The Cost Of Discipleship
Luke 14:25-29- “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. 16:24-25- “ 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
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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
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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
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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.