TITLE: The Cost of Discipleship

TITLE: The Cost of Discipleship

• TEXT: Luke 14:-25-34, Matthew 10:38, 16:24, Mark 8

• THEME: The believer should weigh the cost of following Christ

“Anything worthwhile is never easy.”

Thomas Edison famous quotes:

“Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”

From Telegraph to Light Bulb with Thomas Edison” (2007) by Deborah Hedstrom, p. 22


“None of my inventions came by accident. I see a worthwhile need to be met and I make trial after trial until it comes. What it boils down to is (genius) one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration.”

Uncommon Friends: Life with Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, Alexis Carrel & Charles Lindbergh (1987) by James D. Newton, p. 24.


“Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits.”

Thomas Alva Edison : Sixty Years of an Inventor's Life (1908) by Francis Arthur Jones, p. 14

Persistence and hard work alone are not adequate to provide

success if you are on a wrong course

Matthew 11:28-32

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

What cost should be considered before following Christ?

I. Your relationship with Jesus must supersede all other

relationships (25-27)

Luke 14:25-27

25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

In comparison to our love for Christ all other relationships

appear as hate

Signs and characteristics of Love Addiction

• Mistake intensity for intimacy (drama driven relationships)



• Seek to avoid rejection and abandonment at any cost




• Afraid to trust anyone in a relationship




• Afraid to trust anyone in a relationship• Highly manipulative and controlling of

others




• Afraid to trust anyone in a relationship• Highly manipulative and controlling of

others• Sense of worthlessness without a

relationship or partner




• Afraid to trust anyone in a relationship• Highly manipulative and controlling of others• Sense of worthlessness without a relationship or

partner• Feelings that a relationship makes one whole, or

more of a man or woman


• Intense need to control self, others, circumstances



• Using others to alter mood or relieve emotional pain




• Tendency to leave one relationship for another. (Inability to be without a relationship.)




• Tendency to leave one relationship for another. (Inability to be without a relationship.)

• Attempts to replace lost relationships with a new one immediately

When we make Jesus first in our life:

• Our relationship is eternal- it does not die or change with circumstances.



• There is no abandonment- no instability - no fickleness- no uncertainty



• There is no abandonment- no instability - no fickleness- no uncertainty

• We are not dependent on anyone or anything else for our worth


• We are strengthened and more secure in other relationships


• We are strengthened and more secure in other relationships.

• We have a perfect partner- I cannot accuse Christ of imperfection.




• Therefore:– Perceived flaws are ours to correct




• Therefore:– Perceived flaws are ours to correct– Required changes must come from us




• Therefore:– Perceived flaws are ours to correct– Required changes must come from us– Christ is there to support us and empower us to

change


II. You must be prepared to complete what you start (28-34)

A. Like a person building a tower

28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

B. Like a king going to war

31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.

Like Salt Preserving Meat

• 34 “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?

What these three illustrations have in common is that we must be

ready to stay the course when we choose to follow Jesus- persistence

“If following Christ is so hard then why should I bother?”

The answer is simple, “Because the long term the benefits far

outweigh the temporary hardships.”

What caused these men to stay even when their lives were at

stake?


III. You must be willing to share in Christ’s suffering (Mark10:35-

40)

Mark 10:35-40

35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” 36 “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. 37 They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”

Mark 10:35-40

38 “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” 39 “We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, 40 but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”

Matthew 16:24

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”

Mark 8:34

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save their life[b] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul

Romans 8:17

Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

2 Corinthians 1:5

For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.

Philippians 3:10

I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death

2 Timothy 1:8

So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.

2 Timothy 2:3

• Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

1 Peter 4:12

• Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you

1 Peter 4:13

• But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.

1 Peter 5:9

• Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“To deny oneself is to be aware only of Christ and no more of self, to see only him who goes before and no more the road which is too hard for us. Once more, all that self-denial can say is: "He leads the way, keep close to him."

The Cost of Discipleship (Touchstone, 1995), p. 88


IV. Be must be willing to be a servant to all (Mark 10:41-45)

Mark 10:41-45

41 When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. 42 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them

Mark 10:41-45

43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Matthew 20:26

Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,

Matthew 23:11

The greatest among you will be your servant

Mark 9:35

• Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

Mark 10:43

• Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,

John 11:13-16

• Jesus said to his disciples, “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.

APPLICATION:

• There is a cost to following Christ.– A Relational cost- all other relationships are

secondary

APPLICATION:


secondary– A Status cost- servant hood becomes an

attribute.

APPLICATION:



attribute.– A Financial cost- you may have to give us a job

to preserve integrity

APPLICATION:



attribute.– A Financial cost- you may have to give us a job

to preserve integrity. – A Time Cost- You can’t have a relationship with

God with giving him time.

APPLICATION:

The cost of following Christ of assures us that our efforts and sacrifices will be rewarding for something far greater

APPLICATION:

There is a rest in following Christ in that we know our intense efforts in serving him lead us to something far greater than we can imagine.

"If I lose everything but my personal relationship with my Lord

Jesus Christ, it is still worth it."

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TITLE: The Cost of Discipleship