The Cost of Following Jesus

August 27th 2023

Series: Courageous Faith

Sermon Title: The Cost of Following Jesus

Topic: Journey through the book of Acts.

Key Passages: Acts 21:17- 40

Sermon Blurb: Is the Christian life all about what we get, or is there a cost to following Jesus? This week we will watch the Apostle Paul go through a “life and death” situation for the sake of the Gospel. And we will learn that while there are costs to being a Christian, Jesus is worth it in the end!

Sermon:

Hello Family Church!

Family Moment –

Those of you who are new, or newer, to Family Church we are SUPER happy you are with us today!

We have been walking through the book of Acts as a church for the better part of the last two years….

Walking through it line by line and verse by verse….

And we LOVE the book of Acts here at Family Church because it is all about how the first churches operated in their communities to reach people for Jesus.

And here at Family Church we LOVE to study the Bible and ask how can we apply what we learn to our lives today.

And that is simply what we will do today!

PAUSE

So, let’s jump into the Bible today…

Grab your Bibles….

I hope you all brought your Bible to church!

Either paper version or electronic!

Open it up to Acts 21 and we will pickup at verse 17 where we left off...

Acts 21

As you’re turning there, let me get everyone up to speed on what we learned last week...

Last weekend, we followed the Apostle Paul as he continued on toward Jerusalem.

We found that there were others who told Paul that he shouldn’t go... that trouble awaited him there.

And we learned that sometimes God’s leading in our lives will be contrary to what other people think we should do.

And, that we need to listen to God and do what He says no matter what.

PAUSE

Now, today we will see what happens as they arrive in Jerusalem and the ministry continues.

And what we will find (which is also the title of the message today)... is The Cost of Following Jesus.

There is a cost in following Jesus….

I know our American Christian culture says, “Follow Jesus and you can live your best life now!”,

Or “Receive Jesus as your Savior and you get blessing after blessing after blessing.”

Now, following Jesus is a blessing... but comfortable, convenient, or easy?

NO WAY!

All gain, no pain???

Not even close!

The American church often presents a “false Gospel” that is devoid of pain, suffering, trails, tribulations, and hardship...

And the problem is, when we face those things, which Jesus actually promised we would, so many people get confused and many people leave the faith.

The DON’T leave because the Bible doesn’t warn us about these things…

They leave because our culture has failed to teach and preach what the Bible actually says!!

So, we aren’t prepared to face the tough stuff when it comes!

PAUSE

Jesus said these words to His disciples in

Matthew 16:24 “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”

In other words, if you and I want to follow Jesus we must DENY ourselves…

DENY what their flesh wants!

DENY what the world wants!

DENY what our emotions want!

DENY what our feelings tell us!

DENY what our inner self says!

And instead….live like Jesus….

We have to learn to die to our love of comfort….

Die to our love of convenience….

Die to our love of stuff…

Die to our love of self...

And instead live like Jesus….

And yes….I know that is the opposite of what you will learn in most schools and colleges…

Yes, that is the opposite of what most all political leaders will say.

That is the opposite of the American dream…

See, all of these things of our flesh will hold us back from fully following Jesus...

So, if we are committed to Jesus, we must be committed to letting go of these hindrances.

Church, there is a cost to following Jesus... but, listen to what Jesus says comes on the other side...

John 12:24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

See church, according to Jesus, the only way that new life comes is through death.

So, in the same way that a single seed must die in order to bring forth a harvest, a Christian must be willing to die to ourselves in order to bring forth more Christians.

PAUSE

What we are about to see in the life of the Apostle Paul, is a man who finds following Jesus VERY COSTLY.

But he is willing to pay the price!

And what is the result?

Think about all that God is doing in and through Paul’s life up to now Acts!!!

The result is literally countless churches planted.

Countless number of people coming to faith in Jesus.

Countless people experiencing new life!

PAUSE

Let me give you something to ponder….as we read this today…

Write this down…

What could God do through me if I would lay my agenda and replace it with God’s plan?

Repeat

Think about that…as we see Paul do just that…..

Let’s jump in and see what the cost of following Jesus looks like in Paul’s life...verse 17

Acts 21: 17-40 When we arrived at Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters received us warmly. 18 The next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James, and all the elders were present.

19 Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

20 When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law.”

Wow, so far so good, right?

You’re like….ummmm Pastor this doesn’t sound so bad!!

And that’s true.

Life’s not all tough, praise God....

There is so much joy in following God!

That’s what Paul and the others are experiencing here.

They arrive in Jerusalem and they are greeted warmly by the church there.

Then they spend time sharing about all that God has been doing among the Gentiles abroad and among the Jews in and around Jerusalem!

BUT…..

But then things take a turn in v. 21... James and the leadership of the church in Jerusalem fill Paul in on something troubling...

21 They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to out customs.

22 What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come, 23 so do what we tell you.

Let’s pause right there...

So, from PRAISE to CHALLENGE...from THANKSGIVING to STRESSING...

The leaders of the church in Jerusalem tell Paul that there are rumors going around about him... and it’s not good.

People are saying that Paul is teaching the Jews, who live among the Gentiles, that they don’t need to be Jewish anymore!

That they should leave their customs and the commands of Moses... even telling them not to circumcise their kids!

PAUSE

Now, to be fair to Paul... these were false accusations…...

Nowhere do we read that Paul told the Jews to stop being Jewish, or to stop circumcising their kids.

Paul did say that people are NOT SAVED through those things, but he never told the Jews to stop practicing them.

But this is what can happen when we serve the Lord.

Write this down in your notes,

Part of the cost of following Jesus will be people attacking your character.

(repeat)

Now, obviously, we can do stupid things that can give us a bad reputation and I’m not talking about that.

But the reality is that if we follow Jesus, people will make things up to try and tarnish our lives and ministries...

People will call us names, makeup lies, spread rumors, misunderstand our motives, and even cancel us on social media.

And it’s all part of the cost of following Jesus.

Did you know that this actually happened to Jesus, as well???

Jesus said in

Matthew 10:25, And since I, the master of the household, have been called the prince of demons, the members of my household will be called by even worse names!

In the same way that Jesus was mistreated and falsely accused, so was Paul...and so will we.

This is difficult stuff, isn’t it?

No one likes to be misunderstood!!

I get it!

We have to flip the script and Jesus shows us how...in Matthew 5…where Jesus says….

Matthew 5:11 Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in Heaven...

So, we need to see false accusations, insults, and lies as a spiritual BLESSINGS!!!!!

As future rewards in heaven!

That's what Jesus is saying here!

ADD an example from your life:

Let me give you an example…

When I was a pastor at a prior church we had congregational meetings…..anyone ever been to those…let me just say there is a reason why we do NOT do them!!!!!

Most church meetings are CRAZY!!!!!

You want to talk about a place for rumors and lies to fly like around it is at those meetings!

I could tell you story after story from my life, and pastor friends’ lives.

One of my favorite ones was when our compensation line when up $30,000 one year and someone read that and was 100% convinvce it was because I gave myself a $30,000 raise and told everyone it was TRUE!!!

And I had to sit and listen to them be ridiculous and then say….kindly….That was not correct…that was the compensation for the new person we were hiring!!!!

I have had people say HORRIBLE things about me that are 100% made up!

This will happen to you if you are following Jesus….

PAUSE

Back to Paul... what was he to do about these false accusations?

Was there anything he could do to help fix this situation?

James and the other church leaders had a plan...Verse 23…

23 so do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow.

24 Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everyone will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law.

Kind of a weird plan…but whatever….

It is a good plan and Paul is going to go along with it.

Now let me mention….there are some scholars who believe that Paul compromised his convictions here.

That Paul was mistaken to go along with their plan.

I disagree, and I think it highlights another part of the cost of following Jesus and it’s the cost of compromise.

You can write this down,

Part of the cost of following Jesus is the need to compromise our preferences.

(Repeat)

Ok, now don’t hear what I didn’t say.

I didn’t say that we should compromise our convictions or values!

I said our preferences... and there is a difference.

We DON’T compromise what the bible says!

The things that are black and white in Scripture, we need to stand strong in those things!

PAUSE

What we learn from Paul regarding compromise is that we need to be willing to compromise our preferences for the sake of others... and that is what he does here in Acts 21.

Paul knows that although he doesn’t need to take a vow, shave his head, pay for the other guys, or do purification rites...

If it will help the ministry of Jesus and remove a stumbling block for those Jewish believers, then he was willing to do it!

He will defer them...even if it costs him something!

I think this is what he meant when he wrote these words in

1 Corinthians 9:19-20 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law.

Do you hear the heart of Paul here?

He was willing to compromise his preferences for the sake of winning others to Jesus.

And that’s the incredible trade off!

To give up my preferences, my freedoms for the sake of others coming to faith in Jesus!!!

And we must be willing to do the same if we are going to reach people for Jesus!

(SHARE STORY of how you have done this)

PAUSE

And, that willingness to compromise for others didn’t stop with Paul... listen to James remind Paul of what the church in Jerusalem asked the Gentiles to do regarding their interactions with the Jews living among them...

25 As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat strangled animals and from sexual immorality.”

If you want to learn more about that go back and read Acts 15 later today.

In the same way that there was a cost for Paul in his ministry to others, there was also a cost for the Gentile believers.

For the sake of their interactions with Jews living among them, and not causing them to stumble in the faith, they were to abstain from those things mentioned in v.25.

We too must be willing to do whatever it takes to win others to Jesus!

26 The next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. Then he went to the temple to give notice of the date when the days of purification would end and the offering would be made for each of them.

So, we see that Paul followed through with his vow right away... but, the trouble isn’t over, in fact, it’s only just begun...

27 When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him,

28 shouting, “Fellow Israelites, help us! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place.”

29 (They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the Temple.)

So, the plan to win over the Jews was unsuccessful.

The Jews from Asia, who were very familiar with Paul, stirred up the crowds!

They shouted even more ridiculous false accusations!!!!

And it got so bad that….verse 30…

30 The whole city was aroused, and the people came running from all directions. Seizing Paul, they dragged him from the Temple, and immediately the gates were shut.

31 While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar.

32 He at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd. When the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

33 The commander came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains.

34 Some in the crowd shouted one thing and some another, and since the commander could not get at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be taken to the barracks.

What a scene, right church?

No doubt Paul was thinking about the prophecy of Agabus just days prior...

This is exactly what the Spirit of God said would happen to Paul through Agabus...

And I wonder if that encouraged Paul... or did this catch Paul off guard.

God knew this would happen and He had revealed it to Paul ahead of time.

I bet Paul was cool as a cucumber in the midst of all this craziness.

And this brings up another part of the cost of following Jesus...you can write this down,

Part of the cost of following Jesus is the loss of our personal freedom.

(Repeat)

Obviously, here Paul was literally seized by an angry crowd who started to beat him up.

They actually would have killed him if the Romans didn’t show up.

Then Paul was placed under arrest, bound by two chains, and then taken to the barracks for further questioning.

But if you’ve been with us for a while, you know that this is kind of a common occurrence for the Apostle Paul.

He had been beaten up, stoned, left for dead, arrested, and imprisoned on multiple occasions.

Paul was used to his freedoms being taken away from him for the sake of following Jesus.

But listen, long before his personal freedoms were taken away from him by force, he had surrendered them to Jesus by choice.

But church I want you to understand something today….

Surrendering our personal freedom….

To do what we want to do..

To go where ever we want to….

It is NOT a loss!!!!

When we give up our PERSONAL freedom and just trust God….

What comes, as a result, is SPIRITUAL freedom and life that we could never experience beforehand.

It’s a connection, a fellowship with Jesus that can only be experienced by those who are willing to die to themselves.

So, Paul is arrested, but he is actually RIGHT where God needs him!!!!

Let’s keep reading….

35 When Paul reached the steps, the violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers. 36 The crowd that followed kept shouting, “Get rid of him!”

And they didn’t just mean, “get him out of here!”... they meant, “Kill him!”

37 As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the barracks, he asked the commander, “May I say something to you?” “Do you speak Greek?” he replied.

38 Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the wilderness some time ago?”

So, the Roman commander had no idea who Paul was.

He thought he must be a troublemaker and didn’t care to find out otherwise...

But when Paul speaks to him in Greek, he realized that Paul could not be that man.

This catches the commander’s attention.

39 Paul answered, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city. Please let me speak to the people.”

Now Paul gives the commander his identity. I’m a Jew from Tarsus, not an Egyptian terrorist.

Tarsus was the capital city of Cilicia which is modern-day Turkey. It was a city of great importance as a learning and trade center at that time.

The Jews living in that city were given Roman citizenship. So, when Paul says that he was “a citizen of no ordinary city”, he was right and this gave him special standing with the commander whom Paul used to ask if he could speak to the people.

And I LOVE THIS about Paul.

Paul could have asked the commander to rescue him from the situation because of his birth place BUT INSTEAD Paul asks for a chance to address the crowd.

Personally, I think that this was the ultimate dream of the apostle Paul.

To be able to share the Gospel with hundreds (maybe thousands) of Jews at one time!

And so he says….

40 After receiving the commander’s permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd. When they were all silent, he said to them in Aramaic......

And thus ends our Bible study for today...

What?!?

Yep, cliff hanger, baby!!!

You all need to come back next week to hear what happens next!

For real!!!!

LAUGH!!!!

For real…you need to come back next week….

PAUSE

But, in closing, let’s remember that there is a cost to following Jesus.

It could cost our reputations, we will need to compromise our preferences and we will have to let go of our personal freedoms.

But there are also incredible spiritual blessings that come to us as a result!

Jesus promises that when people say all kinds of bad things about us for His sake that we will be BLESSED.

That when we are willing to compromise our preferences for others that we can win the lost to Christ.

And, that when we are willing to let go of our personal freedom for His sake we will become the most free people in the world!

Let's end our time with our Life Application:

Life Application: There is a cost associated with following Jesus. What is God calling you to embrace or let go of in order to fully follow Jesus? Write it down, share it with a spouse or friend and then commit to doing what God reveals to you today. I will ________________________________________.

(Share possible examples)

Pray

Offering