Good morning. If you would, please take your Bibles and turn to Luke chapter 14. Luke chapter 14, and I'll be reading verses 25 through 33. Luke 14, 25 through 33. 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. 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 10,000 to meet him who comes against him with 20,000? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. Let's pray. Father God, we live in a broken, fallen world, and with all the uncertainties of this world, thank you that we can find solid ground for our souls in your word. Your word, oh God, is a lamp. It is a lamp unto our feet, and it's a light unto our path. So God, I pray that you would enlighten our soul so that we may see the beauty and the majesty of your son, the Lord Jesus. We pray in his name, amen. Well, most of you know that we've been working our way through the gospel of Luke. If you're new with us, welcome. That's what we've been doing for the last several months, working through Luke's gospel. And for those of you who've been a part of this series, this study, you may have noticed that there are three primary groups that Jesus encounters, that Jesus addresses. The first group are the disciples. The disciples. And the word disciple means a learner. So the disciples were learners who submitted their lives, who came under the teachings of Jesus Christ. And if there's one word, one word to describe a disciple, it would be this, it'd be committed. Disciples are committed. And you may think that the word disciples only apply to the 12 apostles. That's not true. Yeah, the 12 apostles were disciples, but the group included many more than just those 12. And in fact, by the time we get to Acts, The word disciple is synonymous with Christian. Did you know that? So that this morning, if you are a Christian, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you are a disciple, you are a committed follower of Jesus Christ. The second group that we've encountered throughout our study of Luke, are the Pharisees. The Pharisees. The Pharisees were the religious leaders in the first century. But unlike the disciples that were characterized by commitment, if there was one word that I would use to describe the Pharisees, it would be this. They were contentious. They were contentious. The Pharisees despised Jesus because they saw Him as a threat to their power. And on several occasions throughout our study of Luke, we've seen the resentment and the hatred and the anger of the Pharisees towards Jesus Christ. Yet throughout Luke, we're presented with a third group. A third group. And this third group are the crowds. The crowds. If the disciples were committed and the Pharisees were contentious, the one word that I would use to describe the crowds would be this. Curious. Curious. The crowds were fascinated by Jesus. The crowds loved to be around Him. His teaching was like nothing that they had ever heard before. He taught with power and authority and conviction. And on top of that, He authenticated His teaching with miracles. And there's always excitement around Jesus Christ. And Luke is very intentional about pointing out the curiosity of the crowds. That's why in Luke 5, it's recorded, the crowd was pressing in on Him, and that's Jesus, to hear the Word of God. And in chapter 5, verse 15, we read that great crowds gathered to hear Him and to be healed of their infirmities. And then in chapter 6, we see that the crowd sought to touch Him, for power came out from Him and healed them all. Yet, you know what? At the end of the day, Jesus was not and is not interested in simply drawing curious crowds. Jesus Christ was interested in people from the crowd. They weren't contentious. They weren't committed. They were somewhere in between. They were curious. And what Jesus was interested in is moving this group who were curious to be committed followers of him. That's why verse 25 begins with the words, now great crowds accompanied him and he turned and said to them, did you pick up on that? All of these instructions about the cost of discipleship is directed at the crowds. It's as if Jesus is saying, okay crowd, you've seen me preach. You've watched me perform the miracles. You've benefited from being around me. Now it's time to decide. Will you be my disciple? And this morning I know of no more important question for you Then that same question, will you be a committed follower of Jesus Christ? But before you answer that question, Jesus wants you to know the cost of discipleship. Jesus wants you and me to know what he expects from his followers. Jesus wants us to know what is involved in the Christian life, to which you say, I thought salvation was a free gift. I thought it was free. Why should it cost me anything? To which I respond by saying, you're right. Salvation is a free gift and it's offered to anyone who will receive it by faith. However, once saved, the expectation is that you and I are signing our lives away to Jesus Christ. Did you know that? Did you know that when you became a Christian, you're taking a contract that's blank? and that you're signing your name on the bottom of it and you're handing it over to Jesus Christ and you say, you fill out the details. Did you know that? So yes, salvation is free, yet at the same time, it costs you everything. And that seems contradictory, doesn't it? And maybe this illustration will help. Let's say that I wanted to climb Mount Everest. And I would never want to because, number one, I don't like the cold and I don't like heights. But let's just say, hypothetically speaking, I wanted to climb Mount Everest. But the cost of climbing Mount Everest is somewhere between $100,000 and $150,000. And I can't afford that. So a wealthy friend comes by and says, Jim, I'll pay for it all. I'll pay for your plane ticket there, I'll pay for all the expensive clothing, I'll pay for you to join a team that will help you, I'll pay for it all. It's free, but it comes at a cost. I've got to put in time, I've got to put in effort. And at the end of the day, it might even cost me my life. And so, yes, our salvation is free, but at the same time, It costs us everything. And to punctuate the cost of disciple, we see three times in this passage the phrase, cannot be my disciple. Cannot be my disciple. We see it in verses 26, 27, and 33. In other words, each of those verses, Jesus lays out his expectations for potential followers by saying, unless you're willing to commit to these requirements, you cannot be my disciple. You cannot be a follower of me. You cannot be a Christian. And so what are those expectations? What are those requirements? What is the cost of discipleship? First, you cannot be Christ's disciple unless Jesus is your first love. You cannot be a Christian unless Jesus is your first love. Look at verse 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. You might be thinking, why is Jesus telling me to hate my family? I thought I was supposed to love my family. Doesn't the Bible command that a husband is to love his wife like Christ loves the church? Doesn't the fifth commandment exhort children to honor their father and mother? Isn't the second greatest commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves? And the answer is yes. You're exactly right. The Bible does tell us all those things. Husbands need to love their wives. Wives need to love their husbands. We need more godly marriages where love is there, not less. Children need to love and obey their parents. Siblings need to love one another. And yes, we are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Now, all that said, what Jesus is telling his would-be followers is this, that as much as you love your family, your love for me needs to be even greater. That's the point. He's using strong language that the first century ears would have known exactly what he was talking about. And still today, the language in the Mediterranean world uses exaggeration to make points like that. I remember as a kid, being Greek, my mother used to tell me, which means, I want to eat your face. You think she literally wanted to eat my face? No. She's telling me, I love you so much, kid. I could just eat you up. She's exaggerating to make a point, and that's what Jesus is doing here. For those in the crowd listening to Jesus, they understood to follow Jesus meant family alienation was a real possibility. They knew it. Remember what Jesus said in Luke chapter 12? For from now on in one house, there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. But having to choose Jesus over family, it's not something that ended in the first century. Afshin Ziafat is an Iranian pastor. who comes from a Muslim background who's a pastor today in Frisco, Texas. When Afshin was in high school, he decided to become a follower, to become a disciple, to become a Christian. Knowing that his dad would disapprove of his newfound faith, Afshin tried to hide it. But then listen to what happened next. These are his words. Finally, one day, my dad found out. He'd seen my Bible and he'd also seen other evidences in my life. He sat me down and said, son, what's going on? There's something different about you. I said, dad, I'm a Christian. He said, no, you're not, young man. You're a Muslim, and you'll always be a Muslim. I said, Dad, the Bible says that if I trust in Christ alone for my salvation, that I'm a Christian, and I do. My dad said, Afshin, if you're going to be a Christian, then you can no longer be my son. Everything in my flesh wanted to say, forget it, I'll be a Muslim. I didn't want to lose the relationship with my dad. So even I was surprised when I opened my mouth and said, dad, if I have to choose between you and Jesus, then I choose Jesus. And if I have to choose between my earthly father and my heavenly father, then I choose my heavenly father. My father disowned me on the spot, right on the spot. Oh, how easy it is to sing, I have decided to follow Jesus. I have decided to follow Jesus. I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back, no turning back. How easy it is for us to sing those lyrics without realizing the cost. He knew the cost. Afshin did, and he was willing to pay it. And today, their relationship is restored, but his dad has yet to commit his life to Jesus Christ. Now, most of us, let's be honest, will not have to make that kind of decision, but we still have to choose to put Jesus Christ over family. May I be candid for a second? It is so easy for us to put family in front of Jesus Christ. It's easy for parents to make gods out of their children. And we have been seduced by this culture to run around taking our kids from this activity to this activity to this activity and forgetting about our first love. And it's so easy for our marriages to turn inward and to focus on one another and helping each other reach our potential and upgrading this and upgrading this all at the same time of forgetting our first love. It's so easy for those of you who are watching downstairs who are college students to put your friendships and your relationships, a boyfriend or a girlfriend, ahead of your first love, Jesus Christ. What's the cost of discipleship? You and I cannot be Christ's disciples. We cannot be Christian unless Jesus is our first love. But Jesus doesn't end there. You and I cannot be Christ's disciple unless we are willing to endure persecution. Endure persecution. Look at verse 27. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. When Jesus spoke those words to the crowd, everyone listening would have known that the cross was a symbol of pain and suffering and persecution. Everyone listening would have known that the cross was reserved for the vilest criminals. And to watch someone carrying his cross was the equivalent of watching someone marching towards his own death. Of course, Jesus had told his disciples prior to where we're at in Luke 14. He told them several times that he would suffer and be rejected and ultimately be killed, but they never picked up on what he was saying. Never did. And they certainly never anticipated that Jesus would eventually die on a cross. But what does Jesus mean when he says in verse 27 that whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple? What's he saying to us in 20-20? I think what Jesus is saying is that to be his disciple is to follow him down the same path of pain and suffering. In other words, Jesus is calling his would-be followers to a life of sacrifice. The call to be His disciples, not just living for Him, but also means that you are willing to die for Him. I was just wondering, did anyone share that with you when they shared the gospel? Did they ever tell you that? What I love about Jesus is that there's no small print. It's just right there, here it is. Think about some of those commercials, these pharmaceutical commercials, where it sounds so wonderful. This medicine can cure me of this or that. Then at the end, some guy starts talking 100 miles per hour about all these things that it might do to me. I'm going to lose my hair, my toenails. My eyeballs are going to turn inward. By the end of it, I think, forget it, I'll stick with the depression. Jesus doesn't do that. He doesn't do that. There's no small print with Jesus. You want to follow me, he says, then just so that you know, be prepared to suffer. And for some, this might mean to die as a martyr. I think of the Coptic Christians who were executed by ISIS. a few years back in Libya, remember that? Where they just lined them all up. But for most of us, suffering for Christ comes from being discredited or ridiculed or ostracized. And I know, talking to several of you, that that's going on right now. Right now. Now, at this point in Jesus' teaching, you would expect Him to follow what He just said about bearing your cross. You would expect Him to follow verse 27 with some statement on why dying for Him is worth it. Isn't that what a communications consultant would tell Jesus right about now? Okay, Jesus, you've been hitting them pretty hard. Put something in there about the benefits that come from suffering. Even things out, but that's not what Jesus does. In verses 28 through 32, Jesus does not ease up. In fact, he presses in harder to make sure that we really understand the cost of being a Christian. So he provides us with two parables. We see the first in verses 28 through 30. Read along with me, 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, 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. Isn't the point obvious? When it comes to committing your life to Jesus Christ, please know what you're signing up for. so that when persecution and suffering and ridicule comes, because it will come, you don't end up saying, that's not what I signed up for. And in case we didn't get that point the first time, Jesus gives us a second parable which deals with the art of war. Look with me at verses 31 through 32, or what king going out to encounter another king in war will not, sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with 10,000 to meet him who comes against him with 20,000. And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. The second parable is also intended to get us to count the cost of being a disciple with a twist. There's a twist. The first parable gets us to count the cost of following Jesus Christ. The second parable gets us to count the cost for not following Jesus Christ. What do I mean? In the second parable, there's two kings, a weak king and a strong king. The weak king realizes he is in way over his head and determines he better not do battle against the stronger king. Rather, he should seek peace. And may I suggest that we see ourselves as the weaker king and God as the stronger king. And we need to ask ourselves, do we want to do battle against the holy God? Do we want to go up against God or do we want to seek peace and be on His side? According to the Bible, there are two groups in this world, two. those who are part of the kingdom of light, who are committed, and those who are part of the kingdom of darkness, who are contentious. Two groups. You are either on God's side or you are His enemy. If the first parable asks, can you afford to be a Christian? The second parable asks, can you afford not to be a Christian? What's the cost of discipleship? You cannot be Christ's disciple unless Jesus is your first love. You cannot be Christ's disciples unless you're willing to endure persecution. And lastly, you cannot be Christ's disciples unless you are willing to renounce all things. You know what it means to renounce something? It means to say, bye-bye, good riddance, farewell, adios. So what Jesus is saying in verse 33 is that to be a disciple, you must be willing to part ways or to say farewell to all your earthly possessions. Does that mean that to be a Christian, we need to go and sell all of our stuff? No, it does not. Otherwise, all of us would be in violation to Scripture. At no place does Scripture command all Christians to sell all their possessions. What Jesus is saying in verse 33 is that if we're going to call ourselves Christians, we must say goodbye to our attachment to things. Oh, how we love our stuff. We love it. Jesus is not saying you have to just give it all away and become a monk. He's saying just hold it loosely and let me have control over it. I love how this commentator puts it. Every disciple must relinquish all his possessions, not merely money and material things, but also his dear ones. and everything that his heart clings to, yes, even his own life, his own desires, plans, ideals, and interests. This does not mean that he must sell all his possessions or give away all his money or desert his dear ones and become a hermit or beggar or wanderer. But it means that he must give Christ full control over his whole life with everything that he is and all that he possesses. And that under his guidance, that's the Lord's guidance, and in his service, that's in service to the Lord, he should deal with his possessions within the manner that is best. That's what Jesus is saying. Basically, to be Christ's disciple means we're willing to hold all our possessions loosely and say, Lord, you own it all. It's all yours, Jesus. Wonder what the crowd was thinking right about now. I wonder what you're thinking at this point. Some of you may be thinking that's what it means to be a Christian. I don't know if I'm a Christian. That's what it means if I give my life to Jesus Christ. That's what it means to be a follower. I must be willing to make Jesus my first love and be willing to endure persecution and be willing to let God have the final word in my finances. Some of you are saying, I know myself and I can't do it. And you're right. None of us can. None of us can do it. None of us can live up to these requirements on our own. But the good news for all of us is that Jesus did in his life of commitment and faithfulness and loyalty. He was so loyal. to the very end. And His perfect, committed, faithful, loyal life gets credited to your spiritual account when you trust in Him as your Savior and Lord. That's our only hope. It's the gospel. And the same grace that saves you is the same grace that enables you to make Jesus your first love and enables you to endure suffering and enables you to renounce all things for Jesus Christ. Do you want to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? Do you want to be a follower of Jesus? The cost might seem expensive, but it pales compared to what we receive in return. And that's Jesus Himself. Do you see the point in all this? When you start stripping away all these layers that come between you and Jesus, who's left? Him. It's Jesus. This is for our own good. And when we see Jesus for what He is and when we love Him, we then go back to our family and we love them even better. And we go back to our friends and we love them even better. And we handle our possessions with so much more wisdom. Yes, salvation is free. And it costs us everything to follow Jesus, but it's worth it. In just a minute, we're going to have the opportunity to share the Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper, among other things, is a way for us to recommit our lives to Jesus Christ. The Lord's Supper is for Christians. If you're not a Christian, I would ask that you please not participate. The Lord's Supper is for Christians. It's a way for us to say, yes, Jesus, you're worth everything, everything, including my very life. And I've considered the cost, and I once again declare that you are my Savior and my Lord. And as we prepare to take the Lord's Supper, I just want us to be quiet for about 30 seconds. And for those of you who are at home, go ahead and get your elements, bring it near you. But for 30 seconds, let's just be quiet. And during that time, I just want you to pray. And I want you to thank the Lord for your salvation. I want you to confess ways that you've held on to things that need to be released. And then we'll come back together and we'll pray for the elements.