Sermon #108 Luke Sermons

Title: THE COST

Text: Luke 14:25-35

Subject: The Cost of Discipleship

Date: Sunday Evening—, 2001

Tape # X-86b

Readings: Larry Criss & Merle Hart

Introduction:

Let me tell you a story. Once there was a man who collected and traded in pearls. He had a fine collection of his own. But one day, while he was away on business, he spotted a beautiful pearl in a Jeweler's window. It was a pearl such as he had never seen, perfect in shape, size, and color. He thought to himself, "I must have that pearl." So he went into the Jewelry store and ask to see that beautiful pearl.

The Jeweler carefully spread a piece of black velvet on the counter top, and gently placed the pearl upon it. The man was overwhelmed at the sight of that pearl. With great intensity he looked the pearl over, carefully examining it. Finally, he said to the Jeweler, "That's got to be the most exquisite pearl I have ever seen." The Jeweler replied, "My friend, that is the most exquisite pearl in the whole world. There is not another one anywhere to compare with it."

"I must have that pearl," the man said. "How much is it?" The gentleman behind the counter replied, "I am afraid that you cannot afford this pearl." "But I must have it; I'll pay anything," the man said. "Anything?" replied the Jeweler. "Yes, anything," "Very well. If you want this pearl, you can buy it; but it will cost you everything you have." "Everything I have:" the man exclaimed. "Yes, everything."

He paced the floor for a while. At last, he said, "I must have that pearl, I'll pay the price." So he took out his wallet and began to count his money. He kept only five dollars for himself. He said, "I will have to buy some gas for my car." The jeweler said, "Do you have a car? It will cost you your car too." "But how will I get back and forth to work?" "Oh do you have a job? It will cost you your job too." "But," the man said, "If I give up my job, how will I pay for my house?" "Oh, you-have a house? I am afraid that this pearl will cost you your house too." "But, sir, what would then become of my family, my wife and children?" "Do you have a family? It wiI1 cost you your family too."

Then the man said, "But that's everything I have." The jeweler responded, "I told you, it will cost you everything you have to obtain this pearl." "But I didn't know you meant everything." "Yes, everything." At last the man said, "I must have that pearl. I'll pay it." And he gave him everything he had.

Then the Jeweler gave him the pearl. And he gave him his money, the keys to his car, and the deed to his house, told him to keep his job, his wife, and his children. He said, “now remember all of these things belong to me. I want you to take them and use them. But don't ever forget, they belong to me. Anytime I call for them, or call upon you to use them for me, you must remember they are all mine. You gave them to me for this pearl."

The Lord Jesus Christ gave us the story in Matthew 13. I have simply paraphrased it a little. He said, "The kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it" (Matt. 13:45-46). The Lord Jesus Christ is the Pearl of great price. He said, "Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:33). If we would have Christ, we must surrender all to him.

Christianity, true Christianity, true saving faith involves a total surrender to Christ the Lord. Either you will be a servant under the dominion of King Jesus, voluntarily giving up all to his claims, or you will go to hell! You may not have to give up anything in actuality. But surrender to Christ must be just as real and complete in your heart as if you had actually given up everything, even down to life itself. Our Lord Jesus Christ requires total and unreserved surrender to himself. Christ wilI be Lord of all, or he will not be Lord at all. Is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, your Lord? Is he truly your Lord?

Tonight, I want us to go back to Luke 14:25-35. The title of my message is “The Cost.”

(Luke 14:25-26) "And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them, {26} If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple."

“If any man come”

I. The first thing I want you to see is that faith is coming to Christ.—He says, “If any man come.”

Many physical acts are used in Scripture to describe faith in Christ—Seeing—Looking To—Laying Hold Of—Tasting, etc.

· “He that seeth the Son…”

· “Look unto me…”

· “Lay hold on eternal life…”

· “Taste and see…”

· “Whoso eateth…and drinketh…”

Here our Lord uses another physical act to speak of faith. He said, “If any man come unto me.” But these physical acts describe something that is altogether spiritual. Salvation is coming to Christ. I want you to come to Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is able to save to the uttermost all who come to God by him. He says, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

But coming to Christ has nothing to do with moving your body. It is the motion of our souls to him. Looking to him, gazing upon him with awe and wonder, we come to him. "He that cometh to me," says Christ, "shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me," which explains what is meant by coming to him, "shall never thirst" (John 6:35). He goes on to declare, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37).

If any sinner comes to Christ, if we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, we do so because of a work of God’s almighty, effectual, irresistible grace.

(John 6:44-45) "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. {45} It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me."

(John 6:65) "And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father."

We come to Christ for mercy and grace, for peace and pardon, for righteousness and acceptance, for forgiveness and justification, for salvation and eternal life. He is the Refuge to which we flee, the High Tower in whom we find salvation, the Hope set before us we lay hold of. Christ is the City of Refuge to which we flee, in which we abide, in whom we have refuge from the avenging wrath and justice of God.

· A Blood Refuge

· A Righteous Refuge

· A Rock Refuge

Oh, may God give you grace now to come to Christ. Come to him right now. Don’t move a muscle. Come to Christ in your soul, with your heart.

Rock of Ages, cleft for me, 
Let me hide myself in thee; 
Let the water and the blood, 
From thy riven side which flowed, 
Be of sin the double cure; 
Cleanse me from its guilt and power.
 
Not the labors of my hands 
Can fulfill thy law's commands; 
Could my zeal no respite know, 
Could my tears forever flow, 
All for sin could not atone; 
Thou must save, and thou alone. 
 
Nothing in my hand I bring, 
Simply to the cross I cling; 
Naked, come to thee for dress; 
Helpless, look to thee for grace; 
Foul, I to the fountain fly; 
Wash me, Savior, or I die. 
 
Whilst I draw this fleeting breath, 
When my eyes shall close in death, 
When I soar through tracks unknown, 
See thee on thy judgment throne— 
Rock of Ages, cleft for me, 
Let me hide myself in thee. 

(1 Pet 2:2-4) "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: {3} If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. {4} To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious."

Faith is coming to Christ. We have come to him. We are coming to him. We shall come to him. Soon, we shall sure enough come to him!

The Cost

II. Here’s the second thing to be learned from our Master’s words in this passage.—Grace is free; but it is not cheap.

(Luke 14:25-26) "And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them, {26} If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple."

The multitudes, when they heard about the great, bounteous grace to be had in by the free gift of God in Christ, when they understood something of the blessedness of God’s salvation in his Son, ran after the Savior. Like the man in verse 15, they thought, “This is a good thing. I want that.”—“Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the Kingdom of God!” How many there are like these! Preachers everywhere offer cheap grace to sinners who want a Savior to keep them out of hell, who will not interfere too much with their lives between here and hell. Well, God’s grace is free, but it is not cheap.

We must be care to make no more of this passage than our Lord intended. HE does not use the word “hate” as it is commonly used. He is not telling us to hate our families, or ourselves. That would be a commandment to violate his own law. He commands us in the law to love and honor our families, particularly our parents. He sternly rebuked the Pharisees for using their professed devotion to God as an excuse for not honoring their parents (Mark 7:6-13).

(Mark 7:6-13) "He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. {7} Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. {8} For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. {9} And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. {10} For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death: {11} But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. {12} And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; {13} Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye."

To command us to positively hate ourselves would be to command the impossible, for he tells us in Ephesians 5:29—“No man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it.”

But let us not make less of the passage than our Lord intends. We must prefer nothing to Christ. We must prefer no one to him, not even ourselves (Matt. 10:37). O

(Mat 10:37) "He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me."

Discipleship

A disciple is a learner, a follower, one who learns from his master by following his master’s steps. When our Lord speaks of disciples, when he says this is the condition of discipleship, he is not saying, “This is what it will take for you to be a first class Christian, or a truly spiritual Christian.” He is saying, “This is what is involved in salvation, this is what is involved in the blessedness of eating bread in the kingdom of God.” A disciple is a believer. A believer is a disciple, a person who learns by following the Lord Jesus Christ.

· The apostles were disciples.

· The early church in the Book of Acts was filled with disciples.

· Disciples turned the world upside down for Christ.

As I go about from place to place preaching the gospel, encouraging men and women to devote themselves to Christ and his cause in this world, as I seek to led this congregation and others to preach the gospel of Christ and support those who do, I often hear people say, “But we can’t…” or “I just can’t…” Stop and think about that for a minute.

· One man and his wife can feed, cloth and provide for an entire family, educate every child in the household and send them to college and graduate school.—But twelve men and women can’t build a house of worship and support one pastor!—Twelve disciples can!

· One man and his wife can buy a new house, a new car, a new truck, all the new toys they want, take vacations as often as they want, eat at the finest restaurants, wear the finest clothes and most sparkling, impressive jewelry.—But a church with 40, 50, or 100 members can’t keep one missionary in bread and butter to preach the gospel in a foreign land!—A congregation of disciples can!

· I hear churches and pastors say, “We just can’t do this or that for the furtherance of the gospel.”—I say, “Then step aside, give me a band of disciples, and I can!”

The Cross

Look at verse 27—“And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.” This is the salt of the covenant. The covenant by which we are saved is a covenant of pure, free grace. But you cannot have a covenant without salt. The salt of the covenant which must be mingled with all our sacrifices is faithfulness, consecration, devotion to God our Savior.

Cost Counting

III. In verses 28-33 our Savior teaches us that saving faith is deliberate, calculated devotion to him.

(Luke 14:28) "For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?"

There is a cross to bear and a cost to count, if we would follow Christ, if we would be his disciples. There is a cost involved in this thing called “faith.” Mark this well.

· Confession is cheap. Consecration is costly.

· Decisions are cheap. Devotion is costly.

· Religion is cheap. Righteousness is costly.

Our Lord’s intention here is not to discourage men and women from coming to him, but make us understand that following him involves the consecration of our lives to him. Faith in Christ is not a leap in the dark. It is a reasonable, calculated devotion to Christ. That old adage, “Haste makes waste,” is never more true than in making a profession of faith. Religion says, “Strike while the iron is hot.” Christ says, “Sit down and count the cost.”

Illustration: When God called Abraham to sacrifice his son, he made him think about it for three days.

Two Illustrations

In verses 28-32 our Lord gives us two illustrations of what he is talking about.

(Luke 14:28-32) "For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? {29} Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold 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, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? {32} Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace."

· Professing faith in Christ is building a tower, a house.—We must build it upon the Foundation God has laid.—We must build it with the material God has provided, the blood and righteousness of Christ.—We must have sufficient to finish it, the grace of God.

· To take up the cross and follow Christ, to profess faith in him is to enlist in his army as a soldier going to war against a king.—God’s people are kings, made kings by Christ.—We are engaged in a warfare against the prince of darkness and his loyal soldiers, the world and the flesh.

Now, just in case anyone fails to understand what he is saying, our Lord explains the cost he is talking about in verse 33.

(Luke 14:33) "So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple."

Useless Salt

In verses 34 and 35, our Lord presses the whole thing home, by comparing those who make a profession of faith and depart from it because they began to build a refuge, but built upon a foundation of sand, without the grace of God, without the blood and righteousness of Christ, give it up—those who go out to war against the world, the flesh and the devil in the strength of the flesh and in time begin to seek terms of peace with hell—to salt that has lost it savor.

(Luke 14:34-35) "Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned? {35} It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."

Once salt has lost its savor, it is good for nothing except to scatter on the floor to keep the feet of men from slipping and falling. And the savor once lost cannot be regained. Hebrews 6:4-6 and 10:23-31 provide us with an excellent commentary on these two verses.

(Heb 10:23-31) "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) {24} And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: {25} Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. {26} For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, {27} But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. {28} He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: {29} Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? {30} For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. {31} It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

(Heb 10:25-29) "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. {26} For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, {27} But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. {28} He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: {29} Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?"

“He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

Amen.