Counting The Cost

When we drive down the highway and see a lot of cars in the parking lot of a restaurant, we assume that it is a great place to eat.

Many of us would admit that we have eaten at places where the parking lot was filled with cars, but we were not impressed with the food or the service.

We make that same mistake when it comes to churches. You can ride by some churches where the parking lot is filled with hundreds of cars, but when you go inside and hear the preaching of God’s Word, or the lack of the preaching of God’s Word, you cannot help but wonder what the attraction is.

We are impressed with numbers, but numbers never impressed the Lord Jesus.

Look at verse 25 in our text. We read, “And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them”.

As we read this passage of scripture, it is not hard for us to visualize what took place.

Maybe as the Lord was walking along, He looked back and He saw the multitudes following him. He stopped, and the Bible said, “He turned, and said unto them”.

WHAT DID HE SAY TO THEM?

He did not say the things that many of the liberal preachers are saying today. Today’s preachers are so impressed with the crowds, they will say anything the crowd wants them to say.

For example -

• If the people want to believe that it is God’s will for them to be healed, the preachers will tell them it is God’s will for everyone to be healed.

• If the people want to believe that it is God’s will for them to be rich, the preachers will tell them it is God’s will for them to be rich.

• If the people want to be told they can have anything they want, the preachers will tell them just, “Claim it and grab it!”

WHY DO THEY TELL THEM WHAT THEY WANT TO HEAR?

Because people will keep coming back to you, if you tell them what they want to hear.

And if people keep coming back, the money flows in by the thousands.

But the Lord Jesus was never impressed with the large crowds.

In fact, in this scripture passage, it seems like He deliberately tried to thin the crowd down.

Look what He said in verses 26-30. We read, “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. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.”

WAS THE LORD JESUS DELIBERATELY TRYING TO THIN THE CROWD DOWN BY SAYING THESE THINGS?

No! The Lord wants multitudes to follow Him, but He wants them to follow Him for the right reason.

He knew that many in this crowd were following Him for the wrong reasons.

I want to say again, the Lord Jesus has never been impressed with the large crowds like we are.

However, the Bible tells us He does rejoice over one sincere sinner that comes to Him.

In fact, I believe we can truthfully say that the Lord would rather have one sincere saint follow Him, than a thousand people who were following Him for the wrong reasons.

The Lord Jesus is seeking sincere believers.

In this passage, He shows us some important facts about what it takes to be a REAL BELIEVER! For example:

I. DISCIPLESHIP COMES WITH A PRICE

Anytime we use the word PRICE, we have to be careful.

As President Richard Nixon used to say, “Let me make something perfectly clear.”

When we say, DISCIPLESHIP COMES WITH A PRICE, there seems to always be someone hiding in the bushes, that that will rise up and say, “He is teaching salvation by works!”

Well, anyone who knows anything about this Bible, knows that we are saved by grace alone. And anyone who preaches salvation by works, is preaching false doctrine.

Eph. 2:8-9, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

It doesn’t cost us anything to be a child of God, it cost Christ His life. He paid the full price for our salvation.

But once we become a child of His, it does cost us to be a follower of His.