Sermon Tone Analysis

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Thirteen: The Man Who Came to Dinner ()Jesus seems to make a distinction between salvation and discipleship.

Salvation is open to all who will come by faith, while discipleship is for believers willing to pay a price.

Salvation means coming to the cross and trusting Jesus Christ, while discipleship means carrying the cross and following Jesus Christ.

Jesus wants as many sinners saved as possible (“that My house may be filled”), but He cautions us not to take discipleship lightly; and in the three parables He gave, He made it clear that there is a price to pay.

This truth is vividly illustrated in .

Three vignettes are recorded here of would-be followers of Christ.

In each case Jesus made it clear that to follow Him meant forsaking everything.

In specific terms, this means:

A. No Tiring in the Life of Discipleship ()

If you are going to follow Jesus then you must count the cost.

This verse teaches us that while on this earth, we are not promised luxurious living, or a bed of ease.

It is too easy to respond with enthusiasms at the outset, but we must be prepared to go with Jesus all the way.

There can be no impulsive response to Christ, this is what is wrong in most churches today

A Commitment with Words (9:57)

I frequently hear persons exhorted to give their hearts to Christ, which is a very proper exhortation; but that is not the gospel.

Salvation comes from something that Christ gives you, not something that you give to Christ.

The giving of your heart to Christ follows after the receiving from Christ of eternal life by faith.

It is easy to work our friends up so that they say, “We will give our hearts to Christ,” but they may never do so, after all.

If, with broken heart and contrite sigh, they had confessed their guilt, and had penitently cried, “God be merciful to me a sinner,” they might not have looked quite so well, but there would have been more hope of them.

We cannot come to Christ unless Christ comes to us, and gives us a broken heart and a contrite spirit.

If there be no repentance, depend upon it that that faith which we think we have is not the faith that will save us.

Give me faith with tears in her eyes; I know her to be the true child of God.

The faith that makes me feel my ruin, confess my sin, and lay hold of eternal life, because otherwise my merits will bring me to eternal death, this is the faith which saves.

But some people are very great at resolving rather than repenting and believing.

2. A Condition of Want (9:58)

In being a follower of Christ there is no guarantee of wealth, power, fame, or even your next meal.

All we are guaranteed is Jesus, but we quickly find out that Jesus is all we need.

Following Jesus leads to a fulfilled satisfied life.

A Condition of Want (9:58)

Any commitment in words calls for further examination.

Have you counted the cost?

Do you realize what you are setting yourself up for?

Are you ready to cut past ties and depend absolutely on the commitment to God in the future?

What do you really mean when you say I will follow you wherever you go? Are you following to see miracles, be where the action is, and gain God’s blessings?

Or are you following because you are devoted to the mission and ready to take up the cross?

There is no giving up and opting out of the life for those who are followers of Jesus.

NO TIRING in the Disciple’s life.

B. No Trifling in the Life of Discipleship ()

B. No Trifling in the Life of Discipleship ()

An Invitation to Follow (9:59a)

This man had a distinct command from the Lord: “Follow me.”

That is a very solemn thing, to have a command from the Lord coming to the heart, and then to repel it.

I would have you very cautious when you hear the Word of God preached, or when you read it.

If, at any time, it comes to you with unusual power, if it seems to arrest you, to lay an iron hand upon your shoulder, if you feel it difficult to get away from it, I pray you do not try to get away from it; for, if you do, you will add very greatly to your guilt.

When Jesus himself seems to say to you, “Follow me,” be not deaf to the divine message, close not your ear to the heavenly command.

This man had a distinct command from the Lord: “Follow me.”

That is a very solemn thing, to have a command from the Lord coming to the heart, and then to repel it.

I would have you very cautious when you hear the Word of God preached, or when you read it.

If, at any time, it comes to you with unusual power, if it seems to arrest you, to lay an iron hand upon your shoulder, if you feel it difficult to get away from it, I pray you do not try to get away from it; for, if you do, you will add very greatly to your guilt.

When Jesus himself seems to say to you, “Follow me,” be not deaf to the divine message, close not your ear to the heavenly command.

Have not some of you sat in these seats sometimes, and felt that, if you could but get home, if you could but be spared to get to your little chamber to bow your knee in prayer, you would be very different from what you had ever been, for a voice which seemed more than human was calling to you, and you could not but hear it?

I beseech you, never trifle with such a message as that.

O my hearers, never trifle with truth at all; but especially with truth that has a voice which you are compelled to hear; for, if you do, it will go hard with you.

This man was called by Christ, who said to him, “Follow me.”

2.

An Interval in Following (9:59b)

An Interval in Following (9:59b)

Oh, what an excuse!

John MacNeil, the Scottish evangelist, was once talking about the excuses people make for not completely following Christ.

Referring to the man who wished to first go and bury his father, he exclaimed with disgust, “Why, this poor fellow wanted a gravedigger’s shovel, when our Lord was trying to give him a resurrection trumpet!

God’s choices for us may be difficult, but we may be sure that they are the best.

Are we willing to “leave all” and go on to the “more abundant life” of discipleship.

3.

An Insist to the Follower (9:60)

Jesus is calling this man to preach but his loyalties are in the wrong place.

His loyalty was to self instead of to the Savior.

Many people want to strike a bargain with God by saying, “I will follow Jesus at some point in my life, just not now.

I have too much living to do.” Bargaining with God is dangerous because you always lose.

In fact, you will never really experience life in its fullest unless you are following Jesus.

John 10:10

The real Christ follower never trifles with God’s commands, he/she simply obeys.

C. No Turning in the Life of Discipleship ()

C. No Turning in the Life of Discipleship ()

Here is a man willing to follow Jesus “if!”

Here is a man who will follow Jesus but with his own conditions.

In this man’s response he concealed some reluctance on his part to take the decisive step.

So Jesus points out that the kingdom of God has no room for those who look back when they are called forward.

An Issue of Priority (9:61)

An Illustration of Plowing (9:61)

The cause of failure in true Christian discipleship can be traced to this problem of turning back.

For example, Lot’s wife retreated and became a monument to uselessness and shame ().

On the other hand, Elisha went back home but forsook all to follow Elijah.

19 So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen in front of him, and he was with the twelfth.

Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak upon him.

20 And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.”

And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” 21 And he returned from following him and took the yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate.

Then he arose and went after Elijah and assisted him.

These three men called Jesus “Lord” but did not do what He told them to do (6:46; Matt.

7:21–27).

When he heard of possible hardships, the first man would not deny himself.

The second man was concerned about the wrong funeral: he should have taken up his cross, died to self, and obeyed God’s will.

The third man had his eyes in the wrong direction and could not follow Christ.

The conditions for discipleship are given in 9:23, and these three men failed to meet them.

Their emphasis was “me first.”

No wonder the laborers are so few!