The Cost of Being a Disciple
Notes
Transcript
Opening Illustration
Opening Illustration
“I have seen the most horrible things, but I have met people who are still full of faith in spite of what they have endured.”
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That was the opening statement to a gathering of leaders and supporters of Samaritan’s Purse, the organization led by Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham.
The speaker was Matt Nowery, who serves with Samaritan’s Purse in Sudan, the most dangerous place in Africa and perhaps the entire world.
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His speech continued, “Eighteen months ago I was at home, a recent graduate of the University of Georgia waiting on an opportunity, looking for a place to commit my life.”
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Matt then turned to face Franklin Graham.
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“Mr. Graham,” he said, “this is the first time since the day you gave me the opportunity in Sudan that I have been able to thank you publicly.
So, tonight, in front of all these people, I want to say thank you for challenging a young man like me to wholehearted commitment to Christ.”
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Now, let me rewind the story a bit to eighteen months earlier.
Matt’s father, Kirk, was a friend of Franklin Graham.
Not long after Matt (and his older sister, Ashley) had graduated from college, Franklin called Kirk in the middle of the night.
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“Kirk,” he said, “this is Franklin.
Hope I’m not calling too late.
I have had your kids on my heart.
I heard that they are at transitional points in their lives, out of college, and looking for something beyond the mundane.
I have a little project I want to present to them.
Could all of you come up here to talk about it?”
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The next day the family talked about it, and Kirk, his wife Denise, Matt, and Matt’s older sister Ashley (a nursing school graduate), went to visit Franklin Graham at Samaritan’s Purse.
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After a few pleasantries were exchanged, Franklin turned to Ashley and said, “Sudan is the most desperately needy country in the world.
There’s been a civil war there for decades, and the U.N. calls it the most dangerous place on earth.
We have a field hospital near the Darfur region where we treat people there who have been shot, beaten, slashed with machetes, and tortured by Muslim forces from the north.
There’s also every kind of disease you can imagine, and if that wasn’t bad enough, our hospital has been bombed seven times.
These people are going through so much, and I think that when this kind of thing is happening, the first hand to reach out to people in need should be the hand of Jesus.
We are that hand.
Ashley, you’re a talented nurse and I want to invite you to join our team at the hospital in Lui.”
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Ashley’s parents were shocked.
But before they could say anything, Ashley said, “Mr. Graham, my daddy trusts you and we’ve always been taught to live by faith and make strong commitments.
I believe God has prepared me for this, so sign me up.”
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Kirk Nowery was thinking to himself, Sign me up?
Doesn’t this require a family meeting?
No one asked me for a vote.
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He looked at his wife, Denise, and she was speechless too.
Before either parent could say a word, Franklin turned to Matt and said, “Matt, I want to talk to you about a tougher assignment.”
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A tougher assignment?
Kirk thought.
Are you kidding me?
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Franklin continued, “In southern Sudan we have identified more than 200 churches that radical Muslims have either bombed, burned or looted.
In many of the churches they locked the people inside, tied the pastors to the doors and burned them to the ground.”
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He paused, letting the picture form in everyone’s minds.
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“Matt,” he said, “I want you to go in and get the names and stories of every pastor that has been killed.
I want you to get the names of all the Christians who have been killed and all the churches that have been destroyed.
And I want you to commit to leading the effort to build five churches for every one that has been destroyed and to raise up five pastors for every one who has been martyred.
Jesus Christ will stand in the end.”
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Matt’s exact answer was, “Mr. Graham, I can’t let my sister make me look bad.
Sign me up, too.”
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On the way home, Matt and Ashley reminded their parents that they had raised them for big challenges and to respond with wholehearted commitment.
And that is exactly what they had done.
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Ashley worked in an indescribably intense setting at the hospital in Lui, often experiencing more heart-wrenching moments in a single day than many people experience in a lifetime.
She was even attacked by radical Muslim soldiers who killed one of her patients in front of her.
But she continued to serve because of her wholehearted commitment.
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Now, back to the gathering at Samaritan’s Purse.
Matt went on to say, “My team and I have recorded the stories of 429 Christian pastors who have been tortured and martyred in Sudan.
In most cases, their church buildings were destroyed, sometimes burned down with the church members locked inside.
The Christians are victims in a reign of violence driven by the fierce Muslim government in the north.
They have been severely persecuted, and many have died, but others are waiting to take their place.”
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At the end of his speech, Matt walked over to where Franklin Graham was seated and looked straight at him.
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“Mr. Graham,” he said, “Thank you again for challenging me, for asking me to make a difference, for calling on me to make my life count for the kingdom of God.
Please don’t ever stop challenging young people to wholehearted commitment to Christ.”
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Lesson:
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Only a few people are called to serve in a place like Sudan.
However, all of us are called to wholehearted commitment wherever God places us.
But what does wholehearted commitment look like?
Well, let's take a look at our main passage for today for an answer to that question.
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So, please turn your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke.
We will conduct our study in Chapter 14 and focus on verses 25 through 35.
Our message this morning is titled “The Cost of Being a Disciple.”
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As you are turning to our passage today please keep in mind this fact...
Your typical and ordinary human leader takes full delight in having the masses follow them.
Jesus, however, does not accept any kind of superficial following of Him on the part of the masses...
Instead He subjects those who desire to follow Him to the most severe sifting process...
He boldly lays out the tremendous demands to be one of His followers...
And our message today could not be any bolder or clearer!
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So, this morning we will cover three main points:
1) The Requirement
2) The Cost
And...
3) The Call to Action
Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer
Before we consider our text, please join me in prayer...
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Heavenly Father...
You are such a loving and caring God...
You are totally sovereign and work out all things for good for those that love You...
And You take Your enemies and adopt them into Your royal household without hesitation.
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Help us never love site of who you are...
Help us to never take Your love for us for granted...
And Help us to lead others to You so they can also benefit from Your blessings.
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Thank You for everything that You give us...
Thank You for everything that You take away from us...
In all of it, we praise Your name Heavenly Father.
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And it is in Jesus’ name we pray all these things...
Amen.
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Let’s turn to our text for today:
Reading of the Text
Reading of the Text
25 Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them,
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.
27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
28 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?
29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him,
30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’
31 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?
32 And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.
33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
34 “Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?
35 It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
So, let’s look at our first point...
1) The Requirement
1) The Requirement
Verses 25-27: Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, “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. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
I am pretty confident that any faith based greeting card you pick up at the store will not have this verse on it...
You are not going to see this verse on a mug or embroidered on a fluffy pillow with sunflowers...
You are not going to hear many people site this verse as their life verse...
However, these are the words of Christ...
And these are the clearest and boldest words that describe the commitment level of even the weakest of Christian believers.
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You see Beloved, Jesus must have first place in your heart if you wishes to follow Him...
And that is not up for debate...
I can’t sugarcoat this for you...
I can’t twist this verse to make you fell better...
I can’t skip over this passage because someone may be offended...
I love each and ever one of you too much to do that to you...
I love you enough to tell you the truth even if it costs me dearly to tell you the truth...
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If Jesus does not have the number one position in your heart...
Then you have no relationship with Christ!
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If Jesus does not have the number one position in your heart...
The one is not good for anything of any value in terms of usefulness for God.
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As pastor John MacArthur says:
“Christ’s aim was not to gather appreciative crowds, but to make true disciples.
He never adapted His message to majority preferences, but always plainly declared the high cost of discipleship.
Here He made several bold demands that would discourage the half-hearted.”
Are you sold out for Christ?
Are you living for Christ?
Are you making the decisions in your life based on what Christ would want you to do?
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Who has your heart?
Is it your spouse?
Is it your children?
Is it a parent?
Is it yourself?
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Who has your heart?
Any answer other than Jesus is the wrong answer!
Any answer other than Jesus is an indication that you are still outside of a saving relationship with God!
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You see Beloved, Jesus is not saying that putting Him number one is something that a Christian does to grow in their spiritual walk...
Jesus is not saying that putting Him number one is at all optional at any point...
What Jesus is saying that to even be considered a Christian at all...
Jesus has to be one’s highest priority!
As the New American Commentary on Luke says:
“Luke pointed out that the people were still attracted to Jesus.
The conditions of discipleship that follow were not addressed to believers in order to make them apostles but to the crowds.
They are therefore conditions for salvation, not conditions for Christians to become a spiritual elite or to reach a new level in their Christian lives.”
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So, you may be asking...
To make Jesus number one in my life, does that mean that I need to hate everyone else?
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Of course not!
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So, why does Jesus say to “hate” others in our passage?
Well, we need to understand the use of key words in context from a 1st century middle eastern-perspective.
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Regarding the word “hate” in our passage, it actually means a “lesser love.”
So, Jesus was calling His disciples to cultivate such a devotion to Him that their attachment to everything else...
Including their own lives...
It would seem like hatred by comparison!
In fact, in contrast to Luke’s “word-for-word” translation of Jesus’ words, Matthew gave a more “thought-for-thought” translation as seen in Matthew 10:37, which says:
37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
So, Jesus’ demand is for His followers to love and obey Him more than anyone else...
Even one’s own loved ones!
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Being Jesus’ disciple entails primary allegiance to Jesus.
No one and no thing can usurp his supreme position.
We must make a choice between earthly relationships and the relationship with God.
Only one can take priority over the other.
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The Pillar New Testament Commentary on Luke puts it this way:
“The bonds of family and friendship are the strongest of all human social bonds, but even those bonds can be broken and twisted into hatred and death.
The bond of fellowship with Christ is stronger than all earthly bonds, and it can never be broken, nor does Christ ever betray a follower.
When a choice must be made between even the strongest of earthly bonds and Jesus, the disciple must choose the unbreakable bond with Jesus.”
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Now, some relationships with family and friends do not conflict with one’s relationship with God...
And some relationships with family and friends actually improve one’s relationship with God...
But is it ever came down to it...
If someone made you chose between a relationship with them or God...
What are you going to do?
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Beloved, many have had to make that difficult decision...
Many have had to lose family in order to follow Christ...
And many more will have to make that choice in the future...
But let me tell you...
It is well worth it!
As Matthew 19:29 says:
29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.
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Now, following Jesus is not just a one time thing...
Simply repeating the sinners prayer or walking down the aisle when an altar call is offered does not save anyone...
What is required is total surrender...
Surrender of one’s will...
Surrender of one’s desires...
Surrender of one’s priorities...
Total surrender to God...
Total Surrender to Jesus as one’s personal Lord and Savior...
And the act of surrender means that one’s entire life going forward is an act of surrender everyday...
Jesus paints that picture of surrendering to him daily as a picture of carrying one’s cross...
Or as Luke 9:23 records it:
23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
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Beloved, we are not only called to carry our own cross...
We are also called to be crucified...
And specifically we are to crucify our old self to the cross!
Paul puts it this way in Galatians 6:14, which says:
14 But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
When our old self is crucified then that means our worldly desires are crucified...
When our old self is crucified then that means our flesh with all its passions are crucified...
Or as Galatians 5:24 says:
24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
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Jesus was always very transparent and honest...
Jesus never held back...
He said it like it is and made it clear that to gain eternal life...
One must be willing to lose his life...
As John 12:23–25 says:
23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
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If one is not aware of the requirements of being a Christian...
Then one is simply deceiving themselves...
And Jesus uses a few illustrations to show this foolish behavior...
And that takes us to our next point.
2) The Cost
2) The Cost
Verses 28-32: 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.’ 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.
New Testament scholar Darrell L. Bock says this regarding these two illustrations:
“The first pictures coming to Jesus; the second deals with following after him.
First, consider what discipleship will cost.
Second, consider what refusing the ‘more powerful one’ will mean.
Can you enter battle against him?
In short, consider the cost of entry and the benefits of allying with the one who carries the power.”
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So, if you haven’t already...
Count the cost of following Jesus...
And I mean really following Jesus.
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If all your family and friends knew that you followed Jesus and actually believed what the Bible says...
Are you going to lose some close connections?
If all your co-workers and schoolmates knew that you followed Jesus and actually believed what the Bible says...
Are you going to lose some relationships?
Are you going to be unfairly passed over for a promotion?
Have you counted the cost to faithfully follow Jesus?
As Proverbs 14:15 says:
15 The simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps.
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Beloved, I want to remind you, the multitudes were positive towards Jesus in general...
They loved His miracles and some of the things He said...
Just like if you only focus on some parts of Scripture, then you can present a Jesus that is more widely accepted...
However, the multitudes where uncommitted in their following of Jesus for in their eyes He demanded to much from His followers...
Likewise, if we present the Jesus of the Bible without censoring Him, that truth will divide.
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Far from making it easy for the crowds to respond positively, Jesus set the cost of discipleship as high as possible and encouraged them to do a careful inventory before declaring their willingness to follow.
As theologian Robert H. Stein says:
“Do not promise to follow Jesus unless you understand the ‘cost’ and are willing to ‘pay’ it.
This does not imply that salvation must be earned.
Rather the point being made is that God’s grace can only be received by those who, in repenting, place him above everything else.”
As Luke 9:61–62 says:
61 Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.”
62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
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Although there are many passages in Scripture to warn of the cost of following Christ...
Again, I will say it...
It is worth it!
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In fact, the Apostle Paul even said that he counts everything else as a loss in comparison to His relationship with the Lord...
Or as Philippians 3:8 says:
8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
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Jesus then ends this section of Scripture with another call to action and paints a few more illustrations to consider in order to better understand the truth that He is sharing...
And that takes us to our third and final point.
3) The Call to Action
3) The Call to Action
Verses 33-35: So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. “Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Jesus again tells us that whoever does not forsake all his possessions “cannot be [His] disciple.”
This statement is repeated many times in the Scriptures.
So, we must be willing to give up all our possessions if ever need be if we want to follow Christ.
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Now Beloved, based on the Word of God, we know that life does not consist of possessions.
Hence, we are to sell our possessions if they prevent us from following Jesus.
Scholar James R. Edwards puts it like this:
“Not all are called to the same form of discipleship at all times.
But whatever form the call takes, all are called to Jesus absolutely and without reserve.”
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However, this truth here goes even beyond physical possessions.
Again, MacArthur makes a great point when he says:
“Only those willing to carefully assess the cost and invest all they had in His kingdom were worthy to enter.
This speaks of something far more than mere abandonment of one’s material possessions; it is an absolute, unconditional surrender.
His disciples were permitted to retain no privileges and make no demands.
They were to safeguard no cherished sins; treasure no earthly possessions; and cling to no secret self-indulgences.
Their commitment to Him must be without reservation.”
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Then Jesus says, “Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?
It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile.
It is thrown away.”
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So, let us consider some facts about salt in the 1st century.
Most salt came from the Dead Sea and contained impurities (carnallite and gypsum).
If not processed properly, it would have a poor taste and would be worse than useless, being unusable for food and creating a disposal problem.
If the conditions of discipleship are not kept, the disciples likewise will become less than worthless.
In fact, bad salt is worse than nothing!
It has a negative value.
It is a kind of environmental hazard, for it would ruin soil or even a manure pile.
Furthermore, sowing the earth with salt was the ultimate punishment for a defeated enemy.
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So, Jesus’ disciples must continue to be the “salt of the earth.”
As Edwards says:
“The believers for whom Jesus is more important than family and friends, even their own lives, who take up their crosses as living martyrs, and who forsake the claims of possessions are savory salt who bring joy to God and make palpable differences in the world.
Christians who are not salty are not Christian at all, more useless than those who never claimed to follow Jesus in the first place.”
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Beloved, it is true that no one perfectly keeps his commitment to the Lord.
There are times when it falters due to family pressures, selfishness, the allure of material possessions, or when believers wonder if they have the resolve to love and obey the Lord to the end.
Moments of failure, however, do not invalidate the direction of the heart.
So, let us take to heart the truth found in passages like Matthew 5:13-14, which says:
13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
And just like a city that is located at the very top of the hill...
A true and genuine follower of Christ will produce good fruit...
Or as John 15:5–8 says:
5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.
7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
Likewise, we should consider the wise words found in John 12:26 as they relate greatly to our passage:
26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
Closing Illustration
Closing Illustration
So, as this message comes to a close...
I would like you to consider this:
The story is told of the military legend Alexander the Great, King of Macedonia between 336-323 BC and conqueror of Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, Babylonia, and Persia, almost all of the known world.
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One day on the warpath, Alexander and small company of soldiers approached a strongly fortified walled city and Alexander raised his voice and demanded to see the king.
When the king arrived, Alexander ordered him to surrender the city and everyone inside.
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The king laughed, “Why should I surrender to you? You can't do us any harm!”
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But Alexander offered to give the king a demonstration.
He ordered his men to line up single file and start marching.
He marched them straight toward a cliff.
The townspeople gathered on the wall and watched in shocked silence as, one by one, his soldiers marched without hesitation right off the cliff to their deaths!
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After 10 soldiers died, Alexander ordered the rest of the men to return to his side.
The townspeople and the king immediately surrendered to Alexander the Great.
They realized that if a few men were actually willing to die at the command of this leader, then nothing could stop his eventual victory.
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Beloved, as shocking as it is to see the faithfulness of those soldiers to Alexander the Great...
We as the followers of Christ, are called to be even more faithful to Jesus...
And unlike Alexander the Great who is cruel and would sacrifice the lives of his men simply to make a point...
Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the very definition of good and He truly loves His followers who are adopted into the royal family of God.
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So, if you want to follow Jesus Christ...
You must take to heart the truth found in Galatians 2:20 which says:
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Beloved, as we have seen with our passage today, Luke wanted his readers to know that Jesus provides no “cheap grace.”
It is cheap neither from the divine perspective nor from the human one.
What it has cost, Jesus’ death on the cross, was everything...
Furthermore, the response that enables us to receive that grace is likewise everything...
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And it is now about Christ’s sacrifice that we bring our attention to.
Communion
Communion
As we begin our communion service, I want to invite every genuinely born-again believer in the room to partake in this act together.
If you do not yet know the Lord and do not have a relationship with Him...
Or if you are under church discipline from this church or another church...
Then I will ask that you wait until you have resolved your issue before participating.
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As you came in, you should have picked up a communion packet if you are joining us.
This has both the bread and the juice in a convenient package.
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If you have not received one of these, please raise your hand, and someone will get you one.
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Before we join in communion together, I would like us to consider Hebrews 12:2:
2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Preacher and founder of Desiring God Ministries, John Piper, says this regarding this verse:
In running the race of life we are to look to the exaltation of Jesus at the end of his race.
But Hebrews 12:2 tells us to look not only to his exaltation, but to his motivation.
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Jesus was carried in the agonies of the last lap of his race by the hope of joy.
“For the joy that was set before him [he] endured the cross, despising the shame.”
Jesus kept his eyes on the same place we should — his own future exaltation at the Father’s right hand, with the completion of our salvation crowning his head.
This was his joy.
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There were mammoth obstacles in Jesus’s way.
Two are mentioned.
The cross and the shame.
The cross, no doubt, stands for all the pain and abandonment and spiritual darkness of those hours, as he lunged, dying, to the finish line.
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But shame is the one agony of the cross which the author mentions.
And he said that Jesus despised it.
That is an amazing choice of words.
Would you have chosen such a word to say he overcame shame?
He despised it.
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Shame was stripping away every earthly support that Jesus had: his friends gave way in shaming abandonment; his reputation gave way in shaming mockery; his decency gave way in shaming nakedness; his comfort gave way in shaming torture.
His glorious dignity gave way to the utterly undignified, degrading reflexes of grunting and groaning and screeching.
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And he despised it.
What does this mean?
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It means Jesus spoke to shame like this:
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“Listen to me, Shame, do you see that joy in front of me?
Compared to that, you are less than nothing.
You are not worth comparing to that!
I despise you.
You think you have power.
Compared to the joy before me, you have none.
Joy.
Joy.
Joy.
That is my power!
Not you, Shame.
You are worthless.
You are powerless.
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You think you can distract me.
I won’t even look at you.
I have a joy set before me.
Why would I look at you?
You are ugly and despicable.
And you are almost finished.
You cover me now as with a shroud.
Before you can say, ‘So there!’ I will throw you off like a filthy rag.
I will put on my royal robe.
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You think you are great, because even last night you made my disciples run away.
You are a fool, Shame.
You are a despicable fool.
That abandonment, that loneliness, this cross — these tools of yours — they are all my sacred suffering, and will save my disciples, not destroy them.
You are a fool.
Your filthy hands fulfill holy prophecy.
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Farewell, Shame.
It is finished.”
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So, Beloved...
Let’s all take a moment right now in silent prayer to thank the Lord for all He did for us...
(MOMENT OF SILENCE)
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Tom, will you pray before we partake in the bread:
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The Word of God says in Luke 22:19:
19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
(TAKE THE BREAD)
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Adrian, will you pray before we partake in the cup:
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The Word of God says in Luke 22:20:
20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
(TAKE THE CUP)
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With that, we conclude the communion portion of our service.
Closing Prayer
Closing Prayer
Let’s pray...
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Heavenly Father...
If anyone hearing this message right now does not know You in a saving way...
Then rescue them for only You can soften the heart...
Only You can give sight to the blind...
Only You can make the death hear...
Only You can bring understanding to the mind.
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I appeal to Your Name’s sake!
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For those hearing this message who already know You...
Remind us who soften our heart...
Remind us who gave us sight...
Remind us who opened our ears to hear...
Remind us who gave our minds understanding...
For if you did not have mercy and grace upon us...
We would still be lost for we can’t save ourselves.
.......
Again, I appeal to Your Name’s sake!
.......
It is in Jesus’ name we pray all these things...
To God be all the glory.
Amen.
