Christianity Without a Cost

[00:00:00] This audio sermon is provided by AnabaptistSermons.com and may be freely copied and distributed. You may not sell or edit this sermon. Our prayer is that you would be blessed by this ministry. We do greet you this morning in the worthy name of the Lord Jesus. I've been doing some reading in the Martyrs Mirror, and I've been thinking about some things that we face in life. As things come together, I'm not sure what I'm going to preach about. [00:00:32] As I think about the different thoughts, the many different thoughts that have gone through my mind, you might call this message the cost of discipleship. Or you might call it Christianity without a cross. Or you might call it something else. But I'm thinking about the church. And along with that, several times people have asked if we could sometime give the account of how the Hebron church started and what prompted that movement. [00:01:05] Now how you put all that together is what I don't know this morning. But I'm thinking about the fact that when I read about the cost that it cost some people to follow Jesus I concluded I hardly know anything about the cost of discipleship As I read about those people that for their faith had hooks plunged into them and they were drugged across the streets But they recanted not [00:01:35] They had something greater than that suffering. Or some of them were tied to stakes and faggots put at their feet and lit. Some were wrapped with articles saturated with tar and then they were burned. They were used as lights for the Roman pagans to celebrate their revelries in the night time. But they recanted not. [00:02:07] Some were drowned in rivers. Some were buried alive. Some were beheaded. And other similar things. Maybe it's too bad to say in public. It might be hard on children. But, having said that, let me tell you a little bit about what you and I are born into when we come into this world. We'll come to that just a little bit later. First, let's read in Luke, the 9th chapter, beginning at verse 23. [00:02:41] Luke, chapter 9, verse 23. You find this same teaching in the first three Gospels of the New Testament. They're worded very similarly, not quite exactly alike. I'd like to just read this and let the Word speak to our hearts this morning As we read what God, through the Holy Spirit, inspired men of old to write, what Jesus taught when he was here. 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. [00:03:17] For whosoever will save his life shall lose it. 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? For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels. But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here which shall not taste of death till they see the kingdom of God. [00:03:53] Now we can go back a few more verses in that chapter. Verse 57, he says, It came to pass that as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head. And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead, but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. [00:04:30] And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee, but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. Luke chapter 14, reading in verse 26. 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. [00:05:02] And whosoever doth not bury his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether ye have sufficient to finish it? Lest happily 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 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 [00:05:33] That cometh against him with twenty thousand Or else, while the other is yet a great way off He sendeth an ambassage and desireth conditions of peace So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciples. Do you wonder why Jesus' disciples turned back after that kind of preaching and teaching? It says many of them turned back until Jesus finally said to his own chosen twelve, [00:06:04] Will you also go away? What is it that stands out in these passages of scripture to us this morning? For me, the message is loud and clear that there is a price to follow Jesus. There is a cost. It is not some automatic thing. He tells us a number of different things here. The first passage we read, he talks about taking up, denying ourselves and taking up a cross. Now a cross, for the Roman and the people in that age, the Roman people and the people in Jesus' age, was a very clear message. [00:06:45] All you had to do was occasionally look out there at a certain location and you would see what the cross meant. There you would see a living human being, one of your fellow men, crucified on a cross. Hanging there, agonizing in the death throes of his last moments The message was clear Jesus said, unless you take up your cross, you can't follow me He said, first here, he said, if you want to follow me, this is what it takes [00:07:19] Deny yourself, take up your cross, then follow me Without knowing where he went Later he said in the other passage that if we don't hate father and mother and that word hate as I understand means unless we love less than what we love him we can't be his disciples. Unless Jesus Christ is first of all we can't be a disciple. That's what he was saying. He doesn't say you may not, I won't accept you. [00:07:51] He says you cannot. It is an imperative part of the Christian life to take up our cross and to deny, to put him first, to deny ourselves, put him first. He puts the question there in chapter 9, he says, What would it profit if a man could get all that he wants? If a man could have all the desires of his heart? If there would be nothing that he would be deprived of? He could always have his own way. He could do his own thing. [00:08:23] He could have his own plans. He could always give priority to what he wants to do, what he loves. What would it profit if he would do all that and he could enjoy all the things of life that he could possibly think of and lose his soul. Jesus is making it very clear. There is nothing, did we sing this morning, heaven will surely be worth it all. It's kind of the same message. It has something to do with the cost of discipleship. [00:08:55] In this one passage that we read, we read about people that were willing to follow Jesus. The first one said, I'll follow you. Jesus said, well, I don't know what all he said. I just know what he, it's not written that he said. He said, well, foxes have holes. That wasn't a very glamorous comparison. I don't suppose, who'd want to live in a hole? Birds have nests, but he said, I don't even have that to offer you. Another one, to another he said, follow me. [00:09:28] And he said, let me first. And I admit to you, I don't know where the lines all are. Jesus said, let the dead bury the dead. How much priority should a funeral of a loved one have? How much priority in family connections like reunions? How much priority weddings? Well, they all have a place somewhere, I'm sure. But Jesus nevertheless said, let the dead bury the dead. What did he mean? [00:09:59] I'm not altogether sure, except this one thing, and that is, he must be first. He is either Lord of all, or he's not Lord at all. Joshua said, if Baal be God, serve him. But if God be God, serve him. I think there's more in those statements, serve him, than we sometimes read. When he says serve him, he means serve him and serve him first of all. Serve him with all your might. Seems like there's a verse in the scripture somewhere, but I can only think of it in German and I can't cross it over to English or Spanish. [00:10:37] That verse that says, Is that a verse in the Bible or is it just a saying? I'm not sure, but what it means is, if you want to serve God, let it be with enthusiasm, not halfway, not partially. There's a cost in discipleship. Jesus said, before you build a tower, before you go to war, stop and consider. In a sense, it seems like he was saying, it's better not to start than it is to start and not finish. [00:11:11] I don't know if that's a good statement either. But I do know it's good that when we start, we continue on to the end. That's what Jesus really wants to get across to us. And that we should consider the cost and make the commitments, pay the price to get to the end. Now all of this is partly the introduction to the account about how Hebron started. Along with that, the next thing we want to note is a couple other scriptures in John the 15th chapter. Jesus points out something to us. The question comes, what is the vision, what is our vision of the church? What is Jesus saying when he speaks about the church? When he said, I will build my church. [00:11:57] John 15, verse 18 If the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love his own, but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Jesus is giving us the awareness, he's telling us that we are born, just by virtue of being born on this earth, we are placed into a very hostile situation. Something that is against God [00:12:28] It seems to me as I was looking at this idea, this thought in scripture That it's important if we want to understand what the church is, what Jesus had in mind We need to know something about what the world is That they are two very different entities They are two organizations, two entities that are very much opposed to each other Jesus said, if one is a friend of the world, he's God's enemy. The two are not compatible. [00:13:00] They are two opposing forces. And just by virtue of being born, we were placed into a situation hostile to God, as he says here. In verse 15 again, verse 18. If the world hates you, know that it hated me. That's to be expected. The world does not love the family of God. Noah had hated me before he hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love his own. [00:13:31] Because you're not of the world, the world hates you. Now, Jesus prayed for us in this situation. He said, Father, keep them from the world. I don't ask you to take them out of the world, but keep them from the world. The evil in the world. Jesus knew about this situation. There's a lot that we could read in John the 17th chapter that would tell us something about this. But I'd like to go on to chapter 2 in Acts and read there. I didn't read the scripture this morning in Matthew 16 where Jesus said, [00:14:09] But who do men say that I am? Who do you say that I am? Then he said, Thou art Peter, upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. We'll perhaps come to that a little bit later. But coming back, well, I should have read first. I want to read first in Ephesians chapter 2, a couple of verses that continue on this thought about man's dilemma. Chapter 2, verse 2, wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world. [00:14:41] Now this world has a course. It has a direction it's going. It has some goals that it's trying to reach. Remember the cost of discipleship. According to the prince of the power of the air, not only does this world have a philosophy and a goal and a course, but it has a leader. That leader is the prince of the power of the air. Another place called the God of this world, which is Satan. This world is under the domination, under the direction of an enemy. [00:15:19] And we could read further, but we'll go to verse 12. At that time you were without Christ. The people that are living in that world kingdom are without Christ, without hope, without God. Why then should a person even desire to have a connection with the world? That was the environment in which Jesus came when he came here on this earth. Now we go to chapter 2 in Acts. Jesus had said, my kingdom is not of this world. He wanted to make that very clear. My kingdom is not of this world. [00:15:52] He had another kingdom. Then he said, I will build my church. Chapter 2 of Acts. We read the description a little bit. Now, there are, I don't know how many messages in these few phrases here. But we want to look at just a few things about that church, that kingdom that Jesus said he is going to place here in the midst of the world. But it's not of the world. It's a different kingdom. We have two contrasting, opposing kingdoms. [00:16:25] And that being the case, we find that there is good reason why the Bible says that the Christian life is a strife. It's a warfare. It is a conflict. It requires all our commitment and all our enemies, energies. And that's because the Bible says you can't serve two kingdoms. You cannot serve two kingdoms at the same time. So what then is the church? What is our vision of the church? Well, as you look at this passage, people were here conscious of their living in that world. They were troubled in their heart because man has an inborn desire, a longing, an emptiness that is reaching out for something to give him peace, to give him rest in the midst of this conflict. [00:17:22] A reflective area in which we are. There is that longing of men. Everything that we do, in one sense or another, is an expression of our reaching out to have that emptiness filled. Some go to the drug, to drugs. Some go to the bottle. Some go to other things, looking for something to bring rest to this soul that's traveling through this barren, dry, dark, wicked world. Look at all the wickedness about us. [00:17:53] The sin that is out there, the innocent people that are suffering. People are reaching. Some reach out and try to decorate their bodies in order to find some kind of fulfillment for their life. But it's vain, it's empty. The only thing that can fill man's void is Jesus Christ himself. A restoration to God. And in order to have that fulfilled, man has to come to the place where he's ready to deny himself, his ways, his ideas, his terms. [00:18:33] One man said, let me first. I'll follow you, but I need to get this out of the way first. Another said, I'll follow you too, but first I have to go bury my father. Let me first go home and say goodbye, he said. Jesus said, if somebody wants to follow me, if he puts his hand to the plow, he makes a commitment, he starts out, and if he looks back, what? That's not a part of the plan. [00:19:06] It is an absolute surrender. I know it's a lot easier to talk about this over the pulpit than it is to live it. That's just the truth of the experience. Jesus established a church. And it says then that those that gladly received his word were baptized. Same day there were added unto them about 3,000 souls. Now as I look at the church here, I see just a glimpse of a picture of a people. [00:19:38] They were real people. Literal people. It was a literal church. It was not just an imaginary thing. It was not just a nice idea. It was a group of people. Fact is, the word in Greek for the word church is ekklesia. I've heard a lot of people talk about this ekklesia already. Not sure if I understand correctly the full meaning of that word yet. But ekklesia has this idea behind it. [00:20:09] A group of people that are called out, but it's not only that they are called out. Sometimes we hear quite lengthy expositions of being called out of the world, but it's not only being called out. The calling out includes calling in to an assembly. It is the assembly is what it means. people are called to a meeting they are called to this group of people from that group of people and so now the church of Jesus [00:20:41] is a group of people that gladly receive his word they are baptized they make that commitment to God and his people they are not just an idea or an imagination they are a literal people you could count these people how many were there? three thousand So you could say 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 3000. They were a literal people. It was not just an invisible church. And another thing is they made that commitment. They were added to the church. They weren't individualists floating around all over creation, but they were a people committed to each other. [00:21:24] they had all things common the Bible says they helped each other, they loved each other they corrected each other, they encouraged each other they were now a part of another kingdom remember again Jesus said my kingdom is not of this world my kingdom is the kingdom that I am establishing I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not hold it back it is going to go forward They continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers. [00:22:01] And fear came upon every soul. And many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together and had all things common and sold their possessions and goods and parted them to all men as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, Did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. Beautiful picture of the church. [00:22:33] This is that kingdom. That was just the infant stage. It was just starting. Not much later it says 5,000 more were added to them. And so on down through history to our day. There's a cost in following Jesus. There is a world hostile to God. God has made a church that is called out of that world to be a people for himself. That is kind of the basis for the church. [00:23:03] What is our vision of the church is the question that we might ask ourselves. We can tell very clearly that being a part of the church carries a price tag. Now it's very clear, but the easy grace theology of our day has blinded, has distorted the image, the vision of what the church of Jesus really is. Not everybody that goes to church, as we say, not everybody that is religious goes to heaven. [00:23:40] Not everybody that has some religious activities is a part of the church. Only God knows where all those lines are. But what we are told in scripture is that we are called to make the commitment. And to make the commitment to Jesus Christ costs something. If it doesn't cost anything, is it really Christianity? Christianity is the question that comes to me. As I was thinking about what I was reading in the scripture, can we really call something Christianity if it doesn't cost anything? [00:24:17] According to the scriptures that we've read this morning, there's going to be a price tag somewhere. Now admittedly, the price tag isn't always the same for everyone. We have at this point not been called to give our lives for our faith. Or have we? We have not been called to give physical lives at this point, but without giving our life, what is your life? What is my life? Is my life just my physical body? No, a thousand times no. It is much more than that. [00:24:55] Paul said in 1 Corinthians the 13th chapter If I bestow all my goods to feed the poor And though I give my body to be burned And have not charity It profiteth me how much? Nothing, nothing, that's not very much People are giving their bodies in our day Many people are dying nowadays And taking with them all they can out of religious fervor of some kind. [00:25:26] At least that's the profession. Maybe it's more hate than religion. I'm not sure what it is. But you can read almost daily, if not daily, in the newspaper about people that are giving their lives. But to give our life in discipleship is more than dying physically. It starts long before you get to the gallows or the hatchet or the drowning or those things. It starts in the human heart. It is a surrender, a sacrifice of my will, my plans, my pleasures, my everything. [00:26:06] Jesus said, except we take up the cross, we can't follow him. Hard words that our Lord made. But the blessing of all this is, it's like was said somewhere this morning already, the tremendous freedom. It was in one of those songs we sang. Those were appropriate songs for the people of God. The glorious freedom. No man has ever been more free than the man that has died to himself. There we find freedom. Free from temptation. [00:26:39] well not temptation in this body yet freedom from yielding to temptation freedom from loving those things that put us in bondage freedom to serve God that is the freedom that we want to follow again we say if our Christianity doesn't incur cost it's time to consider if it is Christianity Is it really Christianity? [00:27:10] The kind that Jesus came to build his church as. I've been challenged by the words of Vance Havners who some years ago I read or heard this statement that he made. As he looked across the landscape of churchianity, he said, Lord, you have died for more than this. Jesus died, he gave everything he had to build his church, to redeem his people but what Vance was saying is [00:27:43] the things that you often see in the name of church and religion today they don't come up to what Jesus died for Lord, you have died for more than this surely you have died for more than this is this what we are to consider God's normal Now, who are we talking to this morning? Is it the whole spectrum of church? Is it the Beachy Church? Is it the Rosewood Church? [00:28:14] Isn't it to all of these? It is for us, as people of God, who are on a journey, to look at God's arrangement, God's design of the church. Say, Lord, by your grace, I want to be a part of your church, the church I will build, as Jesus said. That was, I believe I can say this morning, truly the heart's cry of young people about 50 years ago [00:28:47] when we found ourselves in a situation we didn't know how to handle. It was the heart cry of some single young people and a little later of some married young people that came to a place we didn't know what to do. And out of that, we made some mistakes. We did some things that we'd probably do different if we could today. But there were things that the Lord put his anointing on [00:29:20] Because I believe there were honest hearts Hearts that were seeking a church That is ready to walk the road the way Jesus walked it and taught it In the midst of all the mistakes that were made Now I know it's too late to begin To go beyond that today We're not going to go beyond that I needed to somehow give some kind of an introduction to the heart cry and I know there are heart cries like that in our day today still. The church has many needs. There are honest hearts out there that are not happy with the way things are in the church because they are interested in walking the Calvary road, the way of discipleship. [00:30:10] there are other hearts that may have some other motives but may I say this morning the real heart cry of the beginning of the Hebron church was not for more ease and pleasure and liberties for ourselves but it was a desire to go deeper with God not deeper with ourselves and so from that if the Lord will sometime I would be willing to tell you this story [00:30:43] with the hope that it can be an inspiration to us to just follow Jesus. There were painful things. There were costly things. And I ask myself the question sometimes why are some things not today anymore like they were then? That's a good question. And then I'm glad some things are not like they were then too. I trust that our experience had some value in teaching us how to learn from life's experience [00:31:17] both in a positive and in a negative way. One thing is very clear, just because you start something in a right way does not mean that it will continue that way. It takes the same cost to follow Jesus as it does to begin to follow Jesus. It's an ongoing life experience Let's kneel Father this morning we bow in your presence We thank you Lord for your goodness For all that you have done To call us from this world and to yourself [00:31:49] We thank you for the indwelling of your spirit For the guiding, the enabling of your spirit In your children We thank you that we can come to your throne of mercy through Jesus and we do that this morning in his name and pray that you would guide us forward in life. Lord, help us to have a zeal for you, a commitment to you, a broken heart. Teach us, Father, to deny ourselves, to take up our cross and to follow you all the way home. [00:32:25] In Jesus' name we pray.