The Cost Of Following Jesus

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Sermon: the cost of following Jesus

Luke 9:57-62.

57 And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. 58 And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.59 And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.61 And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. 62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

this passage tells about THREE MEN who Jesus met as He travelled with His disciples. Two of these men declared that they wished to follow Jesus; to become His disciples. The other was one who Jesus Called to follow Him.

The first thing I notice is the way that Jesus handles these three men.

MOST people with a cause are busy trying to recruit as MANY people as they can.

Most preachers are busy trying to get as many members for their church as they possibly can (and most have good intentions).

I like seeing new members myself!

It’s natural. It’s what we expect to see.

But Jesus has a totally different approach.

He seems to spend a great deal of His time trying to Discourage people from following after Him - or at least that’s what it looks like.

A minister shared online some advice that he was given by an older preacher that he greatly respected.

The old man said to him, “Son, always endeavour to keep your church as SMALL as you can!”

That’s strange talk isn’t it?! And that was coming from a man who himself had pastored a large congregation.

what he meant was, preach the truth of God’s salvation, and the demands of following Jesus, SO CLEARLY that ONLY those who have counted the cost and are ready to give up Everything for Christ will join themselves to you.

it’s my desire to see as many people as possible come to Christ - I pray to see them come in the hundreds and even thousands -

BUT I DON‘T JUST WANT TO GET A CROWD . . . that doesn’t interest me at all!

I want to see men and women, young people, boys and girls turning to Christ with whole hearts; becoming TRUE sold out disciples of the Jesus

it’s interesting to read of Jesus’ way of dealing with those who expressed a desire to follow Him; He seems to be trying to DISCOURAGE them. BUT NOT REALLY.

In truth Jesus’ desire is that people WILL follow Him - but He wants them to think it through first . . . to count the cost involved . . . so that once they DO follow Him they’ll never turn back.

Even as He spells out what is required in such clear, shocking terms, inside He is longing for them to accept him- He’s rooting for them - but the cost is the cost . . . it’s non-negotiable . . Jesus wants them to be prepared for it.

I want to preach about these three men who Jesus confronted with His demands, and consider with me “THE COST OF FOLLOWING JESUS”.

We read about the first man in VERSES 57-58.

57 And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. 58 And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head

And from Jesus’ conversation with him we learn that: