Count The Cost And Pay The Price Series

Introduction

A. A teacher was helping one of her kindergarten students put his boots on? He asked for help and she could see why. With her pulling and him pushing, the boots still didn't want to go on. When the second boot was on, she had worked up a sweat. She almost whimpered when the little boy said, "Teacher, they're on the wrong feet." She looked and sure enough, they were. It wasn't any easier pulling the boots off then it was putting them on. She managed to keep her cool as together they worked to get the boots back on - this time on the right feet. He then announced, "These aren't my boots." She bit her tongue rather than get right in his face and scream, "Why didn't you say so?" like she wanted to. Once again she struggled to help him pull the ill-fitting boots off. He then said, "They're my brother's boots. My Mom made me wear them." She didn't know if she should laugh or cry. She mustered up the grace to wrestle the boots on his feet again. She said, "Now, where are your mittens?" He said, "I tuffed them in the toes of my boots..."

1. I must admit that I borrowed the outline for this message, however there was no author sighted.

2. Lets turn to Matthew 7:28 - 8:1

B. As Jesus went about His earthly ministry, He was often followed by large crowds

1. They are drawn by His teachings

Matthew 7:28-29 NKJV

And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, {29} for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. (8:1) When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him.

a. Turn to Matthew 8:16

2. They were attracted by His miracles

Matthew 8:16 NKJV

When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick,

3. Some of those who followed Him wanted to become His disciples

(1) Turn to Matthew 8:19

b. They were willing to be taught by Jesus

(1) Some were willing to follow Jesus as their Lord and Master

Matthew 8:19 NKJV

Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go."

(a) Now turn to Matthew 28:19 & 20

(2) Now, Jesus would later command His apostles to make disciples of all the nations

Matthew 28:19-20 NKJV

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, {20} "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

(a) We call this the Great Commission

(b) Clearly Jesus wanted people to become His disciples

i) Steve Page, Wichita, Kansas, wrote,”As teacher of the "20-Something" Sunday school class, I receive information on prospective new members for our group. Recently, one person had noted on his sheet under "Circumstances of Salvation" that he had "Accepted Christ in high school. Was baptized but would like to be reimbursed (crossed out)--reimmersed."

(3) You know that Jesus never misled the People

(a) It would not be easy to be His disciple

(b) Following Him would be a challenge!

(4) In our text for today's study, Matthew 8:18 - 22, we find Jesus responding to two individuals regarding the matter of discipleship

(a) One we will call simply the Scribe

i) One who wanted to become a disciple of Jesus

(b) The other we will call the loyal son

i) One who needed to be reminded of what it meant to be a disciple

4. All of this should remind us of the challenge of following Jesus

a. It should remind us that we need to take what we learn here seriously

(1) Lets turn to Matthew 8:18 & 19

II. Body

A. One must Be Willing to Count the Cost

Matthew 8:18-19 NKJV

And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side. {19} Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go."

1. Here we have the scribe’s offer

a. The scribe expressed a willingness to follow Jesus anywhere

b. Even a commendable offer, but does he know what it means?

c. We must go on to the next verse to see what Jesus’ reply was

Matthew 8:20 NKJV

And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."

d. Jesus informed the scribe that He was homeless