Counting the Cost of Discipleship (:25-35) willing to give anything and everything to the Lord. There is to be NOTHING ▪ Discipleship is not optional for the Christian. A Christian is necessarily a held back. If is to be Lord AT all……... He must be Lord OF all! A true (Acts 11:26). Therefore, to follow , we must consider the cost. disciple must be ready to forsake all to follow Christ (Phil 3:7-8). ▪ Following Christ reshapes every aspect of the believer’s life: his character, 1. The Cost of Discipleship (14:25-27,33) priorities, relationships, and service. Jesus wants us to understand that ▪ As Jesus continued His way toward , great multitudes of people discipleship is not about membership; it is about a way of life. It is not about followed Him. Jesus knew that many were following Him for selfish or following the crowd; it is about following Him. Faith does not end at the point superficial reasons. He turned to the people and spoke about the kind of person of decision . . . it begins from there in a life that puts Christ above all things. who could not be His disciple: “he cannot be My disciple” (vv26,27,33). Jesus is warning us of certain things that will disqualify us from being His disciples. 2. of Discipleship (14:28-32, 34-35) He laid out these 3 demands of discipleship: ▪ Having laid down the requirements for a disciple, Christ warns His hearers to ▪ 1. A true disciple will “hate” even his family (v26). Our Lord did not mean for consider the cost of being a disciple. Jesus uses 3 illustrations of spiritual cost- us to understand that it is the duty of Christians to hate their family members and benefit analysis to count the cost of being His disciple: loved ones. This would have contradicted the 5th Commandment to honour our - This 1st illustration of counting the cost is that of a man who wants to build parents. Jesus only meant that those who follow Him must love Him with a a tower (vv28-30). The builder will not begin building until he has deeper love even than their nearest & dearest relationships, or their own lives. considered the cost. Jesus says that people will ridicule someone who begins ▪ The word “hate” used by Jesus is a relative or comparative term (cf Rom 9:13). a construction project and ends up being unable to finish it. When Jesus tells us to “hate” our nearest and dearest, He means that no love in - The 2nd illustration showing the importance of counting the cost is that of a life can compare with the love we must bear to God. To make this very clear, king who considers going up in battle against another king (vv31-32). The Jesus says a disciple must even hate “his own life” (cf 10:27). Thus, to “hate” king does not go headlong into battle without first counting the cost. means “to love less than” (Matt 10:37). Furthermore, hatred is forbidden in Otherwise, the king may end up having to send a delegation to ask for peace. Scripture (1 John 4:20). - The 3rd illustration is that of salt (vv34-35) to illustrate the cost of NOT ▪ The stress here is on the priority of love. A disciple will never allow affection following Him. If one becomes a disciple without due thought and then for anyone to have precedence over the Lord. All believers are called to forsakes Jesus under persecutions, such a one would be like salt with no acknowledge the lordship of Christ and show Him preference over all earthly saltiness. It is worth nothing. When salt has lost its saltiness, it has no good ties (Col 1:18). A disciple of Jesus is to love and honour his father and mother purpose that it could be used for and would be thrown away. for this is commanded by God in His Word, that is, so long as this is appropriate ▪ In Jesus’ day, salt was a valuable commodity and had 2 characteristic uses: and as much as is possible. We are called to acknowledge the lordship of Christ - Salt was used as a preservative. That means that the true disciple must act as and true discipleship requires unrivalled allegiance to Christ. a preservative against the corruption of the world. ▪ 2. A true disciple must carry his cross (v27). In Jesus’ day, a cross symbolized - Salt was used as a flavoring agent. The life of a true disciple flavors death, humiliation, shame, and intense suffering. Jesus does not want men and (permeates) and preserves the society. women to follow Him without knowing that there is a “cross” for them as well ▪ Christians are to be the salt of the earth. Salt is useful so long as it preserves its (cf 9:23). True discipleship involves a willingness to even die for Christ if it is savour (Matt 5:13). Like salt that has lost its savour, a professing believer who necessary and the Lord wills it so. We may be persecuted, punished, or even through corruption or assimilation in the world loses his distinctiveness, flavor, executed for our faith in Christ. Jesus makes it clear that only cross-bearers can or preservative value is of no use as a disciple of Jesus. Great quantities of salt be His disciples. Discipleship does not mean just the salvation of the soul, but do not make up for its loss of saltiness. Great numbers of disciples do not fellowship with Him in sufferings (Phil 3:10). guarantee great impact. It is not the sheer number of disciples that matters, but ▪ 3. A true disciple must forsake all (v33). Discipleship means that a person must it is their distinctness, their utter differentness from the world. forsake all that he has to follow Christ. The word “forsake” means to “say ▪ Nothing must be allowed to stand in the way of obedience to the Lord. There are farewell” when used of a person or “renounce” when applied to things. The Rich no half-commitments (cf 9:62). Salvation is free, but it is not cheap! It involves Young Ruler counted the cost and found that he could not pay the price of repentance, commitment & renunciation of anything that stands in the way of following Jesus (Matt 19:21-22). As disciples, we are to be a people who is the abundant life to which Christ calls His disciples.