Good evening, friends.
We have before us this evening a difficult passage,
so I'd like to invoke the Lord's help before we begin.
Let's pray.
Lord, I do pray that you would speak to us from your word
and that you would clarify our confusions
and that you would lead us into a deeper love of you
through your words this evening.
And I pray that you do with me
the meditation of my heart and the words of my mouth
would be acceptable to you.
In the name of Jesus, I pray these things.
Amen.
How's it?
Yeah.
Hi, everybody.
So, our passage this evening is Luke 14, verse 25 to 32.
You can turn there with me if you would.
Luke 14, verses 25 through 32.
When I was a little boy and then in my teenage years as well,
I had this vivid memory of living in this old sort of farmhouse.
I moved from the city to a farmhouse.
And no matter where we lived, every time I would go to bed at night,
I remember one last thing.
This was my dad walking around the house to lock all of the doors.
And he would rattle every single door.
And when I was young enough,
I thought this was just the most heroically brave thing I could possibly imagine.
This man not only locked up our house,
but even locked up his office, which was in the dark out there.
He went out every single night and locked up all of the doors.
And then he'd come back in.
And I understood this to be something like the epitome of fatherliness.
To go around and make sure all of the entrances
by which somebody could come in undesired were closed and secured.
This to me was a down payment of my dad's love for his family
and his desire that we'd be secure.
He went around and he looked at all of the vulnerabilities in the house
and secured them.
The passage before us tonight is Jesus telling us to count the cost of following him.
And I think another way of asking this question
or thinking about this question of the cost of following Jesus
is asking this question of,
where are the vulnerabilities in our souls?
Those things that we are particularly tempted toward?
Where are the dangers that we ought to be on guard against?
Because from those sides, danger might come.
What are the things that we would be willing to trade Christ for?
This is the question I want to have in the back of our minds as we read this text.
Luke 14, verse 25 through 33.
Now great crowds accompanied him.
And he, Jesus, 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.
As I said, these are hard words.
I think the main point of this passage
is that we are to count the cost of following Jesus.
So here's how I think this passage is working, just a broad overview.
Jesus has got, notice, great crowds with him,
and he says harsh words to great crowds.
He's not interested only in getting a large audience.
He's interested in people following him for the right reasons
and understanding what it will cost them.
So great crowds accompany him,
and he turns and says 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.
The first thing, hate your family.
We'll come back to that.
Second thing, take up your cross and follow me.
I think these two things are the things that are necessary for following Christ.
And the rest of the passage is examples.
So the foundation, the tower,
is about preparing yourself beforehand before you begin a task.
And the going to war against the other king
is about preparing yourself beforehand before you go and undo a task.
It's about making sure you're ready to do the thing you're going to commit to doing.
And I think one of the ways we can judge our hearts
and see if we're willing to pay the price of following Christ
is to ask,
what's the price we would pay to abandon him?
Where are we most tempted to abandon him?
Temptation.
Temptation comes in all shapes and sizes
and not every temptation is effective on every person.
So I'll ask you the question,
which door of your soul
is the one through which the danger would come?
The danger being forsaking Christ.
What's that temptation?
I think Jesus has an idea here
of two big categories of temptations.
Reasons we would be inclined to abandon and not follow Christ.
I want to look at those two broad categories,
say what it is that we have to give up in order to follow him,
and then say how we can use these categories of things
actually to wing our way toward God,
to encourage us in our following of him.
Okay?
So, I suggest there are two main things
that Jesus says gets in the way of our following him.
Pleasures and pains.
The pleasures of life,
I think, are represented by the things
Jesus tells us to hate.
Look at the things he tells us.
Mother and father,
wife,
children,
even your own life.
The natural question is,
what's wrong with these things?
And the correct response is,
nothing's wrong with them.
They're good things.
They're joys.
They are pleasures.
But then why does Jesus tell us to hate them?
I think it's because this is one direction from which danger might come.
We might be tempted to enjoy these pleasures more than we enjoy Christ.
Look also at the parable above ours here.
Beginning in verse 15 there,
you see this parable of a man who invites his friends to a banquet.
And all of his friends give reasons why they can't come to this banquet.
They say,
oh, I've taken a wife and I can't do it.
Oh, I have to do some business ventures and I can't do it.
Again,
these are all good things.
So the question is,
what's Jesus got against mother and father
and brother and sister
and children?
I think he's aware that one of the dangers
that would incline us away from following him
is our pleasures.
And the second category of things comes in the verse right afterwards.
Take up your cross and follow me.
If anyone's not willing to take up his cross,
he can't follow me.
Now,
this phrase,
take up your cross,
has become a relatively common one.
When we hear this phrase,
take up your cross,
we realize that we're talking in religious vocabulary.
And I want to sort of get away from that idea a little bit.
I want to give you a sense of just how strange this might sound
to Jesus's hearers.
Remember when Jesus said these words,
he wasn't crucified yet.
The cross didn't have any religious significance whatsoever.
So read it like this.
If anyone is not willing to take up,
to strap himself into an electric chair,
he won't follow me.
If any man's not willing to blindfold himself
in front of a firing squad,
he can't follow me.
If anyone's not willing to kneel down
on the executioner's block
before a person with an enormous sword
is going to decapitate you,
he's not ready to follow me.
These are the sort of things that Jesus says
are necessary for following him.
I think what's going on here is Jesus is aware
that one of the dangers
from the other side
is the danger of pains.
The dangers of pleasures
and the dangers of pains.
These, I think, are the two broad categories
that Jesus sees
as being able to turn our affections
away from him.
What does it mean
to hate these good things
and to be willing to take up
these bad things?
Here's what I think it means.
The life of following Jesus
means that nothing else
can evermore hold our highest allegiance.
Nothing.
Not family, not country,
not political party,
not even allegiance to our own life.
Nothing.
And the corollary,
the implication of that is
we cannot have lives designed
to flee at all costs from pain.
We cannot have lives
that seek only the good
of other allegiances
and we cannot have lives
that flee away from pain.
If anyone would not take up his cross,
he cannot be my disciple.
If anyone does not hate his family,
he cannot be my disciple.
We have the problem of pleasures
and the problem of pain.
Jesus tells us
that we are to count the cost
of these things.
And so what I want to do
for the rest of our time together
is ask the question,
how can we use pleasures and pains
in such a way
that they do not steer us away from God,
but steer us toward God?
That's the question I want to spend
the rest of our time together on.
So, the questions of pleasures.
Jesus says,
hate your mother and father
and brother and sister,
wife, children,
even his own life.
What does this mean?
This is certainly
the most difficult passage
in our verse,
in our passage for tonight.
Here's what I don't think it means.
I don't think it means
really hating our family members.
Which is to say,
I don't think it means
what it pretty clearly seems to mean.
Why do I not think it means that?
Well, for the simple reason
that it doesn't make a lot of sense
of other parts of the Bible.
If we say that the part,
the essential feature
of being a Christian
is that we hate our family members,
there's a lot of the Bible
that seems not to make any sense anymore.
For example,
Jesus says,
the first commandment of the law,
the most important one,
love the Lord your God.
The second one,
love your neighbor as yourself.
Well,
if we are to hate our neighbors,
hate our family,
we can no longer
obey that second commandment.
This introduces
all kinds of strangeness
if we interpret this passage
as literally saying
that we ought to hate our family.
Or again,
in the book of 1 John,
where we learn that love,
not hate,
is the defining feature
of the Christian.
John says,
Beloved,
let us love one another
for love is from God
and whoever loves
has been born of God
and knows God.
Anyone who does not love
does not know God
because God is love.
That seems to fly in the face
of what's being said here.
We have a straightforward
contradiction
and so what we have to do
in order to make sense
of this contradiction
is follow
an old rule
in scriptural interpretation.
Almost as old
as the Bible itself
and the rule is this.
Christians interpret
the difficult pieces
of scripture
in light
of the easy pieces
of scripture.
It's a nice rule.
It goes back
as old as the church fathers.
They recognize
there are some ambiguities
and difficulties
in the text
and what we're to do
is we're supposed
to interpret
those difficulties
through the lens
of the easier texts.
I think doing that
with this passage
ends us up
with this interpretation.
We ought to be
so committed
in our love
for Jesus
that in comparison
the love
of family
and indeed
of our own lives
looks like
hatred.
We ought to be
so in love
with Jesus
that in comparison
all of our other
loves look like
hatreds.
It's a comparative
claim
that he's making here.
Some examples
of this.
How do you love
Jesus in a way
that makes
your love of family
look like
hatred?
A big one
I can think of
is converting
away from a religion
that has been
in your family
for decades
and is against
Christ.
Some of you
may have stories
or your parents
may have stories
like this.
I know mine
do.
When my parents
became Christians
and went in their
excitement to tell
their parents
first response was
what's wrong
with the way
I raised you?
They thought
they were hated
by my parents
because my parents
knew love
for Jesus.
Now my grandparents
never tried to
kill my parents.
In some parts
of the world
that's precisely
what happens
when you abandon
the family's religion.
Your love
for Christ
makes your other
loves look like
hatreds.
Or what does it
mean to love Christ
so much that it
looks like your
own life is hated?
How about
martyrdom?
the idea that
I will not
abandon Christ
even if it
costs me
my own life.
Again
so many
examples
of ways
that our
love for Christ
reorients
our other
loves.
You see
I don't think
this text
means that
we're supposed
to love our
families less
than we do.
I think this
means we're
supposed to
love our
families and
our own
lives better
than we do.
And how
does a
Christian
do this?
The Christian
loves his
own life
and the
lives of
the people
around him
by ordering
his loves
rightly.
Ordering your
loves rightly.
Here's an easy
example of this.
It's good
to eat a
hamburger.
It is
also good
to save
a drowning
child.
but it's
not good
to eat
a hamburger
while the
child is
drowning.
Right?
So there
are two
good things
that you
ought to
love doing
but they
ought to
be ordered
in a
particular
way.
Such that
if you
have to
pick one
of them
don't pick
the hamburger
over the
drowning
child.
Now you're
not going to
forget this.
Alright.
Here I think
is what Jesus
is trying to
tell us.
That the
love for
God
orders the
rest of
our
loves.
That the
love of
our family
or indeed
of our
own lives
over him
results in
idolatry.
And all
our other
loves
will end up
being skewed
in service
of our
highest love.
If you
love your
career more
than anything
else
then everything
you have
will be
skewed
in the
direction of
career advancement.
And if you
love money
more than
anything else
then everything
in your
life will
be skewed
in terms
of how
you can
get more
money.
So on
for fame
and so on
for your
own safety
for good
health.
Notice
this.
This is
the way
we work.
We love
so many
different
things
but that
thing we
put in
our position
of highest
love
has a
tendency
to attract
all of
our other
loves
to it.
There's
an implication
for what
we put
at our
highest
love
on the
rest of
our
loves.
perhaps
you
might
know
a
woman
or a
man
a
child
or a
parent
who
loves
their
child
more than
anything
else in
the world.
And the
result is
that that
child is
not loved
well
that child
is turned
into an
idol.
Or again
a person
who loves
their spouse
more than
anything else
in the
world
is turned
into an
idol.
You can't
see it
properly.
You can't
relate to
it well.
You turn
it into
an
idol.
But the
claim of
Jesus here
is that
when we
put God
in that
position
of our
first love
then that's
the only
right way
to order
all of the
rest of
our loves.
God
when we
love God
we love
everything
for God's
sake.
So we
love our
wife and
husband and
children and
parents,
brothers and
sisters,
even our
own lives
for the
sake of
loving God.
What might
this mean?
Well,
it means that
we ought to
love everything
in our
life
in so
far as
it helps
us love
God
and in
such a way
as to
help them
love God.
There is
plenty of
confusion in
the world
about what
love is.
And the
dominant idea
seems to be
something like
leaving people
alone to do
whatever they
want.
That's just
not the
Christian idea
of love.
The Christian
idea of
love is to
love everyone
around us
in such a
way that
their highest
joy would
be found
in God.
So what
does it
mean to
love your
neighbor or
your mother or
your sister or
your brother or
your child?
Well,
it means to
love them in
such a way as
to always point
them to
God.
Not to
allow them to
indulge in
destructive
behaviors,
but rather
to point
them toward
the thing
that will
truly make
them happy.
Sometimes
this will
look like
hatred,
as it does
when a
parent pulls
their child's
hand away
from the
stove,
intervening
in their
desires,
not allowing
them to do
what they
want to do.
Surely you
must hate
a person
like that.
No,
you love
a person.
And so
you love
them by
pointing
them to
the highest
good.
When the
loves of
the Christian
are ordered
properly,
the Christian
then goes
out to
try to
help all
other
fellow
Christians
order
their
loves
properly.
So the
way we
use the
pleasures
of other
people is
we use
people in
such a way
that we
might help
them on
their way
to God.
consider
some things
that the
writer of
Hebrews
says.
The writer
of Hebrews
says,
let us
consider
how to
stir
one up
one another
to love
and good
works,
not neglecting
to meet
together as
is the
habit of
some,
but encouraging
each other
all the more
as you see
the day
drawing near.
We love
each other
not by
forgetting
about each
other and
letting each
other do
whatever we
desire,
but rather
by stirring
each other
up to love
and good
works.
Or consider
again the
words of
C.S.
Lewis in
a sermon
called
The Weight
of Glory,
which I
recommend to
you if
you've
never read
it.
He says
this,
it is a
serious
thing to
remember
that the
dullest
and most
uninteresting
person you
can talk
to will
one day
be a
creature
which if
you saw
it now
you would
be strongly
tempted to
worship
or else
it would
be a
horror
and a
corruption
such as
you now
meet if
at all
only in
a nightmare
and all
day long
we in
some degree
are helping
each other
to one
or other
of these
destinations.
There are
no ordinary
people.
You have
never talked
to a mere
mortal.
You have
never talked
to a mere
mortal and
every interaction
with every
person you
meet is
helping them
become a
lover of
God or
a lover
of
themselves.
And
Jesus
says
counting
the cost
of following
him
means
loving
everything
in this
world
in such
a way
that we
help
that thing
move
toward God
that person
move
toward God
that we
love even
our own
selves
only as
we move
ourselves
toward God.
This is
the way
we use
the pleasures
around us.
We use
them to
wing us
on our
way up
to God.
We cannot
follow Jesus
and make
the pleasures
of this
world into
idols.
We can
follow Jesus
and make
the pleasures
of this
world
signposts
that point
to his
goodness.
There's a
temptation I
think among
some of
loving the
world too
much.
It's a good
temptation.
When you
love the
world too
much,
that's
called
idolatry.
Or if
you love
the world
wrongly,
it's called
idolatry.
But if
you look
at the
words of
Jesus
in the
Gospels,
it seems
like he
actually
loves this
world.
He's
come to
redeem it,
that he
loves it,
that he
sees that
there are
good things
in it,
that he
desires
to save.
If we
can see
each other
and the
things of
this world
through his
eyes,
to see
those things
as they're
good in
themselves,
that is
the way
we can
love each
other and
the things
of this
world in
such a way
as to
encourage us
on our
way to
God.
So,
the use
to be made
of pleasures
in following
the Lord
is not
to make
them into
idols,
but to
use them
as sign
posts
that
point
to the
beauty
of God.
To
understand
ourselves
as fellow
pilgrims
on the
way
moving
up
to
heaven,
we
ought
to
encourage
each
other
on
our
way
there.
That's
the use
to be
made
of
pains.
What
about
the use
to be
made
of
pleasures?
What
about
the use
to be
made
of
pains?
We'll
see there
in verse
27,
Jesus
says,
whoever
does not
bear
his own
cross
and come
after
me
cannot
be
my
disciple.
whoever
does not
willingly
accept
some
pains
in this
world
cannot
be
my
disciple.
Indeed,
the person
who is
not
willing
to lay
down
his
or her
very
life
cannot
be
my
disciple.
So
pain
is
normal
for the
life
of a
Christian.
Which
means
if you
have
organized
your
life
in such
a
way
as
to
avoid
as
strongly
as
possible
any
possible
pains,
you're
going to
have
difficulty
following
the
Lord.
Because
he
says
taking
up
crosses
and
following
him
is
just
part
of
the
deal.
So
then
if we
can't
flee
from
pain
at
any
cost,
how
do
we
use
pains?
How
do
we
use
pains
in
our
life
of
following
Christ?
we
should
see
them
I
think
as
bearing
the
cross.
The
phrase
that
Jesus
uses
here
bearing
the
cross
and
following
me.
There's
religious
meaning
in this
now.
It
wasn't
clear what
this meant
when he
first said
it.
But
what we
know
after
this
story
is that
Christ
himself
came
to
bear
the
cross.
was
that
suffering
meaningless?
Absolutely
not.
But
through
that
suffering
God
was
redeeming
the
entire
world.
And
now
he
says
bear
your
cross
as
well.
What
he
does
by
saying
that
your
pains
are
a
cross
is
he
redeems
them
and
gives
them
meaning.
Now
our
suffering
in the
way
of
following
Jesus
is
not
just
unfortunate.
It's
not
just
frustrating.
It's
redemptive.
It
means
something.
We
are
on
our
way
to
glory
following
in
the
footsteps
of
Christ.
Our
master
has
borne
a
cross
and
we
must
too
bear
crosses.
Think
about
the
way
Paul
talks
about
this.
His
own
pains
going
around
in
his
missionary
endeavors.
To
the
Colossians
he
says
this.
I
rejoice
in
my
sufferings
for
your
sake
and
in
my
flesh
I
am
filling
up
what
is
lacking
in
Christ's
afflictions
for
the
sake
of
his
body
that
is
the
church.
I
am
filling
up
the
afflictions
of
Christ.
The
suffering
that
Christ
suffered
I
am
participating
in
that
suffering
in
order
to
bring
the
church
to
its
fullness.
Paul
talks
like
this
all
the
time.
In
Philippians
he
says
I
desire
to
depart
and
be
with
Christ
but
I
know
that
to
stay
here
and
labor
is
going
to
be
difficult
but
I'll
do
it.
I'm
going
to
labor
painfully
with
you
not
because
pain
is
good
in
itself
not
because
my
pain
is
meaningless
because
I
can
share
in
the
sufferings
of
Christ.
This
suffering
with
Christ
is
what
we
picture
when
we
baptize
people.
We
are
buried
with
Christ
and
we
are
raised
again
with
Christ.
This
is
the
mark
of
initiation
into
the
people
of
God.
It's
so
unavoidably
a part
of
the
Christian
life
that
it's
the
drama
we
play
out
when
we
welcome
a
new
person
into
the
life
of
the
church.
When
a
person
becomes
a
believer
and
enters
into
the
church
we
baptize
them.
We
tell
them
guess
what
death
and
resurrection
is
part
of
the
deal.
You
don't
get
in
without
death
and
resurrection.
Both
Jesus'
and
our
own.
But
notice
what this
does
with our
sufferings.
It
means
we
embrace
them.
Not
because
we're
masochists.
Not
because
we love
suffering.
Because
we realize
that our
sufferings
are bearing
crosses.
There's
redemption
happening.
Paul tells
us in
Romans 8
that the
pangs of
this world
are not the
pangs of
death,
but the
pangs of
birth.
The sort
of pains
that you
willingly
undertake
because new
life comes
out of
them.
pangs of
following
Christ
means there
will be
pleasures
and pains.
The
pleasures
can
distract
us
or they
can
help
us
on our
way
up
to
loving
him.
The
pains
can
drive
us
away
from
him
or
they
can
be
redeemed
by
him.
The
use
to be
made
of
pleasures
and
pains
if
we're
not
going
to
allow
them
to
distract
us
from
following
him.
The
use
of
pleasures
and
pains
is
the
same.
We
offer
our
pleasures
up
to
God
as
worship.
We
offer
our
pains
up
to
God
as
participating
in
his
sufferings.
Think
about
this.
Think
of a
little
pure
joy
you've
experienced
recently.
For
me
it
was
eating
ice
cream
at
this
new
ice
cream
store.
There's
a
way
of
making
that
ice
cream
into
an
idol.
There
is.
Or
there's
a
way
of
making
that
ice
cream
into
an
occasion
for
worship.
There's
a
way
of
making
the
sunshine
outside
an
occasion
for
worship.
There's
a
way
to
make
the
beauty
of
stained
glass
windows
into
occasions
for
worship.
God
is
lavishing
his
joy
upon
us
through
the
thousands
of
pleasures
we
experience
each
day
that we
don't
even
realize.
They're
occasions
for our
worship.
And God
is also
doing
something
in every
one of
the pains
that we
experience
as we
follow
him.
he's
doing
something.
Our
pain
is not
meaningless
to him.
Listen to
the way
Paul
talks
in
Galatians
2.
He
says,
I've
been
crucified
with
Christ.
Stop.
I've
been
crucified
with
Christ.
I've
been
killed
by the
firing
squad
with
Christ.
I've
been
lethally
injected
with
Christ.
I've
been
beheaded
with
Christ.
I've
been
electric
chaired
with
Christ.
Think
of the
language
he's
using
here.
It's
vivid.
I
have
been
crucified
with
Christ.
It
is
no
longer
I
who
live,
but
Christ
who
lives
in
me.
And
the
life
I
now
live
in
the
flesh,
I
live
by
faith
in
the
Son
of
God
who
loved
me
and
gave
himself
for
me.
Jesus
says
that the
way
to
follow
him
is
to
give
up
the
things
that
we
have.
To
willingly
embrace
pain
and
to
find
that
by
giving
up
the
things
that
we
have
we
receive
them
all
back
again.
And
that
by
willingly
embracing
pain
we
find
that
pain
not
to
be
mere
meaningless
suffering
but
to
be
working
out
redemption
for
us.
If
we
would
flee
away
from
using
pleasure
like
this
or
flee
away
from
using
pain
like
this
we
can't
be
followers
of
Christ.
But
what
we
find
in
following
Christ
is
that
he
has
won
for
us
all
of
the
pleasures
we
could
ever
need.
Do
you
remember
the
story
of
Abraham
and
Isaac?
Abraham's
asked to
sacrifice
Isaac
shows
that he's
willing
to go
ahead
and do
it.
And
what
happens
afterwards
stunningly
he receives
Isaac
back
again.
All
of the
things
he was
willing
to
sacrifice
because
God
commanded
him
to
he
received
back
again.
If
any
man
loses
his
life
for
my
sake
he
will
gain
it.
This
is
what
Jesus
says.
How
do
we
know
this
is
true?
How
do
we
know
that
our
pleasures
are
redeemed
and
our
pains
are
redeemed?
We
know
them
because
we
are
following
in
the
footsteps
of
Jesus.
Jesus
suffered
these
pains
to bring
us to
glory.
Jesus
bore
his
cross
to
take
us
into
the
kingdom.
Consider
some
of these
things
that he
says
about
our
pleasures.
And
our
pains.
He
says
this
in
Luke
12
13
Fear
not
little
flock.
It
is your
father's
good
pleasure
to
give
you
the
kingdom.
Notice
that.
It's
your
father's
good
pleasure
to
give
you
the
kingdom.
What
follows
afterwards?
Therefore
sell your
possessions
and give
the
needy.
Provide
yourselves
with
money
bags
that
do
not
grow
old.
With
a
treasure
in
the
heavens
that
does
not
fail
where
no
thief
approaches
and
no
moth
destroys.
Do you
see?
The
father
wants to
give
you
the
kingdom.
Therefore
sell
the
junk
you
have
and
store
up
your
treasures
in
heaven.
Seek
out
for
yourselves
true
pleasures.
Or
again
in
John
I
have
come
he
says
that
you
may
have
life
and
life
to
the
fullest.
Life
abundantly.
Life
full of
ice cream
and
sunshine.
He
did
this
he
purchased
these
gifts
for
us
by
enduring
the
pains
of
the
cross
and
purchasing
for
us
every
good
pleasure.
In
Ephesians
4
Paul
says
when
Christ
ascended
on
high
he
led
a
host
of
captives
and
he
gave
gifts
to
men.
Like
a
conquering
general
after
he
returned
from
battle
he
brought
all
this
loot
with
him
and
he
gives
it
out
to
his
people
lavishly
but
the
cross
comes
before
the
crown
and
those
who
would
follow
him
would
take
up
their
cross
knowing
that
after
death
follows
resurrection
and
the
way
we
use
our
pleasures
and
pains
now
is
a
foretaste
of
that
resurrection
when
you
look
into
the
face
of
one
who
loves
you
when
you
eat
ice
cream
cone
you
are
tasting
the
very
smallest
little
pleasure
of
heaven
and
when
you
suffer
for
Christ's
sake
you
get a
sense
of
the
new
life
that
will
come
once
these
pangs
of
birth
are
completed
everything
in your
life
in the
service
of
Christ
has
meaning
your
pleasures
and
your
pains
are
doing
something
because
Christ
has
won
that
for
us
Christ
has
won
that
our
pains
would
not
be
foretastes
of
hell
Christ
has
won
for
you
the
fact
that
your
heart
break
is
not
a
foretaste
of
hell
that
your
bad
health
is
not
a
foretaste
of
hell
that
the
sin
that
so
easily
besets
you
is
not
a
foretaste
of
hell
those
pains
are
going
to
end
and
he
has
purchased
for
you
all
of
your
pleasures
are
foretastes
of
heaven
this
is
the
use
we
made
of
pleasures
and
pains
in
the
way
of
following
Jesus
if
we
would
seek
not
to
have
these
pains
we
will
not
have
the
redemption
that
comes
afterwards
if
we
would
seek
to
have
pleasures
first
we
will
not
finally
have
pleasures
at
all
but
rather
by
organizing
our
loves
putting
Christ
at
the
top
everything
else
falls
into
place
now
in
our
passage
Jesus
doesn't
give us
an
incentive
for
why
we
ought
to
do
this
he
doesn't
make
it
clear
why
we
ought
to
follow
him
in
this
way
take
up
our
electric
chair
and
follow
him
he
just
doesn't
say
that's
lived
out
in
his
life
and
the
chapters
to
come
Jesus
will
show
that
he
loves
us
by
going
to
the
cross
and
therefore
when we
love
Christ
more
than
anything
else
we
love
the
one
who
loves
us
more
than
anything
else
he
has
given
us
ample
reason
to
love
him
through
the
death
and
resurrection
that
he
endured
through
the
joy
that
he
won
for
us
meditate
on
these
things
little
flock
do
not
worry
the
father
desires
to
give
you
the
kingdom
what
are
these
pennies
compared
to
that
and
so
be
willing
friends
by
meditating
upon
the
beauty
of
Christ
to
love
him
more
than
pleasures
to
love
him
in
such
a
way
that
you
will
endure
pains
because
he
has
gone
before
us
in
enduring
these
pains
and
winning
for
us
these
pleasures
let's
pray
together
lord i
pray that
as we
think of
you
and meditate
on the
sacrifice
that you
made
for us
we
would
come
to
see
the
rest
of
these
things
in
life
as
cheap
in
comparison
to
you
that
once
we
give
them
up
for
you
and
you
give
them
back
to
us
we
can
use
every
one
of
them
as
occasions
for
worship
we
thank you
that you
loved
us
and gave
yourself
for us
that you
took up
your cross
so that
our
sufferings
will now
become
not
meaningless
but
cross
shaped
and we
know
from your
example
that after
the cross
comes
the
resurrection
so as
we
endure
sufferings
and
enjoy
pleasures
we
look
forward
to that
day
when
pleasure
will
be
forever
more
and
every
tear
will
be
wiped
away
we
pray
come
Lord
Jesus
in
his
name
we
pray
amen
to
up
to