|
Introduction:
I despise commercials that tell you all the benefits of the
product and assure you their store has the lowest prices in town,
but then do not tell you how much it costs. Or driving by a car
for sale on the side of the road and without the asking price
listed. I realize these are marketing ploys. They have a better
chance of selling something if they get me to call them, but I
want to know the cost up front. The same applies to discipleship.
Before becoming a disciple, it is important to count the cost.
Jesus stressed this in Luke
14:27-32. Just as the builder and the king need to count
the cost, so does the would-be disciple. With that in mind,
let’s look at what discipleship will cost you and determine if
it is worth it. I am going to warn you up front, true discipleship
exacts a heavy cost. Discussion: I.
Discipleship will cost you your sins and your guilt. A.
Ananias demonstrated the first cost of discipleship when he
told Paul how to become a disciple in Acts
22:16. When Paul became a disciple, his sins would be
washed away. They would all be gone. As Peter had earlier preached
in Acts
2:38, when you are made a disciple through baptism (cf. Matthew
28:19) your sins are remitted, that is, paid for and
removed. B.
Along with the sins, the overbearing amount of guilt you
carry will also be removed. As Romans
3:23-24 explains, when you become Christ’s disciples you
are justified, that is, declared not guilty before God, even
though you had formerly sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. C.
Before becoming a disciple, you have to ask, do you really
want to lose all your sin and guilt? II.
Discipleship will cost you your stresses and anxieties. A.
As you grow in your discipleship, devoting yourself to
Christ’s teaching and becoming more and more like Him, the costs
continue to mount. As you learn to pray, to control what you think
about and your behavior, your stresses and anxieties will be taken
away from you. Philippians
4:4-9 explains that through these means your anxieties
will be cast on God. I
Peter 5:7 explains that God cares for you and doesn’t
want you dealing with all of that stress. He will take care of it. B.
Keep in mind the ancillary costs that will be exacted along
with this. You will no longer have your precious sleepless nights.
Stress induced ulcers will be removed. Jumpiness, jitters and
edginess will be taken away. This, in and of itself, will also
cost you many of the stress-related fights and arguments you could
look forward to if you don’t grow in your discipleship. C.
Before becoming a disciple, you have to ask, do you really
want to lose all of your anxieties? III.
Discipleship will cost you your insecurities about the
future. A.
Before becoming a disciple, you are absolutely convinced
that you make your own way in the world. You know that based on
your own willpower and work, you will provide for yourself and
your future. However, what if you lose your job? What if someone
steals your identity and wipes out your savings? What if you
become paralyzed and can’t work? What if the stock market
crashes and destroys your retirement? What if the government
suddenly decides it can no longer make good on its Social Security
promises? Where will you live? What will you eat? How will you
take care of your family? Face it, you have a lot of insecurity
about the future. B.
Herein lays another casualty in the disciple’s life.
According to Matthew
6:33-34, as you become a stronger and stronger disciple,
seeking first God’s kingdom and righteousness, God insures you
will be cared for. Instead of days and nights of worrying about
what might happen tomorrow, next week or next year, all you will
do is consider how to serve God today. Your insecurities will be
taken away and replaced with confidence in God. C.
Before becoming a disciple, you have to ask, do you really
want to lose all of your insecurities? IV.
Discipleship will cost you your misery. A.
As you grow in your discipleship and your guilt, stress,
anxiety and insecurity are taken away, your misery will also be
taken away. You know that feeling you have because nothing in life
is fair, that will be removed. The feelings that you have not been
given enough and are constantly dissatisfied, unhappy and
miserable will be removed. B.
In Philippians
4:11-12, Paul said he had learned to be content in
whatever circumstance, whether he had prosperity or scarcity, he
was happy. This was not mere resignation; this was happiness and
blessed contentment. Note carefully, this cost is not exacted
immediately. Rather, it is something you learn. It is exacted over
time as you learn to have the mind of Christ. C.
Before becoming a disciple, you have to ask, do you really
want to lose all of your misery? V.
Discipleship will cost you your weaknesses. A.
Before becoming a disciple of Christ, you are weak and
unable to do anything of eternal significance. In this situation,
you don’t have many responsibilities, being able to hide behind
your inability. However, once you are growing in Christ your
weaknesses will be removed one by one. B.
In Philippians
4:13, Paul said you can do all things through Christ who
strengthens you. In Ephesians
3:20, he explained that God can do far more abundantly
beyond what we can even think by the power working in us. Because
we are no longer relying on ourselves, our weaknesses are taken
away. C.
Before becoming a disciple, you have to ask, do you really
want to lose all of your weaknesses? VI.
Discipleship will cost you your fears. A.
In Luke
12:4-7, Jesus explained that as you grow in your
discipleship your fears become useless and removed. You will no
longer even need to fear those who could kill you. First, God
cares about you and will care for you. Secondly, if He does allow
you to die, so what? That is your one way ticket out of this world
into the paradise of God. B.
While it is true that in one sense you will always maintain
your fear of God, in order to maintain your growth as a disciple,
it is also true that the stronger you grow as a disciple the more
your fears of God’s wrath and punishment will be removed. I
John 4:18 says that as you grow in love as a disciple, the
fear of punishment from God will be taken away. C.
Before becoming a disciple, you have to ask, do you really
want to lose your fears? VII.
Discipleship will cost you your eternity in hell. A.
Before becoming a disciple you had worked hard and earned
spiritual death (Romans
6:23). In that spiritually dead state, you are on the
broad way to eternal destruction (Matthew
7:13; II Thessalonians 1:7-9). Matthew
10:28 demonstrates that in this situation you have earned
an eternity in hell. However, once you become a disciple, that
hard-earned fate is removed. Instead you are given an inheritance
in heaven as demonstrated by I
Peter 1:4. B.
Before becoming a disciple, you have to ask, do you really
want to lose your eternity in hell? VIII.
Discipleship will cost you your personal control. A.
Usually up to this point in the sale, the customer is
eating out of my hand. However this final cost is too often the
deal breaker. Discipleship costs you your control over your life.
According to I
Corinthians 6:19-20, when you became a disciple, you are
bought with a price. You are no longer your own. You no longer get
to do whatever you want. You no longer get to bank on what you
believe are your rights. You no longer get to do whatever provides
you with pleasure. You no longer get to live in the pursuit of
your personal happiness. When you become Christ’s disciple, you
become God’s bond-servant just like the New Testament writers (Romans
1:1; James 1:1; II Peter 1:1; Jude 1:1). B.
From the moment you become a disciple, you are to be a
living sacrifice, offering yourself up to serve God (Romans
12:1-2). You are to crucify yourself with Christ and allow
Christ to live through you (Galatians
2:20). No longer do you get to decide what you are going
to do based on your personal desires and goals. Rather, you must
realign your desires and goals based upon the word of Christ. C.
If you become a disciple, you agree to allow God’s word
to govern your life. You agree to be quick to hear God’s word,
slow to speak against God’s word and slow to be angry with God (James
1:19-20). You agree to give up everything God’s word
demands you give up. You agree to pursue everything God’s word
demands you pursue. Since we all have different backgrounds and
different struggles, this is going to mean different things for
each person considering becoming a disciple. Some of you have to
give up friends. Some have to give up an unlawful spouse. Some
have to give up certain movies, magazines, television shows and
songs. Some have to give up alcohol. Some have to give up the
covetousness of gambling. Some have to give up wandering eyes and
lust. The list could go on. Here is the crux of this, there is no
choice in the matter. You have no right to any of these things and
no option to follow after any of them. D.
The context of the passage we read at the beginning of this
lesson demonstrates this cost of discipleship (Luke
14:25-35). But here is what makes this somewhat difficult.
When you become a disciple, God does not come into your heart and
take over. He leaves you to voluntarily submit to Him. Thus, II
Peter 1:5-8 says you must grow in self-control. However,
you must learn to control yourself according to God’s guidance
through the faith, knowledge and virtue you learn from His word.
This is why so many only bounce along, half-committed to
discipleship. E.
This is very open ended. The great cost of discipleship is
personal control. When you become a disciple you are agreeing to
let someone else tell you how you can work, how you can speak, how
you can dress, how you can be entertained, what your goals are; in
short, how you will live. F.
Finally, all of those other costs of discipleship are
dependent on meeting this one. As you daily pay this price, your
sins and guilt will be removed, your stresses and anxieties will
be taken away, your insecurities, fears and miseries will vanish.
Your weaknesses and fears will be overcome. Hell will be
vanquished from your future. G.
Before becoming a disciple, you have to ask, are you really
willing to give up control of your life? Conclusion: I hope you realize the cost is worth it. Matthew 13:44 says that the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. The treasure is so great, it is worth selling everything you have to get it. The treasures of discipleship are worth the cost. If you are willing to pay that cost, become a disciple today and start enjoying the treasures.
Glory
to God in the church by Christ Jesus
|
||||||||||
