Sermon: The Cost of Following Jesus

The Cost of Following Jesus 

Luke 14:25-26: Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 

·        A multitude of people were following Jesus, but He knew they would be “fair weather” followers.

·        So many were following Him for the wrong reasons, some because He fed them loaves and fishes, others to get healed, and many would end up falling away when things get difficult.

·        In other words, they would live with one foot in the world and one foot in the church. Outsiders would look at them and not see anything different from those in the world.

·        They would be “sons of God” but would still look like “sons of Adam.”

·        The world mocks many of us as “hypocrites” because they see nothing about us that would make them want to be like us. For much of the “church” in America, we’ve lost our saltiness.

·        Church in America is more like a “social club” where Christians are supposed to pay their dues but very little other than that is required. Attend on Sunday and maybe a midweek Bible study or small group social meeting and you can call yourself a “good Christian.”

·        Let me say this: It’s good to go to church on Sundays, and it’s good to attend a midweek Bible study, but it’s the in between where the struggle is.

·        Jesus is not expecting us to “hate” our families; we are to love our families.

·        I’ve heard it said, that we love Him so much it like hating them in comparison…I’m not so sure that is what He meant.

·        Many are so caught up with family events, family matters, and worldly pursuits that we are very little use to the kingdom. In fact, most will never spend a day in the kingdom while here on earth because of the distractions that keep believers from keeping “first things first.”

·        I think He wants us to hate anything that keeps us from following Him and becoming a “full disciple,” consecrated and sanctified for his purposes.

·        He includes hating “our own life also.” This would include all worldly things that keep us distracted. 

Luke 14:27: And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

·        We have a part to play in our own development; we must pick up our own cross if we want to follow Him. In other words, we must follow Him to the cross and be crucified with Him… there’s a sacrifice required of each of us.

·        The “cross” was not an unknown method of execution in those days. It had become the Roman’s preferred method of execution and there were very many people hanging on crosses along the roads outside of cities as a warning to the Jews to obey Rome.

·        There will be “death” as a cost of following Jesus. It may be someday that your physical death is required. Someday, we are all going to die one way or another… but in this life death to your selfish ways is required.

·        If you chose to make Him “Lord” of your life… it means you can no longer be lord over your own life. There will be death to your “right” to do whatever you want with your life. It’s no longer all about you; your wants and your needs.

·        You will now be living for His purposes, not for your own. His will be done, instead of yours. This is following Him. 

Luke 14:28-33: For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— 29 lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’? 31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. 33 So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.

·        I’m so glad that Jesus speaks in such practical ways. I need practical.

·        Nobody asks what it costs for a person to become a great football player. Or what it would cost for someone to become a successful doctor or business man.

·        Everyone knows that the more something costs the more important it is. What costs you little or nothing is usually worth exactly that much.

·        The challenge before us is this: what are we willing to pay, sacrifice, or surrender to go deeper this life as a follower of Christ?

·        The grace that amazed our church forefathers caused them to come trembling with tears before the Lord on their knees in worship has been lost to the modern church.

·        Grace that is often taught to Christians is a cheap form of grace that costs them nothing.

·        Therefore, they are still more caught up in their worldly pleasures and their earthly pursuits than they are with moving the kingdom forward.

·        No wonder we rarely see revival in the church. We need a reformation, perhaps difficult times will be exactly what we need.

·        We are living in days where soon it will not be as easy to be a Christian, attend a church, study the Bible with other believers, and tell our friends and loved ones about the wonderful sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf.

·        History is filled with saints that gave it all. The martyrs of the church form a long and glorious line through history. From the standpoint of the world, this looks like a huge waste. But when we look at it from God’s point of view… He sees it completely different. 

Mark 14:3-9: And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard. Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head. 4 But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, “Why was this fragrant oil wasted? 5 For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they criticized her sharply. 6 But Jesus said, “Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for Me. 7 For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always. 8 She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial. 9 Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”

·        Jesus came to the house of Simon the Leper, in Bethany. He may have been another brother of Martha, Mary and Lazarus, or even their father. He was obviously no longer sick with leprosy; Jesus must have healed him, as well as raising Lazarus from the dead.

·        The story tells us that this woman comes to Jesus with a costly bottle of perfume and breaks it and pours its contents on Jesus. This woman’s identity is not told to us here, but John’s gospel tells us its Mary…Martha and Lazarus’ sister.

·        Her name was no longer important to her; her identity had changed because she had put her faith in Jesus as her Messiah. Her identity no longer mattered because it was now all about Jesus and not about herself.

·        This glass bottle of perfume may have been her security, or her dowry. But now Jesus was her security, so she gave it all to Jesus! She let go, she surrendered it all. It was not the “safe thing to do” but it created a sweet smell unto the Lord… it was an act of love.

·        You see the beautiful glass bottle had to be broken for the fragrance to reach the Lord.

·        You could say that picking up our cross causes a “breaking in us” when we choose “not my will but thy will be done.”  

·        Ephesians 5:2: As Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

·        The world doesn’t get our dedicating our lives to Jesus; they will say it is a waste.

·        We could play it safe, and do things the world’s way! We could become something important, make lots of money, be respected, maybe even help some poor people to ease your conscience… and get respected while getting some glory here in this life!

·        I’m not knocking helping poor people. As you may have heard, I’ve helped a few poor people, but in so many cases found nothing but ingratitude and entitlement.  There will always be poor people with us.

·        Whatever we do, we must do it unto the Lord and that is a sweet incense to the Lord!

·        Some of the disciples, including Judas, attacked her actions, but she did not defend herself, she didn’t care about being popular with them…she let Jesus defend her. This is a sure sign of the “crucified life.”

·        Jesus told us, “that wherever the gospel is preached, what this woman has done will be told as a memorial to her.” It was not about the perfume that is part of the gospel… it is about her selflessness, it is about surrender, it is about the trust, it is about making Jesus “Lord” of your life.       Let’s see Paul on this: 

Philippians 3:7-9: But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish (dung), that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;

·        Paul looks back over his life and looks at the things he once thought were important and finds they were nothing but trash, or in the KJV, “dung.”

·        He had moved everything that he once thought was a credit to him over to the debit column. It’s like you go to the bank and make a deposit and find that your bank account actually dropped by the amount you put in it.

·        Your losses become your gains and your gains become your losses.

·        It’s as if everything that was against us has been moved over to our side to help us. Every bad thing that happens is actually working for your good so you can welcome difficult things knowing that it’s working for you.

·        So why does it take us so long to see the things that are really important, and instead we are like little dung beetles chasing the perfect turd… to push it to nowhere?

·        I see so many people who are struggling in life. But do you want to know why they are really struggling? They are fighting God.

·        The problem is that we love ourselves too much, we struggle to keep up a good front.

·        Americans spend billions of dollars every year to keep up a good front. We spend money on clothes, cars, homes, make-up, etc., trying to impress others that are also “only thinking about themselves.”

·        If we could tear down the front of the average person we would find the poverty of his spirit, his mind and his heart.

·        We try to hide that inward poverty, we disguise it, put lipstick on it… trying to preserve our dignity and our reputation to keep some authority over our lives.

·        We want to rescue part of ourselves from the cost. We don’t really want to give it all up.

·        We tell God exactly how he should do things with us, and if we do something good we want to give God the majority of the glory, as long as we can keep a little for ourselves.

·        If some people make it to heaven at all, it will be by the grace of God alone.

·        But they will arrive empty handed. It’s by grace and mercy alone that any of us will make it… but our God wants us to arrive with precious stones, gold and silver tried in the fire. But most are not willing to pay the price. 

Philippians 3:10-11:  That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

·        Whatever worldly things that are holding you back is like a veil between you and God, and it is made of things that are just silly, things that have no real value… things that are worthless; things that you cannot take with you.

·        At some point you need to count the cost of following Jesus.

·        You will never be more than just a struggling Christian until you give up your safety, your popularity, your comfort, and your life.

·        You can let go of your own self-interest, because he has your best interest at heart.

·        You can stop trying to defend yourself and let Him defend you.

·        Paul is saying you can never really know Him and the power of His resurrection without experiencing the suffering of picking up your cross.

·        There’s nothing in this world worth knowing compared to knowing Him.

·        Without picking up your cross and paying the cost of discipleship, you will only know about Him, you will never be in the inner circle where you can really know Him.