Title: Disciples of Christ
Text: Luke 14: 25-35
Date: May 22, 2011
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
The most important thing you will ever do in your life is to make a profession of faith. In our text, the Lord Jesus Christ declares plainly what true faith is and what it involves. The Lord is not discouraging men and women from coming to him but Christ is instructing us to make a deliberate, conscious, evaluation of what faith is and of what it means to be his disciple.
Title: Disciples of Christ
Proposition: Being a disciple of Christ—believer, follower, a student of Christ requires total surrender of all to Christ.
Divisions: I. Faith comes to Christ II. Faith worships Christ preeminently; III. Faith bears his cross; IV. Faith finds all sufficiency of God; V. Faith stands in the covenant mercies of God
Luke 14:25: And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them, 26: If any man come to me,…
I. FAITH COMES TO CHRIST--He says, “If any man come TO ME.”
Coming to Christ is altogether spiritual—the motion of our souls to Christ—faith is believing on Christ
John 6: 35: He that cometh to me, shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me, shall never thirst.
1. Coming to Christ is altogether to the glory of God’s grace.
John 6:44: No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day….65: And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
Ephesians 2:8: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
2. Coming to Christ is not done one-time but is continual.
1 Peter 2: 3: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. 4: To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious.
2 Corinthians 1:10: Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;
True faith comes to Christ—believes on Christ.
II. FAITH worships christ preemiently, PLACing NO ONE ABOVE CHRIST
Luke 14: 26: If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
This word “hate” does not mean we cease loving our families, or ourselves. It means we cannot be the disciple—the follower, the student of--the Lord Jesus Christ if we place anyone, even ourselves, above Christ.
Matthew 10:37: He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
1. Whatever our relationship—Christ must be first.
Ephesians 5:22: Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord…25: Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;… 6:1: Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right….6:4:…fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
2. When there is oneness in heart and affection between Jesus Christ and the soul: what he loves we love; what he hates we hate; his Father is our Father; his people our people. As Ruth said to Naomi:
Ruth 1: 16-17: Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.
Illustration:
The preachers word on marriage--Christ first
Faith comes to Christ; faith worships Christ preeminently.
IIi. FAITH BEARS his CROSS
Luke 14:27: And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
Bearing the cross means—laying down your life—death to all that would attempt to come between you and your Lord. When Christ went to the cross he willingly laid down his life. Christ preferred manifesting the righteousness of God, even when it meant being made a curse for his people and suffering the shameful death of the cross. He preferred the salvation of God’s elect more than sparing himself the suffering of the cross. The will of God being done was more important to Christ than the personal suffering he had to bear. And because he bore his cross, he finished the work! All for whom he died are made the righteousness of God in Christ
So bearing the cross will mean suffering for Christ’s sake. It will mean bearing the reproach of men, even from those you love most. And it will include mortifying the flesh—“my sinful desires, my lusts, and wants”
Mark 8:35: For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.
Illustration
Walter Groover—“not about me”
Faith comes to Christ; faith worships Christ preeminently; faith bears the cross--loses our life for Christ.
IV. FAITH FINDS ALL SUFFICIENCTY OF GOD.
The Lord tells us to “count the cost.” He gives two illustrations: using a building and fighting a war.
Luke 14: 28: For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? 29: Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, 30 Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. 31: Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? 32: Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. 33: So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
Illustration: Scott’s Outbuilding
Truly sit down and count the cost—if we count the cost and find we have—sufficiency OF OURSELVES—then we will not finish. God our Savior must be all our sufficiency. Christ is the Foundation God has laid—his faithfulness unto death—Christ is our righteousness. The building is his building—we didn’t put ourselves in the building but were built up in him—and “he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.” Our sufficiency from beginning to end must entirely be of God’s grace, not of ourselves. “Who is sufficient for these things?...Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; (2 Corinthians 2: 16; 3: 5).
If we would enlist in God’s army.
1. Christ must be the Captain of our Warfare—the Author and Finisher of faith. So that fighting the fight of faith—we know from the beginning—that our
Isaiah 40: 2:…warfare is accomplished, her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins.
2. We must remember that we did not choose God but that he chose us to be his soldiers—Paul told Timothy—
2 Timothy 2: 3-4: endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
3. We must consider and always remember:
2 Corinthians 10: “3 …though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
3. Enlisting in God’s army, we must
Ephesians 6: 11: Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Application: Don’t tarry, but don’t be hasty. Count the costs. Who is your sufficiency? When God called Abraham to sacrifice his son, he made him think about it for three days. Then Abraham offered Isaac…Hebrews 11:19: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead;
The Lord says, Luke 14:33: So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
· Forsake all our wisdom—For Christ our Wisdom
· Forsake the filthy rags of our righteousnesses—For Christ our Righteousness
· Cleanse yourself of the vain thought of being made perfect by your flesh—for Christ our Sanctification
· Forsake all our so-called liberties—for Christ our Redemption
The apostle Paul put it this way:
Philippians 3: 8: Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 9: And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: 10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.
V. FAITH WALKS IN GOD’S COVENANT MERCIES
Luke 14: 34 Salt is good:
The Lord declares that believer is the “salt of the earth”.
Salt represents the bond of God’s everlasting covenant.
Leviticus 2:13: And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt.
The covenant God makes in the hearts of his people is:
Psalm 89: 27: I have made him [Christ Jesus the Son of God] my Firstborn—higher than the kings of the earth. 28 My mercy will I keep for HIM for evermore, and my covenant shall STAND FAST WITH HIM. 29: His seed [those chosen of God in him and redeemed by his blood-his seed] also will I MAKE to ENDURE FOREVER, and HIS THRONE as the days of heaven.
Through the finished work of Christ, God salts those he calls with this preserving word of unchangeable grace:
Hebrews 8: I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:…11: all shall know ME…12: For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
The salt is the everlasting covenant of God ordered in all things and sure in Christ. This salt is the wisdom in which we walk, he salt that makes us redeem the time, the grace and seasoning of our speech to every man.
Luke 14: 34 Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?
A man has lost his savour when when he loses any one of these things we have looked at here today. When he ceases believing on Christ; put others above Christ; seek his own life; finds sufficiency in himself. He is then conformed to the spirit of the world. Christ is All—if we harden our hearts against him--there is nothing else to salt us with, no other preservative—no remedy.
Luke 14: 35: It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out.
Application: 35: He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
If God has given you ears to hear then come to Christ
· Worship him alone
· Lay down your life
· Count the grace of God your full sufficiency
· As the salt of the earth—walk in the assurance of his covenant mercies—you are the preservative of this decaying sinful earth.
· Hebrews 10:23-31
John 6:37: All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out—and I will raise him up at the last day.
Amen.