The Cost Of Discipleship Luke 14: “and there went great multitudes with him; and he turned and said unto them, if any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren and sisters, yea and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. For which of you intending to build a tower does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he will have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him.”

Cost Of Discipleship Matt. 16: “ then Jesus said unto his disciples, ‘if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Matt. 19:27- Then Peter answered and said to him, “behold we have forsaken all and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?

If We Forsake All- Then What? Matt. 19: 28,29- Jesus said “verily I say unto you that ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone that has forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.”

Parallel Passages Mark 8:34-37 “ whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me, for whosoever will save his life shall lose it, but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s the same shall save it. For what is a man profited though he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”

Luke 9:23 And he said to them all, “if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world and lose himself or be cast away? Whosoever will be ashamed of me and my words of him shall the Son of man be ashamed when he comes in his own glory, and in his Father’s and of the holy angels.” 2 Tim. 3:12- “all that will live godly will suffer persecution.”

What Jesus Said About Cost of Service Deny Self Take Up Cross Follow Me Take Up Cross DAILY and follow Me. The result: if we give our whole lives to Him here we will be rewarded in the end- if we do not give all here we will be punished later. Conclusion- Christ wants 100% of us.

Definition of Disciple Disciple- a follower, one who accept and assists in spreading the doctrine of another. 1 Pet. 3:15- a true disciple will “be ready always to give answer to every man who ask a reason for the hope that is within us with meekness and fear.” Matt. 6:33- Putting Christ and His righteousness first above all things- only truly faithful life. This involves being set apart from the world. Our focus must be Christ and pleasing Him. We must put off self and live a Christ-centered life.

A True Disciple: Follows Christ’s teaching in every matter- 2 Tim. 3:16-17; Rom. 1:16. He trusts in the power of the gospel. Obedience to his Word is first and foremost because we cannot love Christ and ignore His Word. Jesus lived a life on earth of complete obedience to His Father even to the point of death ( Phil. 3:6-8). We dare not do less.

Bearing Fruit John 15:5-8- The vine and the branches- If we abide in Christ, living the life Christ has commanded us to live, The Lord will bring forth the fruits of righteousness in our lives. As we grow in Christ (Heb. 5:12-14), our lives change through obedience to the gospel. Our hearts have been transformed and our loves and affections are different. We must bear much fruit (Jn. 15:5- must bear MUCH fruit) to be pleasing to God. We cannot live dormant, stale lives with no zeal. We cannot be fearful to stand for what is right (Rev. 21:8).

Deny Self Perhaps one of the hardest commands to obey is to put ourselves totally to the side. Jesus tells us that we cannot be His disciples unless we do this. We do not matter. What we think does not matter. What God tells us to do is all that matters. We must love Him enough to obey Him.

How Much Does It Cost? How much does it cost is a common question. Each of us must continually ask this question to ourselves. Notice Jesus did not try to deceive others. He told them straight out what the cost was. He will be first or not in one’s life at all. He will not accept a lesser position. He is not our co-pilot he is our pilot.

Paul’s Sacrifice He gave up position, wealth, notoriety, popularity, friends, family and his health. He did not consider this any big deal overall. He thought more about what he gained than he dwelt on what he lost in this life. He counted all he gave up as nothing (dung). He valued serving the Lord and going to heaven above all else. No job too big, no task too menial, no command from God too much.

Taking Up Our Cross Each of us has a cross to bear. We all must bear the cross of Christ with Him. We also have personal crosses we must bear. Each of us is tempted in the same ways (1 Jn. 2:15ff). However, not every temptation is as strong to some as to others (Ex. Youthful lusts). We must overcome the enemy in our lives, so that we can be useful in service to others.

FOLLOW ME How far are we willing to go with Christ? Apostles (except John), did not follow all the way to the cross. They stopped short. Many are willing to stand for Christ in theory, but when it comes to the test they fold. James 1:2,3- trials of faith work patience. It is hard to count trials as joy, but they are because we learn lessons in trials we do not learn when all is going smoothly.

DAILY SERVICE We must take up our cross daily and follow the Lord. Too many are only willing to serve the Lord as long as it does not mean they have to change much. Putting off and putting on. We must abstain from the world We must obey the Word of God in all things. This will mean that I will have to put aside pride and give up some things, I might like doing.

The High Cost Of Service Getting out of unscriptural marriage. Changing our speech. Changing the clothes we wear and don’t wear. Abstaining from all fleshly lusts that war against the soul (alcohol, substances, what we view). Changing our lifestyle (seek first the kingdom and His righteousness- Matt. 6:33). Attend all the services, hunger and thirst after righteousness. Love the law of God and seek opportunities to study it and learn. Changing our job if necessary. Not getting engaged in school activities that require lascivious behavior (cheerleading, mixed swimming, gambling,etc.). Being on first to serve the Lord- zeal.

Conclusion Being a true disciple of Christ will cost us everything. It will cost us nothing (of value)-Phil. 3:7-8- “what things were gain for me, those I counted loss for Christ, yea I count all things as loss….” We will gain more than we will lose. We must be submissive and trust the Lord. We must stand with God if we want to live with Him forever. We cannot put family, friends and status ahead of the Lord. He must come first. Let us not deceive ourselves, not delude others into thinking that when one becomes a Christian, all will go smoothly. Just the opposite happens often. The difference is that our loves have changed and what the world considers a loss we consider a gain.