Struggling with knowing what to share this morning, I actually had an entire message already prepared as of a day ago.
!
So, I have, in view of it being the day of prayer for the persecuted church, I just want you to be aware that I feel very unworthy to even be standing up here to even speak about them a lot of the time.
I don't want to put myself on their level.
This is just a personal conviction.
You don't have to follow it, but I refuse to say that I've been persecuted just because I've faced some humiliation or ridicule by people that are around me.
Here in the U.S., where there really is no threat of anything other than your wounded pride, I just don't want to wear that badge.
If it happens, you know, fine.
But I do, over the years, our brothers and sisters around the world really have convicted me of how I've lived and what I'm doing in my life.
I encourage you to read Richard Wambron's book, Torture for Christ.
I've read it at least five or six times, and every time there's always like a new desire to reach people for Christ at all costs.
Just after I've read it.
And so just with that in mind, just knowing that, like, I take this very seriously, and I'm praying that God uses this time.
We may run a little bit over 12 o'clock, so it's okay.
You can wait to eat lunch when so many people are without in the world.
You're going to get there.
So those of you who are hangry, just get over it and just learn that it's not justified.
So we're going to be in John 15, but we're going to look at some other places today.
So I hope you have your Bible, flipping fingers, ready.
We're going to start in John 15.
Just look at verse 18.
We're just going to read through 21.
This is Jesus talking to his disciples.
He's preparing to die and to face crucifixion.
And this is what he says, verse 18.
If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.
If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own.
But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
Remember the word that I have said to you.
A servant is not greater than his master.
If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.
If they kept my word, they would also keep yours.
But all these things they do to you on the account of my name,
because they do not know him who sent me.
Just join me in prayer.
Father, I just ask that this morning you would use your word to break down any kind of entitlement
or any desire that we have to flee your presence.
That we would face you.
That you would show us our sin.
That we would have the faith to know how to deal with it in our hearts and in our lives.
Challenge us this day.
And thank you for the examples we find in your word of people who suffered and died for the cause of Christ
and are still doing so today.
Make us aware of that, Lord.
And just ask that in Christ's name.
Amen.
So, do you know that nearly, nearly 160,000 Christians will be killed this year?
That was roughly what the statistics have been over the last few years and they're increasing.
And we're going to just use this text just to kind of start walking through,
kind of setting the background for persecution.
But you'll notice a word that pops up a lot here in these few verses.
And it's just the term, the world.
Okay?
And the word here is cosmos.
It means the order or the system.
It's not talking about like the beauty of creation or the beauty of nature or the created order.
It's speaking in terms of, it's using a negative sense here to talk about like how the people of this world are alienated from God.
It's the world is a way of thinking, an ideology, a perception of life and the purpose of life that sets itself against God and God's purposes.
It's a whole system of organized humanity that is hostile towards God and alienated from God.
So, that's the truth of what we're talking about here.
It's the way that the world is going and flowing.
So, when Jesus says, he warns his disciples that the world will hate you, the cosmos will hate you.
And then he explains why.
Because the world has hated him.
You know, Christ came into the world in love and grace to a rebellious creation to show them the way to be reconciled to the Father.
Showed them that it was by grace, through faith in him.
And the result is they spat on this offer of grace from God.
They hated him.
And it says, you know, this Greek word for hate is a very strong word indicating to detest, to abhor.
And it even pictures like an ongoing persecution against someone that you hate.
So, that's what we're talking about in this term.
But he says, if they hate me, they're going to hate you.
And he says why?
In two ways.
He says, for one, you don't belong to the world.
And then secondly, not only do you not belong to the world, but you belong to me.
And I chose you out of the world.
And so, therefore, you will suffer.
And he says, if you were of the world, if you belonged to it and not to me, the world would befriend you.
The world would love you.
It would treat you as one of its own.
But I chose you out of the world, and therefore the world will hate you.
And he gives you that illustration of a servant is not greater than his master.
And he's saying, like, look, I'm your master.
I'm your Lord.
The one that you seek to be like.
The one that I'm your example.
You listen to me, and you follow me, and you believe the words that I teach.
So, very clearly, he concludes that they're going to reject you because they've rejected me.
And so, then he goes on to conclude at the end of that, in verse 21, a lot of people in this world think that they're okay with God, but they reject Christ.
But, in reality, if you reject Christ, you're rejecting the Father.
That's what he says here.
Because they do not know him who sent me.
In verse 21, Jesus says, whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
That's in chapter 14, 9.
And he also says, in other places in the gospel, whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.
So, all these other world religions who think that they know God, but yet reject the one he sent, do not know the Father.
See, it's just a text to look at just to say that those of us who really belong to Christ,
we're going to face some measure of hostility by the cosmos because we are not going along with it.
We're pressing up against it.
We're saying, no, life is about this.
This is what matters and not this.
And we're going to confront them with evil that is in this world and say,
the only hope you have is to be reconciled to God through Christ.
And so, the Apostle Paul in Colossians 1, 24, he talks about how he's sharing in the sufferings of Christ.
Then he goes on, he says,
In my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, the church.
And what he means in this is not that Christ's sufferings were inadequate to achieve salvation for us,
but what he is saying is there are many places in the world that don't know about the suffering of Christ.
They haven't physically seen Jesus come and suffer on their behalf.
So what he is saying is that through his life, through his body, through his suffering,
he's going to betray to the world the sufferings of Christ.
So believers going out into the world to preach the gospel,
they are an extension of Christ and his sufferings.
Joseph's son, who I recommend a book that he wrote as well,
Joseph's son, he was a Baptist pastor in Romania in the 1980s,
exiled by the government, imprisoned, tortured,
interrogated over and over to try to get him to renounce the gospel.
But as you'll read, like in Torture for Christ and a lot of these other books,
they just embraced it and often converted many of the people that were interrogating them
and many of the people that were torturing them out there.
So they were just being tortured, preaching the gospel to them.
But in regard to the verse in Colossians that we are filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions to reach the world,
he said this, he says,
I am an extension of Jesus Christ.
When I was beaten in Romania, he suffered in my body.
It is not my suffering.
I only had the honor to share in his sufferings.
Suffering and martyrdom have been sent as a part of God's plan.
They are instruments by which he achieves his purpose in history
and by which he will accomplish his final purpose with man.
So I have the privilege, I'm not saying this is anything cool,
but for some years I've had the privilege to know David Platt,
who is the IMB president in our convention.
And I challenge you to read his books.
They are really challenging and life-giving, scriptural.
And I remember him telling me one time that he was at this really large Southern Baptist church here in the South,
and he was talking about persecution,
talking about brothers and sisters around the world that he personally knew,
not just that he read about,
that were undergoing extreme persecution because of the name of Christ.
And deep down really praying and hoping that they would just, you know,
say, hey, let's go and suffer with them or let's be in prayer for them.
Let's do whatever we can to, you know, be a part of what they're going through.
He said, after it was over, like, we'll say he didn't even finish.
He said he was sharing and the pastor walked up there and just like put his hand on his shoulder
and just said, you know, thank you for sharing with us, brother David.
But you know what this just makes me think of?
This just makes me think that I'm so thankful that I live in America
and so thankful that, you know, I have the freedom to come here and worship
and that we live in a country that, you know, the red, white, and blue and, you know, eagle soaring, you know, like that.
And David just thought, I thought that, you know, Lee Greenwood was going to walk out
and sing God Bless the USA like right as I finish sharing.
And what we have to understand is if we really are thankful for freedom we have,
it's not going to turn to that kind of response.
It's going to turn into, now let's go and suffer with them.
Let's be a part and feel what they're going through.
And, you know, we're going to read some things in the Scripture now that I hope are going to challenge you
that I'm taking very seriously myself, like even asking, like in my own personal life, in my marriage,
like what is this going to look like?
Because it's not just going to be something I store up here.
But what I want you to know is in the context of what we're going to be reading today,
persecution was real.
Like it was, this is going to happen if you follow me.
And it also is real even today for thousands of our brothers and sisters across the world.
And it's not okay for us, as Nathan alluded to earlier, to just say,
well, I'm just glad I live in America. Wonderful.
But you should know that Jesus demands the same type of loyalty, love, and devotion
as He's asking for anyone who's wanted to risk their life.
It's the same kind of sacrifice.
And so there's three points we're going to walk through today,
each one having a specific text, but we're mainly going to be in the Gospel of Luke.
So turn over to Luke 14.
Luke chapter 14 and go to verse 25.
Luke 14, go to verse 25.
And the first point I'm going to make are things that we must do as believers,
even here in the West, in America.
Number one, we must weigh the cost of following Christ.
All right?
We must weigh the cost of following Christ.
Now, how many of you, when you gave your life to Christ,
actually were challenged to think about that?
Or was it just, you know, pray this prayer, come down the aisle, maybe be baptized,
which in and of itself are not really bad things.
But I really feel you see Jesus doing this a lot throughout His ministry.
But as soon as people knew who He was, and He began becoming like too popular,
He would say things to them that would make them just either split or stay with them.
And I always, whenever I'm sharing the Gospel with someone, like, you know,
I'll give you an example.
There was a baseball player that I met with for probably two months straight every week,
just going through the Gospel, talking about sin and God's holiness and the cross and faith
to the point where He got it.
Like, you know, I understand.
Like, I get it.
And I believe it.
I believe it.
And I said, well, great.
And then I asked Him, what's holding you back from just following Christ now?
And then I usually switch into a couple of weeks of trying to talk them out of following Jesus.
And what I mean by that are passages like we're about to read.
Luke 14, verse 25.
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, 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 the 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 and first 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 he has cannot be My disciple.
Very heavy words.
And He said this when He was getting momentum.
He was becoming cool.
Crowds were following Him.
And He kind of turns around and stared at this crowd who,
in a way, is just kind of following Him around to see Him do tricks
and thinks He's cool.
They're intrigued.
Indeed, He turns around and boldly says these heavy words to this crowd that is flirting with Him.
And a few things you'll be able to draw out of this is,
first of all, Christ says,
I am more important.
I am more worthy than your family is.
That's harsh.
Most people in this entire world,
including those who are some of the most wicked, vile people ever,
they still love their own family.
Right?
All of us love our family.
And He says,
I demand a superior love to all those who you call family
and all earthly relationships that you have.
And so, the word hate here is not the same word that's being used in John 15.
It's used here in a comparative sense,
not like in terms of malice or evil towards somebody,
but it's used in a comparative sense to mean loving one thing or a person much less than another thing.
So that love for this one thing,
by comparison,
looks like hate to the other thing.
So, it's not saying have malice and evil in your heart towards your family.
It's just saying,
I demand a much greater love than your family.
And He's saying,
I cultivate such a deep love for Christ and a desire to know Him
that all other loves in this world,
by comparison,
look like hate.
And in a similar context,
in Matthew chapter 10,
you don't have to turn there,
but Matthew chapter 10, verse 34,
Jesus gives us a clearer picture of what it means
so I can actually hate your family in this way.
He says this in verse 34,
Listen to this.
So,
what He's saying here is like the true living presence of Christ in your life
can cause relational division.
It can cause,
it can bring a sore to,
it means by that,
like it can cause some true division in your families.
You can be rejected by your family.
He's saying.
In this context,
it was real.
You'd be kicked out of your family more than likely.
Still is the case around the world.
I would like to just give you an example of a friend of mine,
a personal friend.
Her name's Kara.
She lives in Northern Ireland.
She's a school teacher.
And she grew up in,
if you don't know about Northern Ireland,
Northern Ireland is still under Great Britain.
It's a part of the UK.
It's not a part of the Republic of Ireland.
Very strange,
I know.
Read the history.
But,
but there's a huge battle in the North over centuries of Protestant versus Catholic.
Irish Catholic versus Brits and Scots who were there who are Protestant.
And most of us,
it's not about the gospel at all.
It's just about nationalism,
politics.
But Kara grew up in a very devout Irish Catholic home.
Her father,
I'm pretty sure,
was a part of a militia group in Northern Ireland.
And she,
she had a friend that was a part of one of the,
the Baptist youth associations and was a believer.
And she kind of,
she says now,
like I was tricked into going to this,
you know,
this summer camp.
I thought it was just going to be like games and outdoor adventures,
but they did do that.
They talked about the gospel while they were there.
And so in the process,
Kira heard for the first time,
like the gospel and believed and was completely just devastated by like the love of Christ for her and the forgiveness of sins.
And as soon as she gave her life to Christ though,
she had to think,
wait,
stop.
If I do this,
my family is probably going to hate me,
especially my father,
because I'll be saying like,
I'm not going this way anymore.
I'm going this way.
I'm not for what the Roman church is doing here in Northern Ireland.
And she was terrified.
She was in tears.
She just couldn't sleep for nights.
She finally went back,
back home,
and was praying and working up the courage to at least tell her mom,
finally told her mom what Christ has done.
And her mom just broke down in tears and said,
praise God.
I only came to know Jesus two weeks ago.
Like there's two of us in this family now.
So they just began encouraging one another,
praying.
And they finally worked up the boldness to tell the father,
the husband,
and he was furious,
furious.
Lost,
lost control,
threw things around,
just angry,
saying like,
you're betraying me,
you're betraying your country,
you're betraying like the cause here.
And for a long time,
just a lot of fighting between her mom and her father.
And eventually her dad called her and the rest of the family to a meeting.
And they were,
she was pretty sure that her dad was going to say,
we're getting a divorce and this family is done.
So finally,
they sat down together in the living room there in Belfast.
And finally,
she,
he said,
as much as it's killing me to say this,
I see like the love of Christ in your life.
And I want that for my life.
And he gave his life to Christ.
And that's a transformed family.
But Kira had to weigh the costs of,
of such a relationship with Jesus.
And that's just an example in the West.
But around the world,
this is a true thing.
This can happen.
Your family can leave you.
Your family could kill you,
throw you out.
And so,
it is a,
you know,
we need to not just say,
well,
I'm glad that wouldn't happen to me.
We have to weigh the costs as well.
So,
first we see that Christ demands a superior love to family.
But secondly,
in this text,
we see that he desires a superior love to your family.
Yourself.
Even your own life,
he says.
You must love me more than your own life.
He says that you must take up your cross.
And later on,
or earlier in Luke,
so a few places I want you to turn,
but,
just flip earlier to Luke chapter 9.
We're going to look at some things in Luke 9 together.
Trying to keep you in the same book.
But,
Luke 9 verse 23,
similarly,
Christ said this,
And he said to all,
if anyone would come after me,
let him deny himself,
take up his cross daily,
and follow me.
For whoever would save his life will lose it.
Whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world
and loses or forfeits himself?
So,
this phrase,
take up your cross,
it is an invitation to come and die and suffer.
In this context,
it meant only death.
It didn't mean jewelry.
It didn't mean anything cool or culturally acceptable.
It was a mockery,
and it meant to come and die.
So,
if you're going to come with me,
you must take up your cross.
It's an invitation.
And he also said,
like,
to deny yourself.
And like,
the phrasing of this word in the original language means
to refuse to associate with.
And like,
you're refusing to associate with the things
that you used to associate with
before you knew Christ.
To relinquish absolute control of your life.
A willingness to follow Jesus,
to serve him,
to keep his commandments.
And if need be,
yeah,
like to die for him.
And so,
I think,
if I could paraphrase,
saying this to us now,
if Jesus would say something along this line,
if you knew that coming after me to be my disciple
would cost you your life,
would you come anyway?
It might not cost you your life,
but if it did,
would you still come?
Are you that desperate for Jesus?
Do you see how much you need him
and how precious he is
that you would be willing
to lose your life?
Are you willing to give up your life now
for eternal life later?
That's just what he's saying.
It's not a,
it's not cool theology.
It's not to help you live a better life.
It's a call to come and die.
Like,
to give your whole life,
to surrender everything
for Christ.
And back in our text,
you can stay in Luke 9,
but back in Luke 14,
he gives you an example.
He said,
two examples,
one of building a tower
and the other one of going to war
to show like how you need to stop
and think about
what you're doing.
So it didn't just,
come on,
Jesus wants you on his team
and I'm not going to tell you
how much that costs.
He says,
you need to stop
and think about
what it's going to cost you
to follow me.
Don't rush into this,
in other words.
Slow down.
Which is so anti
what most churches are doing today.
Is that not true?
It's quick,
easy,
believism
that costs nothing.
And he's saying,
stop and consider.
Some of you may
remember me sharing
about another friend of mine
who's from Kyrgyzstan,
which is over near China.
His picture was out
on the board out there.
I don't know if you've ever seen it,
but his name's Ossal.
And he does ministry
with the Underground Church
in Central Asia.
And he came up here.
There's probably only a handful of you
that were probably here back then,
but probably,
probably eight or nine years ago,
he stood on this stage.
He came here
and shared with like
probably 80 to 100
college students.
and he said,
you know,
in America
it's fairly easy
to come to be a Christian.
But he said,
in Central Asia,
first you have to stop
and consider
if you're going to be a Christian,
you have to be willing
to be kicked out
of your family.
And then he said,
after that,
your community
will ostracize you
and ridicule you.
then he said,
the state
will either not allow you
to work,
imprison you,
or kill you.
And he said,
if someone
that we've been sharing Christ with
goes through all of that,
still trusting Christ,
we know that they're a true Christian.
That's like what he said.
And I was just so
challenged by that.
So some of you,
like,
don't take these stories
as like,
that just makes me feel shameful.
That just makes me feel guilty.
You can either allow it to be that
or you can allow it to be
a conviction
that God is hitting you with
and then just repent
and strive to live
as they live
and have the faith
that they have
in the Savior.
So use it as encouragement
and not just,
I'm terrible
and I don't measure up.
Use it as fuel
to follow Christ.
Then in case he missed anything,
in our text back in Luke 14,
he says,
you know,
relinquish all you have,
everything.
In case I left the stone unturned,
if losing your life wasn't enough,
like,
relinquish all you have,
everything,
to follow Christ.
So stop
and weigh the cost.
Weigh the cost
of following Jesus.
The same baseball player,
after I kind of challenged him
with this,
these texts,
a week later,
he came back and says,
you know,
I want you to know
that I really believe this,
like,
I really believe that,
you know,
Jesus is real
and that I need him
and all of this,
but,
you know,
I mentioned this
to my girlfriend
that I'm living with right now
and she doesn't think
it's a great idea.
It means we'd have to break up
and I,
you know,
maybe one day,
like,
I'll come back around to this.
It was heartbreaking,
but what would I have done
if I had just said,
well,
you can still be a Christian.
You know,
you can still,
it's okay,
Jesus is all right
with your adultery.
You know,
he exposed the one thing
that he cared more about
than Christ.
He didn't really see his need,
just pretended that he did.
And so,
this goes to number two.
Number two,
we must weigh the urgency
of following Christ.
So weigh the cost,
but weigh the urgency too.
So it isn't like
when we're sharing with people,
it isn't,
you know what,
you've got the rest of your life
to think about this.
The Bible stresses urgency
as well as weighing the cost.
While you're in Luke 9,
look down to verse 57.
And these are another time
when people were following
around Jesus
and this is something
that he said
to three different men.
verse 57,
chapter 9.
As they were going
along the road,
someone said to him,
I will follow you
wherever you go.
Bold statement.
Verse 58.
And Jesus said to him,
foxes have holes
and the birds of the air
have nests,
but the Son of Man
has nowhere
to lay his head.
To another he said,
follow me.
But he said,
Lord,
let me first go
and bury my father.
And Jesus said to him,
leave the dead
to bury their own dead.
But as for you,
go and proclaim
the kingdom of God.
Yet another said,
I will follow you,
Lord,
but let me first
say farewell
to those who are at home.
Jesus said to him,
no one
who puts his hand
to the plow
and looks back
is fit
for the kingdom of God.
Again,
hard words.
True for us
as it was true for them
and true for anyone else
in the world.
So,
you may be like,
man,
Jesus is really strict here.
He's being a little unreasonable.
He could have all these
extra followers,
but he's,
you know,
being overboard.
But a really close glance at
context here
will help you realize
all he's really doing
is just exposing
that they don't really believe
who he says he is.
So,
the first man,
this same account
is in Matthew.
And Matthew calls
this man a scribe.
So this man,
the first man here
was a scribe.
A man who apparently
was used to
a pretty comfortable lifestyle
and making some decent money
probably.
And back then,
as today,
if you were low
on the totem pole
of social life,
you would
attach yourself
to someone
who was
powerful,
influential,
and as they rose,
you went with them.
Same kind of thinking
even today.
So,
he wanted to advance
his position
in society.
And Jesus,
you know,
again,
cut straight to the point
and informed this man,
if you're looking
for comfort,
if you're looking
for riches,
for great influence
in an early way,
worldly way,
I'm the wrong guy.
I'm not your guy.
I don't even have
anywhere to lay my head.
I don't have a mansion
and tons of cars
and all those other
comforts of life.
So the path
of true discipleship
is not found
in comfort
or ease,
but rather
in a hard life
that brings suffering
and persecution.
And he knew
this man
was not in it
for him.
He wanted
something else
out of him.
So this man
considered those things
more important
than following
the king of kings.
The second man
said,
let me go
and bury my father first.
So again,
sounds honorable,
right?
So,
but just again,
a studying of
the context here.
It didn't necessarily
mean
that his father
was dead.
this was a
cultural way
of saying,
let me wait
for my inheritance
first.
Let me wait
until my father dies
and then let me
get my inheritance
and then I'll
come follow you.
And so,
that's why
Jesus' phrase,
let the dead
bury their own.
Like,
look,
what I'm telling
you to do
overrides
that importance
of waiting
for your father
to die.
I'm telling you
the most important
thing for you
to do
is to go
and proclaim
the kingdom
of God.
So,
again,
this man
desired money
and title
and inheritance
more than
following the
Messiah.
And then thirdly,
this is the most
puzzling one
to me,
at least.
The man says,
simply,
let me say goodbye
to my family
and then I'll
come follow you.
Do you think
that is a
undesirable,
like a
unrealistic request?
I don't.
But,
again,
Jesus sees
something that
we don't see
here.
And I want
you to,
again,
hold your
hand on Luke,
don't move it,
but turn to
1 Kings.
I'll get some
Old Testament
action today.
1 Kings
chapter 19.
This is the
story of
Elisha
and Elijah,
the two
prophets of
ancient Israel
in the early
days of the
nation.
And this is
when Elijah
is getting
ready to
pass on
being the
prophet to
Elisha.
And
it's an
interaction that
takes place.
And just
think about
the similarities
between this
third man that
Jesus is talking
to and what
happens right
here.
verse 19.
So,
talking about
Elijah.
So he
departed from
there and
found Elisha,
the son of
Japhat,
who was
plowing with
twelve yoke of
oxen in front
of him.
And he was
with the
twelve.
And Elijah
passed by him
and cast his
cloak upon
him.
Kind of a
symbolic act
of passing
it on.
And he
left the
oxen and
ran after
Elijah.
And listen
to this.
Let me
kiss my
father and
my mother
and then
I'll follow
you.
Sound
familiar?
And he
said to
him,
Go back
again,
for what
have I
done to
you?
And he
returned from
following him
and took
the yoke of
oxen and
sacrificed
them and
boiled their
flesh with
the yokes of
oxen and
gave it to
the people and
they ate.
Then he
arose and
went after
Elijah and
assisted him.
All right.
Now,
what's
different about
Elisha and
this third
man that
Jesus is
talking to?
A big
difference.
Elijah did
go home.
He says
farewell to
his family.
But then,
listen to this,
he sacrifices
the yoke of
oxen to
the Lord.
And these
are all
symbolic acts
of severing
himself from
an old way
of life to
start a new
one.
He ended
his livelihood
in order to
say, like,
I'm leaving
this and I'm
moving to
this.
He had
nothing to
go back
to.
So he
just momentarily
went back
to cut old
ties.
However,
Jesus clearly
sees that
this man
loves his
family so
much that
though he
may follow
him for a
time, he's
always going
to be looking
back over
his shoulder
saying, like,
I've got to
go back.
I can't follow
you anymore.
I've got to
go and be
with my
family.
And, again,
a superior
love to
family is
what Christ
calls us
for.
He makes
that analogy
that, you
know, most
of us are
not familiar
with plowing
at all, but
if you're not
looking forward,
you can't
plow a
straight line.
And so he's
saying, if you're
always looking
back, you're
just going to
go all over
the place.
And so he
turns this
man away.
And Luke,
always looking
over his
shoulder, and
eventually, where
he would walk
away from
Jesus,
Jesus.
So, there
is urgency
in following
Jesus.
I've used
this analogy
before, but
years ago, when
I was waiting
for my lung
transplant, I
was getting
sick and
sicker and
sicker, and
the surgeons
told me
basically this,
look, you're
very sick.
You have
20% of your
lung function
going this
way.
You're not
going to make
it much
longer.
You really
need to
get a
transplant.
There's
urgency here.
You need to
get this
procedure done.
And then he
said, but
this is a
huge decision.
A lot
goes into
this.
There's no
guarantee that
you'll even
survive the
surgery or
the recovery.
You have to
think about
this, though.
You have to
weigh the
cost of what
you're about
to do.
So there was
urgency, but
there was also
weigh the cost,
like in that
same decision.
And that's
what it is.
Like, are we
willing to
say, whatever
it is, like
it's urgent, I'm
going to deal
with this in my
life.
I'm going to
follow Christ,
whatever it
costs.
Thirdly, this is
the final point.
We must weigh
the worthiness of
Christ.
And last
thing I want
you to turn
to, but look
at Mark
chapter 10.
Mark
chapter 10.
So, the
reality is we
feel like we're
losing and
sacrificing so
much for Jesus,
but in reality
we are not.
Sins forgiven,
rebellion against
God, pardoned,
reconciled to
God, spared
His judgment,
given His
fellowship, given
a relationship
with the
Creator, an
eternal life to
come, eternal
joy in Christ
to come.
If we really
understood what
we've gained in
Christ, we would
never be able to
say we sacrificed
anything, because
it would be that
much greater.
It would be
infinitely greater
than anything we
feel that we've
lost here.
only Christ is
worthy of that.
So, listen to
this.
This is one of
those moments
when the
disciples are
being very, you
know, self-pity,
like, well, we've
done so much for
you.
And Luke, or
excuse me, Mark
10, verse 26,
says, they were
exceedingly
astonished and
said to Jesus,
who then can be
saved?
And Jesus
looked at them
and said,
with man it is
impossible, but
not with God.
For all things
are possible
with God.
This is after he
turned that man
away.
Peter, of course
it would be
Peter, right?
Peter began to
say to him,
see, we have
left everything
and followed
you.
Like, we've
sacrificed
everything, Lord.
And Jesus
said to him,
truly, I say
to you, there
is no one who
has left house,
our brothers,
our sisters,
our mother,
our father,
our children,
our lands,
for the sake,
for my sake,
and for the
gospel.
Who will not
receive a hundred
fold now in
this life,
houses,
brothers and
sisters,
mothers,
children and
lands,
with persecutions
in the age to
come, eternal
life.
So, his
response seems
to indicate,
this is how I'm
going to rule out
this idea that
you're losing
something,
that you've
sacrificed
something.
He's saying
you're denying
yourself like
little finite
things here in
order to gain
something that is
far greater.
And the fact
that you know
me and that
you have
eternal life
is going to
be so great,
so glorious,
that you
would not even
begin to ever
say, I
sacrifice to
follow Jesus.
Surely what he
means is that he
himself makes
up infinite
times over for
every sacrifice.
sacrifice.
Jesus wants
us to think
about sacrifice
in a way that
rules out self-pity.
Deny yourself
garbage here so
you could have
gold later.
That's like what
he's almost
saying.
Don't throw
away your life
over things that
don't matter and
perish.
So, I wanted
to read this
in closing,
but this is
an Iranian
pastor who
converted to
Christianity
from Islam
and he
has a church
in Amsterdam
now and
predominantly
made up of
people from
Africa and
Asia and
Amsterdam.
And listen to
this, his
main goal is
to train
missionaries to
reach the
West, to
come to
America and
to come to
the places
where supposedly
there's a lot
of Christians
and really to
say, look,
we're bringing
the gospel to
you guys.
So, this
is what he
was asked
the question,
why are so
many American
churches not
really doing
well?
Why are we
failing?
Why are we
not really
growing?
Why are we
stagnant?
And he
said a few
things.
This is what
he said.
Number one,
we must
embrace the
miraculous.
Because America
has so many
comforts,
people don't
see the
need for
God to
act in
the miraculous
way.
In Africa
and other
places where
there are
few hospitals
and churches
for healing,
but the
truth is that
we need the
Holy Spirit
like never
before.
We can't
just have
great buildings
and wonderful
social gatherings
and miss the
Holy Spirit.
A church
without the
Spirit's power
will not
save the
world.
number two,
this is
convicting.
We must
reject Hollywood
tendencies.
Some churches
in the United
States look
more like
they're sponsoring
fashion shows
or TV
programs.
This is a
bad example
to churches
in other
nations.
And I know
that some
foreign churches
are now copying
this flashy
American style.
For example,
in some
African countries,
some pastors
have started
imitating this
Hollywood style
by manipulating
people to
get money.
I was
shocked to
hear that
one pastor
in a
developing
country
recently
began
dealing
in a
stolen
luxury
car so
he can
make
money
for
himself
and
appear
successful.
Number
three,
we must
forsake
our pride.
Outsiders
do not
read our
doctrines
or our
bulletin
boards.
They read
our character
and our
lives.
When people
see that
we live
a dual
life,
why would
they bother
to be a
part of
the church?
And this
is how
he sums
it up.
I wish
that my
American
brothers and
sisters
realized how
hurtful it
is to the
cause of
Christ when
they focus
so much
on material
things.
I am
not against
beauty of
things and
having things,
but why does
a preacher
need a
limousine
instead of a
normal car?
must
preachers
have a
huge
entourage
in order
to enter
conferences
and churches?
God is
fed up
with all
these
things.
We cannot
transform
others if
we
ourselves
are not
transformed.
So,
for those
of you
here who
are without
Christ,
know that
the offer
of salvation
is completely
a gift
of God's
grace in
Christ.
So come
to him,
surrender
your life
to him,
but know
it's going
to cost
you.
If you
really are
following
him,
as we
read,
all those
who desire
to live a
godly life
in Christ
Jesus will
be persecuted.
And for
believers,
this was
something that
I've thought
about over
the years.
A long
time ago,
an abbot,
or kind
of like a
monk,
was asked,
you know,
after your
life's over,
like,
what if you
realized that
there really
was no
God?
Like,
you surrendered
your whole
life to
being in
a monastery
to have
a quiet
life?
What if
you realized
at the
very end
there was
no God?
Would you
consider it
to be like
a wasted
life?
And the
abbot replied
this,
holiness and
silence are
beautiful in
themselves,
even without
the promise
of reward.
I still
would have
used my
life the
same way.
Like,
meaning,
I've
lived a
life of
peace and
solitude
and beauty
and even
if this
turned out
to be a
hoax,
I would
say it
was a
good life.
How many
of you
could say
that?
But here's
the staggering
difference,
very different
from what
the apostle
Paul said.
He's
basically
talking about
the resurrection
in 1 Corinthians
15.
This is what
he said.
This is how
different it is
from what the
abbot said.
If in
Christ we
have only
hoped in
this life,
we above
all people
are to be
most pitied.
Like,
we have
thrown
ourselves to
slaughter and
torture for
Christ.
Pity us if
this wasn't
true.
Not,
well,
it was a
good life
anyway.
And I
hope that
all of us,
you and
me,
can say,
like,
I really
sacrificed to
follow Christ.
And then in
doing so,
you're
enlightened and
you see,
like,
I really
didn't
sacrifice
anything
because of
how much
I've
gained
in Christ.
Join me
in prayer.