Is it Worth it to Follow Jesus?

“Is it Worth it to Follow Jesus”?

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Let’s be honest, there are times when living for Jesus is NOT easy! There will be times when even the strongest Christian will ask themselves…

”Is it worth it to follow Jesus”?

Following Jesus is swimming upstream in this culture. When you give your life to Jesus there are certain commands you are to obey, certain fleshly pleasures you are to forgo, and certain sacrifices you are to make.

Because this is true, there will be times when you are tempted to wonder…does it really paid to follow Jesus.

Is it worth it to follow Jesus when doing the right thing makes you unpopular at School?

Is it worth it to follow Jesus when people at work without moral scruples are getting ahead of you?

Is it worth it to Follow Jesus when serving God takes you away from your hobbies and activities?

Is it worth it to follow Jesus when you have to say no to a relationship that is holding you back spiritually?

Following Jesus will be hard at times: and you will have to answer the question…Is it worth it to follow Jesus?

People have been asking this question since the beginning of time, the psalmist asked it in .

Here, Peter is asking it…early on in the gospel of , we learn that Peter, James, and John “Left everything” to follow Jesus.

Now Peter is questioning, is it worth it? He is wondering, does it pay to follow Jesus?

Peter had just overheard what Jesus said to the young rich ruler, who wanted to know what he had to do to have eternal life. Jesus knew his gold was his god; so Jesus told him to give it all away, and come and follow Him. The man refused to do this, because to him, Jesus wasn’t worth it!

Jesus was sad about the young man walking away, but Jesus wasn’t surprised by it.

Peter hearing and seeing the young man walk away, speaks for himself and probably for the other disciples, V:28-Read.

Peter and the other disciples had done the very thing Jesus said the young rich ruler lacked: they had given up everything to follow Jesus. And Peter wanted to make sure that Jesus knew that, and he was wondering what he was going to get in return.

Now what you expect Jesus to say to his disciples is; do not think that you deserve anything in return for forsaking all and following me.

But, that is not what Jesus says; instead Jesus gives two reasons it is worth it to follow him.

#1 it is worth it to follow Jesus because of:

1. The Promise Jesus made.

V:28-30.

Jesus makes 2 amazing promises to those who follow him.

a. Your Present Life will be Great.

V:28-30-“Verily I say unto you, there is no man that has left house, or parents, or brothers, wife, or children, for the kingdom of God’s sake, who shall not receive manifold more in this present time…

There is a general sense in which this is true of all believers. A Christian is someone who has decided to have Jesus instead of anything this world has to offer. The Bible says that we come to Jesus by repentance and faith; repentance is to turn away from sin, turning our back on anything and everything to place our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior. Repentance is turning away from sin and self-righteousness; and faith is trusting what Jesus did on the cross for you as the only means of salvation. There’s nothing you would rather have than Jesus! However, some Christians are called to go beyond this, and make specific sacrifices in following Jesus. This is what Jesus is talking about in . For the sake of the kingdom of God, Jesus calls some of his servants to leave their homes and their families behind.

In some parts of the world this is what Christians have to do when they are baptized. In many Muslim communities for example, someone who becomes a Christian will be disowned by their family, and possibly even put to death. Other Christians leave their homes and their families when they go overseas to serve as missionaries.

In order to follow God’s special calling, they must give up some of the things that they love most in the world. That brings us back to the question that Peter had: is it worth it to follow Jesus?

Is it worth it to follow Jesus if it means going to some far-off place and being separated from your family? Is it worth it being a missionary if it means taking your children far away from grandparent?

Is it worth it to risk your popularity to be a faithful follower of Jesus Christ?

Jesus promises that it will be worth it right now in the present to follow him! Jesus says you will never end up on the losing end if you follow Him.

The promise is absolute,V:29-“There is no man…

No one who gives up something for the kingdom of

God will fail to receive God’s blessing.

Everyone who follows Jesus will gain what he has to offer. Many people think of Christianity as only a

Long-term investment that they don’t get much out of until they die.

I know I’m going to go to heaven when I die, but right now being a Christian takes all the fun of life. But Jesus says that following him is the best of both worlds; you will be blessed right now in the present, and you will be blessed in eternity. It is a win-win to follow Jesus!

Jesus promises to give more to us than we give up for him, V:29-30, if we are called to leave home or family for God’s kingdom work, he will give us many times more. This promise is true, when we put our faith in Jesus Christ, we become part of the family of God. God is our father, and Jesus Christ is our elder brother, and we have a great big spiritual family! We have spiritual fathers and mothers, spiritual sons and daughters in the family of God. The church is our spiritual and everlasting family, and what a wonderful family it is!

When I first got saved, I had older spiritual brothers to hold me accountable, and teach me.

When you are alone in singleness, needing companionship, you have brothers and sisters to call on. When you struggle in marriage, there are spiritual fathers and mothers who can teach us to love one another.

When we are far away from our families, we can find a home away from home in the church.

When we come to the end of our life, even if we do not have any living relatives, we have a spiritual family to mourn our passing, and bury us in the hope of the resurrection.

The greatest group of people on the earth to be a part of is the family of God, the church!!

Whatever home or family we give up to follow Jesus, it is more than made up in the church, if we truly learn to regarded it as the family of God.

Yet I believe when Jesus promised:

V:30-“Shall receive many times more in this present time”.

He was not only talking about giving us a spiritual family, the church. He was also talking about giving us himself, which more than makes up for anything we think we’re missing in this life.

“Many times more” means, the believer will find in Jesus far more than anything he gives up. He will find peace, hope, joy, comfort, and rest in Jesus. The Lord Jesus will be more to him than houses, or family, or friends, or anything this world can offer.

Even if we lose everything in this life, we still have Jesus! We always have Jesus; what we have in him can never be taken away. When we do not have a home, Jesus is our refuge and our shelter in a time of storm. When we don’t have a friend, Jesus is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

When we’re out of money, Jesus is the pearl of great price, the treasurer of our soul.

One day we will find that we have nothing that is lasting, are sure except Jesus! When we lose our health, and our money cannot heal us, and our spouse can’t go with us, and our children can’t help us; and death comes for us; only Jesus Christ will be with us!

Jesus really is worth it, because when we have Jesus, we have many times more than anything we give up to follow him.

J. Wilbur Chapman wrote this hymn.

Jesus! What a friend for sinners!

Jesus! Lover of my soul;

Friends may fail me, foes assail me,

He, my Savior, makes me whole.

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Hallelujah! What a friend!

Saving, helping, keeping, loving,

He is with me to the end.

It is worth it to follow Jesus because your present life will be good, you have Jesus, and you have a spiritual family, the church.

a. Your present Life will be good.

It is worth it to follow Jesus because:

b. Your future life will be glorious.

V:30-“and in the world to come life everlasting”.

This is the second part of the double promise that Jesus makes to those who follow him, he promises eternal life. Anyone who receives Jesus as their personal savior, will receive everlasting life. By the grace of God when we leave everything else behind to follow Jesus, we get Jesus now and we get Jesus forever! Eternal life means, of course, life that has no end. God has promised that everyone who believes in Jesus will live with him forever! Nothing in this life is forever; except the salvation you receive through Jesus Christ.

Even the best experiences in life are diminished by the knowledge that soon they must come to an end.

There’s always that knowledge, that even though the vacation is wonderful, it’s almost over, our children are about to leave home. The party is almost over, and there’s that tinge of disappointment. We will never have that feeling in heaven, because heaven is everlasting, there are no good byes in heaven. What a life it will be!

It is not just the length of life that makes it so precious; but also the kind of life it will be.

· Eternal life is a free life.

It is a life free from sin, both our own sin and the sin of others. It is a life free from pain, physical or emotional, it is free from sadness: every tear will be wiped from our eyes.

It is a free of disappointment, despair, depression, discouragement. In heaven there’s no more night, there’s no sickness, tragedy, or death! Praise God; it is a life free of sin and the consequences of sin!

· Eternal life is a full life.

It is full of worship, with music more glorious than we can even imagine. It is full of glory, with new bodies that are raised incorruptible, immortal. A life full of eternal fellowship with the saints of God, and our family members that are there. Best of all, it is a life full of God, and eternity lived in the very presence of God the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit! What blessings are waiting for us in heaven!

Jesus is worth it now, but Jesus will be even more worth it later, when we leave this dark world of sin, and death; an open our eyes in heaven; where the sun never sets, sin never enters and disappointment never comes!

It is worth it to follow Jesus because of the glorious future I have in him. Whether I die, or Jesus comes first; either way I’m going to heaven!

If you are here and you are not a Christian, your future is not good.

But this morning, you can change your eternal destiny; by placing your faith in Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord!

Eternity will prove that nothing is more worth living for, or dying for, than the gospel of Jesus Christ!

It is worth it to follow Jesus, because of;

1. The Promise Jesus made.

There’s a second reason it is worth it to follow Jesus.

It is worth it to follow Jesus because of:

2. The Price Jesus Paid.

V:31-34-Read.

Jesus paid a great price for our salvation! I should give my life to Jesus and follow Him, because Jesus gave His life for me!

This is the fourth time that Jesus has prophesied his sufferings and death:

-“The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day”.

-“Let these sayings sink down into your ears: for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men.

-“for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.

Jesus death on the cross was never far from his mind, and He says in, V:31-“we are going up to Jerusalem…

Jesus language is conveying a sense of urgency, were going up to Jerusalem now, and we are going up to Jerusalem for my death on the cross!

The crucifixion is only a few days away, and the closer Jesus gets to the cross, the more clearly he prophesies about his death.

In this prophecy Jesus gives new and explicit information about what He will suffer for sinners. For the first time he says that he will be handed over to the Gentiles, so that the entire human race will be involved in his death—not just the Jews, but also the Gentiles. He speaks of being mocked and beaten and abused, spit on, scourged and put to death. This is the clearest description that Jesus has given concerning what will happen to him before he is crucified, and when he is crucified.

Jesus knew exactly what was going to happen to him in Jerusalem, and on the Hill called Calvary; yet he still made the trip to Jerusalem.

Jesus did not go to the cross ignorantly; he went to the cross to suffer, bleed, and die with his eyes wide open! God the father had revealed to him what would happen, and the Scriptures revealed to him what would happen. Notice how Jesus introduces the subject of his suffering, V:31-“all things that are

written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man shall be accomplished”.

Jesus speaks with absolute confidence that everything the Old Testament said about his suffering and death will be accomplished.

Here we see Jesus absolute confidence in the Old Testament Scripture; and how the Old Testament is connected to the New Testament. And you can never, and you must never unhitched, disconnect the Old Testament from the New Testament.

In the Old Testament, the New Testament is concealed; in the New Testament, the Old Testament is revealed.

What, exactly, did the prophets say about the Son of Man? As Jesus studied the Scriptures, as he read the words of men like David and Isaiah, He saw:

-“He would be forsaken by God”.

-“He would be mocked by his enemies”.

-“He would be tormented by thirst”.

-“His hands and feet would be pierced”.

-“He would be despised and rejected by men”.

-“He would be wounded for our transgressions, and crushed for our iniquities”

-“He would make his soul an offering for our sin”.

It was not just that Jesus had to die, but that he had to die this way.

With the cruel sufferings of a body that was abused before it was crucified and a soul that was forsaken by God.

Jesus knew in advance that this is what waited for him at the end of his Calvary road.

One of the ways pseudo-scholars, critics and skeptics reject Jesus as the son of God; is by denying that his sufferings were planned and purposeful. They say that Jesus death was unplanned and accidental, a tragedy, an unfortunate ending to his life. They say that things did not go the way that Jesus intended them to go. Nothing could be further from the truth! The whole trajectory of his life was prophesied some 700 years before from the prophet Isaiah and others.

And here in this chapter, Jesus made it clear to his disciples before he even got to Jerusalem, what would happened to him; and he gave it to them in great detail; because Jesus as God knew the future.

V:31-33-Read.

The mention of rising on “the third day” shows that Jesus also knew the promise of his resurrection. Even before he died on the cross, he knew the whole gospel, which always includes the resurrection as well as the crucifixion.

Jesus knew that his death wasn’t the end, but that the Holy Spirit would bring him back to life.

Oh, the great price Jesus paid for our sins, that through faith in him we might be forgiven, redeemed, become a child of God; a follower of Jesus Christ.

If it ever grips your heart the price Jesus paid that you might be right with God, saved and go to heaven; you would gladly become his follower, and follow him until you die!

Peter was asking the question is it worth it to follow Jesus?

But on the way to Jerusalem, Jesus had to ask, if it was worth it for Him to suffer and die.

Was the salvation of mankind worth it to put up with all the hardships of living as a man among fallen men?

Was it worth it to endure the agony of Gethsemane, where he sweated his tears in blood, and then to die the painful and shameful death of the cross?

Was it worth it to be separated from the Father and cry out in anguish?

-“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Was it worth it to suffer all these things for sinners? Was it worth it to die for people like us, whose sins nailed him to the cross, and who sometimes wonder whether Jesus is worth it for us? (as if that were really the question)?

With every step he took toward Jerusalem, Jesus was saying, “Yes, it is worth it! It is worth it to keep the whole law for my people and to die for their sins, even if that will require the most excruciating suffering.” It was worth it for Jesus when he was alone in the garden, when he was betrayed, when he was accused, when he was beaten, when he was nailed to the cross, and when he gave his soul up unto death. We know it was worth it because Jesus did it, and because the Scripture tells us why:

-“For the joy that was set before him, He endured the cross, despising the shame”.

Which is another way of saying that Jesus thought we were worth it. In his great love and amazing grace, Jesus wanted the joy of giving us himself and then bringing us with him into eternal life.

We were worth it to him! Do you wonder about your value? Jesus thought you were so valuable, and loved you so much that he went to Jerusalem, went to the cross, took your sins, and died in your place on the cross; that you might be saved and follow him! Because of Jesus death on the cross, and his payment for our sin, you can be saved, forgiven, and have eternal life! It is worth it to follow Jesus because in the present you have the family of God, in the future you have heaven, in the past your sins are under the blood of Jesus!

There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus! Jesus took my condemnation and my sin and satisfied the righteous demands of God on the cross!

My sin is under the blood of Jesus, my guilt has been removed, I have peace, purpose, and power through the Lord Jesus Christ! Because of Jesus death on the cross your sin can be forgiven, your heart made clean, and your present and future secure! It is worth it to be a Christian because of the price Jesus paid on the cross that you might be saved, know him and follow him!

Jesus told his disciples what would happen to him in Jerusalem; but the disciples did not understand any of this at the time,

When Jesus spoke to them about his sufferings, death, and resurrection,

V:34-“they understood none of these things.

What Jesus said was perfectly clear, but the disciples did not understand a word of it; the disciples were not yet ready to understand a suffering, bleeding Savior.

How could they, until they saw Jesus betrayed with a kiss and nailed to the cross? Or how could they understand his ultimate triumph until they looked into the empty tomb or saw Jesus in the glory of his resurrection body?

The disciples did not understand what Jesus was saying, but Jesus said it anyway, so that they would understand it when the time came. He also said it so that we would understand. Do you understand what Jesus did in dying on the cross and rising again on the third day? Do you understand as well that he is offering you eternal life today?

If you really understand this, then you know that Jesus is worth it. Absolutely he is worth it, right now and forever. Whatever God is calling you to give up for his kingdom, do not hesitate, even for a moment; Jesus will more than make it up to you. But never forget that Jesus is worth it to us only because we were worth it to him, on the cross where he gave his blood for our sins.

I’ve been following Jesus for over 37 years now; and I can tell you without hesitation or reservation it is worth it to follow Jesus!

It is worth it because of:

1. The promise Jesus made.

2. The price Jesus paid.