The Secrets of True Living
Luke 14:25-35
October 5, 2003
Morning Service
“If you’re not doing something with your life, it doesn’t matter how long it is.” Peace Corps Commercial
Life without Christ is merely existing
There is no possible way to truly express what belief in Christ does to a person’s life. When Jesus enters into a persons life, they cannot remain the same.
Life without Christ is not living, it is just being alive. There are so many people going through the routine of existence that they miss out on living. They get so busy searching for something to fill their emptiness that they completely miss the true meaning of life.
Mere Christian existence
Once Christ enters into a persons life they can truly experience life. Let me ask you a hard question: are you really living out the life that Christ has given to you or are you just going through the motions.
There is a massive difference between living the Christian life and just doing a bunch of Christian “stuff”. We sometimes become so busy being active in the church that we miss out on the deeper realities of walking with Christ. We sometimes become so comfortable with our Christian routine that we miss out on truly knowing Christ
In the movie, Angus Tuck told Winnie “Do not fear death but fear the unlived life.” This morning I want to run with that thought and ask you some important questions about life and how we are meant to live it as followers of Jesus.
So let me ask you two important questions: What does it mean to truly live for Christ? What are the secrets of truly living for Christ?
25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple. 27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28 "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29 For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30 saying, `This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’
31 "Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. 34 "Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? 35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.
"He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
I. The first secret to truly living for Christ is dying to ourselves (25-27)
Jesus is searching the world for people who will follow Him with a single minded dedication and a whole hearted passion.
It was in 1873, in Dublin that D.L. Moody heard British evangelist Henry Varley utter those life changing words: "The world has yet to see what God can do with and for and through and in a man who is fully and wholly consecrated to Him."
The simple fact is that Jesus wants to be first in your life. He wants to hold the primary place in every area and every aspect of your life.
Does Jesus actually want us to hate our family? Absolutely not! Jesus is making an exagerated statement to make the point that our supreme loyalty belongs only to Him.
Jesus wants to hold the primary place in your relationships
He wants to take precedence in your relationship to your parents
He wants to take precedence in your relationship with your spouse
He wants to take precedence in your relationship with your children
Jesus wants to hold the primary place in your priorities
He wants to take precedence over your family
He wants to take precedence over your job
He wants to take precedence anything and everything in your life
Jesus wants to hold the primary place in your dedication
Jesus calls you to a complete and absolute dedication. He wants nothing to come before Him in your life. The reality of Christianity is this: Jesus died to be your savior and lives to be your Lord
Jesus leaves no room for doubt or misunderstanding on this issue; He expects every believer to place Him first in their lives. When Jesus says to “carry your cross” it means that you follow Him no matter what the personal cost.
When you carry your cross it means that you will no longer live for yourself but rather that you will live completely for Christ.
When you carry your cross it means that you will do things Christ’s way instead of your way.
Have you given Jesus the primary place in every area of your life or have you given Him only bits and pieces of your life?
II. The second secret to truly living for Christ is considering the cost (28-30)
What has it cost you to follow Christ? Think about it for a moment. Some of you here are experiencing an unlived Christian life because you’re afraid of what it might cost you.
How much did your salvation cost Jesus? The answer is everything!
Jesus gave up His throne in heaven for the lowliness of the Bethlehem manger
Jesus gave up the praise of angels for the scorn of the unrighteous
Jesus had lived since before the dawn of time and He tasted death, so you could experience eternal life
When you stop and think about it, the exchange that Jesus offers you is incredible. Jesus died the death that you deserved and was raised again to give you a life you could never deserve.
III. The third secret to truly living for Christ is surrendering everything (31-33)
The simple fact of the matter is this: it cost Jesus everything to give you what you don’t deserve and the right to follow Him. Jesus asks that you surrender everything in return.
You need to give up what you cannot keep in order to gain what you can never lose.
Some of you here are experiencing an unlived Christian life because you have never surrendered everything over to Jesus. It is impossible for you to experience the fullness of life without giving everything over to Christ. It is impossible for you to serve Christ 100% without being surrendered 100%.
The concept of surrender is to place your will completely under the will of another and this is a somewhat foreign aspect in our walk with Christ. Too often we hold back areas of our lives that we just aren’t willing to give up.
The truth is that we want to hold on to “little” areas of our lives that are sinful in small ways.
We hold on to just a little bit of gossip and destructive talk
We hold on to just a little bit of lust for the opposite sex
We hold on to just a little bit of dishonesty
We hold on to just a little bit of anger and resentment
We hold on to just a little bit of jealousy and bitterness
We hold on to just a little bit of our possessions and our time
We hold on to just a little, not enough to make us feel guilty but enough to hold us back in our relationship with Christ
IV. The fourth secret to truly living for Christ is perseverance in our dedication (34-35)
Salt was used for many things in the days of Jesus. It was used to preserve, to flavor and to heal. The salt we use today is not the same because of our ability to purify it. So there is little chance that it will go bad but in Christ’s time salt was filled with impurities that often allowed it to go bad.
Just as salt can lose its effectiveness, Christians can lose their passion and their productivity.
Some of you are experiencing an unlived Christian life because you doubt that Christ can use you for His Kingdom and thus you lose your passion and productivity.
Let me tell you a little secret about Jesus. He has the habit of using the ordinary to accomplish the extraordinary.
Jesus used a couple of sardine size fish and a few biscuit sized barley loaves to feed over 5000 people
Jesus six jars of water to create top of the line wine to save a couple’s wedding day
Jesus used a little bit of dirt and some spit to heal a blind man
Jesus used a handful of common uneducated men to turn the world upside down
In the hands of Jesus the ordinary does the extraordinary, the mundane becomes miraculous and the impossible becomes possible.
Conclusion
When Cortez landed at Vera Cruz in 1519 to begin his conquest of Mexico with small force of 700 men, he purposely set fire to his fleet of 11 ships. His men on the shore watched their only means of retreat sinking to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. With no means of retreat, there was only one direction to move, forward into the Mexican interior to meet whatever might come their way.
The same is true of the Christian life because we have been called by Christ to “burn the ships” and wholeheartedly move forward in living our lives for Him. Today, what ships need to burn for you to truly live for Christ?
Do you need to burn the ship of personal selfishness?
Do you need to burn the ship of an unsurrendered heart?
Do you need to burn the ship of a doubt filled faith?
Today is the day to burn the ships in your life and start living the life Christ has waiting for you!
