Good morning. I pray that this Sunday morning finds you in good health and looking forward to this morning’s message. Let’s open with a word of prayer.
I have a title on my bookshelf that is going to be pulled and read this year. The Cost of Discipleship, written in 1937 by Lutheran pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, focuses on the Sermon on the Mount and what it means to follow Jesus.
Bonhoeffer was a Nazi-dissident who opposed Adolph Hitler’s regime and publicly condemned his euthanasia program and his genocidal persecution of the Jews because they contradicted the teachings of the Bible. Arrested after being associated with a plot to assassinate Hitler, he was quickly tried, sentenced to death and hung. Bonhoeffer had reached the “point of no return” because of what he believed.
A few weeks ago, I came across a video of Billy Crystal sharing his thoughts and memories of Muhammad Ali at his funeral in 2016. As he reminisced, I couldn’t help but think about the man who, in the prime of his life, willingly gave up his heavyweight boxing title because he refused to fight in Vietnam on religious grounds.
Ali was not willing to compromise his beliefs to serve in what he called “an unjust war.” Just like Bonhoeffer, Ali had reached the “point of no return” because of what he believed,
Perhaps some of you have heard about or read Richard Wurmbrand’s testimony in Tortured for Christ. During his 14 years in Communist prisons, the Romanian Evangelical Lutheran priest spent months of solitary confinement and years of periodic physical torture, constant suffering from hunger and cold and mental cruelty. His crime: his fervent belief in the saving power of Jesus and his public witness concerning his faith. Just like Bonhoeffer and Ali, Wurmbrand had reached the “point of no return” because of what he believed.
I’ve used the phrase the “point of no return” three times so far. What does it means?
In aviation “the point of no return” is“the point in the flight of an aircraft beyond which the remaining fuel will be insufficient for a return to the starting point with the result being the craft must proceed.” Once the point of no return is reached, there will not be enough fuel for the plane to turn around and return home.
Ladies and gentlemen, turning back is no longer possible. Your destination is now ahead of you. You have left behind “where you used to be.”
Now here is a point I don’t want you to miss: every Christian will reach the “point of no return” at some point in his or her life.
Sadly, for some, the “point of no return” will be their unwillingness to stand for the gospel against the ungodly views and values of society.
For disciples, their “point of no return” will be their willingness to stand firmly and without compromise on the gospel against all the ungodly views and values of society.
In both cases, when that point is reached, the person has made the decision that he or she is unwilling to return to the life he or she used to live.
You see, the price tag for taking an uncompromising biblical stand will be costly and many today are not willing to pay the price. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Muhammad Ali and Richard Wurmbrand – each understood the necessity of taking an uncompromising religious stand for what they believed, all the while, knowing full well the terrible cost that would be sure to follow.
It was a lesson that Jesus had taught nearly 2000 years ago and we see this in Luke 14, verses 25 through 27.
(25) And there went great multitudes with Him: and He turned, and said unto them,
(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.
(27) And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
Folks, true discipleship will cost you. I am going to say that again. True disciple will cost you. And that is what Jesus is trying to get over to us in these verses.
It’s interesting to me how many Christians will read these verses and say they mean we have to hate our family and friends if we are going to be Jesus’ disciples. If this is true, then the verses also say we will have to hate ourselves if we are to be Jesus’ disciples.
Thankfully, this is not at all what these verses are saying. Far from it. Jesus is simply saying to us what He also had to do Himself, and that was to prioritize the needs of the kingdom over his personal needs.
For example, in John 5:19, He says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things so ever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.”
And in verse 30 He says, “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.”
We need to understand this. Jesus isn’t asking anything of us that He hasn’t already done Himself. But, in the verses about being a disciple, He is drawing our attention to the difference between to something many believe are one and the same: being born again and being His disciple.
So let’s be clear this morning. Being born again does not make a person a disciple. Born again means, among other things, that the person will spend an eternity with Jesus.
Discipleship ups the ante. Discipleship is what we do to help our Father grow His family after we’re born again.
When we decide to follow Jesus – to really follow Him and to be His disciple – there is going to be a steep price to pay. Our lives will never again be our own. Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Richard Wurmbrand clearly understood this. And although he was not a Christian, so did Muhammed Ali.
In Luke 14, we read in verses 26 and 27 what Jesus says it will mean for the person who decides to become His disciple. In verses 28-32, He tells us to examine ourselves to see if we are willing to pay the cost discipleship requires.
(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.
Let’s stop here for a moment.
Jesus asks us to think through what it would take to build a tower. First, there’s the intention. Second, you have to sit down to determine where or not you have the finances to build it. If you begin to build without adequate financial resources, you will start the building but never finish it.
The point Jesus is making is this: once you start something you better be able to finish it. In other words, Jesus says that once you decide to be My disciple, there is no going back.
Now let’s pick it up with verse 31.
(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.
Let’s stop here for a moment.
Again, the same situation is presented. The king, first of all, has to decide if he wants to go to war. So he calls in his generals to help him make the decision. If he makes the wrong decision, then he will send ambassadors to beg for mercy. That’s what “desireth conditions of peace” implies.
Now verse 33. “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.”
Now I want to make the point clearly: choosing not to be Jesus’ disciple will not keep us from an eternity with Him. But, choosing not to be His disciple will most definitely disqualify us from fulfilling verses like John 14:12.
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me (the person who chooses to be My disciple), the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto my Father.”
Jesus tells each of us to examine ourselves and then gives us examples of how to determine the cost of discipleship: building a tower and going to war. In both cases, only one decision has to be made: will it be worth the cost to build the tower and will it be worth the cost to go to war?
Again, let me remind you that, what Jesus asks of us, He’s already done Himself. Do you remember what happened on the Mount of Olives? Turn with me to Luke 22 and we’re going to read verse 41 and 42.
(41) And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed,
(42) Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from Me: nevertheless not My will, but thine be done.
Jesus knew His Father’s will. He knew what He came from Heaven to earth to do. But here He asks His Father, “Father, is this the only way your will can be done? Is crucifixion the only price? Are there no other options?”
In those moments, Jesus was counting the cost – He was weighing the pros and cons – of doing what His Father needed Him to do in the face great emotional turmoil. Jesus could have opted out, but He didn’t.
You see, Jesus was His Father’s Son. He was also His Father’s disciple. Jesus had reached the “point of no return” in what He believed long before his unbelievable emotional battle on the Mount of Olives. Thank you Jesus for weighing the cost and deciding the cost was worth it! And we see this in Hebrews 12:2,
“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Jesus had counted the cost and one prize outweighed the cost of not going through with the crucifixion – ladies and gentlemen, that prize was us!!!!
? When the crown of thorns was forced into His skull, Jesus had already counted the cost and believed we were worth it.
? When the temple guards cursed Him, spit in His face and beat Him, Jesus had already counted the cost and believed we were worth it.
? With each flesh ripping slash of the whip, Jesus had already counted the cost and believed we were worth it.
? When the nails were driven through His hands and feet, Jesus had already counted the cost and believed we were worth it.
? And with His last breath, He cried “It is finished” – “for the joy that was set before Him” – and that joy was you! That joy was me! Thank you Jesus!
Now it’s our turn to count the cost. Is the lost worth the cost of discipleship to you? I’m reminded of what Paul wrote to the followers at Thessalonica. Turn with me to chapter two. We’re going to read verses 7 and 8.
(7) But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherished her children:
(8) so being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us.
Paul is talking to Christians. I understand that. But they weren’t Christians when he first shared the gospel with them. And neither will many of the men, women and children we will minister to in this Revival.
And that’s why we must be at the “point of no return” for the gospel. In Romans 1:14-17 Paul writes,
(14) I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians, both to the wise, and to the unwise.
(15) So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are in Rome also.
(16) For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
(17)For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
Like the Apostle Paul, this has to be our stand.
? When we face pushback for the gospel, we have already counted the cost and believe the lost are worth it.
? When we hear the name calling for the gospel, we have already counted the cost and believe the lost are worth it.
? When we face the innuendos and snide remarks for the gospel, we have already counted the cost and believe the lost are worth it.
? When we face character assassinations for the gospel, we have already counted the cost and believe the lost are worth it.
We have counted the cost and reached the “point of no return” for the gospel. And, we will know and understand what Paul felt when he wrote the last four verses of 1 Thessalonians chapter two:
(17) But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavored the more abundantly to see your face with great desire.
(18) Wherefore we old have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again, but Satan hindered us.
(19) For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?
(20)For ye are our glory and joy.
As I close this morning, I want to ask you:
Have you counted the cost of discipleship and reached the “point of no return” for the gospel? Have you reached the “point of no return” where your heart aches for family who believe you should let them live contrary to God? Have you reached the “point of no return” where your heart cries for co-workers or friends who are headed to the lake of fire and don’t realize it?
Ladies and gentlemen, when we have counted the cost and reached the point of no return for the gospel and for reaching the lost for Jesus, nothing and no one will be able to stop us. We will take the mental abuse. We will take the harassment. And, if it comes to it, we will even take the beatings. We will take all of it because we have counted the cost and the lost are worth it!
