Being Christ’s Disciple: Put Christ First “Love so Great it Looks like Hate” Nick Peterson

Luke 14:25-33 25 Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

2 Essential Questions What is the cost of following Christ? What is the gain of following Christ?

Matthew 10:37 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

Genesis 29:30-31 30 So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban for another seven years. 31 When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. 13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. Luke 16:13

"No man can serve two masters. Right? He'll love one and hate the other. It doesn't mean that he has a psychological hatred toward the one; it simply means that in effect, de facto, if you have two that you love and they come into conflict, somebody is going to be treated one way and somebody is going to be treated another way. It is a de facto hatred in the sense that if God says this is what I expect of you, this is what I want from you, and your family says we don't want that, we want this, you do what God says, you, therefore, have expressed love to God and you have treated your family as if you hated them because you have no regard for what they ask when it comes into conflict with what God demands." - John MacArthur

"You may not have to give up anything, but the surrender must be just as real in your heart as if it had to be carried out in act and deed.“ - Charles Spurgeon

"The Lord may not take everything "The Lord may not take everything. He won't take, necessarily, those things that are good and those things that are virtuous. He wants to take the things that are blatantly wicked and evil. But He just wants you to put it all down there. He may take it; He may not. He may take your possessions; He may not. But the point is it doesn't matter to you because you understand the value of what you're receiving and you are confessing Him as Lord. Anything less than that, Jesus said, you can't be My disciple.“ - John MacArthur

Matthew 13:44 44 "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field."

Mark 10:28-30 28 Peter began to say to him, "See, we have left everything and followed you." 29 Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life."

"We see that the world seeks happiness instead of holiness "We see that the world seeks happiness instead of holiness. Therefore, we assume we should do the opposite. But we’re wrong." – Randy Alcorn "If I should ask you why you believe in Christ, and why you have become Christians, every man will answer truthfully by saying: for the sake of a happy life." – Augustine (354-430) "He has no design upon us, but to make us happy… Who should be cheerful, if not the people of God?" – Thomas Watson (1620-1686) "When the followers of Jesus Christ lose their interest in heaven they will no longer be happy Christians, and when they are no longer happy Christians they cannot be a powerful force in a sad and sinful world." – A.W. Tozer (1897-1963)

Discussion Questions What struck you most from tonight’s message? Did anything confuse you or raise a question? Which relationships or things in your life tend to come into conflict with you loving and following Christ? Do you have any personal examples of something you believe God asked you give up for him? Do you agree that this is a relevant message for students at SDSU today? Why or why not? Taking the discussion further: What place do you think Jesus’ words here should play in how we do evangelism (in how we explain how a person can have eternal life by grace through faith in Jesus)? What place do you think Jesus’ words here should play in how we do discipleship (helping fellow disciples of Jesus grow into maturity)?