Introduction:

1.    Some people desire to follow Christ; therefore, they attach themselves to Him and join the church.

a.       Yet they come ever so short and miss eternal life. Why? 

b.       Because they never knew the price of discipleship.

2.    True discipleship costs everything a person is and has.

I.                   The Great Cost of Discipleship, Luke  9:57-62 (Matthew 8:18-22)

A.     One must count the cost (v.57-58)

1.       The man offered himself (v.57)

a.       This man said, “I will follow you wherever you go”

b.       Jesus’ reply was to the point – The man had to count the cost.

2.       Jesus offered no luxury, no materialism—only self-denial and sacrifice (v.58)See: DS1

a.       Jesus Himself was the prime example.

b.       Jesus told the man to count the cost.

c.        Jesus called Himself the Son of Man

B.     One must follow immediately (v.59-60)

1.       Jesus invited the man (v.59a)

2.       The man had divided attention (v.59b)

3.       Jesus’ demand (v.60)

a.       A sense of urgency (v.60a)

b.       Go now and preach (v.60b)

C.     One must not look back (v.61-62)

1.       Another offered himself (v.61a)

2.       The man’s double allegiance (v.61b)

a.       Note the words “but” and “first.”

b.       The man had thought through his decision and concluded that he was willing to follow Christ, but something else needed to be handled first:

3.       Jesus’ judgment: Looking back disqualifies a person (v.62)

a.       He had willed to follow Christ, but he “had looked back”; therefore, he was not fit for the Kingdom of God.

                The idea is this. A man who begins to plough and then looks back...

Ø  ploughs a crooked row. No row (person) is ever straight, not like it should be. (Each row or person receives only partial teaching.)

Ø  ploughs an inconsistent field. The field under his care is never matured; it never receives consistent work.

Ø  ploughs in a spirit lacking total commitment. He may turn away at any time, leaving a job unfinished.

Ø  ploughs but allows distractions and disruptions which affect the crops (the plants are not cared for).

4.       James 4:4 – Friendship With the World.

a.       A strong emotional attachment to the things of this world. 

b.       Those with a deep longing emotional attachment for the things of this world give evidence that they are not redeemed 1John 2:15-17

5.       Remember lots wife

(Genesis 19:17,26; Luke 9:62; 17:32-33; Hebrews 10:38; 2Peter 2:18-22; Revelation 22:10-12).

a.       She illustrates the doom of turning back.  She came close to being saved; she had prepared.  She was faithful to her husband, Listening to his spiritual warnings, walking with him through the sinful city (world), and walking toward God's designated safety.

b.       But She walked behind her husband, not by his side; therefore, she was able to look back upon her sensual experiences in the world of Sodom.  When she did, she perished with the worldly.

6.       Remember lots wife who came so close, but who tried to hang on to the delights of the world.  Her physical body walked out of Sodom, but she left her heart back there.

a.       Lots wife was destroyed on the very threshold of deliverance. 

b.       Her heart was so knit together with Sodom and all that it stood for that she was reluctant to leave; in looking back, she came under divine judgment. 

c.        Christ warned, "Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it Luke 17:33

Remember Lots wife –The attachment to Sodom was so powerful that she delayed and looked back; she was overwhelmed by oncoming judgment, just before reaching the place of safety.

II.                The Parable of the Hidden Treasure, Giving Up All for Christ, Matthew 13:44

Introduction—Believers—Treasure—Gospel: there are two main interpretations of this parable.

A.   Jesus Christ is the man (cp. Matthew 13:24, 37-38)

1.       The treasure in the field represents potential believers who are in the world.

2.       In this interpretation Jesus sees the treasure of men in the world, and seeing them He does four things.

a.       He hides the treasure: He takes what the Father has given Him and tucks it away in His heart, choosing and protecting them until He can complete the work of salvation (John 10:14-16, 27-30).

b.       He goes: He comes to the world (Luke 19:10; John 3:16).

c.        He sells all: He gives up heaven in all its glory and splendor (Luke 2:7; 2Cor. 8:9; Phil. 2:7-8).

d.       He buys: He pays the ultimate price. He gives His life for the life of man (Romans 5:8; 1 Cor. 15:3-4; 2 Cor. 5:21).

e.        He joys: He envisions the glorious day when all His treasure shall be possessed by Him (Hebrews 12:12)

Others say that:

B.  The treasure is the gospel of Christ, the gospel of the Messiah who is ever so precious.

A man sees the gospel, the saving message of Christ as never before; that is, He understands the immense treasure of salvation.

1.       He hides the treasure: he tucks it away in his heart, protecting it, not letting it loose. He seeks and continues to seek the truth of Christ.

a.       A person who has really tasted and learned the value of Christ hides the treasure in his heart.

b.       He seeks and seeks to lay hold of the gospel; he does not let the gospel go.

2.       He goes: approaches Christ and makes a decision.

a.       Christ gives invitation after invitation for men to come and seek His mercy.

b.       A decision has to be made Matthew 7:13-14

3.       He sells all: repents and turns from his former life to God.

a.       The man is willing to sell and to give up all. He is willing to turn to God from all. He is willing to repent (Acts 17:29-30). Why? To gain the priceless treasure.

b.       He is not only willing, but he gives up and denies all. He lives a life of self-discipline (Luke 9:23). This involves the sacrifice of personal desires and ambitions, cravings and wants, lusts and possessions. It involves all of one’s life.

4.       He buys: commits all and gives all to possess the treasure of salvation.

                                The person knows something:

a.       It is worth anything to lay hold of Christ.

b.       Therefore, the person presents his body a living sacrifice to Christ ( Romans 12:1-2).

5.       He joys: experiences the completeness and satisfaction of the treasure (Christ).

                                The person experiences three things:

a.       He experiences abundant life (John 10:10).

b.       He experiences completeness (Col. 2:10).

c.        He experiences the fruit of the spirit (Gal. 5:22-23).

III.             The Parable of the Merchant Man and the Pearl of Great Price: Giving Up All for Christ, 13:45-46

A.     He seeks pearls (v.45)

1.       Seeks many pearls (v.45a)

2.       Seeks fine pearls (v.45b)

B.     He finds a priceless pearl (v.46)

1.       He goes (v.46a)

2.       He sells all he has (v.46b)

3.       He buys the pearl (v.46c)

IV.              Loyalty is essential—Matthew 10:32-33

A.     Three double things here.

1.       There is a double confession: (v.32)

a.       Our confession of Christ before men, and

b.       The Lord’s confession of us before His Father.

2.       There is a double day of glory:

a.       The Lord’s day of glory when He hears us confess His name before men, and

b.       Our day of glory when we hear Him confess our name before His Father.

3.       There is a double privilege:

a.       Our privilege in confessing the Lord before men, and

b.       The Lord’s privilege in confessing us before His Father.     

1)       “This one belongs to me”

2)       He will affirm His loyalty to those who have affirmed their loyalty to Him.

Does this mean confession before others is a condition before becoming a true Christian?  No.

1.       It does mean that a characteristic of every genuine believer will profess faith in Christ (Romans 1:16).

2.       The heart of real discipleship is a commitment to become like Jesus Christ.

a.       Both in our actions & being willing to accept the same treatment as He did.

b.       & confessing before others that Jesus is Lord & being confident that He will speak on our behalf.

Confess means to affirm, to acknowledge, to agree

One can confess Christ:

1)       With the mouth, as Romans 10:9 says.

2)       With righteous behavior, as Titus 1:16 implies.

This Emphasizes Public Confession

1)       Romans 10:10, “with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, & with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”

2)       If the heart truly believes, the mouth will be eager to confess.

3)       Confession is not merely a human work, prompted & energized by God.

4)       Confession is a characteristic of true faith; it is not an additional condition of salvation.

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. (1 John 4:15 NKJV)

B.     Christ can be denied in three ways:

When put to the test, false disciples consistently deny the Lord by,  this happens when:

1.       We can deny Christ by word.

a.       Our words either confess or deny Christ as Lord.

b.       This does not mean that a disciple will always stand up for the Lord.

1)       Peter denied the Lord 3 times

2)       Timothy was fearful of things going on around him: Paul had to write to him

Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, (2 Timothy 1:8 NKJV)

c.        A moment of failure does not invalidate a disciple’s credentials.

d.       We have all done this at one time or another

e.        But a true disciple will not purposely keep our faith hidden from everyone all the time

2.       We can deny Christ by act.

a.       How we behave either confesses or denies Christ.

b.       We are not to be conformed to the world, but transformed by the renewing of our mind (Romans 12:1-2; cp. 2 Cor. 6:17-18; 1 John 2:15-16).

3.       We can deny Christ by silence.

a.       Failing to speak up for Christ to protest evil denies Christ.

b.       Silence is probably the greatest denial of Christ committed by believers.

C.     Denying Christ is the most dangerous thing we can do. Why?

1.       Because there is a day coming when we will need Christ to confess us before God (Heb. 9:27)

2.       Because Christ has already foretold what He will do if we deny Him:

a.       He will deny us. He will tell the truth—He never knew us (Matthew 7:23; Matthew 25:41).

3.       Matthew 25:31-46 separation of the sheep & goats at the end of the tribulation, at the judgment of the nations (v.33).

a.       The sheep (those who have confessed Him) are on His right hand.

b.       The goats (those who have denied Him) are on His left hand (v.33)

D.     Getting the Priorities Straight – Matthew 10:34-37

A True Disciple Love Christ Even More Than His Family (Luke 14:26-27).

Does this mean we literally need to hate our own families

1.       This would violate the clear commands of God

a.       "Honor your father and your mother” (Exodus 20:12 NKJV)

b.       “Husbands, love your wives”(Ephesians 5:25 NKJV)

2.       We must be unquestionably loyal to Him above our own families

Especially above ourselves

a.       We are to deny self (Matt. 16:24).

b.       Consider ourselves dead (Rom. 6:11).

c.        Lay the old self aside (Eph. 4:22).

d.       To treat the selfish aspect of our beings with the utmost contempt (1 Cor. 9:27).

e.        We must have this attitude toward or earthly possessions & even toward our families.

3.       Christ drove the uncommitted away & drew true disciples to Himself.

a.       He does not want halfhearted people to be deceived into thinking they are in the kingdom.

b.       Unless He is the #1 priority, he has not been given his rightful place. 

E.     Taking Up the Cross – Matthew 10:38-39

1.       Those who are not willing to lose their lives for Christ are not worthy of Him (Matthew 10:38).

2.       They cannot be His disciples (Luke 14:27).

3.       Our faith in Christ is a life long commitment.

a.       Each day giving your life for Christ.

b.       No uncertainty, or hesitation (Luke 9:59-62)

c.        Nothing is knowingly held back, or stubbornly kept from His control.

d.       Genuine believers know they are going ahead with Christ until death.

e.        Having put their hand to the plow they will not look back