Sometimes when this question is being asked, it is being implied that perhaps something is wrong with the church.
Listen, there are some folks who left churches and I believe they were justified in doing so.
But there are times when people will ask, “What happened to ( ),” and it has nothing to do with the church. It has everything to do with when they started coming to church and professing to be a child of God, they SIMPLY DID NOT COUNT THE COST.
• When it comes to the SALVATION that provides eternal life, the Lord paid the price in full for every believer
• When it comes to SERVING the Lord, there is a cost to be paid by the believer
The reason many churches have problems is because people do not count the cost of what is required of them in serving the Lord.
But this is not something restricted to churches.
• Many will enter a marriage, and they can not see past the honeymoon stage of the marriage. When the honeymoon is over, and they start to face the difficulties of establishing a home, they head for the divorce courts.
• Many will enter a new business with all the excitement of becoming successful in that business, but then as they begin to face the realities of starting a new business, they are ready to close the business down.
• Many will enter college with their mind set on graduating, but once they get into the reality of the sacrifices required, they are ready to move on to something else.
• Many will start a new job hoping to be successful, but once they get on the job and start facing the routine of dealing with the various problems, they are ready to move on.
In life, we enter into all kinds of relationships, and it should not surprise us that people will come to a church, and seem to have the best of intentions, but once obstacles are placed before them they are ready to pack it up and move elsewhere.
Then we have that familiar question come up, “What ever happened to ( ) who used to come to church here?”
• Every Bible-preaching pastor has to deal with this problem
• But also, it was something the Lord Jesus had to deal with
The Bible says, “He taught them many things by parables…” Why? Because He saw this as the best way to teach them the truths He wanted to teach them.
The Parable of “Counting The Cost” was used by Him to teach his followers these valuable lessons. Again, He takes something that is physical that they were familiar with and used it to teach them a spiritual lesson.
Let’s look at two small parables of “Counting the Cost,” to see what He wanted to teach us. First, let’s look at-
I. THE PARABLE OF THE TOWER
It is significant that when the Lord spoke this parable, it was when a great multitude was following him.
Look at Luke 14:25-30, we read, “And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them, 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.”
The Bible says GREAT multitudes were following him.
Any time you have a crowd of people, there is a reason they are there:
• If you go to a FOOTBALL GAME, you will see thousands who are there because they love a football game.
• If you go to an AUTO RACE, thousands are there because they love auto racing.
• If you go to a BASEBALL GAME, thousands may be there because they love baseball.
When people come to church, you might assume they are all there because they love the Lord. That may be true, and we hope it is, but also it may not be true!
The large crowds then and the large crowds now do not impress the Lord.
The Bible says GREAT MULTITUDES were following the Lord, and the Lord PUPOSELY AND INTENTIONALLY DID SOMETHING. WHAT DID HE DO?
He knew that many were following him for:
• The food He provided
• The miracles He provided
• He knew people attract people
He deliberately began to teach them something they did not want to hear.
He taught that there is a cost in following Him!
One of the best ways to keep some people from joining a church, is for that church to preach and teach what God’s Word says about the COST OF SERVING HIM!
We have to ask ourselves this question, “DO WE LOVE HIM ENOUGH TO PAY THE COST OF SERVING HIM?”
Some do and some do not!
You can ask some folks to do something in the church, and they will tell you they do not have the time.
WHAT DO THEY MEAN BY THAT? They have the same amount of time everyone else has.
Illus: What they should say when they are asked to served in a particular position in the church, is this, “I do not love the Lord that much. I do not mind coming to church as long as it does not cost me anything, but if I do what you are asking me to do, it would take away my time from the things I enjoy doing! No, I can not take on that responsibility!”
People will not decline taking on responsibility for the Lord by stating it this way, because it sounds so cold and un-spiritual.
But that is exactly the way it will be when they stand before the Lord on the judgment day.
• Thank the Lord for the sacrifice the counting committee makes each week, to come together and count the tithes and offerings after everyone is gone home. They are properly taking care of the Lord’s money. These folks have to love the Lord to sacrifice that time each week.
• Thank the Lord for the Sunday school teachers who spend hours and hours in visitation and preparation for their classes each week. These folks have to love the Lord to sacrifice this time each week.
• Thank God for the good Deacons, who love the members of this congregation and call them and visit them when they need visiting. These fellows have to love the Lord to sacrifice this time each week.
In this parable of “Counting the Cost,” the Lord turned to this GREAT MULTITUDE that was following Him, and used this parable to teach them that there is sacrifice in following the Lord.
He makes it amply clear, that those accepting the invitation to follow Him are expected to have the determination and dedication to follow through.
He is not looking for people who can come up with excuses.
Look at what He said in Luke 14:18 that preceded this parable, we read, “And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.”
• When men and women do not want to do something, they can come up with some ridiculous excuses.
• When men and women want to do something, they can come up with some marvelous excuses to cover themselves.
Illus: Three Baptist ministers, one a homosexual who had to leave several churches because of his homosexuality, were caught coming out of a porn shop in Columbia, South Carolina. These fellows had been doing this kind of evil activity before, but this time someone notified a news reporter of the “State Record” of their activities. When they were coming out, the journalist had a cameraman with him who took their picture, and asked them what were they doing in there. Their ridiculous excuse was, “We went in to see how bad things were so we can warn our congregations of this evil place.”
People today have all kinds of ridiculous excuses for what they do.
But there is a COST in serving the Lord and excuses are something He will not accept.
The Lord said that becoming a Christian is illustrated by someone who wants to build a tower.
• The building of a tower would not be a luxury, but a necessity for protecting a field or vineyard
• The owner would be concerned about saving his crop. He must decide if the crop is worth saving, and at what cost?
• Jesus says that the first order of business is to sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it.
In the parable, it will cost the man not to build and it will cost him to build – he must decide which way he wants to go.
Here is the question: "How much are you willing to sacrifice in service to the Lord?"
Our question does not concern the economic realm, but the spiritual realm – “What does it cost to follow Jesus?”
WHAT IS THE COST OF SERVICE?
Look at Romans 12:1-2, we read, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
• Our SALVATION has not and will not cost us anything. When He died for ours sins, He said, “It is finished,” and He meant just that. IT COST HIM HIS LIFE!
• Our SERVICE to Him will cost us our lives.
Some try to tie SALVATION and SERVICE together. This is Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!
They say if you do not tie them together, a person can be saved by grace, and go out and live in sin, any way he wants to live.
Listen, when a person is saved, they no longer live the way they used to live because they are now born-again.
2 Corinthians 5:17, we read, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
Listen, God knows what is in the heart of all men, and can not be tricked into saving someone who is not sincere. God not only knows what is in the heart of man now, but he also knows what is in the heart of man 10, 20, 30, or 50 years from now. No one has ever tricked God into saving them when they were not sincere about wanting salvation.
People can trick us, The Lord told this GREAT MULTITUDE, in Matthew 14:26-27, “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.”
These people that run around here claiming to be saved, and living in sin, are not saved, they are only deceived.
The Lord tells us in Matthew 7:22-23, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
Again, the Bible teaches that SALVATION IS FREE, but SERVICE is going to cost us something.
• Salvation concerns our everlasting life
• Service concerns our everlasting rewards
He used the parable of the tower to teach us that service will cost us. But then He also used-
II. THE PARABLE OF WAR
Look at Luke 14:31-32, we read, “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? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.”
In this parable, the king’s land is being invaded and he has to decide if he is going to allow this, or if he is going to do something about it.
Notice, the king does not have the choice of doing nothing; the situation has to be settled with the invading king.
The king has two alternatives:
• FIGHT – make up his mind to go to war
• SURRENDER - allow the enemy to take over
Those following Jesus must no longer be caught up in the excitement of the crowd, but recognize what is expected of us.
Conclusion:
There are many valuable lessons to be learned from these two small parables in Luke 14:25-33
Basically they teach us two things:
• There is a great cost in SERVING Him!
• There is a great cost in NOT SERVING Him!
We have to determine which cost we are willing to pay.
He has freely paid the cost for our SALVATION, but we have to be willing to freely pay the cost of SERVICE.
I. THE PARABLE OF THE TOWER
II. THE PARABLE OF WAR
