Cheapies Need Not Apply

Cheapies Need Not Apply

Series: The Gospel Truth

Text: Lk 9:23; Lk 14:25-34

Introduction: (What?)

The great German Theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was executed by the Nazis wrote a book that has become a classic entitled “The Cost of Discipleship”. In it he decried the idea of “cheap grace”.

In today’s preaching and teaching there is so much emphasis on how easy it is to become a Christian, that the clear teaching of Jesus about the cost of following Him is overlooked. The bottom line is that if your salvation doesn’t cost you anything, you are not saved.

Examination: (Why?)

1. A Mirror Sticker

Luke 9:23–25 “Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will save it. For what does it benefit someone if he gains the whole world, and yet loses or forfeits himself?”

The devil has come up with a number of phrases that have captured the minds of many Americans.

You are worth it But Romans 12:3 “For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one.”

You deserve it But Philippians 2:3 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves.”

Follow your heart But Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable—who can understand it?”

If it feels good, do it But 1 Peter 2:11 “Dear friends, I urge you as strangers and exiles to abstain from sinful desires that wage war against the soul.”

This is a verse worthy of putting on a post-it note and sticking it on your bathroom mirror as a daily reminder of what it means to be a disciple. In this passage Jesus said that we must do more than put self on the back burner. If we are to follow Christ we can’t follow our heart or our fleshly desires or think that we can hang onto the world and follow Jesus. Jesus wants people who are “all-in” as part of His Spiritual family. Taking up your cross daily means dying daily to your own desires and ideas. Paul gave us a hint of how to do this in Romans 6:11 “So, you too consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” If I consider myself dead to sin, then I make no provisions for sin. I heard of someone who had a large stash of porn magazines and books. When they came to Christ, they packed them up in a box, taped it shut and put it in the attic. On the surface this seems like a good idea, but in reality it is making provisions for the next time they were temped to view of read porn. They knew where it was and how to get to it easily.

In Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” This is a faith statement that bears repeating often. It goes hand in hand with 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!”

2. Love/Hate Collision

Luke 14:25–26 “Now great crowds were traveling with him. So he turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, and even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.”

In the Spurgeon Study Bible I found this note that puts these verses in perspective. “Our Lord does not use the word “hate” in our common acceptance of the term, for no man would hate his own life. He means that the love of all must be secondary to the love we bear to Him. Compared to our love for our Lord, all lower love must be more like hate.”

The love we have for Jesus must exceed any love for any other person or thing. That starts out being a willful choice. Remember, love is not just an emotion as we have been led to believe. It is a choice. The more we cultivate devotion to Christ, the more it becomes second nature to us. But we must keep on cultivating it. The story of Hudson Taylor’s departure to the mission field is a beautiful picture of comparative love. In his personal diary we find this entry:

My beloved, now sainted mother, had come over to Liverpool to see me off. Never shall I forget that day, nor how she went with me into the cabin that was to be my home for nearly six long months. With a mother’s loving hand she smoothed the little bed. She sat by my side and joined in the last hymn we should sing together before parting. We knelt down and she prayed – the last mother’s prayer I was to hear before leaving for China. Then notice was given that we must separate, and we had to say goodbye, never expecting to meet on earth again. For my sake she restrained her feelings as much as possible. We parted, and she went ashore giving me her blessing. I stood alone on deck, and she followed the ship as we moved toward the dock gates. As we passed through the gates and the separation really commenced, never shall I forget the cry of anguish wrung from that mother’s heart. It went through me like a knife. I never knew so fully until then what ‘God so loved the world’ meant. And I am quite sure my precious mother learned more of the love of God for the perishing in that one hour than in all her life before.

3. Counting the Cost

Luke 14:27–34 “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. “For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, after he has laid the foundation and cannot finish it, all the onlookers will begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man started to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ “Or what king, going to war against another king, will not first sit down and decide if he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If not, while the other is still far off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. In the same way, therefore, every one of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple. “Now, salt is good, but if salt should lose its taste, how will it be made salty?”

I’m not sure how much clearer Jesus could have been than what He said in v27. If you don’t die to self and follow Jesus wherever He goes, then you CANNOT be His disciple. (repeat)

Before anyone seeks to become a disciple of Christ, they should consider what it is going to cost them. If they are not willing to pay, then they should not seek to be a Christ follower. In some ways the church today resembles what we call a “junk-yard”. There are rusty, unsightly hulks littering the pews just as rusty unsightly cars and parts litter the junk yard. There are people who never bothered to count the cost before they signed on as a so-called Christian. In realty, they are not Christians. Years ago Billy Graham said that he believed that fully 50% of church members were not saved. That percentage may be higher today.

Jesus said in no uncertain terms, “If you’re not willing to pay the price, don’t sign up for the team.” He closed this passage with a metaphor of salt. If salt no longer has a taste, or is good as a preservative, or loses its healing properties, it is of no use…it can’t be restored. In the Sermon on the Mount He also addressed this issue. Matthew 5:13 ““You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.”

Application: (How will I respond to this message?)

The question each of us must answer today is “Am I willing to pay the price of being a disciple of Christ?

If I’m willing to pay, have I ever really surrendered to Him?

Did I start out strong but along the way have lost my zeal, my saltiness?

The remedy for each of these is;

Repent of my sin of trusting anyone or anything other than Jesus for my salvation.

Surrender my life totally to Him

Die to self daily and follow Jesus even if He goes places that I don’t like.