WWUTT 2427 Counting the Cost of Discipleship (Luke 14:28-30)

Jesus said, whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand The Text, a daily Bible study in the Word of Christ that we may press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God. Tell your friends about our ministry at www .utt .com.

Here once again is Pastor Gabe.

The Cost of Discipleship in Luke 14

Thank you, Becky. In our study of the Gospel of Luke, we've been in Chapter 14, in that section where Jesus is teaching on the cost of discipleship. Let's come back again to that today. I'm reading verses 25 to 33.

Hear the word of the Lord. Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, If anyone comes to me, and does not hate his own father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters, yes and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which one 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 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. Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate, whether he is able with ten thousand, to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?

And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. Surely you're familiar with Pilgrim's Progress, that great story that was written by John.

Bunyan.

At the beginning of the story, Pilgrim, who would later be called Christian, is reading his book and he's going to the Celestial City. He's seeking to escape the city of destruction, and he's also looking for a way to have the burden that weighs down on his back taken from him.

Now, as he's leaving the city, his wife and his children are following after him. They're mocking him, also calling him to come back to the city, but they won't go with him to the Celestial City. And his wife hates the book that he is reading and thinks that it's making a fool out of.

Him.

But Christian nonetheless leaves his wife and his children and goes to the place where he will encounter the Savior. He's looking to Christ and not to that place that is set to be destroyed. Now, a lot of people were uncomfortable with the beginning of Pilgrim's Progress, and there were people that wrote to John Bunyan and said, you have him leaving his wife and his children.

It's kind of an unchristian thing to do. But of course, Pilgrim's Progress is allegorical. And what John Bunyan is demonstrating there at the start of the story is this very thing that Jesus is talking about right here.

Whoever does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life cannot be my disciple. It's about loving Christ above all of these things. Now, of course, Bunyan would eventually write a sequel to Pilgrim's Progress.

It was I think it was just titled Pilgrim's Progress Part Two, wasn't it? And his wife Christiana in that story begins to love the book that she previously hated. And so she and the children end up going after her husband and becoming Christians themselves.

So he writes a sequel to that in which the wife is saved. This does not mean that in order to follow Christ, you have to leave your family, because, as said in First Timothy, chapter five, whoever cannot care for people in his own household has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

Even unbelievers can understand through natural revelation the importance of caring for one's own family. I know lots of unbelievers who sometimes care for their own families better than I know certain professing Christians to care for their families.

So a person can come to that understanding without being a Christian, but especially in Christ Jesus, we understand the importance of a husband loving his wife as Christ loves the church, a wife submitting to her husband, a father disciplining his children and his children obeying his parents in the Lord for this is right.

All of that written in Ephesians five and six, by the way, as well as in the law, you have the fifth commandment to honor your father and your mother. So these things are certainly there in scripture.

And this is not a calling or a mandate or an instruction for you to leave your family in order to follow Christ, but rather your love and your affection would be first for Christ. And if you have a situation, I've certainly seen this before where you become a Christian, the members of your family are not and they give you an ultimatum.

You either leave this faith of yours or we're out. You have to hold to Christ. You can't let go of Christ and go back to your family. You let go of your life. You let go of eternity, the promise of eternity.

And in that case, and as I said, I've seen this before, there have been people that my wife and I have ministered to came out of Mormonism. There was one woman in particular, very close friend of our family, and she had left Mormonism and had become a Christian.

But her family ostracized her and threatened to disown her. And we tried we tried to to love on her. And she wasn't part of our church or anything like that. It was just somebody that we knew. And we tried to encourage her, strongly encourage her not to go back.

But she did. Ultimately, this threat that they had placed upon her was too much for her. And she eventually did leave Christianity and go back to Mormonism. And worse than that, the man that she ended up marrying, she convinced him to leave Christianity and become a Mormon.

And so for the sake of her, he left the gospel and went to a false Christ as invented by the false prophet Joseph Smith. So I've certainly seen this before. One who could not hate their own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, even their own life, and ended up loving those things more than Christ.

If you don't put Christ above all else, you cannot be his disciple. You cannot enter the kingdom of God. And verse 27, as Jesus puts it, whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

There's actually three ultimatums here that are given. There's that first one in verse 26, whoever does not hate his own and and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. The second one in verse 27, whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

And then the third one is at the very end, verse 33. Therefore, if any one of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. We're also going to look at those two parables that are in between.

So in verses 28 to 32, you have the parable of building a tower and the parable of the king who sends out a delegation to make terms for peace. So let's look at verse 28. For which one 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 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. Now, this hits close to home in a certain sense, because we're beginning a building project ourselves at our church.

We need our own building, our own place to worship. So we have land that has been given to us. But now we need to go through that process of approving plans and laying foundations and being able to pay for materials and get the construction done.

All of that is going to take some time, of course. But we have to look at our budget and see what we can pay for. Can we take out a loan for the building? We're going to have to do some fundraising. So we're counting the cost even before the the shovel goes into the ground.

And even before the foundation is laid, we have to see that we can start this project and be able to finish it in a proper and responsible way, being good stewards of that which has been given to us. So I've got a real world connection to this.

But the way that Jesus applies this is to the Christian faith. Have you considered the cost of what it means to be a Christian? Now, not every Christian is going to be crucified as Jesus was or put to death the way that most of the apostles were, according to church history, according to tradition.

Most people may not be put to death for their faith, but you could be. And are you willing to lay down your life for the cause of Christ? Everybody has to consider Christ above all else. So are you counting the cost in that way?

If somebody were to mock you because of your faith, how easy is it going to be for you to endure that mockery or just for this just because you were called names, would you be willing to leave the faith or even change what you say you believe into something else that does not look like Christianity so that you won't get made fun of?

You know, often we make the comparison to Judas. Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. So how much would you be willing to betray Jesus for? What sum of money could somebody give you that would make you go, oh, yeah, sure, I'll leave my church, I'll leave my faith.

I won't even mention the name of Jesus again for these millions of dollars that you are promising, you know, whatever, whatever the cost might happen to be. It's completely hypothetical. And it's easy for us to say, oh, I would never give up Christ for that because, you know, what's the likelihood that somebody like Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk is actually going to come into your life and say, I'll pay you whatever you ask for in order to leave your faith, you know, that's not even going to happen.

So it's easy to say, no, no, I would never take any sum of money in order to leave the faith. But the reality of it is, for a lot of people, they're willing to give up the Christian faith for nothing.

Just because they don't want to be unpopular. Just because they don't want to be made fun of, they can't handle being called names by people. So there are those that have betrayed Christ and given up the faith for much, much less than what Judas got paid.

I don't know if you're familiar with a book that is entitled Dangerous Calling, written by Paul David Tripp. Now, this book is about being a pastor. It's not necessarily about the Christian faith, but nonetheless, that job of being a pastor is indeed a dangerous calling.

On the back of the book, the different ministers who endorsed this book and talked about how great it was include Daniel Aiken, who is the president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Tulian Javidian, a nephew of Billy Graham, Burke Parsons, who was the successor to St. Andrew's Chapel after R .C. Sproul passed away, Joshua Harris, the author of I Kiss Dating Goodbye, very popular back in the 90s, James McDonald, very popular Harvest Chapel preacher, very aligned with Mark Driscoll.

Most of those names that I've mentioned there have made shipwreck of their ministries. Daniel Aiken is still president of Southeastern, but I mean, he went totally woke. He's not somebody that I would consider to be credible.

I'm not saying the man is unsaved, but he's also not qualified for his job. He pushes standpoint epistemology that you can interpret the Bible based on like your background, your socioeconomic status, the country that you're from.

You're going to have different interpretations of the Bible depending on those things, when what he should be teaching is that there's only one interpretation to the text. Tullian Javidian, probably familiar with his story, he had committed adultery even through his wife under the bus, would would not come to correction even when he was corrected by his presbytery.

He since started he's married another woman and he since started a completely different church down in Florida. Joshua Harris has completely left the faith, left his wife, has become pro LGBTQ. Some even assume that he might be dabbling in homosexuality.

James McDonald made a disgrace, a shipwreck of his ministry has had been removed from his church. There was even some scandal that he was in where he was trying to hire somebody to murder his son in law or something like that.

All sorts of crazy stuff connected with James McDonald and then Burke Parsons. News just came out last week about Burke Parsons that after after he was investigated by the presbytery, by a discipline council with the PCA, it was found that he's been abusive, spiritually abusive to people in his congregation.

Now, that's one I'm going to leave kind of up in the air because maybe that was actually the result of a witch hunt. I don't know. But it's just interesting when you look at the names that were on this book endorsing this book.

And they themselves. Did not count the cost, speaking especially of Julian Javidian, Joshua Harris and James McDonald weren't even able to finish the ministry that they were called to do in the case of Joshua Harris, leaving the faith altogether.

Christianity is worth it. But there's a lot to it. You have to be willing to die to yourself. This is not about you. It's not about finding a faith or a religion or something to make much of yourself, to gain a platform, to get popularity, to get your niche, to find your click, to find a hobby or even to find a career.

You know, there are some pastors out there. They may not be trying to ascend up the ranks of becoming like a megachurch pastor or something. They're probably content to be making 50, 60 thousand dollars a year or whatever with a smallish congregation.

But they're just doing that to have a job. Rather than the love that they have for the faith that they say that they have, the word that they have been called to proclaim, instead, they're just kind of going through the motions and trying to keep their job.

That's not what Christianity is about, that's not considering the cost. Of course, a minister is going to be called to a higher standard than other believers, but all of us have to consider the cost. And like I said, it's worth it.

But it's pricey in the sense of what you have to give up, you have to give up even yourself, whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. So before becoming a Christian, are you going to be able to finish it?

Do you know that Jesus is the Christ? Will you cling to him and hold fast to him? And the scripture promises us he will deliver us to the end. But there's some rough things that he's probably going to bring us to or bring us through before we walk through those gates to hear him say, well done, good and faithful servant.

And it's implied there automatically, those words that we long to hear from our master on that day, well done, good and faithful servant. It's implied there's work that we got to do. There are things that you have to do.

Now, works do not save you. We're saved by the grace of God, by putting faith in Jesus Christ, period. It's not of works so that no one may boast. But the one who is saved will demonstrate it by the fruit that they produce.

Is there evidence of this salvation in that person's life? The person who produces fruit, who produces a harvest the way that Jesus puts it in the parable of the sower, we've seen that in Matthew, Mark and Luke, we've been through the parable of the sower.

It is the one who is genuinely saved, who produces a harvest. The ones who are not saved, there's something that sprouts up there for a time, but it doesn't last. It withers away and dies or it's choked out by the thorns or something like that, the cares and concerns of the world.

But the one who is genuine in faith will endure in it to the end. Consider the cost. Otherwise, when he's laid a foundation, he's not able to finish it, all who see it begin to mock him, saying this man began to build and was not able to finish.

And even a guy like Joshua Harris, though the world loves that he's on their side now, even even caught up in the LGBTQ movement and attending pride parades, even though they love that he's on their side now, they still mock the fact that he was ever a Christian at all.

Look how much of your life you wasted. You got caught up into this whole thing and you were part of the scam. You scam people when you were a pastor. That's what the world will say about him. The Christian life is not supposed to be easier.

Then the way of the world, it doesn't automatically become easier. There are some things that that I would argue do get easier. For example, you know, your meaning and your purpose, your place in this world.

If you have faith in Jesus Christ, we know that we've been made to glorify him and you have the assurance of the confidence of everlasting life. If you put your trust in him who died for us and rose again from the dead, that's not always easy, but you can look at the word and you can have confidence and trust in Christ that when we die, we will live forever.

Those those things make life more bearable. But there are still many difficulties that we'll go through as Christians. Jesus even said that we would in Matthew chapter seven in the Sermon on the Mount.

Enter through the narrow gate for wide is the way that leads to destruction, and many will find that because that's the easy way. But narrow is the road that leads to life, and few will find that that is the difficult path.

So following Jesus is sometimes going to be difficult and it will come with many sacrifices, many hurts, many hardships. But like I said in the beginning, it's worth it. It is worth it, no matter what you have to give up, no matter what difficulty you go through in life, it is worth it.

Because there's eternal life on the other side. And it's the only way to enter into eternal life, every other path will lead to your destruction. But Jesus Christ leads to eternity, he's the narrow gate.

He is the forgiveness of our sins. He is our fellowship with God. He is the eternal life that we are promised for all those whom God has showed his love and kindness to through Christ, our Savior. It's worth it.

It's hard, but it's worth it. And no matter what difficult trial that you go through, continue to cling to Christ. If you've been listening to my other podcast, Hear the Word of the Lord, then you'll know I just recently finished up Job and Job's complaints that he raises up before God as he goes through the trials that God puts him through.

But God can choose to sanctify us in any way that he wants. And when we get into eternity, what we're looking at here on this world is going to pale in comparison to how great all of that is. It's almost as if we would forget even how difficult the pain was that we went through here.

Consider the lyrics of Amazing Grace, this particular verse. Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come. Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home. Or this verse, the Lord has promised good to me.

His word my hope secures. He will my shield and portion be as long as life endures. Here's a verse that you probably don't sing as often. Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail and mortal life shall cease, I shall possess within the veil a life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow, the sun forbear to shine. But God who called me here below will be forever mine. When we've been there 10 ,000 years bright, shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing God's praise than when we first begun.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found, was blind, but now I see. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your amazing grace, and may it be that grace that delivers us through all the trials and struggles that we go through in this life.

May they not overtake us. May they not discourage us or cause us to fail, or even the temptations that come our way. They do not pull us away from this faith that we have in Christ, that we hold firm to it to the end, that you hold firm to us and bring us into your kingdom in the end.

God, when we sin, when we are tempted, when we fall along the way, may we be convicted of heart and come back to Christ for forgiveness to be cleansed and made whole again. It is by your grace that you will sustain us and lift us up even in those weak moments.

Let us not take our eyes off of Christ, but bring us into that celestial city to hear him say, well done, good and faithful servant. Now great is your reward. It's in Jesus name we pray.

Amen.

Closing Remarks and Ministry Update

Pastor Gabe keeps a regular blog, sharing personal thoughts, alerting readers to false teachers, and offering commentary on the church and social issues. You can find a link to the blog through our website, www .utt .com.

Thank you for listening and join us again tomorrow as we continue our study in God's Word when we understand the text.