Sermon: The Cost!
Video David Platt: Radical: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoicm4wnQ4c
Scripture Text: Luke 14:25-35: NIV
The Cost of Being a Disciple
25Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said:
26“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.
27And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
28“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?
29For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him,
30saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’
31“Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?
32If 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.
33In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.
34“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?
35It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Luke 14:25-35 “The Message”
25One day when large groups of people were walking along with him, Jesus turned and told them,
26“Anyone who comes to me but refuses to let go of father, mother, spouse, children, brothers, sisters—yes, even one’s own self!—can’t be my disciple.
27Anyone who won’t shoulder his own cross and follow behind me can’t be my disciple.
28“Is there anyone here who, planning to build a new house, doesn’t first sit down and figure the cost so you’ll know if you can complete it?
29If you only get the foundation laid and then run out of money, you’re going to look pretty foolish. Everyone passing by will poke fun at you:
30‘He started something he couldn’t finish.’
31“Or can you imagine a king going into battle against another king without first deciding whether it is possible with his ten thousand troops to face the twenty thousand troops of the other?
32And if he decides he can’t, won’t he send an emissary and work out a truce?
33“Simply put, if you’re not willing to take what is dearest to you, whether plans or people, and kiss it good-bye, you can’t be my disciple.
34“Salt is excellent. But if the salt goes flat, it’s useless, good for nothing. “Are you listening to this? Really listening?”
Some of the following thoughts came from: http://kawaguchichurch.org/messages/20100502_Sermon_Text_Schaeffer_English_The_cost_of_being_Jesus’s_disciple.pdf
Luke 9:56–62: And they went on to another village. 57 As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, "I will follow You wherever You go." 58 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." 59 And He said to another, "Follow Me." But he said, "Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father." 60 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." 61 Another also said, "I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home." 62 But Jesus said to him, "No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."
Thesis: When Jesus speaks about counting the cost to be his disciple he made it clear that following him would cost us our life of ease, our money and our time.
Video Clip Illustration: From wingclips.com (From Machine Gun Preacher clip)
SYNOPSIS: Machine Gun Preacher is the inspirational true story of Sam Childers, a former drug-dealing criminal who undergoes an astonishing transformation and finds an unexpected calling as the savior of hundreds of kidnapped and orphaned children. Gerard Butler (300) delivers a searing performance as Childers, the impassioned founder of the Angels of East Africa rescue organization in Golden Globe-nominated director Marc Forster’s (Monster’s Ball, Finding Neverland) moving story of violence and redemption.
When ex-biker-gang member Sam Childers (Butler) makes the life-changing decision to go to East Africa to help repair homes destroyed by civil war, he is outraged by the unspeakable horrors faced by the region’s vulnerable populace, especially the children. Ignoring the warnings of more experienced aide workers, Sam breaks ground for an orphanage where it’s most needed—in the middle of territory controlled by the brutal Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a renegade militia that forces youngsters to become soldiers before they even reach their teens.
But for Sam, it is not enough to shelter the LRA’s intended victims. Determined to save as many as possible, he leads armed missions deep into enemy territory to retrieve kidnapped children, restoring peace to their lives - and eventually his own. The explosive, real-life tale of a man who has rescued over a thousand orphans from starvation, disease and enslavement
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Childers#Biography:
Sam Childers (born 1962) is a former gang biker who now dedicates his life and resources to rescue children in the war zone of Sudan. Childers and his wife Lynn founded and operate Angels of East Africa, the Children’s Village Orphanage in Nimule, Sudan, where they currently have more than 300 children in their care.
In the summer of 1992, Childers experienced what he described as a conversion during a revival at an Assembly of God church. Childers has claimed that was also the same evening that his pastor prophesied that he would go to Africa. At the end of 1998, Childers made his first trip to Sudan. In that first trip and the many that followed, he was exposed to the acts of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA)[2] which he described as atrocious.
Over 30,000 children have been abducted by Joseph Kony and the LRA in the region.[3] Relief organizations report as many as 50,000 children have been abducted and 1.7 million people have been displaced. The abducted children are generally forced to be child soldiers or sex slaves until they escape, are rescued or killed. Thousands of children have become orphans as a result of brutal LRA attacks on remote villages in Southern Sudan and Northern Uganda.
Not long after his first trip to Sudan, Childers and his wife Lynn founded the Angels of East Africa, the Children’s Village in Southern Sudan.[4] The Children’s Village currently houses and educates over 300 orphans,[5] with over a thousand children rescued since its inception.[6] The staff at the Children’s Village are primarily Sudanese orphans and widows themselves. This is currently the largest orphanage in Southern Sudan and is unique in its approach of leading armed rescue missions directly into LRA territory. The Children’s Village is the only non-governmental organization that does not pick up and leave when fighting breaks out in the area.
Childers details the events of his life and his experiences in Africa in his book Another Man’s War.
Introduction:
When Jesus spoke about estimating or counting the cost he wasn’t referring to becoming a Christian but being a Christian.
Many misunderstand this point of Jesus teaching and challenge to this who were following Him.
What does it cost to follow Jesus?
Jesus died on the cross to save us. We are bought with a price. Jesus gave Himself for us (1 Corinthians 6:20; 1 Timothy 2:6). What must we give up if we want to follow Christ?
It is more than just going to church on Sunday and trying to live a good life during the week. Jesus is telling the crowds that there must be self-denial and self-sacrifice. Jesus did not say “Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to heaven.” To follow Jesus means that there are battles to be fought, sacrifices to be made, and a cross to be carried. We don’t sit down in an easy chair and coast to heaven! We must count the cost. When we come to Jesus and put our faith in Him, our sins are forgiven and He gives us a new heart. But what does it cost to follow Jesus?
A short accurate answer is it will cost you everything! But before you get up and run out the door this morning let me focus in on three main areas that we must give up to be a tru disciple of Jesus Christ.
T.S. – Following Jesus, being one of His disciples is very costly and the first thing that crosses my mind is that it will cost you the self-centered life of American society.
I. Yes, It will cost you the self centered lifestyle that so many enjoy in this nation.
a. In other words it will cost you the life of ease!
i. The life of ease is described like this:
1. Eating out all the time
2. $5.00 cups of coffee
3. Sitting and watching TV for hours.
4. Spending money on multiple outfits, shoes, and so on.
5. All the gadget in the kitchen, the phones, the I-pads, the computers, the cars filled with luxuary.
a. The deception of the American Christian prosperity movement has caused many Christian to think that God owes them!
i. He owes them more things
ii. He owes them more money.
iii. He owes them bigger houses
1. Jesus said I have no place to lay my head!
6. Becoming heavier and heavier because of our over eating.
a. Indulgence, obesity, gluttony, should I go on?
b. By the way I am speaking to Michael McCartney today as well.
i. My commitment over the next year:
1. Lose weight
2. Pray 2 hours a day
3. Cut out excessive expenditures.
a. Coffee
b. Eating out
c. Donuts
d. Sweets
4. Read the Bible through every year
5. Quit wasting my time
6. Live frugal
a. Use money wisely
b. Invest in others
c. Downsize my life and expenses and give more to help others.
ii. Many people in other country’s of this world understand this point, its we Americans who do not grasp the reality of following Jesus, we do not understand the real cost.
1. Most people in the world live on less than $2 a day, how much do you live on in a day?
2. Searcy states in his book "The Generosity Ladder" that " The majority of us are incredibly wealthy by the world’s standards we are locked in a battle with the constant desire for more. Don’t think you are wealthy? If you make more than $2.00 a day, you are among the top 2% of the wealthiest people in the world. Yet even in our abundance, we have internalized the "buy now, pay later" mantra of our culture. We live above our means” (page 13).
3. Dave Ramsey says, "We buy things we don’t need with money we don’t need with money we don’t have to impress people we don’t even like."
iii. Stories from the persecuted church reveal to us American Christians how we dont understand the real cost of being one of Jesus disciples.
1. What we so easily block out of our minds stories like the following: Prepared for Persecution - Published on September 16th, 2011: A VOM contact recently talked with a 17-year-old girl in Nepal, where many people are Hindus. The girl’s aunt was a Christian, and she led the girl to the Lord. Hindus in Nepal sometimes persecute people who leave their religion to follow Jesus. “My aunt prepared me for persecution,” said the girl. The aunt was wise to prepare her. When the girl’s mother found out her new faith, she locked her in her room and took away all her clothes and shoes so she couldn’t escape. The girl was able to sneak away and find a friend who gave her some clothes. Now she lives in another village with three other Christian girls who were also rejected by their families.The four Christian youth struggle to make ends meet, gathering and selling firewood to earn money for food. The girl has only one set of clothes. She fasts and prays two days a week, asking God to give her strength. “The Lord has touched my heart and shown his love for me,” she said. Pray for Christians in Hindu lands. Read Comparing Hinduism and Christianity in America and Comparing Current Issues in Hinduism and Biblical Christianity to learn more about Hinduism.Tags: Nepal
iv. The real issue facing the American Christian: From Baptist Press, Doug Carlson: Contrast this persecuted church with the distracted church. The latter, broadly speaking, seems to characterize much of the church in America today.
1. Carlson - “The distractions take many forms -- a harmless hobby, a favorite sports team, a full and fast-paced calendar.” I add money, power, know it all attitudes, pride, education and even politics.
2. Carlson- “But what arguably has reared itself as our greatest distraction is the unbridled beast of technology, bred by innovative minds and fed by manifold riches. Ours has become a culture of gadgets and gizmos. We have iPods and iPads, reality TV and 24/7 news. We have IM for messaging and XM for listening. We have flat screens to surf channels numbering in the multiplied hundreds and Facebook to reconnect with a list of friends sometimes eclipsing a thousand. From any and every direction, the noise never ends. Entertainment is our addiction, silence our abhorrence. One must wonder if we are, as the late Neil Postman famously observed a quarter-century ago, amusing ourselves to death. Technology, in and of itself, is not the problem. Indeed, it should be celebrated and incentivized. But it is the good and the useful -- the technological mediums that both streamline life and open doors for advancing the Kingdom -- that have become a double-edged sword. The temptation is overindulgence at the expense of weightier matters, what Jesus listed as justice, mercy and faithfulness. Partaking is not the issue. Failure to power down or pull the plug is the problem. Regrettably, great numbers in the church in America have fallen prey to its trappings. And I am as guilty as the next. “
a. We spend countless dollars on the latest and greatest technology while children starve to death overseas.
b. Show video Clip From David Platt
b. Jesus says that we must carry our cross. No one likes trouble or hardship. But we cannot follow Jesus if we want a life of ease. In our spiritual life also, there is “no gain without pain.”
i. When you become a disciple of Jesus you soon realize that your life is no longer about you but it is about doing what God wants you to do.
1. Did you all hear that – Life is not about you! It’s not about your ease, your way, your likes and dislikes. It’s about Jesus and the Kingdom of God!
ii. The cost of following Jesus is that self has to die!
1. This impacts you in your family relations.
a. Yes, if you truly follow Jesus you could end up 1,000 of miles away from your family.
b. We did!
c. But is it worth the cost?
i. You answer this question by how you view you life, your world, your eternal vision.
ii. Yes, being a disciple of Jesus will impacts you in where you end up living.
2. This impacts you in your friendships.
a. When I became a disciple of Jesus my friends no longer wanted to be my friends because my value system changed and theirs did not.
b. When I have made tough decisions as a minster has also cost me many good friendships.
c. The old quote I have heard over and over is, “Faith that costs nothing is worth nothing!”
i. We cannot follow Jesus without a picking up His cross. And trust me this cross is heavy and it is costly!
d. This decision to carry cross will cost us also in how others perceive us in this world.
i. People will tell us if we carry our cross that we are fools, intolerant, and unrealistic.
ii. We must be willing to face the scorn of others if we are going to please God. We must not be surprised when we are mocked and persecuted and lied about because we follow Jesus and do what we feel He instructs us to do.
1. Just remember - They did it to Jesus and yes they will do it to you.
2. This all comes with the willingness to be a disciple of Jesus. To pay the price and pay the cost.
iii. The Bible warns us that some people will hate us because we belong to Jesus. It is not easy when others accuse us of doing wrong or treat us unfairly. But we must remember that Jesus was despised and rejected (Isaiah 53:3).
e. Too many want Jesus on their terms and at the blue light special price they want to pay.
i. We do this today because we know of Jesus but really don’t know Him personally.
ii. The following quotes and thoughts are from the Jeremiah Project, http://www.jeremiahproject.com/culture/following_jesus.html: It can’t be that we don’t know about Him. With all the technology available today, the archaeological research confirming the people and places of the Bible, the immense volumes of writings of believers explaining their faith, and the exegetical study of the words of the Bible - it’s as if we know so much, yet believe so little.
1. We as one author put it are “Christian Atheists”
f. Jesus made it plain to those who wanted to be His disciple the immense cost it cost them to follow Him:
i. As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
ii. He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
1. This man most likely in Luke 9:57-62, wanted to bury his father. It’s likely the father was not yet dead and the man wanted to wait until he died. This reveals the following about this mans heart and relationship with Jesus:
a. His priorities did not place Jesus at the top of his list.
b. This man had one foot in heaven and one foot in this life.
c. He could let go of the things of this earth.
d. This man said, "Let me take care of important family matters first."
i. So many Christian in America are like this!
e. He said, "Let me take care of my financial situation first."
f. He said like the Pharisees, "Show me a miracle" or "Heal me." Then I pick up my cost!
iii. What keeps us from following Jesus wholeheartedly? Paying the full cost, the full price?
1. We want security: home, job, marriage, and family.
a. But not be willing to sacrifice any of these for the sake of the Kingdom of God.
2. We want personal pleasure and comfort: an easy life, no conflict, to get along with everyone (compromise).
a. We don’t want to sacrifice at all!
b. We want the latest Lazy Boy, TV, Computer, and we will sacrifice to get them but give that same money to God’s work – no way – they mismanage their money! Really?
i. I think its time you Christian Atheists start reading the Gospels again and see what Jesus is saying to you today!
3. We want earthly rewards: popularity, friendships, and leisure time.
a. We all think we deserve a break yet Jesus never had a break!
i. If you study church history you quickly discover that the disciples of Jesus in the New Testament did not get a break!
ii. If you look at the heroes of the faith throughout history you see that they did not get a break.
iii. We are a generation of Christians who think the church and even Jesus owe us for claiming to be a Christian!
1. Really!
b. Why should you not have to carry a cross for Jesus, why should everyone else around you carry it and you think your exempt or special!
i. You think you are to old so you don’t have to sacrifice?
ii. Or too young?
iii. How about too rich?
iv. How about handicapped?
1. Let me remind you of Joni!
4. So many Christian today follow only with ’their conditions’ on Jesus.
a. But Jesus wants complete loyalty with none of your self-centered conditions. He wants total dedication, not halfhearted commitment.
i. See how he views this in Revelation chapters 2,3.
b. You could be thinking, asking the question? “How has the church become so deceived into thinking that we can pick and choose among Jesus’ ideas and teachings?”
i. That we some how have the right to follow him selectively.
c. Here is a reality check for you today: Jesus did not appoint us editors of His Word to select the portions of Jesus’ teaching which we "think" are relevant and irrelevant today.
i. We are told to embrace all of them and not add or subtract from them.
1. See the last few verses of Revelation!
5. We must be willing to abandon everything else that has given us security and not allow anything to distract us from the calling He has made in our lives (Insights above taken from Jeremiah Project).
g. What does it mean then, to follow Jesus?
Clearly, we must step out of our comfort zone. We’re not to be sitting in church but reaching out to the lost and the needy. We’re to be telling others about the Savior! It’s a life of evangelism and sacrifice of self.
i. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" [Matt. 28:19-20].
T.S. – The cost to follow Jesus and be His disciple will cost not only our life of ease but also our money, the big green stuff!
II. Being a disciple of Jesus will cost you your money
a. The story from Jesus Culture about tithing and giving God 10% or our so called income.
b. We are willing in this society to pay top dollar for gadgets, entertainment, cars, homes, toys, sports but when it comes to Jesus we want bottom basement pricing.
i. Quote: Passion Costs A Lot from by R Graf: Becoming a devout fan of a sports team can really cost a person a lot of money. There are the jerseys, the hats, the face and body paint, the flags, the helmets, the lamps, the bedspreads, the blankets, the car plates, the banners, the flags, the signed memorabilia, the limited edition prints, the big screen TV to view them, the season tickets, the plane tickets and hotel bills for the out of town games, and the trading cards. That is just for starters. Now, it’s time to take the loans out and run up more credit cards for the other items. Costs a lot, doesn’t it? When you totally get into something, it is amazing what you will do to show your loyalty.
c. Randy Alcorn states, "Our stewardship of our money and possessions becomes the story of our lives."
i. Yes, you heard this quote right you use of money and possessions will tell your story in Heaven.
1. Have you ever heard the story of Scrooge?
2. Many will have that name in heaven because they hoarded their money and possessions and let others go with out so they could bath in this world with the lives of the rich and famous.
ii. Searcy states, "Giving is not something that comes naturally for us. We like to have complete control over our resources. After all, they are ours...James 1:17 tells us, "Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in heavens." Everything good in our lives comes from God. First Timothy 6:17 echoes James’s words and takes things alittle further: "Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment." God gives us all we need. You may have worked hard for the money that has come into your life, but God gave you the breath, health, strength, and intelligence to do your job. He gave you every ounce of your ability to enjoy your living..." (Pages 24-25).
d. 1 Timothy 6:18-19: “Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”
i. Searcy notes that the problem comes to Christians who fail to recognize where there money comes from and then begin to hoard it all for their own pleasure.
1. The reality check is they have a deceived mindset of what it means to be a Christian.
ii. Stewardship with money and things means that we have been entrusted with resources in this life from God to use for His message and kingdom.
1. Our money is not our money it’s His if you take the Biblical view of money in the NT.
iii. Searcy, "One day everyone must answer these three questions:
1. Where did it all go?
2. What did I spend it on?
3. What has been accomplished for eternity through my use of all this wealth?" (Page 28).
e. Jesus was never afraid to talk about money as a matter of fact he taught and spoke of it more than he did faith and prayer. There are 2,350 verses in the Bible which deal with this spiritual issue. This and the Kingdom of God where Jesus two favorite subjects.
i. The story of the monkey and the closed fist.
ii. The spiritual truth I am trying to communicate to you today is that we ultimately honor God the most by how we use our finances and resources.
f. We need to all be giving our tithe to the work of the church.
i. Proverbs 3:9-10 " 9 Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; 10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.”
1. God wants our first fruits not our left-overs!
2. Genesis 4 is a warning to those who refuse to give God their first fruits.
a. The story of 2 brothers and two offerings.
g. Malachi 3:8-10: “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’ “In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse —the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”
i. It’s okay to put God to the test in our giving.
1. He actually wants you too!
ii. But do not steal away God’s money because then you are under the curse.
1. I know this is not politically correct today in many Christian circles!
h. The argument of its an OT principle - tithing
i. Matthew 23:23: “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.”
1. To Jesus tithing was a given, a no brainer, a expected spiritual discipline!
ii. 2 Cor. 8:7: “But just as you excel in everything —in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us —see that you also excel in this grace of giving.”
1. As we excel in grace we excel in giving.
a. The NT principle for giving is really everything!
iii. Jesus did not abolish the tithe when he came onto the scene. Scripture confirms that Jesus came to this earth to fulfill the law not dismiss it.
1. Jesus said the following in Matthew 5:17-19: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
a. Searcy states, Jesus shifted the heart of humankind from legalism to grace, but in doing so he in no way rendered the law obsolete ( page 68).
b. Randy Alcorn states, "When we as New Testament believers, living in a far more affluent society than ancient Israel, give only a fraction of that given by the poorest Old Testament believers, we surely must reevaluate our concept of ’grace giving.’ And when you consider that we have the indwelling of the Spirit of God and they didn’t, the contrast becomes even more glaring. We seem to have a heart problem" (Searcy, page 70).
c. Searcy adds, "As a result, they fight againstnthe tithe. They call tithing outdated and legalistic. Even if only subconsciously, they feel that if they can discount the biblical mandate for twenty-first- century Jesus followers to tithe, then they can continue to handle their money as they please. The majority of these people are not intentionally choosing to be selfish. They are just caught up in a problem of the heart- one thatnis often caused more by a lack of knowledge about the tithe than by willful disobedience. Alcorn goes on to say, "The Israelites tithes often amounted to 23% of their income- in contrast to the average 2.5% giving of American Christians.
T.S. – The cost of following Jesus is it will cost us our money and yes even our lifetime.
III. Being a true disciple of Jesus will cost you your time – actually your lifetime!
a. Psalm 90:12 (NLT) “Teach us to make the most of our time…and make our efforts successful. Yes, our efforts successful!”
i. You could say from looking at our Scripture texts today that, “Timing is everything!” There is a time to study and a time to take tests. There is a time to listen and a time to talk. There is time to ask questions and a time to be quiet. There is time to have fun and a time to be serious. There is time to prepare for things and a time to do things. You could make the case that timing is a major part of life -- “Learning to understand what time it is becomes crucial to success and to failure in life.”
ii. You may have been thinking, “Why is timing so important?”
1. I believe the following thought will answer that question: Quote: “Time is given to us to prepare for eternity.” Francois Fenelon - (Workbook Driven by Eternity, page 4).
2. Do you believe this – your life time is given to you by God to prepare you for eternity?
a. How we use our time will one day be addressed by the Lord in Heaven – the truth is we will give an account to the Lord on how we used our time.
b. Both the believer and the unbeliever:
i. 2 Corinthians 5:10: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”
ii. John Bevere addresses Christians and tells them this: “In regards to your calling; you’ll not be judged according to what you did, but rather according to what you were called to do” (page 202 – Driven by Eternity)!
iii. We need to understand that our life-time matters to God and how we use it matters to God! And one day you and I will held accountable for what we did with it!
c. There is an Indian Proverbs which states, “When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced, Live your life in such a way that when you die the world cries and
Conclusion:
The cost to follow Jesus will not be found in bottom basement pricing or a cheapening of the Gospel. It will cost us:
1. Our Life of Ease!
2. Our Money, and stuff!
3. Our precious lifetime!
