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One of the great lessons of life is Learning what it means to commit to something. It is wise for one to know what you are committing to. Before you get you give yourself fully to something or someone.
I Was at a friend's house recently and he told me the story of neighbors across the street That bought land in order to build. But they underestimated how big the job was. They started building their home only to find out they didn't have enough money to complete the project.
Once they realized this they put their land and unfinished home on the market. They made a commitment. They were not prepared to make. When I think about commitment I often think about my high school cross-country coach.
He was a coach that took his program very. Seriously, he wanted those who made a commitment to the team not to be half committed, but fully on board. Now cross-country was in the fall, but at the end of the school year in the spring.
He would have a preseason.
Meeting.
For those interested in joining at the preseason meeting. He had a sign-up sheet for those interested. When they signed the sheet in the spring what he told everyone was you're not signing your life away by putting your name On this piece of paper, but once you commit.
In the fall he expected their full devotion to the team. There were some who joined in the fall who flamed out because They could not meet the level of commitment that he was asking of them.
And.
This often happened because they didn't know what they were getting themselves into.
Now.
These commitments that I mentioned building a home or joining joining an athletic team. They're very small in significance. Compared to what we're going to talk about today in this place and that is becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ when one commits to being his Disciple you are committing to being all in for him.
And we must know what this means. It's often not understood. What does it mean? To become a Christian is it just putting the cherry on the top of your life or is it everything? In our text this morning Jesus is going to tell us what this means.
He's going to tell us about counting the costs of following him. Something we must all take very seriously. At this time I encourage you to turn in the Bible with me to Matthew chapter 8. We'll be looking at verses 14 through 22.
If you're using a red Bible in the pews, it's on page pages 966 and 967 the sermon is titled count the cost. And here's what here's what the sermons calling us to do. Understand what it means to be a follower of Christ.
We must understand what it means to be a follower of Christ. We're gonna see two conditions how. But before we jump into our text, let me give you a little recap of where we were one Sunday ago. We looked at the story where the Centurion showed a tremendous faith in Jesus.
What we saw was amazing. An Ordinary human incredibly brought joy to God's heart. And we saw two reasons why? First he trusted in the highest authority to do what no one else can. Secondly, he knew the secret of having a true relationship with God.
Jesus held this man who was in charge of 100 Roman soldiers as an example of how one has a relationship with God. He compared this man's faith to the lack of faith of God's own people the people of Israel.
Most of Israel Rejected God because of their lack of faithfulness. They were faith less.
Completely.
Most of the population Rejected that Jesus was the Messiah even though the Old Testament Predicted that he was going to come and it described in specific detail who he was and what he was going to do.
However, this Roman Centurion had true faith in Christ. This relationship did not come through birthright like so many Jews thought but rather through faith and Anyone in the world can enter the family of God through faith in Jesus Christ.
Now this leads us to our text this morning. I want to begin by reading verses 14 through 17. And then we will look at this whole text. Verses 14 through 17. And when Jesus entered Peter's house He saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever.
He touched her hand and the fever left her. And she rose and began to serve him that evening. They brought to him many who were oppressed by demons and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick.
This was to fulfill what was spoken by the Prophet Isaiah. He took our illnesses and bore our.
Diseases.
One thing that is interesting about Jesus ministry is that he spoke. He spent most of his time out in the sticks. It'd be like him living here and not ministering in Minneapolis, but living but ministering out in st. Croix Falls.
That's what it was. That's what his where his time was spent which tells you the importance of rural ministry. Jesus chose to spend most of his time among ordinary folks out in the country. And he spent his time in northern Israel in the region known as Galilee.
This was and still is a beautiful region. Located around a big lake known as the Sea of Galilee. If you want a comparison to something somewhat close to us, this is like Lake Mille Lacs in Minnesota a big lake in some places you can't see across it.
Even though.
Galilee was called a sea. It was really like a big lake and it still is to this day. Just look. It's just a big lake with towns surrounding it. This was the home of Jesus and all of his disciples they were Galileans.
Jesus went to Jerusalem the big city. Every every so often not very often, but he went there for the Jewish Festivals just like all the other Jews did but he spent most of his time in Galilee. And what we read in verse 14 is that Peter's home was there and his mother-in-law Lived with him.
So we learned that Peter is a married man. What the second half of verse 14 tells us is that she was lying down with a severe fever. We know it's severe because if it were a minor fever, she wouldn't need to be healed from it.
But Jesus is there. The right man is Presence to do what needs to be done. The one who has the power to heal. Immediately as we have seen in the previous two passages when Jesus healed someone. That person was healed instantly.
It's not like a doctor who gives medication and says two weeks from now. He should be okay. Instantly with a word People are healed by Jesus who has This power that no one else had. This is what verse 15 tells us.
He touched her hand and the fever left her. Now not everyone who believed in Jesus became a true follower of his so some people believed with quotation marks. When the leper was healed he had faith even though he disobeyed Jesus by telling everyone what Jesus had done.
Last week. We also saw the sincere faith of the centurion whose servant was healed and today we once again see sincere faith. We know this because of the end of verse 15 after she was healed she rose and began to serve him.
At the beginning of chapter 8 in that sermon what we saw is that people sometimes believe in Jesus for the wrong reasons. Some of them followed him because they were thrill-seekers. Jesus is around and Let's just enjoy that this man can do all these supernatural things.
Others followed him because they would gain stature in some way because of their association with him. Judas comes to mind Judas once he found out that Jesus was gonna die a brutal death. Because Jesus was telling his disciples that that's how he was gonna die.
Judas plan to betray him. He's thinking I'm jumping ship here. This man who I thought I was gonna become famous from Is gonna be scorned by society. So I am going to leave him. Showing by the way that he was not truly devoted to him that he was not truly a friend that he was not truly a follower.
Others treat Jesus and God like a genie in other words You don't really love him, but but you go to him for your own selfish reasons. It's like going to a sporting event as an athlete and saying Lord Give me the victory and then when it's over not even thanking him.
You go to him for what you want. This is why Jesus told the leper not to tell anyone what had happened when Jesus healed him because he knew. Some followed him with an ulterior motive. John chapter 2 verses 23 through 25 says this concerning people in the first century.
Many.
Believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing but Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them Because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about Man for he himself knew what was in.
Man.
Jesus knew That many would follow him for the wrong reasons and they did. He knows the human heart. He's unimpressed with the sinful human heart. What the sinful human heart desires? These are problems in the first century and there's still problems to this day.
Peter's mother-in-law could have been one of those people who was healed by Jesus and professed to follow him without showing true devotion. But as we read she rose and began to serve him. Peter's mother-in-law is a true follower of the Lord Jesus.
She followed him not for her own personal benefit, but she loved him and She shows her love for him by serving him. This is different from the people in John chapter 2 who believed. But Jesus did not give himself to them.
They falsely.
Believed.
These are people who were not going to serve him no matter what you want to know. It's your follower of Jesus. You're with him. No matter what. The climate of society is how do we know that we are true followers?
There's a very simple answer to this. We love him. Truly love him. And how do we know that we love him? Well, Jesus tells us in John 14 15. He says if you love me, you will keep my commandments at my seminary.
Graduation I.
Will never forget What the commencement speaker Said to us. Usually you go to these graduations and what the commencement speaker says is forgettable. You know, they invite someone famous out and you don't really remember what they say.
I remember this one because it was very impactful. All of us they graduated had a bunch of head knowledge. I don't think people realize how much work it is to get through seminary. I Don't say this. I don't say this to brag.
But to make a point here a Master of Divinity is 96 credits. It was twice. It was twice as much work as my undergraduate degree. You learn two languages Hebrew which is which is what the Old Testament was written in and Greek which is what the New Testament was written in.
You probably read about 50 to 60 thousand pages. Most of which I have no idea what I read because it was so much your mind can't contain all of that. But the commencement speaker said this he didn't say this.
All this knowledge you have is going to make you a better follower of Jesus and a more effective pastor. He didn't say that which it which is true. You have to have some knowledge, right? You have to be trained.
But he didn't say that this is what he said. He asked us this question Do you love? Jesus. Do you love him? It's interesting when when Jesus was with Peter after his resurrection. The time was short. Jesus was only gonna be with Peter for a short time.
He didn't he didn't give him a he didn't give him a quiz saying rattle off all this all these answers. Remember what he said to him three times. Do you love me? Because if you love me, you will do what I command.
And you'll be a faithful follower of Christ that God can use you in this world. You can have a lot of head knowledge and not be a true follower of Jesus. This head knowledge can make you think you are a Christian because you know the Bible and you want to impress people and in this Way a smart Bible scholar can use Jesus to gain stature.
But not have no relationship with him. There will be many seminary graduates in hell. They know Hebrew and Greek. But they didn't love Jesus. To love Jesus is a mark of a true disciple. So the question we need to ask ourselves is do we love Jesus and when I say do we love Jesus?
I mean the Jesus of the Bible not not the Jesus that society Makes out that says just love everybody and don't even care about the truth. That's not Jesus. You Jesus taught that you can't disconnect truth and love.
To love Jesus is a very simple way of knowing whether we are real. I love what the Apostle Peter wrote in 1st Peter chapter 1 verses 8 and 9. He said though you have not seen him you love him. Though you do not now see him you believe in him and rejoice with joy.
That is inexpressible and filled with glory. Concerning the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.
Every.
Genuine believer on planet Earth right now has this experience. You have not seen him, but you love him and He is more precious to you than anyone or anything else in the world. True believers treasure Jesus and they show their deep love for him by serving him.
Just like Peter's mother-in-law and let me say this here our love for him always falls short, too. Okay, so it's not like our love for him is always going to be perfect. But it's there. That's the important thing.
It's there and it will show in the way you live. So we see that with Peter's mother-in-law. She serves him after he heals him. She didn't say okay. Well, you healed me and now I'm gonna go on and do my own thing.
She serves him. But Jesus was not done healing only Peter's mother-in-law. He also heals others. Let's read this in verses 16 through 17 again. That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were.
Sick.
Stop right there. What we read here is that Jesus not only healed people of physical conditions, but also spiritual. The end of verse 16 tells us that he healed the sick, but that verse also tells us that he cast out many demons a Few weeks back.
I mentioned that in the West in the Western world We have this anti Supernatural bent. It is true that we don't see the miracles of the first century very often. There are certain times in history where lots of visible miracles happened and the Bible often describes those periods.
For example, we don't see People being brought back to life after being dead for four days like Lazarus was. I Don't think that's happened. I Don't know. I haven't seen that happen any any time in in the recent.
Past.
Most of the miracles we see are unseen like conversions. Where the new birth happens with us the Holy Spirit enters a person's life and transforms that person. We see a supernatural work when people grow.
That's the work of the Spirit and Answers to prayer. When we pray and God answers it that's supernatural. That's a miracle. So in these cases something happened no question about it, but God did it mysteriously.
But what we must understand is that there is a supernatural Manifestation that we see today and this cannot be denied by anyone. About 25 years ago. My father went to a men's retreat in northern, Minnesota.
At this retreat something troubling happened that showed everyone there How real the supernatural realm is? One evening they were having a time of confession.
One man was walking up to the front to confess his sins. But as he was walking toward the front he was overtaken by this powerful force. This man was possessed by a demon. Now my dad my dad is just you know my daddy some of you know my daddy comes here once in a while some of those some people.
You know you don't believe a word. They say you know there's looking for attention a Lot of people in the world like that. My dad's not one of them. My dad doesn't even like to talk about this story because it was so alarming and he's he's a very credible eyewitness.
What my dad told me is the voice that came out of this man was not human. He told me that for several hours. They prayed over him and eventually the demon left. Now I don't say this to scare you But to show you how real the supernatural realm is.
We don't see the supernatural just happening around us very often. Like they did like they did in the first century. But demon possession is one that is out there. It's going on right now somewhere. During Jesus ministry he cast out many demons.
What's important to understand is that a demon cannot possess a Christian? Second Corinthians 614 says what fellowship does light have with darkness. The answer is obvious it doesn't. Christians cannot be possessed by demons.
Unbelievers can these people that Jesus is healing are unbelievers and hopefully they follow the example of Peter's mother-in-law and truly follow him as Jesus is healing everyone from physical and from the spiritual condition of demon possession.
What he's doing here is he's fulfilling Old Testament prophecy. As Matthew writes in verse 17 this was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah. He took our illnesses and bore our diseases. That comes from Isaiah 53 verse 4.
What the prophecy is saying is? Jesus did all these wonderful things for Israel. He healed people by curing them From their illnesses and casting out demons and yet they killed him. But God's primary plan Was to send Jesus not to heal people in the temporary but to heal people eternally From their greatest disease the disease of sin as we saw at the beginning of chapter 8 when Jesus healed the leper.
Peter's mother-in-law. Understood that he came not only to heal her but also to save her soul and She shows her commitment to Jesus by serving him. We are to understand what it means to be a follower of Christ and the first condition.
How is true followers lovingly serve him. True followers lovingly serve him. The second condition. How We are to understand what it means to be a follower of Christ is that True followers know what they are signing up for.
They know what they are signing up for. We'll see this in verses 18 through 22. In This section Jesus is going to have two encounters.
With.
Prospective.
Disciples let's read this. We'll start by looking at verses 18 and 19. Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him He gave orders to go over to the other side and a scribe. And a scribe came up and said to him teacher I will follow you wherever you go.
After Jesus Was healing the people from their diseases large crowds were following him in verse 18. He gave orders so that he could escape the crowd and go across the big lake on the other side. Where there were no people we see Jesus humanity here.
He was tired all these people are swarming him, and he just wants to go to the other side. In one of the other Gospels in Mark chapter 4 verses 35 and 36 we learned that other boats would follow him. But before he crosses two men approach him.
We just read about the first man. We just read about the first man. We've learned the identity of this man. He is a scribe. Now scribes were Jewish scholars. They were close to the Pharisees. These were the people who embraced false teaching.
They added their own man-made laws and believed that salvation could be attained. Attained through one's good works. This is the the false teaching of works. Righteousness which the Bible does not teach.
Now most of these scribes would have rejected Jesus outright. They would have seen him as a false prophet.
However.
This scribe mentioned in verse 19 is very impressed with Jesus to the point where he tells him teacher I will follow you wherever you go. Now that's a strong statement. Why would he say such a statement and make such a commitment?
To this point you would have heard Jesus preach. He would have seen all of these miracles that he performed in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus took aim at people like him Jewish leaders the very people.
That.
Would kill Jesus in the future. Why was he interested in following Jesus. The text does not tell us. But it does indicate by Jesus response as we are about to see that this man had little clue About the commitment he was making.
It may have been that he was disgruntled with other scribes and Pharisees and he liked that Jesus took aim at them. It may have been that he was impressed with the authoritative way in which Jesus preached.
Remember at the end of the Sermon on the Mount in chapter 7 verses 28 and 29. It said that he preached as one who had authority and not as the scribes. When Jesus preached it was different than when the scribes taught.
It carried an authority with it. That wasn't there with the scribes. The scribe would have been impressed with Jesus miracles as well. His honest assessment Did not let him deny that Jesus was from God.
His companions dismissed him outright because they saw him as a threat. Where this man was more honest than the others and said, you know what I Like what he's teaching and I want to follow him. But Jesus knows his heart and He knows that this man is not ready to make the commitment to become a true disciple of Jesus Christ.
This is what Jesus says in verse 20. And Jesus said to him foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests. But the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. That's interesting. Jesus contrasts his life on earth with that of foxes and birds, you know.
We see foxes around here all the time. We see birds around here all the time and Jesus is comparing his life on earth to foxes and.
Birds.
And what he's talking about is their home. The home of a fox is a hole and the home of a bird is A nest. And some of you probably have nests at your home, right and you want to get rid of them. But that's my point is is that that's their home.
Jesus tells the scribe that they have a permanent place to go to sleep at night, but I don't. As he's talking to the scribe the scribe probably lives a comfortable life. He wasn't the persecuted of society.
He was the one who had an in he was the light he was. He was a somebody he was a scribe. People respected him. He probably had a cushy home and Jesus says birds Have nests and foxes have holes, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.
This is remarkable. Think about this the Son of God the second person of the Trinity left the royalty. He enjoyed with his father in heaven to come to earth. Where he lived a very unglamorous life. He didn't even have a house to live in.
Philippians 2 7 says that when he came to earth he took the form of a servant. What we read in verse 20 is that Jesus did not have a home. So, where did he spend his nights and where was his central place when he wasn't missing ministering to the people.
What Luke 6 12 tells us is that Jesus often spent all night praying to his father? While others were sound asleep in Luke 9 33 we learned that there was a central meeting place that Jesus and his disciples had.
It was in Capernaum. They stayed there frequently, but this house in Capernaum May have been the closest thing that Jesus had to a earthly home. It was a temporary place. But he was so often on the move.
He probably spent many of his nights under the stars. He did not have a permanent home like we do that. We enjoy we talk about Thanksgiving. We have shelter. We have a home the Son of Man. He did it. He went from place to place and he had nowhere to lay his head as we read in verse 20 in The 90s one of the biggest Christian musicians was a man by the name of Rich Mullins.
Mullins died at the age of 41 from an automobile crash in his last album that the album was titled 10 songs about Jesus in this last album. He had a song titled. You did not have a home. Here are some of the lyrics to that song Mullins wrote.
You did not have a home. There were places you visited frequently. You took off your shoes and scratched your feet because you knew that the whole world belongs to the meek, but you did not have a home and You wrote a donkey's full, but the world won't find what it thinks it wants on the back of a donkey's full.
Birds have nests foxes have dens, but the hope of the whole world rests on the shoulders of a homeless man. Isn't that well written? It's truly remarkable. Indeed the hope of the whole world rests on the shoulders of a homeless man that gives me goosebumps.
When you think of the elite of society. Who's the most influential person in the history of the world? Jesus Christ he didn't even have a place to live if we think we can make a difference without being powerful.
But in the world's eyes look at what Jesus did this gives us a picture Of what it is like to follow Jesus in this world. If you're after glamour, then don't follow him. You're looking in the wrong place.
You're not gonna get it. What Jesus is telling him is that you need to be fully committed to him to be a true disciple. And he Jesus goes after something that shows this man's true heart. Jesus told him that he must be willing to give up the comfort of his life to follow him.
But this man was not ready to do that. It may have been that later on he was ready. But at this point he wasn't and Jesus tells him that. When Jesus called each of his disciples they left their home. Remember that Early on in his ministry.
He he called him Peter and John and James and the other disciples. He said follow me and I will make you fishers of men and they left whatever they were doing to follow him. Now this does not mean that every Christian is uprooted from the comfort of their home to serve Christ.
Some are but most aren't. We support missionaries who left the comfort of America to go to a foreign land. To serve Jesus and I kind of chuckle as I say that the comfort of America. I think going to a foreign land right now would be a lot more comfortable than living here.
They might be sending missionaries to here before too long. But the point Jesus is making is full commitment to him. Are you willing to do everything that he calls you to do? The life of following him is one of full surrender the second man.
That Jesus talks to is also a so-called disciple and he has the same problem as the scribe. Let's look at that in verses 21 and 22.
Another of.
The disciples said to him we meant to put disciples in quotations here Lord let me first go and bury my father and Jesus said to him follow me and Leave the dead to bury their own dead. When we see the word disciple, we're tempted to think this is that this is a true disciple like like the disciples of Jesus Christ.
But again, this is in quotations. This is not a true disciple. This is someone who will follow Jesus around appeared to be a true disciple a Prospective disciple but not yet a true disciple. He is not ready to follow Jesus like the scribe.
He did not understand what it meant to be a true follower of Christ. This is so common do people really understand what it means to follow Jesus as We look at the second man. We may think that Christ's response to him is cruel.
But when the man says let me bury my father what he means is When he when he dies Sometime in the future. He's not saying my dad's gonna die in a week. He's saying Several years from now when my dad dies then I Will follow you.
I'll get to it later on when it's more convenient for me. But I have too many other important things going on right now when it comes to Jesus. He's always the most important thing it's urgent. I Remember when I was growing up in my home church, there was a there was an adult helper at one of the children's Bible schools and He was sharing the gospel with one of the students a young girl.
Well, the goal what the girl told him was Someday, I will believe. But not now. But the Bible tells us that today is the day of salvation. Hebrews 3 13 if you wait you might be like Esau Who waited too long and he reached a point where he could no longer repent.
He was too in love with the world That he could not find a place to repent his heart. His heart was so hard That he couldn't repent and this is why Jesus tells this man Follow me and leave the dead to bury their own dead.
True disciples are willing to count the cost. They are willing to follow the conditions that Jesus lays out one of full Surrender if you follow him, this is what your life is going to be like. We don't make the conditions he does.
But this is a good thing. Every true disciple knows that even though Jesus is asking for your life. This is a trade-up. It's the only path to true life as Luke 9 24 says whoever loses his life in this world for my sake Gains life.
Where it says we'll save it. So what are some of the ways that counting the cost may show up in our lives? This may show up with family or friends and it may show up in dark America. The place that we find ourselves living in right now.
Are you willing to have tension With your family and friends in order to follow Jesus. It's interesting in this political season. You know, whatever candidate people chose that what people are saying is that homes are being divided right now.
Families aren't talking to each other because the political scene is so divided. It's this way even more so with Jesus Christ as you follow him and They don't. There will be a divide between you and family members between you and friends.
Think about that in Matthew 10 34 Jesus said that he did not come to bring peace, but a sword. It's either you're with him or you're against him. What he means is people will divide over him he said it would happen and Some of you are experiencing this right now.
You might have family or friends that aren't Christians and and there's this divide that's there and sometimes the person is open, you know, and okay with it and this person is a person that you you may be Able to reach for Christ and then others are more are more militant and and that's where It becomes very difficult where there is this divide, you know, there's there's this fracture in your relationship because One party knows that you are fully committed to Christ and there's this there's this difficulty that is present.
I've experienced this with this with my family and friends not my immediate family. But but my relatives and and there's some friends that I don't even talk to anymore because of this in the Gospel of John Jesus told his disciples that the world will hate you.
For following me I Am so fed up with churches that say we need to gain capital with the world. No, we don't we need to follow Jesus and if they are drawn to us through that.
Well, great.
That's that's what we call evangelism. That's what we call being salt and light, but we don't change Ourselves and change our church to draw people in. Yeah, I know that's a. That's been going a lot of voices are saying that right now.
We need to build capital with the world. We you know what we need to do. We need to we need to follow Christ 100 and then let him take care of it. Okay, there are many times in this world When people will despise you for the sole reason that you are a follower of Christ.
There is a cost to following Jesus as you will not be liked in this world. You will not be treasured when you die. They won't mourn like when one of their own dies. As I mentioned as Christians We must understand that this cost is going to be felt in the present darkness of American society.
There is a growing tension between secular American society and biblical Christians. I just saw something that The far left is trying to remove accreditation from Christian colleges. You can see you can see the tension.
That is growing. Christianity is no longer acceptable in the mainstream. And it gets bigger every year. I Was watching a conservative political commentator a while back. Who is who is discussing the the the militant secular agenda?
And what he said is.
The mainstream this is represented in in the highest places of government the mainstream media academia in Hollywood. And what we should see clearly is that they are militant. They will ruin your life if they can.
As time goes on There is a smaller and smaller percentage of people who have any decency left. It used to be that people could disagree in this country. Isn't that what freedom of speech is right? You can you can have a conversation and disagree now.
It's well, you disagree with me. You're fired. You disagree with me. You're not my friend anymore. You disagree with me. I'm gonna make your life miserable. That's what we that's the country we live in though.
You know what this political commentator said? He said that this power structure Despises Bible believing Christians more than any other group in America. We're at the top of their list of hatred and they're coming.
We've already seen other people. They've come for they're coming for us. Okay, and I'm not saying this to scare you. I'm just telling you the truth. Okay, and And every Christian everyone every Christian who believes in the Bible will feel this to some level some will feel it more than others.
Frankly, I think people in the cities will probably feel it more than people out here, but still we will feel it. You know to some extent and as we look at this, do you still want to be a follower of Christ?
In this fallen world. There's a great cost and Now our faith gets that gets to be tested more than any other time in the history of our country. Are we real? God promises heaven. But he also promises hardships while we are here.
Acts 14 22 says through many tribulations. We must enter the kingdom of God. That isn't just for some Christians. That's for every Christian. And we need to understand that. Counting the cost. It also means making sacrifices in your life in order to serve God's kingdom and this shows up in so many ways.
It shows up financially it shows up with how you spend your time. The application abounds here of counting the cost and I trust that the Spirit will show you. Where you need to hear this it shows up in doing hard things of Dealing with your sin and growing that's counting the cost.
It's easier to sin than not to sin. Turning from sin is counting the cost. It shows up in a life of courage where you stand up for what is right no matter the outcome. And this is what we need to see.
Yeah, I just say this as a pastor here. We need to see this more in the church more and we need to see this in our church. We need to do what we can to hear and in the broader church. We need people to stand up for what is right?
I've seen more cowards in 2020 than I've ever seen in my whole life combined and there are some brave souls out there but there's also a lot of a lot of People who do not have a backbone and to be a Christian means.
Having a backbone counting the cost means I will die. They might drag me out of here someday and throw me in jail. You know what? That's okay. That's what counting the cost means they may do it to you.
Okay, you might say Seth this sounds like. This sounds like extreme. I'm just telling you. This has happened everywhere in the history of the world for people who are fully committed to Christ and we are not exempt from it.
Okay, so that's why I share this with you. So when you become a Christian. This is what you're signing up for you're signing up to be a Navy SEAL. Not this is the cherry on top of your beautiful life.
And and God blesses us in so many ways, right? Where we have all these blessings and sometimes we forget that there is a cost to following him, but indeed there is. So we must understand what it means to be a follower of Christ in in this text.
We've seen two conditions how we understand this call from Jesus. The first is that true followers lovingly serve him and the second is that true followers know? What they are signing up for? It's later right out there.
And that's the great failure of the last 100 years in American Christianity. It the whole thing has not been laid out there and people sign up for something. They don't know what they're getting into and as time goes on they fall away.
But that needs to change. At this church, I don't ever want to water down what it means to be a Christian. We don't want false conversions. It happens often that people believe in Christ without knowing the commitment that they made and if they had known the full story they would have run.
Just like these two men we saw today. Before you build you must have enough resources to finish the project and before you join something. You must know what you are committing to but the area where it is most important to count the cost is with God and With his son Jesus Christ.
He doesn't just want some of you. He wants all of you. This is the commitment you make. When you follow him in my prayer is that this church would be full of People who have counted the cost and are willing to follow Jesus wherever It takes them no matter how hard it may be.
No matter what relationships might be fractured because of it. We must count the cost and never turn back to the lost life that you left the life that leads to destruction you have Chosen if you've chosen to fully follow Jesus you have chosen life.
We must remember that now next Sunday We will see Jesus and his disciples. They're gonna leave this crowd after he talks to these two men. They're gonna cross this big lake. Something horrible is gonna happen in the middle of this lake.
But we're gonna see something about Jesus power. Once again, let's bow our heads together and pray father. Counting the cost is something we must all do and It means giving up things that we love. It means giving up idols.
It means giving up things that are hard to give up. But Lord no disciple in the history of the world has ever regretted giving up things. In order to follow you they have already experienced the fullness of joy of being in your presence and All of them will say it was worth it and remind us of that right now Lord.
It is worth it To count the cost to follow you. To be used by you in this world for your sake for your glory. Strengthen us to do that Lord May this church Be full of people who are sincere who have counted the cost.
And are greatly used by you in this dark world in Jesus name, amen.