" TOO HIGH A PRICE!"
MARK 5:2-20 FOCUS ON 14-17
I wonder if we ever really consider the cost of following Jesus?
We may see numerous people come forward and kneel down and ask for salvation but do we really consider the cost of following JESUS? When I got saved the only thing that I knew was that I needed Jesus in my life because I didn’t want to go to hell. Later I realized that there was a price that I would have to pay if I was to follow him… a price that I considered too high… my choice was to run from God.
1. One day I was too tired to run any longer
2. Will I ever consider the cost too high to follow Jesus?
3. Too often we want the glory of God’s blessing without hungering for the fullness of Godly obedience
Verse 14 "And they that fled the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to
See what it was that had been done."
WHEN JESUS IS TRANSFORMING PEOPLE’S LIVES BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND PEOPLE ARE BEING DELIVERED FROM THE BONDAGE OF SIN…
A. News is going to spread and curiosity will bring those who just want to kick the tires of Christianity
B. Bring in those who just want to take a test drive but not really own it
C. Then the horse trading begins…
1. I want it but I’m just not convinced I should have it – things they don’t want to give up
2. It’s so costly to be a true believer – maybe I’ll just try to make believe
3. I want this but I’m not willing to pay for that
Verse 15 "And they came to see Jesus and him that had been possessed with the devil, and had the legion
Sitting clothed and in his right mind; AND THEY WERE AFRAID."
IT’S THE BIGGEST DECISION OF YOUR LIFE AND TO BE QUITE HONEST IT SHOULD SCARE YOU TO DEATH. NOT ONLY IS OUR SOUL ON THE LINE BUT THE ETERNAL SPIRIT OF OTHER PEOPLE WEIGHS IN THE BALANCE… BECAUSE IF YOU WON’T GIVE UP SOME THINGS THEN YOU WILL NEVER BE A DISCIPLE.
1. If I pastored this church the way some prepare to use their gifts of teaching, singing, preaching, worshiping, witnessing or visiting… oh you know what I’m talking about – JUST A LICK AND A PROMISE…
YOU WOULD RUN ME OFF!
2. Most of the time we want the titles or the recognition but we don’t want to do the job. WHY IS THAT?
TOO HIGH A PRICE TO PAY!!! MIGHT HAVE TO GIVE SOMETHING UP!
3. WE SHOULD ALSO FEAR THE CONSEQUENCE OF OUR SLOPPY CHRISTIANITY ON OTHER PEOPLE’S LIVES WHEN WE GIVE OUR SECOND BEST TO THE MISSION OF JESUS CHRIST. OTHER PEOPLE ARE DEPENDING ON US
Verse 16 and 17 " and they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil and
Also concerning the swine. And they began to pray for Jesus to depart out of their land."
No matter how great the miracle or the potential blessing – MOST PEOPLE WILL REJECT THE COST OF FOLLOWING JESUS. Many pastor’s and preacher’s all over the world would love to see the presence of the Holy Spirit in their church but are unwilling to pay the cost of following Jesus…
What cost am I talking about?
a. preaching the truth instead of what people want to hear – if you come to church and the man
behind the pulpit makes you feel like everything is perfect in your life: YOU NEED TO LEAVE THAT CHURCH AS FAST AS YOU CAN.
HEBREWS SAYS THAT THE WORD OF GOD IS SHARPER THAN ANY SWORD OR
KNIFE IN EXISTENCE ON THIS PLANET, ABLE TO DIVIDE BETWEEN THE DEEPEST PART OF YOUR HEART WHAT THE TRUTH IS… do you think Jesus is getting everything he paid for?
1. Somebody had lost 6000 boston butt pork roasts in about one minute. 3000 pigs got the urge to go surfing and a man and his whole family lost all that they had when they fell from the cliff.
2. Robert Miller lost 8 cows one time from nitrate poisoning
3. It will cost you to follow Jesus my friend
a. may lose some of your old friends
b. may not be as popular as you once were
c. may lose you job
d. won’t be able to do some of the things you once did
THE BIBLE SAYS THAT AS OUR WALK IN THE SPIRIT INCREASES, SO DOES OUR PEACE INCREASE… SO LET US KEEP IN STEP WITH THE SPIRIT.
THREE COSTS OF FOLLOWING JESUS
TIME IS FIRST) Read your bible, study it diligently like you were mining for gold then apply what it
Shown to you by the Holy Spirit.
Get on ;your knees and pray like it is the only thing that matters BECAUSE IN
REALITY IT IS THE ONLY THING THAT CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Come to church and be a part of the body of Christ. You need other True Believers
AND YOU NEED TO COME EVEN WHEN YOU DON’T FEEL LIKE IT.
YOU CAN MAKE AS MANY EXCUSES AS YOU WANT TO ABOUT THE BABY IS SICK, OR MY WORK JUST TAKES UP SO MUCH OF MY TIME OR I NEED TO DO THIS OTHER THING BECAUSE IT JUST CAN’T WAIT.
YOU MAKE TIME FOR THE THINGS YOU REALLY WANT TO DO, SO JUST STOP LYING!
Resist the devil and invest ;your time in the right place – put everything else on hold. Do you know that some of the greatest blessings I have ever received, came on days that I didn’t want to come to church?
TALENT IS SECOND) Use you God given ability and channel that enthusiasm into treasure that will
Last forever. Develop your gift instead of your golf swing.
MONEY IS THIRD) It is going to cost you financially to follow Jesus. Yes you heard me right, God is
Going to reach inside your wallet and take some of that money you love so much.
He has a lost and dying world on his mind and he is going to use his people to reach
Out and share the gospel of his son.
I AM NOT SO FOOLISH AS TO THINK THIS IS A POPULAR MESSAGE FOR YOU TO HEAR. THE TRUTH USUALLY ISN’T RECEIVED WITH GREAT JOY… BUT SOME OF YOU KNOW THAT GOD IS DIGGING DEEP INTO YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW TRYING TO GET YOU TO LISTEN TO HIS MESSAGE AND COUNT THE COST OF FOLLOWING JESUS.
NOT TO JUST HAVE THE OUTWARD APPEARANCE OF BEING A CHRISTIAN, BUT TO HAVE THE INWARD TRANSFORMATION OF FOLLOWING CHRIST JESUS.
Verse 18 – 20 " And when he was come into the ship, him that had been possessed with the devil begged
Him that he might go with him. But Jesus would not let him but charged him to go home
To his friends and family and tell them about the great things God had done in his life and
Share with them the compassion God has had on you. And the man obediently left to tell
About the great thing God had done for him in the area of Decapolis. And all men were
Amazed at his testimony."
ONE MAN MET JESUS THAT DAY AND WAS NEVER THE SAME AGAIN. BY THE DILIGENT AND HIGH COST OF TRULY FOLLOWING JESUS AND DOING WHAT HE WAS TOLD, WHEN JESUS CAME BACK TO THE REGION OF DECAPOLIS THERE WAS A GREAT REVIVAL. ONE MAN THAT MOST PEOPLE WOULD THINK WAS THE LEAST DESERVING OF ALL BECAME THE CATALYST THAT GOD USED TO SEE PEOPLE SAVED.
I WONDER IF WE HAVE REALLY CONSIDERED THE COST?
Once there was a man who owned a shoe store that might have heard a message similar to this one about the high cost of following Jesus. He was scared that the man working for him as a clerk would be offended if he tried to witness to him about salvation, but he shared with him anyway. The clerk accepted Jesus as his Savior and not long afterwards with no education or even any church to ordain him, he began to preach. That clerk was none other than Dwight L. Moody and at one of his meetings another man considered the cost of following Jesus. He invited a famous baseball player to come to the meeting held by D.L. Moody and the man went with him and was saved. That man was Billy Sunday. Another man witnessed the power of God in revival meetings held in his area by preachers like Sunday and Moody and many others and decided to sponsor another great meeting in his hometown with another evangelist. He also invited a country boy to come and hear the preacher at the meeting. That young man was saved that night at the revival meeting and he still is alive today…
We know him as Billy Graham.
What if the man who owned the shoe store had considered the cost too high for personal witness?
Invitation
