Disclaimer:
Due to the large amount of sermons and topics that appear on this site I feel it is necessary to post this disclaimer on all sermons posted. These sermons are original to the author and the leading of the Holy Spirit. While ideas and illustrations are often gleaned from many sources including those at Sermoncentral.com, any similarities and wording including sermon title, that may appear to be the same as any other sermon are purely coincidental. In instances where other minister’s wording is used, due recognition will be given. These sermons are not copyrighted and may be used or preached freely. May God richly bless you as you read these words. It is my sincere desire that all who read them may be enriched. All scriptures quoted in these sermons are copied and quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Pastor James May
THE COST OF DISCIPLESHIP
(To be or Not to be, Which will it Be?)
Matthew 16:21-27, "From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works."
Everybody wants to go to Heaven but not many are willing to pay the price to get there.
When I ask you whether you love Jesus or if you want to make Heaven your home, I know that there is not one person here who would tell me that this isn’t what they want most of all. The thing that I want to impress upon you in this message is that just “desiring” or “wanting” to be like Jesus and to be with Jesus aren’t enough. There is a price of discipleship that must be paid if we are experience God’s best.
I cannot begin to tell you the times that I have seen those who call themselves a disciple of Christ who have the same attitude and mentality of Peter that we see in this passage of scripture. It is though they are speaking out of both sides of their mouth at the same time. On one side I hear them say that they are spiritual minded and that they spend time in seeking God’s will for their lives and still I see them doing things and going places that are absolutely contrary to the Word of Almighty God. They are too stuck on themselves and their own desires to really be a true disciple of Christ.
The life of a disciple is the life of surrender to a cause greater than our own. The life of a disciple is a life of discipline to force our will to conform to the will of God and not to be conformed into the image of the world. We will never experience the accolades and praises of this world for we are not seeking after those things that this world loves to applaud. We will never do great exploits according to the standards of this world; not if we are striving to please God and be more like Jesus.
We may do great and mighty works for Christ but the world won’t recognize those works. We must march to be beat of a different drum for we are listening to a different voice than what the world hears. We will live according to a completely different mindset than what the world has. We will often be at odds with the ways of the world around us and everyone will look at us as though we were “out of touch with reality”!
I submit to you that it is not the disciples of Christ, those members of the true body of Christ who are following Him, who are out of touch. It is the world that is deceived and out of touch with reality. Jesus is the only reality there is!
Illustration:
A religion that gives nothing, costs nothing, and suffers nothing, is worth nothing. - M. Luther.
Peter was without a doubt the most outspoken and physically strongest of all the disciples but in this passage, he reveals to us that our own strength and power have very little real effect upon our conditions of discipleship. This rock, Petros (Peter), became a stumbling block to slow down the plan of God to bring salvation to man. Of course Jesus was going to fulfill the purpose of going to the cross, and purchasing our salvation no matter what Peter did. Wouldn’t it be better for us to be a part of the plan of God rather than to be a hindrance to what God wants to accomplish with us?
God doesn’t make mistakes when He chooses a man or woman to be Jesus’ disciple. He doesn’t just close His eyes and randomly pick a man or woman regardless of their heart. God chooses every one of us purposely. He knows your weaknesses! He knows your strengths! God knows your abilities, likes and dislikes and He chooses to use you to be His disciple so that your life may shine as a beacon of hope for those around you who don’t know Jesus and who live in a world of absolute darkness.
I read this little illustration a few days ago and I thought it made sense to read it to you to let you know that Jesus never picks His disciples according to the standards of the world. Jesus picks us according to the standards of His desires and according to the person that we can become if we will only surrender to His will and answer the Call of God!
Illustration:
To: Jesus, Son of Joseph
Woodcrafter’s Carpenter Shop
Nazareth 25922
From: Jordan Management Consultants
Dear Sir:
Thank you for submitting the resumes of the twelve men you have picked for managerial positions in your new organization. All of them have now taken our battery of tests; and we have not only run the results through our computer, but also arranged personal interviews for each of them with our psychologist and vocational aptitude consultant.
The profiles of all tests are included, and you will want to study each of them carefully.
As part of our service, we make some general comments for your guidance. This additional insight is given as a result of staff consultation, and comes without any additional fee.
It is our opinion that most of your nominees are lacking in background, education and vocational aptitude for the type of enterprise you are undertaking. They do not have the team concept. We would recommend that you continue your search for persons of experience in managerial ability and proven capability.
Simon Peter is emotionally unstable and given to fits of temper. Andrew has absolutely no qualities of leadership. The two brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, place personal interest above company loyalty. Thomas demonstrates a questioning attitude that would tend to undermine morale. We feel that it is our duty to tell you that Matthew had been blacklisted by the Greater Jerusalem Better Business Bureau; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus definitely have radical leanings, and they both registered a high score on the manic-depressive scale.
One of the candidates, however, shows great potential. He is a man of ability and resourcefulness, meets people well, has a keen business mind, and has contacts in high places. He is highly motivated, ambitious, and responsible. We recommend Judas Iscariot as your controller and right-hand man. All of the other profiles are self-explanatory.
We wish you every success in your new venture.
Sincerely,
Jordan Management Consultants
Tim Hansel, Eating Problems for Breakfast, Word Publishing, 1988, pp. 194-195.
I just want to say, Thank God that no wisdom of man or counsel of men had anything to do with Jesus selecting this preacher as a disciple. I dare say that not one of us would have been chosen by man as a leader or a person with all the desirable traits of a disciple.
Jesus can see in you and I what no one else can see. He sees the end result of what we will become and not the unlearned and ignorant person that we are in the beginning. Make no mistake about it, God didn’t choose you by accident. God saw something great in you and He loved you so much that He chose to adopt you into His own family and then set you in a place where you could grow and become a powerful child of God to do great things for the Kingdom of God. You are not here by accident – YOU ARE A CHOSEN VESSEL LOVED BY ALMIGHTY GOD!
Just being chosen isn’t enough though. If we are to really be a disciple of Christ there is a path of life that we must walk that is far different from anyone around us who doesn’t serve God.
Jesus words, written in red ink, tell us what the price of discipleship will cost each of us. The terms that Jesus uses are general in their scope because each of us must live under a different set of circumstances in our homes, our jobs, our families and the friends that we choose. Even though we will all live in different circumstances or different environments, we still face the common problems and common nature that every man, woman and child must face while we live and breathe upon this earth.
1 Corinthians 10:13, "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."
This verse takes away the excuses of any who would say that they cannot live a victorious life for Christ. It takes away the excuse of any who would say that they “have to sin a little every day”. As a born again child of God, you have the ability to never commit sin. You have the power within you to overcome every temptation, to run from every appearance of evil and to live a completely sanctified life unto Christ. In fact, this is the life that God expects and even demands of each of us. Those who would say that they have to sin a little every day are only using that as a copout and an excuse to do what they want to do and then justify their sin.
If the Word of God says that we will not be tempted above what we can bear and that there will always be a way of escape from that temptation, then how can we say that we cannot overcome sin in our lives! That’s denying the Word of God and living in unbelief! Its also living in habitual sin and that, my friend, will condemn your eternal soul to hell. We have no right to “sin every day” and we should strive to not sin. If we will allow the Holy Spirit to reign in our lives, we won’t sin every day.
I know that we all fail at times but we should never use excuses as if to say that it was something that we couldn’t help doing. Excuses will condemn you to the Lake of Fire. Repent of that sin and ask God to help you overcome it, then don’t do it again.
The first payment in the Cost of Discipleship is that we must DENY OURSELVES.
That means that we must put God’s work and the call of God upon our lives ahead of everything else in life. We must put God first then every other need in life and every other desire of life will conform to what God desires for us and then He will provide everything we need for happiness and fulfillment.
Yes, we are to provide for our families and give them quality time. Yes, we are to earn our living by working in the vocation that God has given to us. We must take care that all the necessities of life are provided. But, friend, we must be careful to not allow anything to draw us from being the disciple of Christ that we must be. If we place God first, everything else will fall into its proper order and the Holy Spirit will lead us into the paths that will cause every other need in life to be met according to the perfect will of God.
Matthew 6:25-34, "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."
I know that we must plan for the future. I know that we must prepare for the days ahead! But, child of God, we had better be working in the present too. People get so caught up in planning for the future and securing their “retirement years” that they forget to work for the Lord in the Now and they miss God’s best for their lives. Why do we worry and fret so much about retirement when we have no promise of tomorrow? Why do we concern ourselves with securing a financial future when we have God’s promise that He will supply our every need? I believe its because we have lost our focus, we have laid our discipleship aside and chased after our own dreams, and that we have lost our faith and trust in God to do what He said that He would do.
The second payment in the Cost of Discipleship to Jesus Christ is that we must take up our cross!
Each of us has our own cross to bear in walking with the Lord. We cannot carry the cross that Jesus carried for it is not our job to provide salvation to the world, neither could be wash away any sin with our own blood. That was and is Jesus’ cross.
So what is your cross? What cross must you take up and carry for the Lord’s work to be done?
Perhaps it’s the fact that, as a tri-vocational Pastor, I am required by God to work at three “jobs” to provide for the family and to do the will of God in my life.
Perhaps it’s the fact that some of you are required to leave your families for days on end to do your duty on the job and still allow Jesus to use you to lead souls to Christ.
Perhaps for some of us is sometimes the feeling of being trapped in a home where God is not given much time and we have to face hard circumstances with parents or ungodly children.
Perhaps its your cross to care for your children and even the children of other people because you are going to be the only Christian influence in the lives of those kids and without you they wouldn’t even know about Jesus, much less have the opportunity to be saved.
Perhaps it’s the fact that you don’t get much rest and that your schedule is always over packed and double booked because God has given you great responsibilities because He knows that you can handle what others cannot.
Whatever your cross is, that’s the cross that you must bear but keep this in mind – that God will never give you a greater cross to carry than you will be able to handle as long as you stay in right relationship with Jesus and let the Holy Spirit lead you.
For a lot of people, I believe that they have not only taken up their cross but they often try to carry the cross for others too. This isn’t right and it can’t be done without ultimately destroying your victory and placing your soul in danger. Jesus never intended for us to carry a load that we can’t handle but we sometimes pile it on ourselves because we a “Martyr Syndrome”. We feel that it is our lot to suffer for everyone else and that somehow it will make us holier and more blessed if we give everything we have and do everything ourselves to help our family or our fellowman.
We had better ask God what He wants us to do and not just assume that we must do everything! Satan would love to load you down so heavily that you can’t move and become ineffective in reaching souls and working in the Kingdom of God, all in the “name of working for the Lord”. How much work for the Lord can we accomplish if we are too over-burdened? What do you think is more important, doing everything for everybody, or doing what God called you to do for Him?
Illustration:
I saw a cartoon drawing some time ago that showed a mule with all four feet off of the ground while he was still hitched to a cart that was loaded down far in excess of what it was designed to hold.
“The caption read; “Don’t worry about the mule, just load the wagon.”
I submit to you that you had better worry about the mule because if you kill that mule or make the burden so heavy that he can’t pull it at all, then the load isn’t moving and no useful work will be accomplished!
I believe that is why so many of God’s people are absolutely frustrated and bogged down and the work of the Lord goes undone! They try to carry a burden that is too heavy and was never intended for them to carry at all!
The third payment in the Cost of Discipleship is that we must FOLLOW JESUS!
Following Jesus doesn’t mean that we stick our noses in the air because we are better than anyone else. It doesn’t mean that we get so heavenly minded and so totally engrossed in the “spirit” that we can’t relate to those who need Christ. It doesn’t mean that we must presume upon God and put our lives and souls in jeopardy and go to places where sinners are just to reach them. If God leads you there, that’s fine, but too many Christians wind up shipwrecked because they went where God didn’t lead they to go.
Following Jesus entails getting to know Him in a very personal and intimate way. That kind of relationship only comes by spending time in the Word of God and in a constant attitude of prayer and talking to Jesus. It’s learning the heart of God and learning to love Him and other people that way that God loves them.
Following Jesus means to learn to be like Him in every way. Learning to trust Him, learning to believe in Him, learning to hear and know His voice, learning to know His will for your life, and learning His Word and its proper interpretation and, last but not least, its learning His compassion and desire to see lost souls saved are all a part of following Jesus.
In closing I want to simply ask you this question:
Have you denied yourself, taken up your cross and followed Jesus?
Are you bearing the cross that God intended for you or are you carry too many crosses?
Are you getting to know Christ more each day through study and prayer?
Are you trusting in God to supply your needs?
If you are going to be disciple of Christ then there is a price to pay. The sooner we pay the price, the sooner we will be counted as true disciples.
JESUS IS COMING SOON – ONLY TRUE DISCIPLES WILL GO BACK WITH HIM!
