Being a disciple of Jesus Christ

The Cost of Discipleship
Luke 14:25-33

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How much does it cost? We ask that frequently when we are deciding to make a purchase. Is the item/service worth the price which we’ll have to pay? We need to allocate scarce resources and we have to decide if the price is worth the value placed on the item/service by the seller.

Our souls are a scarce resource – we each only have one. Jesus calls us to give our lives to Him. Is the cost worth it? Let’s take a look at Luke 14:25-33.

THE CALL – Verse 26:
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”

Jesus demands supreme allegiance. That’s what faith is, ultimately – comitting our lives to live above all others. It’s not periodic nor is it at our convenience. We need to hate (“love less” – Matthew 10:37) our wives or husbands, fathers or mothers, children or siblings relative to our love for Jesus Christ.

THE CHALLENGE – Verse 27:
“Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.”

So, we have a cross to bear. Jesus had already said in 9:23 that we must take up our cross daily. We each have a cross to bear and it is a daily cross. It is sacrificing our desires and our interests on the altar of our love for Jesus. It means we will love what He loves and hate what He hates. It means we’ll spend our time pleasing Him.

John wrote: “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15). Turning our back on love for the world is the challenge.

ILLUSTRATION #1 – Verses 28-30:
In His unique way, Jesus tells a parable to illustrate His point. “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’”

His point is: Count the cost. Before you become a Christian, recognize what it is going to take from you. It will require your life, your soul, your all (Romans 12:1-2).

ILLUSTRATION #2 – Verses 31-32:
“Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.”

His point here is: What cost is there if you refuse? If you really don’t want to pay the price to be a disciple of Christ, consider the alternative. What price is there to pay to be a servant of Satan?

CONCLUSION – Verses 33-35:
“So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned? 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.”

Jesus’ conclusion is that a disciple who does not follow Christ with all that he is, is not worth tasteless salt!

Count the cost and invest your soul in Jesus.

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