The Cost of Discipleship
Notes
Transcript
The Cost of Discipleship
The Cost of Discipleship
Good morning church! I’m thankful for the opportunity to be here with you this morning. I was scheduled to fill in for Pastor Ken in Orrington this morning, but his trip to Texas was cancelled due to the weather, so I get to be here this morning with our church family, which is always my preference.
Turn in your Bibles with me to Luke chapter 9, and while you are turning, I just want to share with you a couple of modern day healing miracles. I do so for a couple of reasons. First and foremost to bring God glory, and secondly, to encourage you in your faith. A month and a half ago or so during the time that you guys saw me hobbling around here on crutches, I was reading in my bible, this passage in the book of James.
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises.
14 Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
15 And the prayer offered in faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.
16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
You may hear a sermon on this section soon, but not today. I just want to point out that verse 14 makes some things clear to us...I’ll put it back up here so you can look at it while I’m sharing.
14 Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
First I’ll say that there is an assumption that the believer is in church. In Fellowship with other believers, with at least enough organization that some have been appointed elders. We are all called to make a personal decision about Jesus, but a Biblical pattern and expectation has been established for corporate worship, fellowship, and prayer. Secondly, I want you to see who the initiator in this process is supposed to be.
The one who is sick, must call for the elders to pray, and they are to pray. The pastor isn’t supposed to chase you down, the elders aren’t to preach the passage to you and press the matter, if your sick, the bible says here, YOU MUST call for the elders.
Well, I did that. I had a Depressed Tibial Plateau Fracture and it didn’t look like I was going to be able to go on the scheduled trip to Israel. As I read this passage, in the Legacy Standard Bible, I noticed those words, You must. Other translations read, let him call, or you should call, but the words you must jumped off the page to me.
On the same day, one of our church members also requested prayer from this passage. Kristie Reese had some bloodwork done at her doctor’s office and her doctor was very concerned as the test revealed that her kidneys were shutting down.
We prayed over her anointing her with oil, and the Lord healed her. This was not just a I think I feel better thing, but she went back in for more blood work to confirm it, and everything was reversed and her kidneys had been healed.
I asked for prayer as my orthopedic doctor had said that these types of breaks almost always resulted in surgery. The radiologist said that my break looked like an asteroid had hit the surface of the earth, but surprisingly, everything was in place where it should be. So they were hopeful I would heal without surgery if I did zero weight bearing for 8 weeks and then slowly increased the amount of weight with crutches monitoring the process as I went along.
So we prayed, and a couple of weeks went by. I went to the doctor on Thursday before leaving for Israel on Tuesday. This was the appointment where I was to be examined to see if I could start bearing some weight on it. I walked into the meeting with a cane, rather than crutches. The doctor asked if he could do x-rays to verify what was going on inside my knee. After looking at the X-rays, he said, I don’t know what to say, “you have been healed.” There is no evidence in the X-rays that your knee was broken. He checked stability, as the tendons had some damage, checked range of motion, had me do some squats, hop up and down, and he cleared me for the trip on Tuesday, with these words.
Just don’t think you are going to get over there and go from doing nothing on that knee to 15,000 steps a day. If you do, it will swell right up, and you’ll spend your trip sitting in your hotel room in pain. Again, healing is healing. Pastor Jim and I were recording our steps, and the first day was pretty mild, but then after that it was 11,000 steps, 12,000, 15, 16,000 and this is a picture of our last day there
Of course it won’t show it on here, but that says, 21,912 steps, I think you can read that 11.2 miles!
Oh, and while we were there, the Calvary Pastors in Maine all received an urgent text and prayer request. You guys all know Pastor Josh Lawrence, with Great Commission Ministries in Kenya. Well a couple of months ago they received a concrete pump to help them with their building projects over there. This is not a backyard toy, it can pump concrete 300 feet into the air. Well there was an explosion and the concrete shot into Josh’s eyes. Kelsey, his wife, happened to catch it on video and she sent it to Pastor Greg Houston who was on the pastor’s trip to Israel with us, so Pastor Jim and I both watched and witnessed the event through that video, and every pastor on that buss in Israel, the pastors in Maine and many across the county, we prayed for Josh.
Less than an hour later we received this message from Josh, who was initially blinded by the concrete. Regarding the pump, “today the pipe was filled with pressure and concrete and I was unhooking the pipe when pressure exploded concrete into my eyes. I did go to the hospital and it did seem serious. But while at the hospital I did feel God healing my eyes supernaturally. My eyes will be fine and I thank God for His healing power.
Then there was jubilation and praise as we shared with him all who were praying, Josh confirming that it was definitely God’s healing power at work. And then I have to share this with you. Pastor Ken asked, “are you actually texting or talking this text.” Here was Josh’s response.
I’m texting quickly, I went back to work after the healing! Amazing!
A couple of weeks ago I spoke about the young man whose friends took him to Jesus for healing... and at some point in that message I mentioned that most of us don’t struggle to have the faith to believe that God can heal, we just struggle to believe that He will.
I just want to testify to you this morning, that the God of the Bible is the same God that we worship today, He is the God of miracles, so don’t let doubt, listen, don’t let doubt keep you from obedience, ask Him for the miraculous.
Let’s pray: Father in Heaven, Holy is Your Name, Your Kingdom Come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. May Your will be done in this place today, Father be our teacher this morning Lord, and move through Your Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus we pray, amen.
Ok, Luke chapter 9 picking up at the 18th verse. By way of context in the beginning of this chapter, our Lord sends the Disciples out. He gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases. And He sent them out to preach the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick... and they did it. They come back, tell Him all about it, then we have the scene of Jesus feeding the 5,000. Five thousand men, in addition to that were the women and the children that were with them, so a much larger number, and then we get to verse 18.
18 And it happened that while He was praying alone, the disciples were with Him, and He questioned them, saying, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”
19 And they answered and said, “John the Baptist, and others say Elijah, but others, that one of the prophets of old has risen again.”
20 And He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.”
I began with this passage because it ultimately is the one question that everyone who has breath must answer during their lifetime, who do you say that I am? When Jesus asked it to these guys they rattled off a few different options, John the Baptist, Elijah, others say one of the prophets of old has risen again.
But what we need to understand today is that there are really only two answers to that question. Is Jesus Christ your Savior, or will He be your judge? Savior or Judge?
Now I hope for everyone in this room, that question has already been settled. But in most churches on Sunday mornings there is typically a mixture of seasoned Saints and cynical sinners, so I don’t want to make any assumptions here this morning. But back to our text, I want you to see back in verse 18, Jesus was praying alone, but the disciples were with Him, that’s important so we know the audience of what happens next. Look down to verse 23
23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
So them all is His Disciples, He’s giving instruction to His guys, giving them the blueprint, and He says...
24 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.
25 “For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?
Whenever I get the chance to travel, or be with a group of pastors from around the country, it seems that the conversation always goes to what it is like to minister where the Lord has us. I would typically share about what it is like to be on the mission field tilling up the rocky soil of Maine, because that’s how I’ve always thought of ministry here.
When I talk to friends from away about living in Maine, it is often said to be a cold, hard, place to live. Certainly accurate for the past couple of weeks, but beyond that, there is granite in the ground and stone in many hearts. And if you are south of the county, Aroostook County, Maine, and wave and say hello to someone that you don’t know you are likely to just be starred at in response, especially if your car has license plates showing you are from away.
I have been reflecting on this idea of the condition of hearts for the past couple of weeks. Last week we were in Mark chapter 4 and we talked about the parable of the Soils, your bible probably has it titled the parable of the Sower. Most of you were here, so you know the story, the farmer sows the seed.
And as Jesus tells the parable it almost sounds like the farmer is reckless in his casting of the seed, he just chucks it everywhere. Some lands beside the road, some on the rocky ground, some fell among the thorns, and some landed into the good soil. It seems careless or even wasteful to spread it everywhere like that until Jesus gives us the key to the parable when He says the sower sows the Word.
What lead us to our passage this morning in Luke, and derailed us from our verse by verse study in the Gospel of Mark, was my meditation upon the seed that fell among the thorns.
I said it last week and I’ll say it again, my heart breaks for the heart that is this thorny soil! You gardeners know the frustration of weeds that creep in. It is a never ending battle...more and more today I see our enemy less aggressive about deception and a full out assault with distraction.
Jesus says two things about this thorny ground in the parable.
In Verse 7 He says, “the thorns came up and choked it, and listen, it yielded no crop. No fruit from that seed. AND then in His explanation, in verses 18&19 He says...
18 “And others are those being sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word,
19 but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for anything else enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
SO again it’s not that this soil is hard to grow things in, remember everything grows in this soil.
This soil is too fertile. Everything grows in this soil, everything is tended to in this soil, everything is fed in this soil, but not in equal proportion. Often one is tended to at the neglect of another. The seed is not the priority, it is just one of many things planted and tended in this soil. You or I pull weeds, we kill weeds, but in this soil, one thing is in competition with the next thing, and the next and the next. Sadly, this describes the life of many that call themselves Christians today.
You may have heard this type of Christian described as a carnal Christian or a nominal Christian. But Brothers and Sisters, this is not the way Jesus describes being a Christian at all. In John chapter 15 Jesus says things like
5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
So we won’t bear fruit apart from Him, but the assumption is that if we are in Him, fruit will abound. He goes on starting in verse 6
6 “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are 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 “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.
Let me read verse 8 again...
8 “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.
One of the evidences that we really are disciples,... is fruit. Disciples of Jesus bear fruit.
One of the biggest fears pastors have, or should have, would be having churches filled with people that have a false assurance of salvation. They think they are saved, but their not. They have confidence they are going to Heaven, only they’re not. I’m sure you’ve heard Pastor Ken say before there are three kinds of people in this world concerning Christianity. Them that is, them that ain’t, and them that think they is, but ain’t.
Near the end of his life, R.C. Sproul made a comment to the effect of, “Our churches are full of People who make professions of faith who do not profess faith with their lives. People think all I have to do is go forward in an evangelistic call, raise my hand, sign a prayer card or some other form of profession of faith, and they think they’re good, but never get to the point of truly making Jesus Christ the Savior, or Jesus Christ their Lord.
Remember what Jesus told His disciples...back in our passage in Luke...
23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
Now one of the things I believe wholeheartedly in, and you folks here in Old Town have heard it over and over again, repetition is our friend. Repetition is a great teacher. Turn over to Luke chapter 14 with me.
Now this chapter begins with Jesus being one of the invited guests in the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees, it’s the Sabbath Day, they are breaking bread together, and He begins to speak to them in a series of parables. I described to you last week what a parable is.
So picking up in verse 16 where He compares coming into the Kingdom of God as being like accepting an invitation. Luke 14 vs 16
16 And He said to him, “A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many.
17 “And at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is ready now.’
18 “But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it. I ask you, consider me excused.’
19 “And another one said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out. I ask you, consider me excused.’
20 “And another one said, ‘I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.’
21 “And when the slave came back, he reported these things to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’
22 “And the slave said, ‘Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’
23 “And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and along the fences, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled.
24 ‘For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.’”
An invitation has been extended to all who live.
16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
The World, that’s every size, shape, color or creed, He gave His Son to save you.
But what I want you to understand this morning is that being a disciple of Jesus is more than just accepting an invitation. Don’t misunderstand me, this isn’t a Jesus plus sermon in anyway. But it is a reality check on what it means to be a follower of Jesus.
HE makes it pretty simple when He says
15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
SO there are costs and expectations of accepting that invitation. The next parable Jesus shares with the religious elite, the Pharisees in Luke 14 starts in verse 25 and this section in my Bible is titled the Cost of Discipleship.
That title was added by the editors, I say that because I want you to know that you can’t buy your way into becoming a disciple of Jesus, the cost is more of a consequence for accepting the invitation. Let’s look at it together.
25 Now many crowds were going along with 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 carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
28 “For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?
29 “Lest, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him,
30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’
31 “Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand?
32 “Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.
33 “So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.
It is verse 27 that I want to take a closer look at this morning...lets focus in on that...
27 “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
SO what was part of the blueprint for being one of His followers back in chapter 9...
23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
It is presented there as a qualifier, if you want to come after Me , do this, but in Luke chapter 14, there spoken to the multitudes, it becomes a disqualifier if we don’t do it. It disqualifies us from being His Disciples.
27 “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
A Disciple is one who attaches themselves to a teacher, to learn a skill, a trade, or a particular subject. Today, we might call them an apprentice. The invitation for salvation is extended to all who will come by faith, but discipleship comes at a cost.
When Jesus spoke these words He was on His way to Jerusalem to carry His own cross. We hear these words today and we think oh, I’m going to carry my own cross. I can’t go clubbing anymore, or I might have to give some things up, because we totally fail to understand what these words ment then, when Jesus said them.
The cross wasn’t a piece of jewelry, it was a tool of execution, an instrument of death. You didn’t carry your cross and not die on that cross.
It was the most heinous form of Roman execution. Not only was it a form of torture, it was a process designed to humiliate, to make weak, to the point of defeat. Before a man ever hung on a cross, a cross was hung on Him. This horizontal beam, would be strapped to their arms and shoulders and they were forced to carry it as they made the one way trip, to the place of execution, where their life would be taken from them.
In speaking of his own life Jesus said...
17 “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again.
18 “No one takes it away from Me, but from Myself, I lay it down. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”
No one is forcing you to be His disciples, but He warns... if you make that choice, it comes with a cost. Again, as He was walking toward His own death when He said
27 “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
Notice it doesn’t say “a” cross, or “My” cross, it says his cross. “Whoever does not carry his own cross.” Your cross may be different than mine. Let me ask you this....What are the thorns growing up in your soil? Jesus is not asking you to be a diligent gardener. To pick out a weed or two when things are becoming overgrown or a little too thick. He laid down His life for yours, His requirement is that you lay down your life for Him.
That your life is no longer your own as a disciple of Jesus. There are no worries of the world, there is no deceitfulness of riches, or the desires of anything else to choke out the world, because those things don’t matter, you are dead to them and they are dead to you. Those who refuse the cross, cannot be His Disciples.
My heart this morning church is not to scare you, it is to give you fare warning. That being a disciple of Jesus is not embracing a set of beliefs, it is completely letting go of the things of the world, the desires of the flesh, dying to self, and living for Him!
I think Paul put it best when he wrote to the Galatians...
20 “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
I’ve asked Pastor Jim to come and to close us out with a song. Oddly enough, it is the song that was used more often than any for an alter calls when I was a kid. But rather than have an alter call, or invite you to make some kind of a profession of faith, I would ask that if you can sing these words as a prayer, do so unto the Lord as a promise to be His disciple, to carry your cross and to come after Him.
The words are all to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give, I will ever love and trust Him, in His presence daily live.
Verse 2 - All to Jesus I surrender, Humbly at His feet I bow. Worldly pleasures all forsaken, take me Jesus, take me now.
Verse 3 - All to Jesus I surrender, Make me Savior wholly Thine. Let me feel the Holy Spirit, Truly know that Thou art mine.
Grace and Peace
