Sermon #108 Luke
Sermons
Title: THE
COST
Text: Luke
14:25-35
Subject: The
Cost of Discipleship
Date: Sunday
Evening—, 2001
Tape
# X-86b
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
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
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
·
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
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
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.
(Mat
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
· 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
(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.