Episode Transcript
[00:00:04] And we're picking up the story of Jesus in Luke 9, verse 43 to 62. And today I want to be talking about the cost of following Jesus. And as I've been preparing this message in the past week or so, I've been really challenged by the concept of cost and the juxtaposition between the gift of salvation, which has been given to us for free by Jesus, which we did not need to strike or work for as it was freely given to us. But the reality is that although God paid that wage for our sin, he paid death itself. It says the wages of sin are death, and Jesus paid that for us. We're also living in this way where in order to fully follow Jesus, there's going to be a cost to our flesh and our lives here on earth.
[00:00:47] I feel that there's been moments this week where it's become really easy to be complacent in our walks of God and how quickly we can become comfortable in just going through the motions and the demands of each day, neglecting the mission and mandate of our lives as Christians, and that we should be seeking God above all else and to work towards bringing his kingdom on earth. So I'm going to do a quick recap. Hopefully I'm going to be done in the next half an hour. Okay.
[00:01:15] If we can go get kids at about 5:2, that'd be amazing.
[00:01:19] But I'm just going to recap where we are. If you've missed any of the previous teachings or messages, they all end up on Spotify or online, so you can always go and listen back. Or if I've talked too quickly and you just want to recap what maybe I've said, you could do that too.
[00:01:33] So scholars believe that where we're at now in the story, Jesus would have been about three years into his ministry on earth and the disciples would have been with him throughout these three years. They would have seen him heal the sick. They would have seen him calm stormy seas. They would have.
[00:01:49] He had these closest disciples, Peter, James and John. At the transfiguration that Phil talked about last week, they saw Elijah and Moses appear in glorious light and begin to converse with Jesus. And then they heard the voice of God Almighty from the clouds proclaim that this is my son. You need to listen to what he's saying.
[00:02:09] Mind boggling stuff from a cloud that would knock me off my feet. But as they are coming down this mountain, a father has approached Jesus and he's begged him to drive a demon out from his son. And that's where we pick up in Scripture. So from verse 42, let's read it together.
[00:02:24] So even while the boy was coming, the demon threw him to the ground in a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the impure spirit, healed the boy and gave him back to his father. And they were all amazed at the greatness of God.
[00:02:36] While everyone was marveling at all that Jesus did, he said to his disciples, listen carefully to what I'm about to tell you.
[00:02:43] The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. But they did not understand what this meant. It was hidden from them so that they did not grasp it and they were afraid to ask him about it.
[00:02:54] An argument started amongst his disciples to which of them they said, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
[00:03:01] And Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took the little child and had him stand beside him. Then he said to them, whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me. And whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For it is the one who is the least among you all, who is the greatest Master, said John, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he is not one of us.
[00:03:23] Do not stop him. Jesus said, for whoever is not against you, you is for you.
[00:03:30] At that time, for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. And he sent messengers on ahead who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him. But the people there did not welcome him because he was heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples, James and John saw this, they asked, lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven and destroy them?
[00:03:52] But Jesus turned and rebuked them.
[00:03:54] Then he and his disciples went to another village, and this is the bit we're going to be looking at primarily today. As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, I will follow wherever you go.
[00:04:06] So Jesus replied, foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.
[00:04:15] He said to another man, come, follow me. But he replied, lord, first let me go and bury my father.
[00:04:22] Jesus said to him, let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.
[00:04:27] Still another said, I will follow you, Lord, but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.
[00:04:33] Jesus replied, no one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.
[00:04:40] Lord, we pray your word would speak to us this morning. We pray that it would Be your words, Lord, that hit home and anything that you don't want us to hear, would it just fall away? Lord, we give you all the honour and all the glory in Jesus name. Amen.
[00:04:54] So we read in verse 51 that the time is coming for Jesus to be taken up to heaven. And so he started on his journey towards Jerusalem.
[00:05:02] This is his final journey. Jesus is going to fit an awful lot into this short space between him getting to Jerusalem and his time on the cross.
[00:05:12] And the first thing he does but on this journey is to speak to ordinary men along the road about what following him is really going to mean.
[00:05:21] Jesus knows that he's not going to be staying on this earth. And so to trust and follow him when he is not with his people in the flesh is going to look different to how the disciples have been doing it while he's been with them all this time.
[00:05:32] How are you going to be able to fully serve and believe in God when they will no longer be able to see him?
[00:05:39] And in verses 57 to 62, Jesus speaks to three different men about the reality of what following him is going to look like. These men that have approached Jesus saying they will follow him, they've likely been following him for a long time, being part of those bigger crowds that have kind of gone through the journey with him. They would have heard him challenging the religious leaders and the Jewish and Roman citizens on their beliefs and conduct without fear of the consequences.
[00:06:04] They likely would have heard the way he speaks about things and had their own courage stirred.
[00:06:09] Or perhaps they're wondering if this is the Messiah, the one who's going to free them from the oppression of the Roman Empire.
[00:06:15] And I imagine this man, this first man, coming alongside Jesus, fists clenched, teeth gritted, testosterone pumping through his body, before he determinedly turns to Jesus and boldly declares, I will follow you wherever you go.
[00:06:29] And then I imagine as Jesus starts to answer him, I can kind of see his face, face begin to drop as he begins to realize that following Jesus may not quite be the picture that he had in mind.
[00:06:44] Jesus said to him, foxes and dens and birds. Foxes have dens and birds have nests. But the Son of Man is nowhere to lay his head. Jesus makes the difference between him and man really clear here. And that is that is not here to make himself comfortable on this earth, but but to roam wherever he feels the Father may be asking him to go. It would have been easy for Jesus to succumb to the temptations and comforts that the world have to offer him.
[00:07:10] It would have Been easy in this moment for him to have turned from his path to Jerusalem and gone. Sorry God, I don't really fancy dying. I don't really fancy taking that pain on me.
[00:07:22] Sorry, Father. Salvation for your kids is going to cost too much. I'm not up for it.
[00:07:27] Jesus didn't do this though. He looked at the bigger picture, this beautiful image of his children running to him, arms outstretched, their shame and sin being left at the foot of the cross. And he would have been hung there, embracing that fullness of life that he's planned for each and every one of them. And he looks at you and I choosing to let go of the things that once held us back, our fractured decisions and deeds and desires, and that those things we leave behind any finds that as his divine motivation to continue in the journey and the purpose that the Father has ordained for Him.
[00:08:02] We often read Hebrews 12, verse 1 to 2 as motivation to keep our eyes on Jesus. But whilst I was reading this passage again earlier this week, I felt that I could see it from Jesus eyes and I saw these little children coming running up to Him.
[00:08:16] So I'm just going to read it aloud.
[00:08:18] Therefore, since we are surrounded by a great crowd of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and that since so easily entangles, let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer, perfecter of our faith, for the joy that was set before Him. He endured the cross scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
[00:08:43] I wouldn't have looked at the brutal torture and crucifixion of the cross and gone. Yippee.
[00:08:49] I wouldn't have looked at that cross and felt that it was joyful like it's describing in this passage here. But Jesus, in His perfect love, looked at you and I, and His heart and spirit was stirred to joy. And so he went to the cross, knowing we might never choose him, and paid the price of sin. Jesus chose not to settle for the temporary pleasures, comforts and treasures, but instead took delight in the end result of God's kingdom reigning here on earth as it is in heaven. Heaven.
[00:09:16] Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.
[00:09:21] I love how James R. Edwards puts this. He says animals can adapt to nature, but the Son of Man had not been sent into the world to adapt to it.
[00:09:30] Jesus did not come to conform to the patterns of this world, but to demonstrate the kingdom of God.
[00:09:36] We are called to Live the same way. In Romans 12:2, it says, do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed, transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is. His good, pleasing and perfect will.
[00:09:54] The patterns of this world are things which oppose the kingdom of God, for one, societal norms and values which do not align with Scripture. In our human nature, it feels more comfortable to go with the flow and to remain silent on ethical, political and cultural conversations and narratives happening around us.
[00:10:10] We so often allow our voice to be silent on these matters as we may feel self conscious. We might be fearful of rejection, fearful of what other people might say about our beliefs, and we're worried about causing offence.
[00:10:24] If, as followers of Jesus, we're not willing to hold to the word of God as the decider of our values, beliefs and behaviors, or we pick and choose the parts of Scripture which we like and ignore the whole truth it offers to us us, then the reality is that we've created our own God and replaced it for the one true living God whose words are in this book.
[00:10:44] There will be things in the scripture that will convict you, that will challenge you, and that's not a bad thing. Because conviction leads to repentance, which leads to forgiveness and freedom. In Christ Jesus. We need to let go of our people, pleasing to let go of the comfortable place in society we've unhelpfully made for ourselves and be willing to wrestle with these uncomfortable conversations for the sake of the Gospel and advancing the kingdom.
[00:11:09] I love what Christine DeMarco says. She says nothing in my life was more painful and yet beneficial to realize that Jesus might not share my entire worldview.
[00:11:18] I was busy and concerned defending ideals, but he was busy laying down his life for people.
[00:11:25] Are we willing to lay down our fear of rejection and fear of man for the sake of showing the world around us the true and powerful love of God? God.
[00:11:33] Are we willing to sit in the uncomfortable, to lead people into the light?
[00:11:40] The cost of comfort. Second point. Particularly in the Western world, we're constantly being fed with a narrative of consumerism.
[00:11:47] Some studies suggest that each of us will see thousands of advertisements each day. I don't know about you, but they're popping up left, right and centre. Can't even watch a whole episode of something on Amazon prime without some advert about Vodafone popping up or something like that.
[00:11:59] And these ads, they're telling us that we have to have the most up to date phone or gadget, the fastest car, the Biggest house, copious amounts of hobbies and tasks to keep us busy and to help us feel a sense of personal achievement. We're told we need all these things to be happy in this life and we end up actually wasting our life in pursuit of material things which will mean nothing to us when we get to the end days.
[00:12:23] Matthew 16:24 26 says, Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me. What good will it be for man to gain the whole world and yet forfeit their soul?
[00:12:36] We will waste our lives if we spend them fixated on the material things of this world which we cannot take with us into eternity. The only thing we can take into eternity is our brothers and sisters in Christ.
[00:12:49] We do not need all these material things the world says we do in order to be happy and fulfilled.
[00:12:54] You just need Jesus. I just need Jesus and solely Jesus. Psalm 23 verse 1 declares, the Lord is my shepherd, I have everything that I need.
[00:13:06] And discipleship is about the journey of following Jesus. But you cannot grow if you stay within this comfortable zone that you are in.
[00:13:15] Jesus is saying to this first man here in the scriptures that we need to be willing to give up the desires of our flesh, the things that we feel comfortable to us, to grow in our awe and adoration of who God is. When you learn to trust God to be your provision above all else, the anxieties of God, how will I turn into belief of God? I know you will.
[00:13:35] The Bible Society recently completed a UK wide study which reported a quiet revival amongst teenagers and young adults. I've been banging on about it for the past few months. It has stirred my spirit and encouraged me so much to see an increase in young people coming into the church, particularly young men which we have not seen for the past past few decades, who are giving up their time, who they want to seek the truth of who this Jesus is.
[00:13:58] And I believe, and I am more sure than ever of the importance of consistent intercession in spiritual fathers and mothers. And also those sacrifices of time, energy and finance into ministering to this generation.
[00:14:12] Last week we had 23 children in Discoveryland.
[00:14:16] We've had five young adults say yes to Jesus and go through the waters of baptism just this year.
[00:14:21] And we have teenagers coming through the doors of DEO glory every Friday night in search of faith filled community.
[00:14:27] If there was ever a time to be investing in the younger generation, it is now. I cannot stress that enough. It is now. It's not just because we're overseeing the noughts to 30s. It's because we are seeing this in our nation today.
[00:14:41] I wonder if, as we take this next step of growth as a church, as we head to Stover, as we're growing in size and number and in maturity, I wonder if there are some of us that God is stirring to step outside of their comfort zone and commit to his mission.
[00:14:55] Just a few verses after the passage we've read today. I know Graham's speaking on it next week, but Luke 10:2 says, the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field.
[00:15:08] The harvest is ripe across the generations. Right now the spirit is stirring the hearts of the young and the old to turn towards him, but the workers are few.
[00:15:16] What if God is calling you to step out of your comfort zone and to come alongside the church body to see a generation, to see Newton, Abbott and beyond encapsulated in his deep love and purpose of God? What if breakthrough is just on the other side of your comfort zone? What if revival is just one more step outside of that comfort zone? Lord, would you stir up our spirits for your kingdom? Help us to hear what comforts are stopping us from following you with everything and lay them aside in the name of Jesus.
[00:15:45] The second thing that discipleship and following Jesus will cost us is the cost of control.
[00:15:51] Jesus turns to this next man in verses 59 to 60 and he says, follow me. But the other man replies, lord, first let me go and bury my father. Jesus said to him, let the dead bury their own dead, and you go proclaim the kingdom of God.
[00:16:08] Seems like a pretty harsh response from Jesus here. Not gonna lie, but I don't believe he's disrespecting the man's grief or his family responsibilities here. If Jesus did not understand the importance of these things, he would not have wept at the grave of Lazarus before he raised him from the dead, and he would not have given his mother Mary to his disciple John to be cared for when he's hanging on the cross. Jesus understands that these things are important and that they matter.
[00:16:32] But what I believe he is saying that these things should not be reasons for us not to follow him.
[00:16:37] This man is not saying no to following Jesus, but he's just trying to delay the call to fit his own timelines and plans. I often hear Christians say, I'll be able to serve God more when my kids have grown up, or I'll be able to serve God more when my work is less busy, or I'll be able to Serve God more when I'm more financially stable or when I finish my education, or you end up going, oh, I really hope Jesus won't come back yet, because I've not had a baby yet or. Or I've not been married yet, or I've not had a relationship, or I've not achieved this big dream of mine. And what we're doing is we're trying to barter with God, to allow to remain in control of our own timelines and plans, rather than submitting them to the feet of Jesus. And who knows that God's plans are better than our own? It says, I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you hope and a future. In Jeremiah 29:11, his plans are far beyond anything that we could know or dream of.
[00:17:28] And yet we still try and hang on and remain in control.
[00:17:32] When Jesus calls, we should be dropping everything and picking up that phone. We should be answering that call straight away, not putting him on silent, not delaying the call until a later date, not saying, I'll text you back later.
[00:17:43] We need to be answering that call straight away.
[00:17:46] Delayed obedience is still disobedience in the Old Testament. In the Book of Numbers, in Deuteronomy, it tells the story of Joshua and Caleb and some of the other Israelite tribe leaders who they were told to go into the land that God had promised to the Israelites, scout it out, come back and let us know how it is, because we want to. God has promised this land to us, so we're going to take our armies and go and take this land for ourselves.
[00:18:10] However, when the spies returned, they began to whisper amongst one another about all the giants that were there, about the strong men, about the strong armies. And they became fearful and doubtful to the plans of what God had for them.
[00:18:23] They delayed their obedience to follow the call and command of God to take the land. And so God decided that not only will the Israelites not enter the promised land for 40 years, but nobody over the age of 20 was going to be allowed to go with the exception of Joshua and Caleb. And he says this about Caleb in Numbers 14:24. Because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly. I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it. God saw the difference between the delayed obedience of the Israelites and the wholehearted serving of Caleb. And he took delight in Caleb. I want God to take delight in me. I wish and I hope that my life would be a wholehearted serving of him.
[00:19:07] But I know there are times when I will hang on to that level of control.
[00:19:10] We can't follow Jesus faithfully whilst insisting on our own conditions and controlling the plan. Plan discipleship doesn't run on your calendar, but runs on his call.
[00:19:20] A few years ago, when James and I were newly married, we had this couple come and stay with us for a little while. And they were meant to stay with us for three weeks. And we felt really strongly that God had told us that we were not to give them an end date to the time that they were going to be leaving.
[00:19:34] And three weeks slowly turned into a month, which turned into two months, which turned into three months and so on.
[00:19:39] And I was really, really struggling with it. I was struggling with not seeing the point of it. I was kind of like, God, surely you're a provider. You can just make their house sell, have them go into their new house, and they won't be here anymore. I liked having control of the food I ate, the way my house was run, the way my day to day was kind of there. I liked having my own space. And I was really struggling with giving God that control in that season of our lives.
[00:20:06] And James is a much better Christian than I am when I say this, but we got to about six months and I remember I sat in the car with James and I said to him, james, I need them out. I can't do it anymore. It's too much.
[00:20:18] It's not that they're bad people. It's not there's anything wrong with them. I just want my house back. It's mine. I want my space. I just want my house back. And James reminded me, he goes, but God's told us not to give them an end date. And I kind of dug my heels in and I'm afraid my humanity won out on me. And I said, james, they gotta go. Or I, you know, they just have to go now. You've got to have that conversation. I'm not having the conversation, but they gotta go. And so James was in this for a couple of days, wrestling with this of my wife is saying, they need to go, but God has told me something else and who do you listen to?
[00:20:53] James did the right thing and listened to God, which I'm really, really pleased he did. He went to go and have this conversation with them a few days later. And before he'd even opened his mouth, they said, our house is sold and will be moved out in the week.
[00:21:05] My frustration, irritation, holding onto that control in that season meant that I actually missed out on some of the good things that God was doing during that time.
[00:21:17] But because James was willing to offer that control to God and say, hey, this season is really hard right now, but God, we just give you control and we know you'll come through.
[00:21:28] Within those few, literally within days of our conversation, their house had solid and they'd moved out.
[00:21:35] And they're wonderful people, they're lovely. It's nothing against them. But I was not willing to give God complete control of my life.
[00:21:41] And if we're not willing to do that, we will forever be chasing an empty life.
[00:21:46] When we give God complete control of our lives, his peace sustains us even in the sufferings and things we can't understand.
[00:21:52] If we trust that God is in control, we. We can let go of our anxiety and hand it over to him.
[00:21:59] And finally, the cost of commitment.
[00:22:05] In verses 61 to 62, he says still another said, I will follow you, Lord, but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.
[00:22:13] Jesus replied, no one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.
[00:22:19] Again, saying goodbye to your family before leaving them for a really long time, I don't think is an unreasonable request. I'm just, I'm just putting that out there. Jesus, don't think it's an unreasonable request. But what I love in this passage is some of the Old Testament imagery that's been coming through in this chapter in regard to identifying key differences between Jesus the Messiah and between the prophets such as Moses and Elijah. You have the transfiguration which Phil spoke on last week, where God the Father makes it clear that when Jesus is presented alongside Moses and Elijah, that is Jesus, Jesus that should be listened to and adhered to.
[00:22:53] And then you have James and John, who for some reason think that because they've spent time with Elijah on this mountain, they can now call down fire from heaven and just wipe out an entire Samaritan village just because they feel like it.
[00:23:05] Just because Elijah did it and it burnt his altar. I don't know why they thought that, but they did. But then you've got this man who was likely a Jew, and he's asked Jesus if, just as Elijah permitted Elisha to go and say goodbye to his family before following Elijah, if he could do the same.
[00:23:23] The Jews believed a prophet like Elijah or Elijah himself would return prior to the coming of the Messiah. And these parallels between Elijah and Jesus emphasize that Jesus is not just a good man or a mere prophet, but he is the true living God.
[00:23:38] I believe the text is highlighting that we can all choose to follow someone with good intentions.
[00:23:44] It's inspirational. Who walks in the purpose of God, but we cannot elevate them above our own following of Jesus.
[00:23:50] We can listen to people with wisdom who know the things of God, but they do not replace the word of God. We can choose to commit to a church family. I hope you commit to our church family. I love this church family. You're all so beautiful. You're also wonderful and God's doing amazing things amongst us.
[00:24:07] But we shouldn't be committing to a church, family, denomination or movement and letting that replace the individual mandate on each of our lives to pursue and follow Jesus.
[00:24:17] Jesus is not just a good man with nice ideas and values for us to pick and choose from. He's the King of Kings, he's the Lord of Lords, God himself. He's the beginning and the end. He's the one true living God and He is worthy of our commitment.
[00:24:33] I think the Jews at this time were so focused on looking to their history with God that they were missing out on the present of what Jesus was doing amongst them in the flesh. They kept looking back wistfully at the good old days and they were unable to comprehend the miraculous and the mission of what God was doing amongst them in person.
[00:24:50] If we waste our lives looking back at what it used to look like before we met Christ or when we were on fire once upon a time, we're going to miss out on what God is doing here and now.
[00:25:04] If there are ties to our old lives which keep us locked in sin, temptation and distractions, then our commitment will be loose and lukewarm.
[00:25:14] Revelation 3, verses 15 to 16 makes it clear. It says, I know your deeds, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish you were either one or the other. So because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I'm about to spit you out of my mouth.
[00:25:30] To be a disciple of Jesus, to be his follower, he asks for wholehearted commitment to his call. He asks for our commitment to him to burn with passion and for our hearts to be moved by what moves his heart. I don't want to get to the end of this life and be told I was too comfortable, too controlling of my own life, or lacking commitment to the things that God asked me to do while I was here on this earth.
[00:25:53] Jesus replied to a teacher of the law about what the greatest commandment was in Mark. And in Mark 12, 30, 31, it says, Love the Lord your God with all your Heart with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. Above all else. As a Christian, as a follower of Jesus, we're asked for our whole hearts, our whole soul, whole mind, whole strength. We are not asked to be torn between different priorities and agendas, but for our whole being to be committed to the following Jesus in whatever and wherever he may call us. If our heart is divided between good and evil, the desires of the flesh and what the spirit is wanting between other priorities and commitments, then we're not fulfilling the call to commitment which Jesus has asked for.
[00:26:46] The imagery that Jesus used here is that of a plough. And as we're living in Devon, my hope is that most of us will understand how a plough works. But I did not grow up in Devon. I grew up elsewhere. But I did grow up watching Little House on the Prairie and watching Michael Landon push the plough through the fields with little Laura Ingalls running on behind her.
[00:27:07] But so, in order to keep a plough in a straight line, the farmer needs to keep his eyes on where the horses are leading the plough and guide them in a straight line.
[00:27:17] The moment the farmer looks behind him, the horses will go off course and the ground will be ruined and unfit for planting.
[00:27:25] If we keep looking back, our walks with the Lord will be messy and unfit for purpose.
[00:27:31] If we keep getting pulled back into sin, distraction, comfort, control.
[00:27:36] We're telling Jesus that we're only willing to follow him on our terms and not at the cost he's set for us.
[00:27:44] We cannot call Jesus Lord, as the men in this passage do, and then impose limits to His Lordship.
[00:27:50] He is either Lord of our lives or he's just a good idea.
[00:27:56] The cost and call of following Jesus, Jesus has said it, laid it out really clearly.
[00:28:03] In verses 23 to 25, it says, whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me daily. Take up your cross and follow Him. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it. But whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world and yet lose or forfeit their very self?
[00:28:26] The cost of being a disciple of Jesus for following him is really clear. We're to take up our cross daily and follow Him. The day you say yes to Jesus is purely the acknowledgement that God is real and Jesus was who he said he was.
[00:28:41] The way you choose to live your life from that day forward determines whether you are his disciple. And following Him.
[00:28:47] This is a choice you make every morning. When you wake up as to whether you're willing to pay the cost of your comfort, your control, and your commitment to his divine plans and purposes that day and then for the rest of your days.
[00:29:02] And it is costly. It's really painful to say yes to this call.
[00:29:07] But following Jesus is absolutely, without a doubt, the best decision you will ever make of your life.
[00:29:13] A life following Jesus is a life filled with unconditional love, immense joy, wonder and awe unlike anything you've ever known.
[00:29:22] A life following Jesus is rewarding, filled with blessings, and brings complete satisfaction and fulfilment.
[00:29:29] If you live your life in unity with God and His plans and purposes for you, when you get to the end of your days, there will be no fear or turmoil, but rather a peace of eternity with the Father.
[00:29:40] My favorite verse in the Bible is John 10:10, which says, the thief only comes to steal, kill and destroy. But I have come that you may have life and life in all of its fullness.
[00:29:50] This scripture reminds us that a life following Jesus is a life which is full, full of love, full of hope. A full life means even when I'm weak and feel empty, God is able to sustain and restore me to full, to the fullness that he promises to us.
[00:30:04] A life following Jesus is a full life. But the Bible never promises us that it will be an easy life.
[00:30:10] Instead, it seems to promise us the complete opposite.
[00:30:14] It seems to promise us that we will experience persecution, hardship and suffering as a result of following Jesus.
[00:30:21] I'm a big fan of the Harry Potter series, hence why Ron Weasley is up behind me.
[00:30:26] And I think he summarises the life of Jesus pretty well. You're going to suffer, but you're going to be happy about it.
[00:30:34] And if you want the biblical version, Romans 5, verse 3 to 5 says, not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings. Because we know suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character, and character, hope.
[00:30:48] And hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who's been given to us.
[00:30:55] The cost of following Jesus means that we lay down our comforts, we relinquish control, and we commit to God wholeheartedly.
[00:31:06] Lawson, would you just come up? Is that okay? We're just going to pray and close, but there's two things I want to do. Would you stand with me?
[00:31:14] Just to finish up. I just want to highlight just a couple of these things that we've chatted about.
[00:31:21] The cost of following Jesus is a cost. It is Costly, but it is worth every single decision to wake up and daily take up your cross and follow him.
[00:31:35] So there's two calls that I want to do this morning. And the first one is that if you've never said yes to Jesus, you've never accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior. You've heard today about the cost of following Jesus. And I admit I've probably made it sound quite hard, and that's because it is hard.
[00:31:50] But it is the best decision that you will ever make.
[00:31:53] And as wild as it sounds, you can feel something stirring in your spirit telling you that this is true, real, and actually you're really willing to commit to this call in your life.
[00:32:02] So with kind of heads, bows and eyes closed, I'm just going to tell you the gospel.
[00:32:09] And the gospel is this, that while we were still sinners, while we were trapped in darkness, Jesus, in all his glory as God himself, came down as a tiny baby, as a tiny, innocent human in all its purity and all its vulnerability.
[00:32:27] And he lived a full life to his adulthood, where he experienced pain, suffering and loss, like we all do, too, where he was tempted, like we are, but he did not give in to it.
[00:32:39] That he looked at you and I throughout his time here on Earth and set, they are worth it.
[00:32:44] And so he went to the cross. He was tortured, beaten, abused by those around him. A perfect man without fault.
[00:32:54] And he went to the cross anyway.
[00:32:56] But he didn't stay there. Three days later, he rose again from the grave, and he's now returned to glory.
[00:33:02] And he's calling you and I to make a decision that we are going to pay the cost of following Jesus, that we will lay down control of our lives, that we will commit to all the goodness that he has for us.
[00:33:14] And so if that's you for the first time this morning, I would love it if you just pop a hand up, give us a little wave, just so we know who you are. I'd love to include you in a prayer.
[00:33:24] And if there's no one, that's okay. But I would hate to waste this moment. Do not waste this moment. If that's you and you're worried about popping your hand up, no one's looking.
[00:33:31] No one can see you except for Jesus. And he sees you and he loves you.
[00:33:36] Thank you, Lord. We just pray for your precious soul this morning, Father, and we pray that you would bless them, they would encounter you afresh, that they would know the goodness of the Lord amongst us. This morning.
[00:33:53] I pray, Lord, that they would empty themselves out of any Sin any distraction and give themselves to you fully. Would your love just come, Come and encounter them afresh in the name of Jesus.
[00:34:06] And the second call I want to give is that if you're a Christian and you've been following Jesus for however long, but you're here today and you feel as though your devotion and commitment has been divided, then this is a space now to come before the throne of God, to repent, to receive his grace, and to take up your cross once again today. Like it says, to take up your cross daily and to commit to the call once again.
[00:34:30] If there are comforts which you need to lay down, if there's control that you need to hand over, or sin and distractions which are causing you to stumble and look back, then I encourage you to make that decision, to come back into alignment with the call of God. The call is costly, but it is worth it.
[00:34:50] If you want someone to pray with you this morning, there's going to be some of our pastoral and just some of our lead team at the front. We're going to let Lawson lead us in a time of worship. But don't waste these moments. Don't just go through the motions now of just engaging with the worship. But if that's you and you need to recommit to the call that God has on your life, then now's the time to do that. Lord, we just pray with your spirit. Stir each and every one of us, Lord. Help us to lay down the things that feel comfortable to us, that we would not be fearful of what other people think of us, Lord. Lord, but rather we would be so caught up in just pleasing you and how you see us, Lord, that all the other things would fade away. Lord, we pray we would lay down our comforts in order to see your kingdom progress here on earth. We pray we'd be generous with the things that you have blessed us with, Lord. We pray that if there are things in our lives that we're hanging on to, that we're keeping control of, would we lay them down at the feet of Jesus and surrender them and say, lord, you can have the wheel, Lord, I pray we'd stop leaning over from the passenger seat and trying to put the car back on the road. But I thank you that you are our driver.
[00:35:55] And I pray, Lord, that we would commit wholeheartedly, just as Caleb did, just as Jesus did when he went to the cross, just as your disciples did in the early church, that we would commit wholeheartedly to the call and that we would be willing to live a costly life for the sake of the gospel. There are people out there that need Jesus. There are people that are broken and hurting and sick. Sick. And we believe in a God who can step in and restore and heal. So we pray in the name of Jesus that we would come back to the foot of the cross, acknowledge the cost of what you did for us. As we prayed earlier, as we sung earlier, that you paid such a price for us, Lord, would we not waste our lives and take that gift for granted? In the name of Jesus, we pray.
[00:36:40] Amen.
