What it requires to follow Jesus

06-26-2022

This morning we continue on with our Parables of Jesus

If you will remember this is all because we are called to teach others what Jesus taught us

So it is important we know what Jesus taught so that we can teach others, so that we can disciple others

This morning we look at another of Jesus’s parables

This one though maybe doesn’t quit fit into the parable form that we have been seeing

At this point in Jesus’s ministry he has gained some notoriety and sort of has a following

During this following Jesus begins to teach them

So that they are not caught off guard and so that they understand what is required to follow Him

He explains it to them

Sort of like signing a contract

Does anyone actually read the pages and pages of stuff

For these people following Jesus in Jesus’s day they probably did read much

It sad but today is no different

As a side note I would encourage you to read the fine print of the Bible

But because they didn’t read much and probably didn’t have much to read right, they had scrolls

Jesus wanted to ensure they knew what the fine print said

Jesus did not want us to be surprised by what would happen when and if we began to follow Him

My question to you is this

Do you know what it means to follow Jesus

Luke 14:25–35 NASB95

25 Now large 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 “Otherwise, 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. 34 “Therefore, salt is good; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? 35 “It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Jesus want you and I know what is required for us to follow Him

So lets sort of break it down because I think it is important for us to understand that when you sign on to be a follower of Jesus what you are signing on for

Now understand Jesus is not saying that you have to hate your parents to follow Him because that would contradict the command to honor your parents right

Jesus is saying that your love for Jesus should be so much that to the outside world it looks like hate

I think this is tough for us because we place a high value on the importance of family

I have to make sure I spend time with my family

In fact we as Christian’s sometimes use that as an excuse to get out of serving

It is almost as if we are placing our time with family above our relationship with Christ and that is exactly what Jesus is talking about here

You cannot put your relationship with your family above your relationship with Christ

Matthew 8:21–22 NASB95

21 Another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” 22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead.”

Jesus is putting the emphasis on the correct order of things

If we have things in their correct order which by the way is Jesus first and above all Jesus

Then things tend to fall into place

When we love Christ so much more than anything else will will probably love our family more but its only because our love for Christ is growing even more than that

Jesus wants to ensure that we are not putting our family above our relationship with Christ

And if we cannot put Jesus as our top priority in our lives then we cannot be disciples of Jesus

We are just looking at what Jesus said so that you understand what you have signed on for as a believer in Jesus Christ

Luke 14:27 NASB95

27 “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

This is a tough verse for most of us

Because lets be honest we like the comfortable Christianity

The Christianity that doesn’t require me to do much, or sacrifice anything

The Christianity that allows me to fill good when I give to a certain cause but not give enough to actually change the way I live

That’s why this verse causes us so much trouble because it stands in the way of the church that most of us hav known for far to long

Luke 9:23 NASB95

23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.

Jesus says it first and then again reiterates it later on in the passage that we are using today

But we are to pick up our cross daily

Not to pick it up only when it is confident or when it makes us look good

No these verses are very clear that you and I as follows of Jesus are to pick up our cross daily

Now some people have taken that to mean well this or that is my burden to bare

Nope that is not the case

The cross was used for suffering and for death not to just make you a bit uncomfortable

So when Christ calls us to pick up our cross daily

He is calling us to die each and everyday

Sacrifice

Jesus is calling us to sacrifice our wants, desires, wishes ourselves each and everyday to follow Him

Because news flash it is not about you and I, but it is all about Jesus

Jesus is our example of sacrifice right

He laid down His life out of obedience to God the Father and because of His overwhelming love for you and I

We pick up our cross daily because He did it first

That is why this is so difficult because this flys in the face of everything in todays world

That you can live how you want and then on Sunday get right with Jesus

That you can live how you want and then really you don’t even need to go to church and that Jesus loves you just the way you are and so if you do you

That is what the world is saying

And Jesus is clearing saying that you must die to yourself each and everyday if you want to follow me

Randi has been listening to Elizabeth Elliott’s podcast for a few weeks

Elizabeth Elliott is the wife of Jim Elliott who was killed on the mission field in Ecuador

She had this to day about sacrifice

“To be a follower of the Crucified means, sooner or later, a personal encounter with the cross. And the cross always entails loss. The great symbol of Christianity means sacrifice and no one who calls himself a Christian can evade this stark fact.”

To follow Christ is to carry your cross, not some burden, not a list of approved sacrifices for Jesus to pick from

To carry your cross so that you can die on it and sacrifice everything your flesh wants and desires so that God can come in and give you life to go out and share with the world

To give your life to follow Jesus

Luke 9:23–25 NASB95

23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 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?

Looks at the rest of what Jesus is saying about carrying your cross daily

Which is to die to yourself daily

But notice if we lose our life because we are following Christ then we actually get life because Jesus is the author and protector of life

When Jesus defeated death and the grave that gives Him the ability to give us life through a personal relationship with Him

It is because of Him that we actually receive life

But it also says that those who try and hold on to their life will actually lose it

There is freedom and life in following Jesus

There is slavery and death when we follow the world

You may think that cant be

Jesus and the church are just a bunch of rules that don’t allow me to do what I want to do

But what is actually happening is that sin is ruling that life and sin always leads to death

Because of what Jesus did on the cross and at the grave can be set free from the chains of slavery that are called sin and live in true freedom

Jim Elliot has this to say

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.

When we sacrifice our lives, something we couldn’t actually keep anyways, we actually gain life and we cannot lost the life given to us by Jesus Himself

This is what it is to follow Christ

And Jesus wants you and I to know it upfront

Luke 14:28–33 NASB95

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 “Otherwise, 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.

Jesus wanted those who were following Him around from city to city to understand what it would cost them

He is very clear that it will cost your life if you want to follow after Jesus

And He is also very clear that if you do we receive true life

But he explains to those people what person doesn’t sit down and count what it will cost him to build

I have never built a house but Erick you have built houses

You make sure you know the cost upfront right

Because you don’t just want to get the foundation laid and then realize it will be more than what you have allotted and then you actually just have a foundation with nothing useful on it

What leader doesn’t look and count the cost of war to ensure this what they want to do and they will be ok with what it cost them

So there are no surprises when God calls you to sacrifice something like your life to follow Him

You won’t be able to say well I didn’t know

When God calls you to sacrifice it should be no surprise that it is not an if but a when

Now you know that it requires you to pick up and carry your cross daily, not pick up a burden but pick up a tool that is used for death, a place for you to die each and everyday so that you can truly follow after Christ and recieve true life through Christ

So as we call the band up

We will move to an invitation

Let me go back to the question when I asked you this morning

Do you know what it means to follow Christ?

Maybe you are here this morning and have never received the free gift of Jesus

I would invite you to the front and you can speak with someone and they can show you in scripture where Jesus says that to receive the free gift of what He did on the cross and at the grave you are to repent and to trust Him

Or maybe you already have a relationship with Jesus and simply need to spend sometime in prayer

Maybe you have been confused and have been living more of the worldly comfortable Christianity and now you are without excuse of what it is to truly follow Christ

I would invite you to the front and repent and run back to Jesus

Church altar is open