#132 Lu. 14:31-33 THE SACRIFICES REQUIRED IN CHRISTIAN LIVING

Introduction:

    Jesus does not call on Christians to give Him a little bit of
their lives.  He calls on them to give Him their all.

I.  A review of verses 14:25-30

    In our text three Sundays ago a great crowd of people were
following Jesus as He traveled toward Jerusalem.  They were
following Him chiefly in hopes of seeing Him perform another of
His great miracles.  As they followed along, however, they
listened to Him preach and teach and they marveled at the
greatness of His preaching and the greatness of His teaching.
They must have considered themselves to be somewhat His disciples.
    However, Jesus pointed out to them that it was going to take a
lot more than following Him out of mere curiosity to become true
disciples.  He informed them that if any man wanted to become a
true disciple, it is going to cost him something and Jesus was not
talking about money.
    In verse 26 Jesus said, "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."
Perhaps you will remember that the Greek word that here is
translated "hate" means to love less.  Jesus, thus, pointed out to
them that in order for one to be a true follower or true disciple
of Jesus he must love Jesus more than he loves his father.  He
must love Jesus more than he loves his mother.  He must love Jesus
more than he loves anyone else in this world, even including
himself.  We have just observed Father's Day last Sunday and
shortly prior to that we observed Mother's Day.  On these days it
was emphasized that God wants each one to love both father and
mother.  But he is to love Jesus more than he loves either father
or mother.  He is to love Jesus more than he loves even his own
life.  He is to be willing to lay down his life for Jesus if need
be.
    Jesus said that if one does not love Him more than he loves
all others he cannot be His disciple.  He can be saved, but he
cannot be His disciple.  There is a difference .  It costs nothing
to be saved, but it costs something to be a disciple.  It is going
to cost him something if he is going to be a follower of Jesus.
    Now let me repeat that this does not mean that one cannot be
saved without loving Jesus above all others.  Jesus did not day he
could not be saved.  Jesus said he could not be His disciple.  A
disciple is one who is a student, a follower.  The Scriptures
teach that one can be saved by simply trusting in Jesus Christ as
his Savior.  Romans 10:13 says, "For whosoever shall call on the
name of the Lord shall be saved."  John 3:18 says, "He that
believeth on him is not condemned..."  Well, if he is not
condemned, he is saved.  So one can be saved by trusting in Jesus
as His Savior, but it will take a lot more than merely trusting
Jesus and being saved to become a true follower of Jesus.  In
verse 27 Jesus said, "And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and
come after me, cannot be my disciple."
    Jesus then used the building of a tower to illustrate His
point.  V. 28-30, "For which of you, intending to build a tower,
sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have
sufficient to finish it?  Lest haply, after he hath laid the
foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin
to mock him,  Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to
finish."  It costs something to build a tower and it costs
something to build a Christian life.

II.  The sacrifices which a king must make who faces with war

    In our text today Jesus uses a second example to illustrate
His point.  He uses a king going to war against the army of an
enemy as an example that it is going to cost the Christian
something to really be a follower of Jesus Christ.  There is a
Christian warfare to fight and it is going to cost the Christian
something to engage in Christian warfare.
    V. 31,  "Or what king, going to make war against another king,
sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten
thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty
thousand?"  The example which Jesus used here is of two kings
going to war against one another.  Jesus asks, "What king with an
army of 10,000 men will go to war against a king who has 20,000
men without first sitting in counsel with his advisors to see what
his chances are of winning and to see what he is going to have to
do in order to win?"
    The idea of going to war against an army twice your size is
never going to be very inviting to any king.  However, if after
consulting with his advisors, the king with the smaller army
figures that by using a certain strategy and taking advantage of
certain factors, he can offset his disadvantage and can actually
gain the advantage, he will not be afraid to do battle even
against the larger foe.
    For instance, he may be able to use the element of surprise,
which will give him an excellent chance of victory.  Or he may be
able to place his soldiers on high ground so that they can shoot
their arrows at the enemy below and, thus, will have the advantage
in spite of his smaller army.  Or if he has 10,000 well seasoned,
experienced troops and his opponent has 20,000 rookies then he
will have the advantage even against the greater odds.  Or if he
can time it so that the two armies will meet when the enemy is
very tired while his own soldiers are fresh and rested, this will
give him the advantage over the larger army.
    In the Old Testament, the armies of Israel often went into
battle against a much greater foe with great confidence that they
would have the victory in spite of their much smaller numbers.
They were confident of victory because God was on their side.
They figured that no matter how small their own army and no matter
how large the opposing army, having God on their side made the
difference...and it did.  Gideon, for instance, took only 300 men
and went into battle against an army that was said to number as
the sand of the sea.  And Gideon had a great victory.  Of course,
Gideon used the element of surprise and several other military
strategies, but the thing that Gideon was really counting on was
the help of the Lord.
    However, in the illustration which Jesus used, He pointed out
that there was one other option available to the king with the
smaller army that could help him avoid defeat.  After consulting
with his advisors, if he concluded that he and his smaller army
did not stand a chance in battle against the larger army, he still
had the option of trying to make peace instead of going to war.
Jesus pointed out that this would be a wise move on his part.  V.
32, "Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth
an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace."
    While the two armies are still separated by a great distance,
he can send messengers to the opposing king and investigate the
possibility of a peaceful.  He can find out just what concessions
he would have to make in order for a peaceful settlement to be
reached.  It would be far better to pay the price in concessions
than to pay the price in blood on the battlefield.  If he looses
on the battlefield, he will be in no position whatsoever to
bargain.  But if he makes concessions before the battle begins,
the cost will not be nearly so great.  It quite obvious that Jesus
was saying is that if you cannot win on the battlefield, make
concessions instead of going to war.  The loss will not be nearly
so great at the conference table as it would be on the
battlefield.
    So here is the situation that the king with the smaller army
faces.  He is either going to have to pay whatever it costs to
have the victory on the battlefield or else he is going to have to
pay the cost in concessions to the opposing king.  If he goes to
the battlefield, he must be willing to suffer the loss of men in
battle and he stands the chances of loosing everything, even his
own life.  If, on the other hand, he chooses to try to make
whatever concessions are necessary in order to have the peace.
But one way or the other it is going to cost him something.

III.  The sacrifices which one must make who follows Jesus

    Now even so it is with the person who would follow Jesus
Christ.  There are sacrifices that must be made in order to be a
true follower and disciple of Jesus.  V. 33,  "So likewise,
whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he
cannot be my disciple."  Just as the king with the smaller army
must be willing to make sacrifices and suffer losses in order to
have the victory or in order to make a peaceful settlement, even
so the Christian must be willing to make sacrifices in order to
live for Jesus.
    The Christian must be willing to sacrifice his time.  He
cannot continue to use his time for his own selfish purposes and
be a disciple of Jesus.  He cannot continue to use his Sundays for
his own selfish purposes if he is going to follow Jesus.  I am
quite sure that he would enjoy sleeping in on Sunday or going to
spend the day on the lake or going to visit relatives and friends.
Or he could take on an extra job and make extra money on the week-
ends.  But he is going to have to sacrifice his time and the money
if he will be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
    Now, I would not want to leave the impression that if one
comes to church on Sunday mornings and Sunday evenings that this
is the only sacrifice of time that he will have to make.  There is
much to be done for the Lord that will demand much of his time on
week days.  For instance, there is the Wednesday evening prayer
service.  The Christian needs to attend Wednesday evening services
on regular basis.  Then there is church visitation.  At Pleasant
Hill we have visitation on Tuesday evening.  Then there is Bible
study.  If he is going to learn what the Bible teaches, he is
going to have to do more than listen to the teacher and preacher
at church.  He needs to read His Bible and study His Bible at all
times.  All of these things and much more require time.  This will
cut into the time that he would like to spend in other ways.  But
he will have to learn to discipline himself and put the Lord first
in his time.
    By the way, not all of the Christian's time is to be spent at
church or with his nose in the Bible, but all of his time should
be spent in a way that pleases the Lord and honors the Lord.  None
of it should be used in a way that is displeasing to the Lord and
brings reproach upon the name of the Lord.  In a very real sense
even that time which he spends in sleep or and on vacation should
be to the honor and glory of God.  It will enable him to do a
better job of serving God at other times.
    Let me say that the Christian needs to be willing to sacrifice
his money for the Lord.  In the first place, he should give at
least as much as a tithe (which is 10%) into the offering plate at
church.  Ten percent should be given on a regular basis.  But in
addition to his tithes, the Christian should give offerings.  One
need not stop with the tenth even in his regular offerings.  He
can and should give above the tithe on a regular basis.  But he
can also give additionally above the title in special offerings.
I certainly recommend giving the tithe and above, but I would not
recommend it to you if I did not practice it myself.  Then, too,
like the Christian's time, all of his money should be used in a
way that is pleasing to the Lord.  He is not expected to give all
of it directly to the Lord, but he is expected to use it all in a
way that honors the Lord.  He is not to use any of his money for
drinking or gambling or in other way that would displease the
Lord.  He is not to use any of his money for the lottery.
    Neither should he gain money in a way that displeases the
Lord.  He should not work at a job that would dishonor the Lord,
such as selling liquor.  He should not cheat or deceive people in
order to gain money.  He should be willing to sacrifice and get by
with less money in order to please the Lord.
    The Christian should be willing to suffer persecution for the
Lord.  If the Christian is not willing to be persecuted, then he
is not willing to live for Jesus.  The Scripture says that any man
who would live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.  If
he is not willing to suffer for the Lord, he is not willing to
live for the Lord.
    The Christian should be willing to sacrifice earthly pleasures
for the Lord.  There are many earthly pleasures that the Christian
should never engage in at all.  They are sinful pleasures in which
no Christian should get involved.  However, there are numerous
pleasures that are not sinful within themselves, but if the
Christian is going to have the time available to do the work of
the Lord, he is going to have to give up some of those legitimate
pressures.  He ought to be willing to give up whatever pleasures
are necessary in order to do the will of the Lord.
    Let me again quote directly from the Lord Himself.  V. 33,
"So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that
he hath, he cannot be my disciple."
    This is the kind of sacrifice that the king with the smaller
army must make when he goes into the battle field.  He must be
willing to make whatever sacrifice is necessary in order to win
the victory.  Or, if he chooses to negotiate with his opponent
instead of going to battle, he must be willing to make whatever
concessions are necessary in order to win the peace.  And this is
the kind of sacrifice that every Christian must be willing to make
in order to have the victory in Christian living.   He must be
willing to make whatever sacrifice is necessary in order to do the
will of the Lord.

Conclusion:

    Is it worth the sacrifice?  Ask the king who has just won the
victory on the battlefield if it was worth it.  Ask the king who
has just avoided war by negotiations if it was worth it?  Ask the
Apostle Paul who gave his life in sacrifice to Christ.  Paul said
that he counted all things but as dung for Christ.  Paul said that
there is a crown of life laid up for him ...but not for him only.
There is a crown laid up for every Christian who has made the
sacrifice for Christ.
    But now listen:  You cannot be a disciple until you are first
saved.  Are you saved?  Are you on your way to heaven or are you
headed for hell?  Have you repented of your sin?  If not, then I
am going to ask you to call on the Lord right now and ask Him to
save your soul?  I can assure you that if you will call on Jesus
and ask Him to save you that you will never regret it.  You will
never have reason to regret it.  You will thank God again and
again throughout all eternity.
    If you are saved, let me ask you this:  What are you
sacrificing for the Lord?  Maybe I should ask:  Are you
sacrificing for the Lord?  Are you living for yourself and your
own pleasure and material gain or are you living to serve the
Lord?  I want to assure you that the only way you can really live
for the Lord is for you to be willing to sacrifice your own
personal interests and let the Lord have His way with your life.
In the event that you are not already living for Him I am going to
ask you right now to commit yourself to Jesus.  I can assure you
that if you will do so that you will never regret it.  You will
never have reason to regret it.  You will thank God again and
again throughout all eternity for giving you the privilege of
serving Jesus.