids, we love each other more than we love you.

And I know that sounds contradictory to the world, but that's what I'm going for. As for me and my house, we're serving the

Lord and I ain't joking. Guys, Jesus turned around and said, you can't follow me unless you hate everything else.

Now, the Greek word here, it doesn't literally mean hate as in detest.

It means a lesser love. A lesser love. Love the

Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. And love your neighbor as yourself.

That was the whole law of Jesus Christ. The whole idea of Jesus was to love

God and love each other. Ladies and gentlemen, if you want to be a disciple of Christ, it means you're going to be a minority.

Let me ask you a question. What do you love more than Jesus? Right now.

Just stop and think. Forget sermon. Forget church. Forget all this crap. What do you love more than Jesus?

If you say nothing, I'm going to ask you to rethink your answer. Oh no,

Pastor. When we were singing that song, I had that feeling, you know? I got the goosebumps.

Yeah, guys, when the last note is played, those go away when you're an immature Christian. But when you're a disciple of Christ, you can talk about Jesus.

You can hear about Jesus. You can absolutely love serving God. Well, Pastor, how do

I serve God? It's real simple. You serve His people. You serve His people. How much do you love

Jesus? Well, let me ask you this. How much are you obeying and serving Him? Well, not much.

Then you don't love Him like you love yourself. Guys, we need to be the

Master's minority. Number two, disciples will be committed to Jesus above everything else.

Now, I want to point this out to you. Verse 26. If anyone comes to me, the two things

I want you to note is this. Anyone. It doesn't say white, Anglo -Saxon,

Southern Protestant Republicans. It don't say oppressed liberal Democrats. It doesn't say this group or that group.

You know why? Because there's only two groups of people in the world. Those that are lost and without hope, and those who have been found by the blood of Jesus Christ.

That's the only two groups there is. But the Gospel of Jesus Christ is open to anyone.

I know that in this room there are homosexuals. In this room right now. I know there are.

So what? Your sin is no worse than their sin. I know that there are addicts in this room.

Good Lord, we got a bunch of them. In this room right now. And thank you for coming.

Alright? But that don't matter either. I know some of y 'all are divorced. I know some of y 'all have been hurt.

I know some of y 'all are absolutely despondent. I know some of y 'all couldn't find your butt with both hands in the dark.

You're that dumb. Have you looked around lately?

Guys, listen to me. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is open to you.

But notice this other thing. Jesus said, if anyone wishes to come after me.

Now, I want you to think about this for a second. Watch this. All you people out there in Witten Land.

I have God's will for your life. If you will listen to me. Do what

I tell you to do. Follow me and give up everything else. By the way, we're serving

Kool -Aid right after this service. You will be just fine. Do you realize the audacity of Jesus' words right here?

To every Jew there, they were like, dude be smoking crack. He has lost his every mind.

Jesus in his audacious, exclusive command right here.

He didn't say follow God. He said follow me. Which is the exact same thing.

Jesus Christ says, I'm not interested in you following Baptists. I'm not interested in who you follow on Twitter.

I'm not interested in who you follow in the elections. You must come to me.

The exclusivity of the name of Jesus Christ is more powerful than you will ever, ever imagine.

I want you to understand this. And I know this is going around today in philosophy. Not all roads lead to Jesus.

Now listen, this is going to offend some of you. There is no way to heaven except by Jesus Christ.

It's not Buddha or Muhammad or whatever little cafeteria style theology you want to go.

Jesus said, I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. No one comes to the

Father but by me. You see, if you're a disciple of Christ, you've got to leave everything behind.

But you can't just leave everything behind and follow anything. You have to follow Christ and Christ alone.

I want you to hear this. I need you to understand that your level of commitment is not based on your emotions.

Okay? Now listen, how many of y 'all are married? Raise your hand. How many of y 'all have ever had that moment where you're like looking at your spouse?

And I've been married 30, I don't know, something years. There are still times where I'm looking at my wife and my wife is very dorky.

Okay? She does not get sense of humor. She can't tell jokes.

Please don't ever tell her jokes. She is the biggest dork in the world. But it's usually at that time when

I'm looking at her and everybody else is looking at her trying to figure out what she's trying to say. In my head,

I go, man, I really love her. And I really do.

I mean, there are times when you look at your spouse and you're like, wow, I really love this person.

You know what I mean? Have y 'all ever had that? Okay, go to Brandon's class if you hadn't. But that's not what we're talking about here.

That's not what we're talking about here. My wife is the toughest person

I know on the face of the earth. She had bronchitis and she's had it all week.

She sounds like she's on her 20th pack of cigarettes for the day. You know? She's like...

It's so sexually attractive, let me tell you. And as she's hacking and coughing up stuff and it crawls away, it's just, it's disgusting.

And I said to her, Gwen, why don't you stay home from work?

Now, when I was a kid, I probably went to school maybe three out of five days a week.

Okay? I always went to school, I just didn't do the whole class thing. Okay? The class thing was boring to me.

School was awesome. Class, not so much. I said, Gwen, why don't you stay home from work? I think

I can make it. I'll be alright. You want to smoke another bowl, baby?

I mean... She is tough as nails.

Tough as nails. It's amazing to me. She does not know the word quit, but she knows the word sacrifice.

Sacrifice. So she's sick, she comes home Thursday. When she gets home,

I've done all the laundry, washed the sheets, cleaned the house, cleaned the bathrooms,

I have a TV tray with a little towel on it, went to Tzatziki's and got this disgusting lemon soup crap.

Have y 'all ever had that stuff? Does anybody... You people like it?

God, you people are going to hell. It is the most disgusting filth.

She loves it. Remember, she is a dork. I had that in a little bowl with some crackers, a little napkin, and I served it to her, and I said, sit down on the couch.

I gotta get the... No, you ain't. I already done it. Well, I gotta do the... I already did it. I already did it.

You don't need to do nothing. Sit down. Eat.

Drink your water. And then I put her... She was asleep by 6 .45.

Guess what? She was up 5 a .m. the next morning going to work. Now, I, the whole time while I'm serving her, did not have one of those emotional feelings of, wow,

I love you. Mostly it was, can you cover your mouth? Maybe do something with your hair.

You know, my gosh, you look horrible. You know? But I was loving her.

You see, if you want to come after Jesus and be a disciple, it means leaving everything else, including the feelings that you're looking for for validation.

Some of you in this room, you're battered Christians because you're battered by your own mind in saying that I should feel

X to validate why I am with Christ. Guys, if you do that, you're going to explode.

You're going to reach a point at some point in your spiritual development where you're going to give up because you're tired of trying.

Come here. It's really good news for you because there was this guy that once said, hey, all you that are heavy and weary, come to me, for I will in no wise cast you out.

Quit looking. Give up everything, including your emotions of self -indictment.

Okay? Third thing, I want you to look at this. It says this, verse 27, whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

It was 4 B .C. We think Jesus was born between 4 and 6

B .C. So this was 4 B .C. And the Jews in Galilee, which is north of Jerusalem, started getting a little froggy.

Jews were always wanting to pick a fight because they were sick of the Romans and they wanted to kill them and get them out of there because they were

Jews, right? So a guy rebelled against the

Roman government. Rebelled against them. And the Romans said, alright, cool, y 'all rebel.

And they sent a guy called Verus. He was a Roman general. And this dude was not a joke.

He grabbed a couple of legions on the way to Jerusalem, and they whipped every Jew in Galilee.

And as an example, what he did is he gathered up all the

Jews that he had captured and all the Jews that he had killed and he nailed them on spikes all along the road from Galilee into Jerusalem.

Now you say, well that's pretty heinous. Well no, what was heinous was about 6 months later because the birds changed their migratory patterns because it was a free buffet for 6 months.

And you could not get close to that area without smelling the decayed, rotting flesh.

It kind of kept some people from revolting. It really did. But what it also did and this happened more than once, it taught the people what brutality and crucifixion was.

So when Jesus said to His people following Him who were followers, but most of them were fans.

You know what I mean? They appreciated the whole, let's heal, let's help the sick, let's be advocates for the poor people and the prostitutes.

Yeah, we're all for that. We're a fan of that. Well, if you want to keep following Me, you're going to have to take up your cross.

Whoa! Jesus, you're getting a little personal there. That's not appropriate talk in this kind of setting.

This is a religious gathering. Don't be talking about people riding on corpses, riding on crosses.

But that's the price of admission to be a follower of Jesus. You must take up your cross.

Now, notice this. You must take up your cross. Ladies and gentlemen, look up here.

Focus right here. I know some of y 'all are ADDing on me. Stay right here. You are already condemned.

You think you're going to get to heaven and God's going to go, eh, you're condemned. That's not what Scripture says.

When you were conceived in your mother's womb, you were already condemned. And you have no hope.

You can't do... I have a counseling couple and I asked them. They were referred to me by someone else.

They came here and I said, if I shot you right now and you died, would you go to heaven or hell? They said heaven. I said why?

Because we're pretty good people. We do more good than bad. Wow. Wow. I didn't know there were people who still thought that.

Guys, you are already condemned to hell. Already.

You have no hope. You see, you're already on the cross. Dead. You are that decaying body on the cross.

And the grace of God our Father reached out and said, Jesus, get me that one. And Jesus stretched out

His arms so that you could have eternal life. Each one of us already bears the cross of total depravity and damnation.

That's not what Jesus is talking about here. What it means is, I have to die again.

If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all have become new.

For I am crucified with Christ, yet nevertheless I live. Yet not I, but Christ that lives within me.

In the life that I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.

If you want to be a follower of Jesus, it's not about going to church. It's about going to the grave.

You have got to die. Your wants, needs, and desires become secondary to the command of God.

When that porn urge hits some of you men, nail it to the cross.

You addicts, when that urge hits, yeah, you can do the prayer of solace.

What is it called? Serenity prayer. You can do that if that helps. That's great. But ultimately, the power is going to come not from your efforts, but from your surrendering to the power of Jesus Christ our

Lord. Guys, I was a drug addict. I am not a drug addict today.

I'm not. Now, I still don't drink. I still don't do anything. Because that was what I nailed to the cross.

But I have been healed because I surrendered that part of my life to Him. Guys, if you're in here today and you want to be a disciple, it's not about going to church.

It's about going to the grave. If anyone wishes to come after me, let him bear his own cross and be my disciple.

Now, I want you to understand what it means to bear your own cross. It means that it's a one -way ticket.

One -way ticket. I and my wife, we love to travel. Another benefit of not having kids at home.

We love to travel. And I'm not talking about to grandiose places. We went to Mississippi.

What's that? Corinth. We went to Corinth, Mississippi. Not the intellectual or cultural center of the universe, to be sure.

But let me tell you, it was a great getaway. If you've never gone to Corinth, Mississippi, you can do everything by walking.

It was really cool. I love getting away with her. I just love getting away.

I love going out into the woods. I really love it. But one of the things that we really love doing is getting on our motorcycle and going out, no phones, no maps, no nothing.

Getting out and driving until we get lost. We love doing that.

We love driving until we get lost. And we'll come to a T or an intersection and we'll go right or left.

I don't know. Rock, scissors, paper, shoot. And that's the way we'll go. We don't know where we're going.

It's a one -way ticket, baby. It's a one -way ticket. We'll make it back home, but it won't be by that route.

Ladies and gentlemen, if you're going to follow Christ, I want you to understand it's going to be an adventure, but it's a one -way ticket.

There ain't no coming back. Once you're in, you're in. You can't pick and choose when you're going to serve

Jesus. It is a 100 % death to yourself and what you want.

And you ain't coming back. Listen to this. Anyone who wishes to come after me,

I want you also to notice this. Jesus leads the way. Now, I know some of you army guys in here are going,

Rangers? No, dorks. Jesus leads the way. Okay? Anyone who wishes to come after me,

Jesus went to the grave for us. Jesus rose for us. He took our sins for us.

And He doesn't ask us to follow Him anywhere He ain't already leading. Where God guides,

He provides. And then the last thing is simply this. Disciples will be called to sacrifice and work.

Now, start in verse 28. He gives us two examples. He gives us two examples of what contextually

He's trying to say. And I'm going to read those for you. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, think of this as a first century scarecrow.

In their vineyards, they used to build a tower and a dude would hang out in it. And he would scare everything away, including people who tried to take the wine or the grapes.

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

Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, he's not able to finish it. And all who see it begin to mock him, saying, this man began to build and was not able to finish.

For what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with 10 ,000 to meet him who comes against him with 20 ,000.

Verse 32. And if not, while the other is still a great far off way, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.

Verse 33. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

Wow! That's some harsh stuff. Let me tell you something I've learned. Construction and combat will cost you always more than you estimated.

Every time. I'm dealing with a general contractor right now. Oh my gosh!

I mean, first of all, you have to dumb down your language by about five grades because they're not that smart.

And the best thing when you're dealing with this contractor is just talk to his wife, Ashley, because she's so much smarter and cuter than Stephen.

But I remember sitting there and going through the list.

And I remember going, well, that's not how much I thought it was going to be. That's not how much I thought it was going to be. That's not how much I thought it was going to be.

But it's a fair price. Okay, I'm going to do it. Now, that contractor sent me an estimate.

I, in my head, looked at that estimate because I wasn't going to commit to something until I knew the cost.

I want to be Christian. I know that online and in many other buildings all over this country today, there are pastors who want to teach you a sermon to get you to stay in that seat.

This is not one of those churches. Okay? I want you to know and be fully aware, in full disclosure, because that's what

Jesus did, what it's going to cost you to be a Christian. It's going to cost you everything.

Your wife, your children, your business, your money. Everything. And if you're not willing to pay that price, you are not ready yet.

I know you need to hear, just come down this aisle and take me by the hand and say,

Dear Jesus, I know I'm a sinner. Lord, come into my heart and save me. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

And you think that's your salvation. Some of you want to have dreams and visions.

You need the grandiose, but you're not willing to pay the price. You can have as many emotional visions and sermons and songs that you want, but if you have not surrendered anything, everything, then you are not ready to be a

Christian. I know that sounds harsh, but I don't want to lie to you because I'm going to stand before God one day and not in some ethereal dream or make -believe

Casper and a friendly ghost with clouds and harps and angels. I'm going to stand before Yahweh and He's going to go,

Boy, what did you do with my grace? Sorry, I'm not going to get a bad mark on my record for you people.

Sorry, I love you, but I love God more. And I'm more interested in pleasing

Him than I'm ever going to be in growing numerically a church. Guys, are you ready to pay that price?

Pastor, I'm just not ready. Then you are not fit for the kingdom of God. I know that doesn't sound good.

I know I need to be a seeker -friendly church. Problem is, I don't like lying about Scripture.

Listen to me. Are you ready? Do you want to be that disciple? It's going to cost you a lot.

In 1519, a guy named Cortes, some of you all know who this is.

He had 700 men and 11 ships. And he was given the task of attacking this place on the

Mexican... By the way, if you're Guatemalan, Honduras, Mexican, the guy that you should be angry at is

Spain and a guy named Cortes because he wore those peoples out. But he landed 700 men and 11 ships off of Veracruz.

And when they started marching inland, he left a few sailors there with one job.

No, it wasn't to burn the ships. He scuttled them. He literally had guys at the bottom of the ships with axes letting the water in.

Because once he landed, he was 100 % committed to winning.

There was no retreating. There was no turning back. I'm going to ask you in a few minutes if you want to be a

Christian. I'm not talking about maybe the garbage you've heard your whole life. I'm talking about a mental and spiritual commitment to surrender everything in your life without emotion, without feeling a decision.

And if you're not willing to leave everyone behind, then keep filling a pew with your rear end because you're not ready for the kingdom of God.

But if you're ready, if you're willing to say, Pastor, I'm tired of living my life this way.

I want to burn the ship, leave everything behind and follow Christ and Christ alone. You are ready now for salvation.

Ladies and gentlemen, I got to ask you, are you ready? The last two verses say this.

Jesus gets weird. And this seems like a contextual or a parenthetical expression, but it's not.

It says, he goes on to verse 34, Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?

It is no use for either the soil or the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has an ear, let him hear.

He who has an ear, let him hear. It is now 1138 by Jephthah.

1138. Some of you are thinking, when is this going to be over? I'm ready to go. Some of y 'all are waiting for the next shock value statement or the next entertaining statement to laugh, giggle, to assuage the apathy of hearing the word of God.

Some of y 'all are wanting the music to start. You're waiting for me to shut my Bible because you're done hearing the word of God.

Ladies and gentlemen, please, hear not my words.

I'm an idiot, just like everyone else in this room. I am nothing special. The same spirit of God that's in me is the same spirit of God that's in every believer in this place.

I'm asking if you have an ear, please hear. This part is to you

Christians. Are you a salty Christian? My dad used to tell me sometimes, son, you need to get a little bit more salty.

That was from his background in the service. What that meant is you need to look a little bit more.

When we go to Puerto Rico and people are wearing dark hats, a white band will, on that hat and their shirts, from the salt of their body and the sweat coming out and drying on them.

I mean, it's because they've been working. Christian, how salty are you? How salty are you?

Well, pastor, I showed up at church. Whoop -a -dee -doo.

Really? You showed up at church? The problem is you're not being the church.

See, when you walk out that door, you're done for a week. Some of y 'all for a month. You're done.

Christian, let me ask you a question. Have you lost your saltiness?

How effective, how separated from the world are you? And how strong are you standing for Jesus?

Did you do it for a little while, but that salt's been diluted with the world, and you know you need to get salty again?

Then stop drinking from the world and dehydrate yourself from the world and be filled with the power of Jesus Christ again.

Some of you guys need to get a little bit more salty. And I want you to understand. I'm going to close with this.

I want you to understand. It's going to cost you. You see, because salt is an antiseptic and a preservative.

And a lot of it causes you to go... Right? A lot of it causes you to go,

It's two women walking. It's okay. Focus right here. But if you want to be of use to Christ, understand this.

As an antiseptic, when you put an antiseptic on, it burns. And I know this is not sounding really

Joel Osteen -ish for a second, but hang on with me. I want to stick with Scripture. If you truly are somebody's friend, and your words do not convict, and does not saltiness cleanse the sin that they're in, if you have a brother or sister in Christ, or a lost person that is continuing sin, and you don't want to rock the boat to be the salt and the light to show them the difference, you're worthless.

God said this to Ezekiel, If any man lives in sin, and he dies in that sin, and you do not warn him of that sin, his blood will

I require from your hands. The greatest friend that you can be, the greatest family member that you can be, is that you can be the salt of Jesus Christ.

And yes, sometimes it burns. Yes, sometimes it's a lot. I have people tell me all the time,

Pastor, you're just too much. Cool. I'm glad to be too much.

Because see, at the end of my life, I'm rounding third base. At 55 years old,

I'm rounding third base. Okay? This is the home stretch for me, baby. I know that I'm about to see

Jesus in not too long. And I want Him to go, That's my boy right there.

Well done, now good and faithful servant. You ran that race. You didn't swing it there. You fought the good fight.

Boy, come on in here. We'll be like, woo -hoo. Yeah? Well, I probably won't be that gay, but you know, woo -hoo, woo.

Right? Trying to sound more manly. It's getting worse, ain't it? Guys, I want to try to live at peace with all men, but not at expense of their souls.

Where are you today? So, we're going to have this time to respond. And I know that sounds weird for some of you because a lot of you didn't grow up in church.

But see, this is where it's a little bit different. I don't want to just preach God's Word to you and go, oh, well, good, all right, let's go home.

This is a time for you to put the rubber to the road. If you're in this room and you've prayed

Jesus Christ into your heart, and you were a fan of His, but you have never been a follower of His, come here, look, look, please, and I say this to you in all

Christian love that I can, you are not a Christian. You are not.

You never have been, and if you keep living in that delusion, you never will be, okay?

Have you truly had a metamorphical change in your life?

Have you ever changed completely? Were you a caterpillar or a butterfly, or are you just a puppy that's grown into a bigger dog?

This one is saved. This one is not. You're a new creature. Well, Pastor, that's never happened to me.

You're not saved. You're not a Christian. And I'm sorry if that offends you. I'd rather you go to hell hearing those words of promise and truth than to be lied to and go to hell in ignorance.

Okay? I'm not here trying to be your friend. I'm not here trying to grow a megachurch. I'm here to preach the

Gospel of Jesus Christ. That's it. Because I'm going to stand before God without no committee and without no deacon standing behind me.

Okay? Are you truly a believer? Pastor, I really don't know. Come on down, baby, because I've got a

Bible that will teach you what you need to know. Now, if you are a Christian, but you've lost that saltiness, you've got two choices.

You can keep living in your megalomania, make -believe world of denial, and your superimposed, superficial

Christianity, or you can become a disciple. Well, Pastor, how do I do that? You do that by somebody getting all up in your business.

That's how you do it, because we all know us. If we keep our private lives private, that's where they stay, and they fester like a big zit.

Okay? What the Gospel does, it goes, that's gross, isn't it?

But you ain't going to forget it. Some of you folks in here need to get a little salty.

Pastor, how do I do that? You do that by quit relying on emotions and people and churches and denominations and all that other bull crap.

And you get naked before God, metaphorically, no one strip up here. You do that by sitting there saying,

Pastor, I don't know where I am. I need some help. That's what accountability groups, Sunday school,

Bible studies, pastors, that's what the church does, is they sit there and they go,

Man, where you at? Where you at? Where's Sophia? Sophie, where is she?

She's sleeping. Mmm. Tell her I said I love her. Guys, do you need to get a little bit more salty?

I'm going to ask you to come on down. Last thing is this. If you've been offended by God's Word today, as Jeff Shipley, I'm sorry.

As a child of the living God, I beg you to put away your pride and take heed that's what's been told you.

And you might not believe me now. You haven't lost anything. But if you don't believe the words of God that I've spoken, you've lost it all.

I'm going to ask you to stand with me this morning, and if God has convicted you or called you this morning,