The Cost of Being A Christian

Luke 14:25-33 - 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. 27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28 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. Review: Disciple in the Gospels: Rabbis had disciples (learners, students). It was a very common relationship in Israel. Because Jesus had a group of followers, some people even called Him Rabbi (Matthew 26:49) Disciple in Acts: The word became synonymous with Christian. Not all of Jesus followers were Christians. Some people followed Him for 3 years and were shallow and uncommitted. As soon as Jesus said something too strange or difficult, they would leave (John 6:66, Luke 9:57-62) Jesus is talking to great multitudes mostly nonbelievers He was telling what He expected of His true followers (aka Christians) He was explaining how people receive eternal life, forgiveness, etc. Defining the Gospel: [Greek: euaggelion = good, message] The Good News Jesus was the substitutionary sacrifice for our sins. He died on the cross to take the punishment for our crimes, was buried to prove that He died, and rose from the dead on the 3rd day, conquering death! (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) (In this passage, Jesus doesnt give the components of the Gospel at all) How to become a Christian: Have faith in the Gospel and repent of your sins. Mark 1:15 - Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel. Acts 20:21 - testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ So if the Gospel is about repenting of our sins and having complete faith and conviction about who Jesus is and what He did. What was Jesus talking about?? Rather than sharing the Gospel with the crowds in Luke 14, Jesus is explaining the attitude necessary to respond to it. Many people will affirm that they believe in the facts of the Gospel. MANY people believe in Jesus and even would say they know He died for their sins. But few people have this submissive, broken, attitude that causes them to respond to the Gospel. Few people understand how sinful they are and thus, how much they need salvation. How many of you believed Jesus died for your sins before you became a Christian? Psalm 51:17 - The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart These, O God, You will not despise. Matthew 13:44-46 - Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, 46 who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

True salvation is evident in those who are willing to GIVE UP everything (calculated abandon) they have in order to gain it! They dont have 1 hand on the world and 1 hand on God its all or nothing.

Discussion: This call to salvation is very different from what were used to hearing What is the danger of sharing a simpler (easier) version of the Gospel with people? If we teach a shallow message, we will essentially cause people who are LOST to think that they are SAVED. They might go through the rest of their lives saying, Im a Christian because someone told me so. And die and spend eternity without God.

How did Jesus describe what it looks like to be a Christian/Disciple?

Do you find Jesus challenging the people following Him odd? Wouldnt you think that if massive amounts of people were following you, you would simply encourage them to come and then bring more people? But, that is not what Jesus does, does he? Christs aim was not to gather appreciative crowds (like the world anyone?), but to make disciples. He never adapted his message to get more people to follow him around and like him, but he always proclaimed the HIGH cost of discipleship.

A. Jesus must be superior in our affections (v26 - 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.) Superior over Others Matthew 10:37 - Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. What expression is used to describe our love for others in comparison to our love for Jesus? Hate. We are to hate others. Obviously God would never instruct us to hate someone else. So what does this mean? Jesus is saying here that our love for Him must be SO great that our love for everything else looks like hatred. It is a matter of comparison. Jesus might be tough but He is serious about us being His disciples. If you arent willing to make Him first in your affections, you cant be His disciple and if you consistently dont you arent his disciple- AKA you arent a Christian. Who is Christ talking about hating? Father, Mother, Son, Daughter, Wife, Brothers and Sisters, yourself. Wait these are the people you are supposed to love the most right? Can you imagine hating your husband and future children? What does this actually look like? (To put Him first in our affections) It means that He is the priority over all (time, friends, family, yourself). If these priorities are right then youll be able to love others more effectively than before. He gives us the power and skill to love at a higher level. This is because we have denied/disowned ourselves making our self-interest obsolete. This means loving Jesus more than you love yourself! It means denying your selfinterests, your need to be accepted by people, your need to feel good about yourself. It means not compartmentalizing your life and leaving Jesus until Sunday or Tues night. It means being willing to lose friends, family members, etc for Him. Examples of how we can check our affections: Most girls live to get married and have children (not saying that is wrong) but

do we live and look forward to that more than we do learning and growing in Christ? Do you plan your future based on your desires or Gods desires for your life? Do you worry more about getting accepted then sharing the gospel? Are you focused more on your self-esteem more than Christs esteem? Talking about Jesus in your job even you arent supposed to? Willing to stick up for God when people are making fun of Him?

B. Jesus wants to be the priority over your life. (v27 - And whoever does not bear
his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.) (also see Matt 10:38-39) Luke 9:23-25 - Then He said to them all, If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. 24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. 25 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? John 12:24-25 - Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. 25 He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. What does it mean to bear a cross? Literally - To carry the cross to the place of torture and death. Its the same as walking death row Practically, what does this look like? (If we say that we are willing to bear our cross and come after Jesus what does it mean for us on a day to day basis?) Being willing to die for Christ literally. If that is true, you will also... Laying aside what YOU want for what GOD wants. Being willing to totally throw out your desires, ambitions, goals, plans, etc for His. You may have worked your whole life for something only to find that coming to Christ means you would lose it. Are you willing to do that? (Anyone have an example??) Examples: o If God calls you to motherhood, being willing to lay aside your career goals to honor Jesus. o If God calls you to foreign missions, being willing to give up your dreams of an American lifestyle. o If God calls you to a local mission field like your job being willing to share the Gospel without regard for lost promotions and possibly losing your job. How does hating your life (v26) compare with being wiling to die (v27)? v26 - If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own life also, he cannot be My disciple v27 - And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. Hating your life vs. willing to die. o Hating your life Giving up ambitions, goals, personal desires, personal gratification (sins). Being willing to lay down what you want o Willing to die Living a life at risk realizing LIFE isnt as good as ETERNITY with God Are you willing to die so you gain attention or so He does? Are you willing to give up your ambitions out of self-love or out of love for Jesus? Discussion: If someone is unwilling to give up their plans, goals, ambitions, and even life what does that say? They arent desperate to be forgiven. Heaven isnt that important to them.

The true gospel, the true call to follow Jesus is a call to self-denial. It's not a call to selffulfillment. It is not Christianity-light. It is not a man-centered, self-loving, psychologically defined message. The gospel is a call to sinners to submit everything to Jesus Christ. It is a call to find your life by losing it, to gain it by abandoning it, to live it to the fullest by emptying it. John MacArthur Self-Evaluation: Have you ever come to a point in life where you realized that you wanted salvation, forgiveness of sins, and closeness with your Creator more than your own life?

C. Jesus must be the priority over all our possessions. (v33 So likewise,
whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.) This might not seem like that big of a deal but clearly it IS some people dont come to Christ for this very reason! Is Jesus saying that to become a Christian, we need to sell our stuff? What does this look like practically? It just means that our stuff is subordinated to what God wants for us. We hold to nothing in this world not money, not stuff, not possessions. We are stewards of everything we have everything is on loan from God. Using whatever God gives us for His glory our homes, our money, our cars, our possessions. The world says that its foolish to give money away we view all money as Gods. Our country says to protect your personal space God says use what you have to minister to others. Discussion: Is it sinful to be rich or to have a lot of possessions? Does God love the poor more than the rich? NO but if youve been blessed with something, you had better check whether or not its an idol. You must maintain a renters attitude, not an owners. Self-Evaluation: Do you have a comfort level that you arent willing to live without? How would you respond if God called you to give that up?