The Useless Disciple – Part 2
Luke 14:25-35 (27-35)
December 1, 2019
Last time we met we started listening
As Jesus confronted a large crowd about being a useless disciple.
We saw how He spoke of salt with no flavor
That couldn’t even be used in a manure pile.
IT IS A DIFFICULT CONVERSATION TO SAY THE LEAST.
• So much is said about unconditional love and unconditional acceptance that it is possible that at times we forget that our Lord most certainly had conditions.
• Things like denying self, taking up the cross, and following Him even if it brought persecution from your own family.
And to again be clear.
• We are NOT talking here about being good enough to be saved.
• We are NOT talking here about being faithful enough to earn
salvation.
WE KNOW FULL WELL THAT SALVATION IS
BY GRACE ALONE – THROUGH FAITH ALONE – IN CHRIST ALONE.
We are only justified before God
When the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us.
When we are “in Christ” we are then clothed in His righteousness
And are therefore acceptable to the Father.
What we talk about here is the cost of being found in Christ.
Jesus said in order to be found in Him then we must follow Him.
We must deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him.
THE TRAGEDY IS THAT
• There are many, who even though they know that righteousness is obtained in Christ alone,
• That still will not follow Christ because following Him requires such a drastic change in their lives.
They are people who, like the “Rich Young Ruler”, know that Jesus is the Savior, but still won’t follow Him because of what it means to follow Him.
And these people are REFERRED TO by Jesus as USELESS DISCIPLES.
And obviously we do not want to fulfill that type of comparison.
So we are listening as Jesus talks about
WHAT MAKES A MAN USELESS DISCIPLE?
There are 4 things listed here. We saw the first last time.
#1 THEY LOVE THE APPROVAL OF OTHERS
Luke 14:26
It’s that mysterious passage where Jesus calls us to
“Hate” our father and mother and other family members.
We learned that it is a “by comparison” statement.
Namely that we should love Jesus so much more that by comparison it makes the affection we have for our family look like hate.
And the reason He says this is because
It is impossible to be a faithful disciple of Jesus
If you are more concerned about the approval of your family.
• Jesus may ask you to confront the sin of your mother.
• Jesus may ask you to obey Him to the disapproval of your father.
• Jesus may ask you to move your family where your children don’t want to go.
• Jesus may ask you to reject the influence of your brother.
Are you willing to do that?
If not, you are of no use to Him.
That was the first indicator of a useless disciple.
They Love The Approval Of Others.
#2 THEY AVOID THE ADVERSITY OF THE CROSS
Luke 14:27
We just heard Jesus mention that loving the approval of others
Will set you up for failure as a disciple.
But hating your family was not all He said.
Jesus went on to say in verse 26, “yes, and even his own life”
You cannot love your own life more than you love Christ.
And that leads into the NEXT ATTRIBUTE OF A USELESS DISCIPLE.
Namely that they Avoid The Adversity Of The Cross.
“Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”
There again is the rigid reality.
• We are talking about people who CANNOT be a disciple of Jesus.
• We are talking about the DISQUALIFIED.
• We are talking about those who are USELESS to the mission.
And here it is people who do not carry their cross and follow Jesus.
First of all we remember
Jesus has ALREADY REVEALED this reality as the calling of all disciples.
It’s not like Jesus is just springing this on His followers.
He’s been saying this for quite some time.
Luke 9:23-26 “And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. “For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself? “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.”
Jesus taught us that the unequivocal call of salvation
Is to first “deny himself” and then “take up his cross daily” and then “follow Me”
The calling of salvation (contrary to modern day evangelism)
Is NOT a call to self-fulfillment.
The call of salvation is a call to self-denial.
It is a call that starts with REPENTANCE
• It speaks of a person who is aware of their sinfulness and that in their flesh
there is no good thing.
• It speaks of a person who also understands the utter wretchedness even of
all their good works and religious deeds.
• It speaks of a person who will both leave their sin and their legalistic efforts
behind.
It is a person who in effect tears up their resume.
• They see in Christ the only righteousness that God accepts.
• They see in Christ the only hope of justification before God.
• They see in Christ the only means of atonement and satisfaction of God’s
wrath.
• They see the cross of Jesus as the only way.
And so they repent of their sin
And they cling to the cross and they follow Christ.
That has always been Jesus’ call of salvation.
But it’s NOT JUST a theological belief here that Jesus is referring to.
For Jesus DOESN’T SAY that you must embrace Jesus’ cross.
Jesus says that a man must “carry his own cross”
We are NOT just talking about people who must theologically embrace the cross of Jesus as the sole means of salvation.
Sure, they must do that, but that’s not here what Jesus is referring to.
JESUS IS HERE REFERRING TO THE FACT THAT
All who do embrace that cross must follow Him in such a way
That it will bring upon them the same scorn that He received.
HERE’S THE FACT.
• If you follow Jesus…
• If you act like Jesus…
• If you talk like Jesus…
• YOU WILL BE TREATED LIKE JESUS
The Bible is absolutely clear about that.
Matthew 10:24-25 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. “It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household!”
How it is that the people today can expect
To be loved by a world that hates Jesus is a mystery.
John 15:18-21 “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘ A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. “But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me.”
And just to make sure we are clear here.
Jesus explicitly states WHY the world hated Him.
Jesus told His brothers:
John 7:7 “The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil.”
This is the forgotten Jesus of our time.
• The Jesus preached today doesn’t call anyone evil.
• The Jesus preached today doesn’t confront or convict or condemn anyone.
And the world has convinced us that if we do call their deeds evil
Then we are not being like Jesus.
STOP LISTENING TO THE WORLD ABOUT WHO JESUS IS
AND START READING YOUR BIBLE.
Jesus testified to the world that people’s deeds were evil
And they hated Him for it.
If you do what He did, they will hate you too.
And perhaps that explains
Why hatred does not exist but friendship does.
• We aren’t enemies with an evil world system we are friends with it.
• We don’t expose sin we condone it, we accept it, and we laugh at it.
Listen to this Psalm:
Psalms 50:16-21 “But to the wicked God says, “What right have you to tell of My statutes And to take My covenant in your mouth? “For you hate discipline, And you cast My words behind you. “When you see a thief, you are pleased with him, And you associate with adulterers. “You let your mouth loose in evil And your tongue frames deceit. “You sit and speak against your brother; You slander your own mother’s son. “These things you have done and I kept silence; You thought that I was just like you; I will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes.”
God saw people who loved thieves and associated with adulterers
And then reproved them for thinking that they were just like Him.
Sometimes I think it is the misconception of our culture
That because Jesus ate and drank with tax collectors and sinners
That it meant He accepted them as they were.
HE DID NOT.
The message of Christ was always repent.
He never left people in their sin.
And the world hated Him for that message.
The problem with so many of us today as that
• We choose friendship with the world over friendship with God.
• We would rather offend God than offend the world.
James 4:4 “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
But this explains why we are not persecuted or hated.
2 Timothy 3:12 “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”
SO HERE IS THE REALITY.
• If Jesus came into this world to expose sinners…
• And if Jesus came into this world to preach repentance to sinners…
• And if Jesus came into this world to offer forgiveness for sin to those who
mourn over that sin…
Then how can we follow Him if we are not willing to preach His message?
And how can we be faithful disciples if we are not willing to suffer His reproach for that faithfulness?
THAT IS THE POINT OF JESUS HERE.
The world hated Christ and they nailed Him to a cross.
• If you are going to follow Him then you had better understand that the world will nail you to yours as well.
• If you are not willing to suffer the shame and reproach and enmity that Christ suffered then you cannot be His disciple.
That is to say, you won’t make it.
You won’t do it.
So “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”
So the useless disciples are those:
• Who love the approval of others
• Who avoid the adversity of the cross
#3 THEY FAIL TO ASSESS THE COST
Luke 14:28-32
Now these 5 verses actually serve a DUAL PURPOSE.
• On one hand they reinforce the points Jesus just made,
• But they also introduce another glaring issue about useless disciples.
Obviously Jesus uses these two analogies to drive home the reality
That if you don’t do certain things then you cannot succeed as a disciple.
But here Jesus addresses another issue as well.
And it is the issue of people who signed up to follow Jesus
Without ever giving really any thought at all
As to what it was going to require to follow Him.
AND THIS IS ANOTHER GLARING FAILURE
TO THE MODERN DAY CHURCH EVANGELISM MODEL.
Modern day church evangelism
Has grossly misrepresented the hardships of being a disciple.
In far too many cases the greatest hardship most sinners are ever confronted with is the shame of publicly walking an aisle.
We get to some emotional invitation.
And the battle ground is set.
• We have a non-believer and supposedly under conviction (we hope that is the case and not just one who is emotionally manipulated, but that is another issue)
• But we have a non-believer under conviction for his sin.
• And often times the only struggle that person is confronted with is the shame of publicly walking the aisle.
• They are all but promised if you will just step out and confess Jesus before men then you will be saved and the hard part is over.
What’s the old hymn?
“The Savior is Waiting”
“The Savior is waiting to enter your heart, Why don’t you let Him come in? There’s nothing in this world to keep you apart, What is your answer to Him?
Time after time He has waited before, And now He is waiting again, To see if you’re willing to open the door, Oh, how he wants to come in.
If you’ll take one step toward the Savior, my friend, You’ll find His arms open wide, Receive Him and all of your darkness will end, Within your heart He’ll abide.”
• Here’s this poor Jesus so badly wanting to save you but powerless to do so.
• And then we have the sinner supposedly compelled to come to Jesus but too afraid of the shame of the aisle.
• So the song convinces the sinner that if you’ll just take one step it will all be over and you’ll be so happy you did.
As if the shame of walking an aisle is the greatest barrier you’ll ever face.
That is absolutely ridiculous.
I’m going to be honest with you here this morning.
• If you can’t walk an aisle in a Southern Baptist Church
• And tell a group of your Christian friends and neighbors that you want to follow
Jesus
• Then you certainly can’t follow Jesus where He’s going to ask you to go.
That first step out of your pew is nothing
Compared to what following Jesus every day of your life is going to cost.
That’s just the truth.
• We already saw about how it will cost you relationships.
• We already saw about how it will cost you safety or comfort.
And yet so many in the church today are lured to follow Jesus
Simply by walking down an aisle and are never told
About the coming adversity for that decision.
They remind me of the ROCKY SOIL.
Matthew 13:20-21 “The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away.”
SADLY: That is precisely the type of disciple
Most religious services are tailored to produce.
And as a result they fall away.
BECAUSE THEY DID NOT COUNT THE COST.
WANT TO SEE THE DIFFERENCE?
Listen to Jesus when He preaches to people.
Luke 9:57-62 “As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” And He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Jesus doesn’t say, “Well if you’ll just take one step toward Me then it will all be over.”
He taps the brakes and tells those people what they are up against.
It was very important to Jesus that men know the cost of following Him.
Even the disciples in the upper room, listen to what Jesus tells them.
John 16:1-4 “These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling. “They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God. “These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me. “But these things I have spoken to you, so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them. These things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.”
• Jesus told them about the coming persecution.
• And then He said, “these things I have spoken to you, so that you may be
kept from stumbling”
I’m telling you this ahead of time
So that you aren’t shocked and fall away when it happens.
That was the night before Jesus was crucified.
AND EVEN AFTER HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD
HE STILL WARNED HIS DISCIPLES OF WHAT WAS COMING.
Remember when He reinstated Peter?
John 21:18-22 “Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.” Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me!” Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; the one who also had leaned back on His bosom at the supper and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?” So Peter seeing him said to Jesus, “Lord, and what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!”
It can be kind of a humorous story, but you do get the point.
• Jesus is telling Peter ahead of time even as He continually asks Peter to
follow.
• Peter, you’ve got to count the cost.
• You won’t be any good to Me if you don’t prepare yourself for what is coming.
And to that end, listen to Peter passing that information along
To those suffering saints he wrote to:
1 Peter 4:12-14 “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.”
This suffering isn’t uncommon or bizarre, it was promised.
That was Peter helping the saints continue to count the cost.
And here Jesus has turned to this large crowd and does the same.
He tells them about the cost of discipleship.
And that makes our point here.
A DISCIPLE WHO DOES NOT ASSESS THE COST OF FOLLOWING JESUS
ENDS UP BEING A USELESS DISCIPLE.
Two analogies, both have the same point.
(28-30) “For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? “Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’”
It’s a simple point.
• A man has an impulse to build a tower so he jumps into with both feet.
• The problem is he didn’t put the pencil to it and consider what it might cost.
• And because he didn’t accurately assess the cost he was not able to finish.
He became a useless builder.
Who needs a builder who can’t finish?
The second is the same.
(31-32) “Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? “Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.”
Here we have a king going to battle.
• And a wise king is going to sit down and figure out whether or not he can win
this battle.
• If he can, fine, go win it.
• But if he can’t, he’d better make the smart move and go ask for terms of peace.
Both of those stories make the same point.
YOU’D BETTER COUNT THE COST
Don’t just sign up to follow Jesus
Without asking what it will cost you.
Because the fact is, it will cost you everything.
Jesus made statements like:
Matthew 16:25 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”
We remember those parables about the treasure in the field or the pearl of great value.
• Both of those parables are meant to show you that the kingdom of heaven is worth any cost it might ask.
• The treasure is worth more. The pearl is worth more.
• But it does not change the fact that both men had to give everything they had to obtain those prizes.
So it is with the kingdom.
It will cost you so much more than just the shame of walking an aisle.
• You are going to have to deny yourself.
• You might lose your most intimate relationships.
• You might lose all your possessions.
• You might lose even your own life.
YOU HAD BETTER KNOW THAT BEFORE YOU SIGN UP.
Failure to count the cost inevitably makes you a useless disciple.
ONE MORE ILLUSTRATION TO THIS EFFECT.
• It was Paul’s first missionary journey.
• He set out with John Mark and Barnabas.
Acts 13:13 “Now Paul and his companions put out to sea from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia; but John left them and returned to Jerusalem.”
• Nothing more is said of John’s departure than that.
• He left, and we aren’t told why.
However after Paul returns and it is time to set out a second time, here is what we read:
Acts 15:36-38 “After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brethren in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” Barnabas wanted to take John, called Mark, along with them also. But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work.”
What was Paul saying?
• It does us no good to take someone along who isn’t ready to face the
opposition.
• It does us no good to take someone who runs when it gets hard.
And over the years many of crucified Paul for being “too rigid” here,
But I might add that verse 40 of that same chapter says, “But Paul chose Silas and left, being committed by the brethren to the grace of the Lord.”
THE CHURCH SIDED WITH PAUL THERE.
A disciple who won’t do the work is of no use to the mission.
Now, I might also add that at the end of Paul’s life and ministry when he was in that Mamertine prison awaiting execution, he told Timothy:
2 Timothy 4:11 “Only Luke is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service.”
We can assume that Mark learned from his mistake,
Counted the cost, and became useful.
But hopefully you get the point.
• A disciple who loves the approval of others is setting himself up to be a useless disciple.
• A disciple who avoids the adversity of the cross is setting himself up to be a useless disciple.
• A disciple who fails to assess the cost is setting himself up to be a useless disciple.
And here’s the final characteristic of the useless disciple.
#4 THEY CHOOSE AFFLUENCE OVER FAITHFULNESS
Luke 14:33
Here is another hard to swallow passage.
“So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.”
And again we are often confronted with all manner of hermeneutical maneuvering to keep that verse from meaning what it says.
Earlier in Luke’s gospel we read:
Luke 12:33-34 “Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
• And when we read that verse I told you how often we dance around it as
though it can’t possibly mean what it says.
• I also told you that I could read that verse to our brothers and sisters in Malawi
and they wouldn’t balk at it at all because that’s exactly how they live.
This is a hard statement for Americans to hear.
It’s hard for us to think that having financial security can be a bad thing.
SO LET ME BE CLEAR.
• Having money isn’t a sin.
• Having extra money isn’t a sin.
Later Jesus is going to tell His disciples:
Luke 22:35-38 “And He said to them, “When I sent you out without money belt and bag and sandals, you did not lack anything, did you?” They said, “No, nothing.” And He said to them, “But now, whoever has a money belt is to take it along, likewise also a bag, and whoever has no sword is to sell his coat and buy one. “For I tell you that this which is written must be fulfilled in Me, ‘AND HE WAS NUMBERED WITH TRANSGRESSORS’; for that which refers to Me has its fulfillment.” They said, “Lord, look, here are two swords.” And He said to them, “It is enough.”
Clearly there Jesus spoke of the disciples
Being good stewards to be ready for ministry.
We even recognize that our church is able to give to places like Malawi
Or places like Texas Boys Ranch because we have money.
THE PROBLEM IS WHEN YOU THINK
IT IS YOUR MONEY INSTEAD OF THE LORD’S
And when you are unwilling to part with it for the Lord.
Just look at the followers of Jesus in the New Testament.
• Andrew and Peter left their nets and followed Jesus.
• James and John left their nets and their father and followed Jesus.
• Matthew left his tax booth and followed Jesus.
• The flipside is a man like the Rich Young Ruler who would not leave his possessions.
The fact is Jesus routinely asks His people to part with their wealth.
SOME DO IT TO GO ON MISSION.
• Think about Chris and Meagan Weaver who were here a few Sunday nights
ago and are headed Papau, New Guinea. Before he left I offered them
all one of our leftover Disciple Now T-shirts to which he said, “Don’t
give that to me, we just can’t take it with us.”
So what if Jesus asks you to go, can you leave your stuff to do it?
SOME DO IT THROUGH GIVING.
• Think about Malawi or Texas Boys Ranch or Gideons or Lottie Moon or any
other number of legitimate needs around us.
• Are you willing to give up what is yours for them?
Most are willing to give up their extra,
But the thought of giving when it hurts is typically foreign.
But is it the Lord’s money is or is it yours?
Because when you signed your life over to Christ
You were supposed to give Him power of attorney.
Everything you have became His.
If you won’t give it, how can you consider yourself useful?
We remembered last week the one guy who wanted to follow Jesus but who first wanted to get his family’s approval and Jesus told him no.
But what about the other two?
Luke 9:57-60 “As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” And He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.”
One wants comfort, the other wants his inheritance
And Jesus tells both of them “no” as well.
We remembered earlier the rocky soil as the one who won’t count the cost to follow Jesus and falls away when it gets hard.
But what about that other soil?
Luke 8:14 “The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity.”
People who love the world can’t follow Jesus faithfully
Because Jesus could care less about acquiring the world
Or keeping the world.
AND SO THINK ABOUT ALL THESE FOR A MOMENT.
JESUS IS TALKING ABOUT THE USELESS DISCIPLE.
And one man loves the approval of others too much. He is unwilling to offend his family members.
• How can Jesus use that man to lead his family to salvation if he is unwilling to offend them?
• How can Jesus use that man to take the gospel to the ends of the earth if he is unwilling to leave them or to take them with him and put them in harms way?
He can’t.
Because that man loves his family more than he loves Jesus
He is useless to Jesus for service.
Or take the second man. He avoids the adversity of the cross.
• How can Jesus use that man to confront the evil system of the world?
• How can Jesus use that man to call men to repent?
• How can Jesus use that man as an example of righteous suffering?
He can’t.
Because that man avoids adversity he is useless to Jesus for service.
Or take the third. The man who fails to assess the cost.
• How can Jesus send that man into the dangerous places of the world?
• How can Jesus even use that man to confront corruption and sin in his workplace?
• How can Jesus use that student to speak to his friends at the school?
• When that person is going to quit as soon as it gets hard…
He can’t.
Because that man won’t count the cost he is useless to Jesus for service.
Or the 4th man. He chooses affluence or comfort over faithfulness.
• How can Jesus ask that man to leave his fortune and move to the mission field?
• How can Jesus ask that man to give beyond his comfort to those in need?
• How can Jesus ask that man to be faithful amidst financial risk?
He can’t.
Because that man is not willing to part with his possessions
He is useless to Jesus for service.
DO YOU SEE THE POINT?
Those men can’t serve Jesus faithfully because they are not 100% all in!
(34-35) “Therefore, salt is good; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
• The man who doesn’t love Jesus more is like salt with no flavor.
• The man who avoids the scorn of the cross is like salt with no flavor.
• The man who won’t count the cost is like salt with no flavor.
• The man who won’t leave his possessions for Jesus is like salt with no flavor.
He has nothing to offer a world that doesn’t know what true life is.
He has no fertilizer to encourage the growth of the seed of God’s word.
In fact, he is only “thrown out”
Because he serves no purpose to the mission of Christ.
And listen friend, I know that is a hard passage.
• But you have to understand it was Jesus who said this.
• It was Jesus who saw “large crowds…going along with Him”
We have got to understand that there is a level of commitment
That Jesus clearly expected from His disciples
That has been tragically omitted in the church.
But just because the church doesn’t talk about it
Doesn’t mean that Jesus didn’t say it.
But now we have read it, and we cannot plead ignorance.
• Do you hear Him?
• Do you have ears to hear?
Are you useful to the Lord?
If you aren’t, are you willing to be?
