1 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:12,240 We've been studying the Gospel of Luke and the the main focus 2 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:17,760 as we've gone chapter by chapter is to look at some of the most 3 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:21,320 difficult and challenging sayings of Jesus along the way. 4 00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:26,280 And as we are now a few weeks into this, I will say that has 5 00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:31,640 been a task that seems to get harder and harder week by week. 6 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:36,960 We've often started our studies in this series with a question 7 00:00:37,440 --> 00:00:40,760 to really get our hearts ready for what we're about to be 8 00:00:40,760 --> 00:00:45,280 challenged with. And so let me offer that same 9 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:47,320 challenging question to you this morning. 10 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:50,400 And it's going to be almost the exact opposite question, cutting 11 00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:52,400 against the the grain of our culture. 12 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:54,960 Yesterday you were asked the question, who do you really 13 00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:57,880 love? It was Valentine's Day and if 14 00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:01,760 for those of you who celebrate or have a a significant other to 15 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:05,360 to show devotion to, I'm sure that you took some time to to 16 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:07,360 answer that question in a very specific way. 17 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:09,400 I I love you. You're the object of my 18 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:13,280 affection. Today I want to ask the opposite 19 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:17,200 question. I want to ask you today, who in 20 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:21,640 your life do you really hate? That an interesting that the, 21 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:23,960 the church is always cutting against the grain. 22 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:30,080 As I thought back to the way I would answer that question, I, I 23 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:33,360 think of actually Valentine's Day from my childhood when I was 24 00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:36,880 in 4th grade. I have a memory of, of the 25 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:39,320 excitement I had for Valentine's Day in my class. 26 00:01:39,320 --> 00:01:42,440 She had to take every person's name from the class and just 27 00:01:42,440 --> 00:01:44,600 give each kid a Valentine. Just keep it all fair. 28 00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:46,600 And then you got Valentine's from everybody else. 29 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:50,040 And as I went down the list and I just wrote Happy Valentine's 30 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:53,120 Day from Tucker, I got to one name that just stopped me in my 31 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:56,120 tracks. Her name was Kathleen. 32 00:01:56,120 --> 00:02:00,040 And I just, I could not say Happy Valentine's Day. 33 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:05,840 Earlier in the school year, our teacher gave us a voluntary 34 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:10,320 assignment to submit an essay of what we'd done in the previous 35 00:02:10,320 --> 00:02:12,200 summer. And she would gather all the 36 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:16,440 ones that she got, and she was going to have the her favorite 37 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:18,320 essay read in front of the class. 38 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:21,960 And so I thought about submitting one, but I didn't. 39 00:02:23,640 --> 00:02:24,760 And then she announced the winner. 40 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:28,400 It was Kathleen. And as the essay began to be 41 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:33,040 read, I realized that Kathleen actually submitted my essay. 42 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:37,080 She was describing a vacation that she had just taken to the 43 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:38,560 Oregon coast with her grandparents. 44 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:41,280 And line by line, I just thought, that is my essay. 45 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:46,360 And inside of me, the seed of hate was planted. 46 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:51,640 I, I watched her receive the praise and accolades that were 47 00:02:51,640 --> 00:02:56,560 due to me and I held on to that until my moment to get back at 48 00:02:56,560 --> 00:02:58,440 her, which turned out to be Valentine's Day. 49 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:01,920 So when it came to you know her name on the list, I simply 50 00:03:01,920 --> 00:03:06,880 wrote, I hate you. It's my answer. 51 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:09,040 That's who I that's who I that's who I hated. 52 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:13,920 Unfortunately, the story doesn't stop there because on the 53 00:03:13,920 --> 00:03:16,800 morning of Valentine's Day, I woke up with a fever and I 54 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:19,840 couldn't go to school. So I sent my mom on a mission to 55 00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:23,360 go pass out my cards and bring home the candy. 56 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:29,160 And I got back to school after a couple days and my teacher was 57 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:33,320 waiting to talk to me. And she said to me, I got your 58 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:35,440 note. And I said, I don't remember 59 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:39,480 writing you a Valentine's card. And she pulled out the note that 60 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:42,520 I had meant for my mom to give to Kathleen. 61 00:03:42,520 --> 00:03:45,000 And instead my mom delivered it to my teacher. 62 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:50,120 And I could do nothing but cry and weep for mercy before her. 63 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:57,560 And I sat in detention for a number of recesses now just 64 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:00,200 realizing I really did hate Kathleen. 65 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:05,400 There's no question now. This is a woman that I hate. 66 00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:08,400 And as you can see, 30 years later, I'm still thinking about 67 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:13,600 it. Now, if you're at all familiar 68 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:18,360 with the teachings of Jesus, if you have heard Christianity one 69 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:24,520 O 1, you might have guessed that that whole story was shared 70 00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:29,360 because we're about to look at a challenging teaching of Jesus 71 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:32,440 that requires us to love our enemies. 72 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:36,800 And if you were like me when when thinking about who I hated 73 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:41,760 in my heart, you may have thought of someone that had done 74 00:04:41,760 --> 00:04:44,280 you wrong. You may have thought of someone 75 00:04:44,280 --> 00:04:48,960 that at best annoyed you or at worst did something to ruin your 76 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:51,000 life. And now they have gone from the 77 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:56,800 category of schoolmate or friend or roommate or family member to 78 00:04:56,800 --> 00:05:01,840 the enemy. And you wouldn't be wrong to to 79 00:05:01,840 --> 00:05:06,840 get your heart ready to receive a sermon to tell you that Jesus 80 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:11,280 in his way it is, is not going to let you live in that hatred. 81 00:05:11,280 --> 00:05:13,080 He would. He's going to help you remove 82 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:15,480 bitterness and help you move on with your life by telling you to 83 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:19,080 forgive that person. There's lots of good sermons for 84 00:05:19,080 --> 00:05:22,440 that. But we're looking at the 85 00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:26,280 forgotten, the hard, the the often neglected teachings of 86 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:29,160 Jesus. And we look at that story this 87 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:33,560 morning and I challenge you with people in your mind because 88 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:38,120 today Jesus is not going to reverse the way that we feel 89 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:43,160 about people we naturally hate. He's actually going to do the 90 00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:46,040 opposite. He's actually going to give us a 91 00:05:46,040 --> 00:05:50,240 lesson to reverse the feeling about the people we naturally 92 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:53,760 love. This is radically different than 93 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:56,640 what you expect from Jesus today. 94 00:05:56,640 --> 00:06:01,440 We're not listening to Jesus tell us that we must love the 95 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:04,400 people we naturally hate. He's going to tell us, and you 96 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:07,080 got to hold on. Do not tune out after I say 97 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:09,640 this. He's going to tell us that we 98 00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:12,480 must hate the people we naturally love. 99 00:06:14,200 --> 00:06:17,680 And I want to promise you that if we can hold on and we can and 100 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:20,040 try to understand Jesus, what are you getting at with this 101 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:24,240 really hard saying at the end of us, like at the end of this 102 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:28,000 lesson, like all lessons of Jesus, he is unlocking for us 103 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:31,480 life and life abundant. This is a forgotten lesson, but 104 00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:35,880 it is a critical lesson to understand how to actually 105 00:06:35,880 --> 00:06:41,120 unlock the abundant life that Jesus is giving you the way 106 00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:45,040 towards. So bear with me as as we go 107 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:47,880 through this, because we are going to, as we've set out to, 108 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:50,640 to look at the hard teachings of Jesus, we are going to look at 109 00:06:50,640 --> 00:06:56,480 one of the hardest teachings of Jesus to, to help us understand 110 00:06:56,880 --> 00:07:02,040 how we could take people we naturally love and begin to put 111 00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:05,800 them in their proper place. And he actually uses the word 112 00:07:05,800 --> 00:07:10,040 hatred. By the end of this sermon, we 113 00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:13,200 are actually going to see a vision for all of this where 114 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:17,120 Jesus is going to give us a beautiful reward and a promise. 115 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:21,920 And it will happen if you can learn the ways of Jesus to live 116 00:07:21,920 --> 00:07:25,240 how you naturally wouldn't so that you can have the promises 117 00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:26,920 that you naturally wouldn't experience. 118 00:07:27,920 --> 00:07:30,680 But to get there, we have to start with another very 119 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:34,920 difficult teaching of Jesus, starting in verse 25, Luke 120 00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:41,800 chapter 14, verse 25. Now great multitudes went with 121 00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:44,040 him. Remember, we're we're journeying 122 00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:47,640 to Jerusalem with Jesus and the crowds are following him until 123 00:07:47,640 --> 00:07:51,000 ultimately it'll be get so narrow and so difficult and so 124 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:53,560 challenging and so scary that only Jesus will get there. 125 00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:58,760 But at this point in the story, it says great multitudes are 126 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:01,680 with him. And as he sees the multitudes, 127 00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:04,440 imagine the scene, he, he's traveling to Jerusalem to get to 128 00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:08,680 the cross and he turns and he says to them, if anyone comes to 129 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:13,640 me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, 130 00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:19,640 brothers and sisters, yes, his own life also, he cannot be my 131 00:08:19,640 --> 00:08:22,360 disciple. And whoever does not bear his 132 00:08:22,360 --> 00:08:26,520 cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 133 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:29,640 He's not saying this is going to be challenging, but we'll get 134 00:08:29,640 --> 00:08:31,880 you there. He's telling you this is the 135 00:08:31,880 --> 00:08:35,480 moment where some of you are going to be disqualified. 136 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:39,440 Then he tells a story for which of you intending to build a 137 00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:43,200 tower, does not sit down 1st and count the cost whether he has 138 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:47,800 enough to finish it, lest he has laid the foundation, is not able 139 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:51,760 to finish, and all those who see it begin to mock him, saying 140 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:54,920 this man began to build and was not able to finish. 141 00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:58,120 Or what king going to make war against another king does not 142 00:08:58,120 --> 00:09:04,720 sit down 1st and consider whether he is able with 10,000 143 00:09:04,720 --> 00:09:09,040 to meet with him who comes against him with 20,000 or else 144 00:09:09,200 --> 00:09:12,160 the other, still a great way off, sends a delegation and asks 145 00:09:12,160 --> 00:09:15,960 for the conditions of peace. So likewise, whoever does not 146 00:09:15,960 --> 00:09:19,120 forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple. 147 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:26,720 We'll stop there if you can get to where he's taking us. 148 00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:31,600 He actually gives us a great vision by the end, but to get to 149 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:35,760 the vision, he's getting the call to be so narrow that he is 150 00:09:36,040 --> 00:09:39,600 letting some people know you can't do it. 151 00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:43,080 You, you will not be my disciple. 152 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:47,920 So before we get to the the challenging saying, talking 153 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:51,240 about hating the people you love, I want to point out once 154 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:54,600 again, and this is something that has come out throughout our 155 00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:58,680 series as we walk towards the cross with Jesus once again, the 156 00:09:58,680 --> 00:10:02,240 Gospel of Luke, the writer is telling us that there were great 157 00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:04,360 crowds that preceded the teaching. 158 00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:08,960 This is not a lost detail. This is one of the things that 159 00:10:09,200 --> 00:10:14,240 the the writer is letting us know that he's Jesus is noticing 160 00:10:14,360 --> 00:10:19,360 that then turns into a teaching and wherever he gets the chance, 161 00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:23,040 wherever there's great crowds gathering, he always seems to 162 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:27,360 bring the hardest teachings. I belabor it throughout our 163 00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:31,960 series because Jesus does not seem impressed with the 164 00:10:31,960 --> 00:10:34,560 multitude. It does not appear as though 165 00:10:34,560 --> 00:10:38,200 what Jesus is really after are are big crowds of people who are 166 00:10:38,200 --> 00:10:42,080 interested in like him and are willing to listen to Him teach. 167 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:48,080 He is time and time again giving people an opportunity to off 168 00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:54,400 ramp on the road to the cross if they do not actually have what 169 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:58,760 it takes to follow him. No one will accuse Jesus of 170 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:00,480 saving the fine print for the end. 171 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:05,800 He says at the very beginning to follow me is going to cost you. 172 00:11:05,960 --> 00:11:11,040 Consider the cost. And today we look at two costs 173 00:11:11,040 --> 00:11:16,200 that must be paid that if they are not met, if you don't get 174 00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:20,440 this part right, he says you are not part of my discipleship. 175 00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:26,960 And now we come to verse 26 with that in mind as Jesus aims once 176 00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:29,960 again to thin out the crowd. You would be considered a 177 00:11:29,960 --> 00:11:32,840 multitude and yet it doesn't matter unless you get this part 178 00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:36,080 right. Verse 26 and and if anyone comes 179 00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:39,920 to me and does not hate his father and his mother and he 180 00:11:39,920 --> 00:11:44,400 goes into the very he cuts against every close relationship 181 00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:48,200 that you can think of in the family dynamic, brother, sister, 182 00:11:48,640 --> 00:11:54,200 spouse. So what is Jesus doing? 183 00:11:55,200 --> 00:12:02,640 Is he telling us that the simple truth is that you need to start 184 00:12:02,640 --> 00:12:04,320 hating your family members? Of course not. 185 00:12:04,360 --> 00:12:07,200 In in a great multitude there were probably some that brought 186 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:10,280 their family members as an act of love to hear the words of 187 00:12:10,280 --> 00:12:15,320 Jesus. Jesus, same teacher, same Good 188 00:12:15,320 --> 00:12:19,200 Shepherd that said we are to love our enemies as stated 189 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:22,000 earlier, and he is not contradicting himself and he is 190 00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:27,280 not changing the message. What he is doing is helping 191 00:12:27,280 --> 00:12:31,920 people understand that what they're naturally after is going 192 00:12:31,920 --> 00:12:34,160 to be different than what he calls them to. 193 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:37,840 And that is why earlier in this very same chapter, I invite you 194 00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:41,280 to read it when we get out later today, Luke chapter 14. 195 00:12:41,400 --> 00:12:44,960 This is not the first time that he is going to challenge the way 196 00:12:44,960 --> 00:12:48,040 that you normally live your life in your relationships. 197 00:12:48,640 --> 00:12:51,440 He says in verse 12, and also he said to them, when you give a 198 00:12:51,440 --> 00:12:54,720 dinner, don't ask your friends or your brothers or your 199 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:58,360 relatives or your neighbors, lest they also invite you and 200 00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:02,080 pay you back. Instead, fight the people who 201 00:13:02,080 --> 00:13:04,200 have nothing and can never return the favor. 202 00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:08,680 Now what Jesus isn't saying is you're not allowed to eat with 203 00:13:08,680 --> 00:13:11,240 your close friends or your family members. 204 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:17,080 What he is saying is I want you to think about life differently 205 00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:20,040 and I'm going to say something so extreme that you can't miss 206 00:13:20,040 --> 00:13:23,480 the main point. Anybody can love who they like. 207 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:28,960 I want you to go so far beyond that and love people that I like 208 00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:32,960 the marginalized. And in the same way he's telling 209 00:13:33,760 --> 00:13:37,160 the audience of the family everybody loves their family, 210 00:13:38,160 --> 00:13:42,320 The the love he is calling us to is not going to be tested by 211 00:13:42,600 --> 00:13:45,040 applying it to people that you already love. 212 00:13:45,520 --> 00:13:47,760 Husbands and wives are meant to love one another. 213 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:50,600 Fathers and sons are meant to love one another. 214 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:55,080 What Jesus is doing is using such extreme language that he is 215 00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:58,680 elevating the call. He's using the word hate so that 216 00:13:58,680 --> 00:14:01,520 you would understand how extreme the love that you are called to 217 00:14:01,520 --> 00:14:05,800 love him with is. 1 commentator put put it this way, hate is 218 00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:09,120 hyperbolic or it's an exaggerating language meant to 219 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:12,880 shock the listener into recognizing the absolute 220 00:14:12,880 --> 00:14:19,080 priority of Christ over every competing allegiance in 221 00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:23,440 Matthew's Gospel. He softens it in a way to help 222 00:14:23,440 --> 00:14:26,800 us understand that it It isn't that you are supposed to feel 223 00:14:26,800 --> 00:14:30,360 vile hatred towards people you naturally love, but you are 224 00:14:30,360 --> 00:14:34,200 supposed to see them and realize that that is not the love that 225 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:36,400 Jesus is calling you to love him with. 226 00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:40,040 In Matthew he says whoever loves his father or mother more than 227 00:14:40,040 --> 00:14:43,160 me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves his son or 228 00:14:43,160 --> 00:14:46,360 daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 229 00:14:47,160 --> 00:14:48,800 So again, the commentator says this. 230 00:14:48,800 --> 00:14:52,280 He's saying that our love for Jesus, our devotion to Jesus, 231 00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:56,320 and our commitment to Christ, our loyalty to Him, is to be of 232 00:14:56,320 --> 00:15:02,000 such forceful, energizing strength that even our best love 233 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:06,240 for our spouse, our longing for our children, our genuine 234 00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:10,960 interest in our own well-being will actually be seen to look 235 00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:15,560 like a total disregard in comparison to our devotion to 236 00:15:15,560 --> 00:15:20,560 Christ. In other words, you will hate 237 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:25,320 anything that keeps you from loving the main thing. 238 00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:29,920 Now let's just put pause on this being a sermon based off the 239 00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:33,720 teachings of Jesus. Jesus is telling you something 240 00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:37,000 that is actually just in line with how the world works. 241 00:15:37,760 --> 00:15:39,920 No doubt. Whether or not you've meant to 242 00:15:39,920 --> 00:15:43,880 apply this to your life or not, any of you who have ever devoted 243 00:15:43,880 --> 00:15:47,920 your life to anything have become so interested in that one 244 00:15:47,920 --> 00:15:51,800 thing that you were willing to reject other things. 245 00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:55,280 So I'll go first. Once again, when I was a kid, 246 00:15:55,280 --> 00:15:57,080 you guys are just going down memory lane with me right now. 247 00:15:57,320 --> 00:16:01,920 I, I loved soccer so much. I joined a team and my mom gave 248 00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:05,280 me and my mom signed me up for all the lessons that I could get 249 00:16:06,120 --> 00:16:08,760 and I also had a competing interest. 250 00:16:08,920 --> 00:16:11,680 I also played the piano as a youngster and I also had lessons 251 00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:13,800 for that. And there came a point where my 252 00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:18,360 love for soccer was so great as a little guy that loved to play, 253 00:16:18,520 --> 00:16:20,600 that any time it was time to do the other thing. 254 00:16:21,520 --> 00:16:24,040 What did I tell my mom? Mom, I hate piano. 255 00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:27,240 I don't want to do it anymore. I hate it now. 256 00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:30,800 I actually don't hate piano. I actually did kind of enjoy it 257 00:16:30,840 --> 00:16:33,920 and I kind of liked it, but in comparison to the main thing 258 00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:36,280 that I was after, I had no time for it. 259 00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:37,880 I didn't want anything to do with it. 260 00:16:38,680 --> 00:16:41,880 No doubt any of you who have a skill or a talent, any of you 261 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:44,640 who have learned an instrument or a language or have done 262 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:48,640 anything to master something, have actually hated something 263 00:16:48,640 --> 00:16:55,120 else and let hobbies aside. Any of you who are married and 264 00:16:55,120 --> 00:16:59,920 made a commitment to one person actually in this language, we're 265 00:16:59,920 --> 00:17:02,880 unpacking it, but in this language, when you said I love 266 00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:06,319 you, when I look at my wife across the aisle and I said I 267 00:17:06,319 --> 00:17:08,560 love you, I'm going to die with you or for you. 268 00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:13,040 It was like I was saying I in comparison to the love I have 269 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:15,760 for this one woman. Every other woman in the world 270 00:17:15,760 --> 00:17:18,960 is now in comparison something I hate. 271 00:17:18,960 --> 00:17:21,680 I don't want to look at any other woman like this. 272 00:17:21,680 --> 00:17:23,880 I don't want to feel these feelings for anyone else because 273 00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:28,359 of the great love. And this is Jesus now saying to 274 00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:32,360 really understand the call, you have to do that with Him. 275 00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:38,960 And this is a point where you should pause. 276 00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:44,080 All of you should pause. And I will pause with you to say 277 00:17:46,480 --> 00:17:50,360 the audacity. Consider the audacity of what 278 00:17:50,360 --> 00:17:55,000 Jesus is asking. Consider anyone in your life 279 00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:59,440 coming to you, a friend, a Co worker and trying to do this, 280 00:18:00,280 --> 00:18:02,680 trying to say to you, you know, I know you, you're really good 281 00:18:02,680 --> 00:18:03,800 friends with this person over here. 282 00:18:03,800 --> 00:18:05,920 But unless you hate your friend, your friend over here, you can't 283 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:09,640 be my friend. I know that you really like our 284 00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:15,080 Co workers, but unless you hate your Co workers and and love me 285 00:18:15,080 --> 00:18:17,400 so much more than I don't even want to be around you. 286 00:18:18,360 --> 00:18:23,160 Imagine someone coming to you. Imagine if a pastor did this. 287 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:25,160 You know, I know you got your family. 288 00:18:25,160 --> 00:18:26,520 I'm so glad you're part of the church. 289 00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:30,760 I know you're married, but unless you love this church more 290 00:18:30,760 --> 00:18:34,320 than you love your family, unless you hate them compared to 291 00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:37,320 the way you love me, you can't be a part of it. 292 00:18:38,400 --> 00:18:41,200 Now, as your pastor, I just want to say, if anyone ever did that 293 00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:43,920 to you, run, OK? They're not good people. 294 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:47,000 And if they did it in the name of religion, they're a cult 295 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:51,000 leader. They're horrible and we stop 296 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:55,440 here so that you can make a very important inference of the text 297 00:18:55,440 --> 00:18:59,080 of what Jesus is doing. The only way that Jesus can do 298 00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:06,240 this is if he's God Incarnate. The only way that Jesus could 299 00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:10,240 come to anyone and say if you really want any part of me, I 300 00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:14,520 have to be the object of your worship is if that he is God in 301 00:19:14,520 --> 00:19:18,960 human flesh. And so some of you, this is your 302 00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:21,880 off ramp. If Jesus is a moral teacher, if 303 00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:25,600 Jesus and his teachings is a guide to life, if the Bible is a 304 00:19:25,840 --> 00:19:29,560 nice take it or leave it book, this will not work. 305 00:19:32,960 --> 00:19:38,040 But if Jesus is who he says he is, if the Jesus that is being 306 00:19:38,080 --> 00:19:43,600 presented to you is the Jesus that rose again on the third day 307 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:48,480 and exists in the heavenly places coming again, then you 308 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:50,360 would be crazy not to bend the knee. 309 00:19:55,760 --> 00:20:01,200 Consider what he says. Anyone who does not put me at 310 00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:06,280 the object of their worship cannot be my disciple. 311 00:20:08,040 --> 00:20:13,520 Now I want to let that really sink in. 312 00:20:13,600 --> 00:20:17,280 He says cannot. Welcome to the multitude. 313 00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:20,200 You can come to church at any level of devotion. 314 00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:22,920 You can listen to the sermons and YouTube is free. 315 00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:26,080 Great sermons out there. But he says if you want to be a 316 00:20:26,080 --> 00:20:31,440 disciple, if you want the life that ioffer, I must be the 317 00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:34,760 object of your worship. He doesn't say if I'm not, if 318 00:20:34,760 --> 00:20:36,400 you love other people more than me. 319 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:39,400 Join the junior varsity team and talk to the pastor when you're 320 00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:42,160 ready. He says it will not happen. 321 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:45,600 So here is the the challenge as it's really supposed to hit you. 322 00:20:45,800 --> 00:20:50,520 Some of you are here, no doubt with a greater love and a 323 00:20:50,520 --> 00:20:54,080 devotion and a reason for being here that is not actually the 324 00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:56,080 worship of Jesus, the living God. 325 00:20:56,960 --> 00:20:59,680 I've just been a pastor long enough to know that some people 326 00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:03,960 come as a act of devotion to someone else. 327 00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:07,120 I've met people over the years who said, you know, I like your 328 00:21:07,120 --> 00:21:08,280 church. I'm really here because I 329 00:21:08,280 --> 00:21:10,240 started dating a girl who comes here, and she told me you 330 00:21:10,240 --> 00:21:12,480 couldn't keep dating unless I started coming. 331 00:21:12,480 --> 00:21:14,320 So yeah, thanks for letting me come here. 332 00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:15,600 It's like, you're welcome to come. 333 00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:18,680 You're not a disciple. You love your girlfriend more 334 00:21:18,680 --> 00:21:20,720 than you love Jesus, which means you're not a disciple. 335 00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:24,760 There are people that I've met over the years who come and 336 00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:26,320 they're like, man, my marriage is on the brink. 337 00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:29,760 My wife told me that the only way I could, we could even give 338 00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:31,800 this another second chance is if I start coming. 339 00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:35,000 So I'm coming to the men's thing tonight because if I don't, I 340 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:39,240 might lose my wife. It's like, great come and maybe 341 00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:42,160 your wife will thank you. You're not a disciple. 342 00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:48,200 Jesus says unless you love me so much that everything else 343 00:21:48,200 --> 00:21:51,960 becomes a secondary and lesser love to the point that it would 344 00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:55,280 look like hatred. You're just part of the crowd. 345 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:04,040 And this is where the sermon begins to offer you some signs 346 00:22:04,040 --> 00:22:11,160 of life. Jesus is saying, for any of this 347 00:22:11,160 --> 00:22:17,400 to work, I have to be God. And he is saving you from the 348 00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:24,480 reality that anything you love greater than God will in fact 349 00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:28,560 become your God. He's saving us from this 350 00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:32,320 horrible truth that all too often we have to realize after 351 00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:37,640 we've hit the emptiness of the soul, that if we try to save our 352 00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:42,440 own lives, we'll lose it. If we try to love ourselves 353 00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:45,120 first, we'll end up hating our lives. 354 00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:51,000 If you try to make your marriage the object of your worship and 355 00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:54,160 God is there to come alongside, you will end up hating your 356 00:22:54,160 --> 00:22:58,280 marriage. If you try to make your kids the 357 00:22:58,280 --> 00:23:01,320 object of your primary devotion and everything you are is 358 00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:05,920 obsessed with your children and the love you have for them, your 359 00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:13,320 children will hate you. And it's not. 360 00:23:13,320 --> 00:23:18,320 This is not a lesson you have to wait for a preacher to tell you. 361 00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:23,440 This is just a reality of life, and we have all sorts of ways 362 00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:26,960 that this culture just gives us example after example after 363 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:30,000 example. You know, one way that you could 364 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:35,360 see this is anyone who just loves beauty. 365 00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:37,600 You know what happens when someone just like, just what I 366 00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:43,560 just love being beautiful? They're going to hate the way 367 00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:46,640 they look. They're going to just do 368 00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:49,800 everything they can and one surgery after the other and 369 00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:51,560 eventually they're going to look in the mirror and they're going 370 00:23:51,560 --> 00:23:53,080 to see what we all see is just not working. 371 00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:59,680 Anybody who just loves the idea of gaining great wealth and you 372 00:23:59,680 --> 00:24:02,000 love that and that's the life you want to love. 373 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:04,640 You know what you're going to hate your bank account. 374 00:24:05,680 --> 00:24:08,080 You're never going to look at it and be like I'm here, I've made 375 00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:11,920 it always going to be one more dollar that's just keeping you 376 00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:14,080 from the from the satisfaction of your soul. 377 00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:18,960 Anybody who loves their life to the point of comfort. 378 00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:24,440 Just everything you do is to get the blank space in the calendar 379 00:24:24,440 --> 00:24:27,680 where you can finally get away and have your alone time to just 380 00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:31,760 get some comfort and ease and enjoy the news feed. 381 00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:34,760 You are going to hate your alone time. 382 00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:40,880 It's a bottomless pit of never ending desire to find the thing 383 00:24:40,880 --> 00:24:43,480 can actually absorb your devotion. 384 00:24:44,320 --> 00:24:48,240 So Jesus say if you don't hate those things and love me, you're 385 00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:49,800 going to you're going to hate your life. 386 00:24:51,360 --> 00:24:56,680 Look what John Piper says. The Son of God's glory was made 387 00:24:56,680 --> 00:24:59,720 to shine at the center of the solar system of our soul. 388 00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:04,080 And when it does, all the planets of our life are held in 389 00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:08,440 their proper orbit. God set up creation, and he put 390 00:25:08,440 --> 00:25:11,840 the sun in the middle of our solar system, and the perfectly 391 00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:16,000 aligned planets orbit around it. And Piper says that's like the 392 00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:18,920 glory of God. When it's the center of our 393 00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:22,280 devotion in our soul. Everything else in your life 394 00:25:22,280 --> 00:25:26,600 will orbit perfectly around it. And when you put anything else, 395 00:25:27,760 --> 00:25:30,480 you're going to find yourself living a life that you 396 00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:35,600 eventually hate. So Jesus says you want to be my 397 00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:43,360 disciple, hate everything but me, you, you get that lesson and 398 00:25:43,360 --> 00:25:46,640 you're walking towards how to unlock everything else. 399 00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:51,440 So some of you have made it this far and you're thinking, OK, 400 00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:56,040 what do I do? So Jesus gives you now the 401 00:25:56,040 --> 00:25:59,960 Master Good Shepherd is going to give you your invitation to 402 00:25:59,960 --> 00:26:03,280 follow. If you're tracking with him so 403 00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:07,360 far, He now says in verse 27, this is your call to action. 404 00:26:08,040 --> 00:26:11,880 Whoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my 405 00:26:11,880 --> 00:26:15,560 disciple. You want to put me at the center 406 00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:18,440 of your life. Follow me all the way to the 407 00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:22,640 cross. Two things now he said that will 408 00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:25,520 disqualify you. You have any other devotion that 409 00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:29,880 is not Jesus at the center and you're unwilling to actually 410 00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:35,640 deny yourself, exchange your old life for your life in Christ. 411 00:26:35,640 --> 00:26:39,720 That's the cross. And I'll I'll tell you you we've 412 00:26:39,720 --> 00:26:42,840 referenced seemingly every week that we've been in the Gospel of 413 00:26:42,840 --> 00:26:45,760 Luke that we're framing this whole series in the simple title 414 00:26:45,760 --> 00:26:48,720 the journey to the cross because Luke Chapter 9 says we're going 415 00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:51,440 to Jerusalem, going to the cross and follow me, pick up your 416 00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:54,280 cross and follow me. And every week it seems like 417 00:26:54,280 --> 00:26:56,480 that the path gets more narrow and narrow and narrow until 418 00:26:56,480 --> 00:26:58,600 Jesus will be hanging on the cross on Good Friday. 419 00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:03,600 And if you're like me, I think of that series title and I just 420 00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:07,600 think of just the majesty of Jesus dying on his cross for my 421 00:27:07,600 --> 00:27:12,560 sin. Well, we're now going so far 422 00:27:12,560 --> 00:27:15,000 into the series that we're going to come to the deeper lesson 423 00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:19,840 that if you actually believe that Jesus died on the cross for 424 00:27:19,840 --> 00:27:23,800 your sin, then the journey to the cross is now yours. 425 00:27:26,120 --> 00:27:31,120 He's calling you to be a disciple that comes after him. 426 00:27:32,800 --> 00:27:37,040 You're no longer living your life as though God is some sort 427 00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:40,000 of guide to your life giving you what you want. 428 00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:44,600 You are now rejecting self governance and self-interest and 429 00:27:44,600 --> 00:27:47,760 self-centered living. And you're saying I follow Jesus 430 00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:50,280 to the point of my own sacrifice. 431 00:27:51,120 --> 00:27:55,000 This is why he's about to say you better know the cost because 432 00:27:55,000 --> 00:28:01,560 salvation in Christ is free. But discipleship, where he takes 433 00:28:01,560 --> 00:28:05,160 your life that was going towards a life you're going to hate, and 434 00:28:05,160 --> 00:28:09,040 he pulls it into the new life of Christ, will cost you the rest 435 00:28:09,040 --> 00:28:15,040 of your life. So there's a critical moment 436 00:28:15,040 --> 00:28:17,440 that we will study coming up in the Gospel of Luke that will 437 00:28:17,440 --> 00:28:20,080 become the question, the $1,000,000 question that every 438 00:28:20,080 --> 00:28:22,840 disciple should ask. What does it practically look 439 00:28:22,840 --> 00:28:26,120 like to pick up my cross? How do I do that? 440 00:28:27,120 --> 00:28:28,680 Well, remember Jesus says come after me. 441 00:28:28,680 --> 00:28:31,520 So what we what we have to do to answer that question is see how 442 00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:36,560 Jesus picked up his cross. And I'll tell you this in 443 00:28:36,640 --> 00:28:40,000 accordance to everything we've shared so far, the cross will 444 00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:43,200 always put you in a place that will challenge your natural 445 00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:47,880 instinct, challenge what you would like to do, or challenge 446 00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:50,360 who you already love or challenge who you would invite 447 00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:53,600 to dinner. And if we want to see how Jesus 448 00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:56,600 got to the point of picking up his cross, we have to see how he 449 00:28:56,600 --> 00:29:03,720 overcame his instinct to not. In other words, your cross 450 00:29:03,720 --> 00:29:06,560 moments will not be something you're like, I can't wait for 451 00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:09,840 this, this is amazing. I'm going to wear this as 452 00:29:09,840 --> 00:29:12,680 jewelry and put it on the stage of my church 'cause I just love 453 00:29:12,680 --> 00:29:14,800 every instance that I have to pick up my cross. 454 00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:19,920 It's actually opposite. There's a simple moment where 455 00:29:19,920 --> 00:29:27,680 Jesus is wrestling the cross. Gospel of Luke will tell us in 456 00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:31,960 chapter 22 that on the night he was betrayed, he went to the 457 00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:37,120 Garden of Gethsemane to pray. And what was he praying? 458 00:29:37,120 --> 00:29:46,120 He said, Father, is there any way that the mission of 459 00:29:46,120 --> 00:29:50,240 redemption could be completed without my death on the cross? 460 00:29:51,360 --> 00:29:57,640 Let this cup pass from me. And just to confirm what Jesus 461 00:29:57,640 --> 00:29:59,640 teaches in the way that prayer was answered. 462 00:29:59,640 --> 00:30:02,120 He is the way, the truth and the life. 463 00:30:02,120 --> 00:30:06,240 No one gets to the Father except through the sacrifice of Jesus 464 00:30:06,240 --> 00:30:12,920 to pay the price of sin. The answer was nevertheless not 465 00:30:12,920 --> 00:30:16,560 your will be done, not my will be done, but yours. 466 00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:19,320 That's the beginning of the cross. 467 00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:23,720 The beginning of the cross is to wrestle with the will of God in 468 00:30:23,720 --> 00:30:26,840 your life to the point where you say, nevertheless, I belong to 469 00:30:26,840 --> 00:30:29,360 you. I no longer govern my own life. 470 00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:34,560 Any of you who have been following Jesus in any serious 471 00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:39,840 way have moments where your life was at the crossroads, where you 472 00:30:39,840 --> 00:30:42,360 would have done one thing and the Lord called you to another 473 00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:46,280 and you picked up the cross to obey him and you accepted the 474 00:30:46,280 --> 00:30:51,600 call to be discipled. I remember one of those moments 475 00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:54,400 in my life. In fact, it's worth sharing 476 00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:56,800 because it gives you a little insight into how I got here. 477 00:30:57,520 --> 00:31:00,240 And I start serving at Calvary Chapel Boise and leading this 478 00:31:00,240 --> 00:31:02,760 church. Well, it was, I assure you it 479 00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:05,520 was quite contrary to my own plans for my life. 480 00:31:05,520 --> 00:31:09,680 It was, this is not the result of me having a, you know, a 30 481 00:31:09,680 --> 00:31:12,160 year plan for my life that ended behind this pulpit. 482 00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:17,000 I was actually right before God called me to this place, I was 483 00:31:17,000 --> 00:31:18,960 living in Saint Martin, the Caribbean. 484 00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:21,000 Oh, what a beautiful place. Some of you have been there and 485 00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:25,720 it's just it. It was me trying to save my own 486 00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:27,400 life. I loved it. 487 00:31:27,400 --> 00:31:30,480 It was the climate I wanted, the blue waters. 488 00:31:30,480 --> 00:31:33,600 I was living as a deckhand on a yacht, just simple life. 489 00:31:33,800 --> 00:31:35,880 I was even going to a small little church. 490 00:31:35,880 --> 00:31:39,280 I said, Lord, I am called to be an usher at this church until I 491 00:31:39,280 --> 00:31:43,840 die, which is my dream. And the Lord would not let me 492 00:31:43,840 --> 00:31:47,400 go. And he called me to come back to 493 00:31:47,400 --> 00:31:49,360 Boise to start serving at this church. 494 00:31:50,760 --> 00:31:54,120 And here's how the cross moment hit me as I remember, you know, 495 00:31:54,160 --> 00:31:57,160 in the beautiful palm tree sunset of Saint Martin 496 00:31:57,160 --> 00:31:58,880 Caribbean. I said, but Lord, it's winter 497 00:31:58,880 --> 00:32:01,200 there. It's cold. 498 00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:04,680 I finally escaped and my bones feel good. 499 00:32:06,800 --> 00:32:10,600 It doesn't matter what I want. The cross means you do the will 500 00:32:10,600 --> 00:32:15,560 of God because he is wiser and more loving and more caring for 501 00:32:15,560 --> 00:32:20,520 your life than you are. And any one of you who have 502 00:32:20,520 --> 00:32:23,040 taken the call of Christ seriously had a moment where you 503 00:32:23,040 --> 00:32:25,560 negotiated with the will of God. And the cross meant, 504 00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:30,720 nevertheless, Lord, I'll do it. I trust you that you can take me 505 00:32:30,720 --> 00:32:35,320 places that I don't see. The final destination for the 506 00:32:35,320 --> 00:32:39,600 cross is to say, Nevertheless, Lord, you're the Lord. 507 00:32:39,640 --> 00:32:43,880 I'm not, and I will lay down my life so that you can pick it up 508 00:32:43,960 --> 00:32:47,680 over and over and over again. And I assure you that the cross 509 00:32:47,680 --> 00:32:51,680 is not one distant day 15 years ago where you got saved or 510 00:32:51,680 --> 00:32:54,680 answered a call. Jesus says pick up your cross 511 00:32:54,880 --> 00:32:59,080 daily. There is a cross for you to 512 00:32:59,080 --> 00:33:01,400 bear. The will of God will not come 513 00:33:01,560 --> 00:33:03,920 with sunshine and flowers tomorrow morning. 514 00:33:05,560 --> 00:33:09,000 Whenever you live out the will of God, you are wrestling to the 515 00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:11,720 ground through the power of prayer, your flesh that would do 516 00:33:11,720 --> 00:33:15,160 otherwise. And you say, nevertheless, Lord, 517 00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:20,920 again I pick up my cross. And he says, if you're not 518 00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:23,760 willing to live that kind of life where the cross becomes a 519 00:33:23,760 --> 00:33:28,040 pattern of your life, you can come to church and you're part 520 00:33:28,040 --> 00:33:29,880 of the multitude. You're just not a disciple. 521 00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:35,840 And of course, Jesus is saying all of these things, not so that 522 00:33:35,840 --> 00:33:39,560 no one would follow him, but that people would understand 523 00:33:39,560 --> 00:33:41,280 what they're following him towards. 524 00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:45,480 And this is where we shift from maybe some of you listening to 525 00:33:45,480 --> 00:33:49,280 this and thinking, wow, I guess I'm going to have to exchange 526 00:33:49,280 --> 00:33:52,280 the, you know, the, the, the good life on earth for the 527 00:33:52,280 --> 00:33:55,280 drudgery of the Christian life. And I hope heaven's not boring. 528 00:33:56,760 --> 00:33:59,960 Maybe some of you have denied the call of Christ because you 529 00:33:59,960 --> 00:34:02,560 really do think the exchange is not worth it. 530 00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:10,360 And so we'll end by a very brief but important examination of the 531 00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:14,080 parable that we read. He said which of you, intending 532 00:34:14,080 --> 00:34:17,920 to build a tower, does not sit down 1st and count the cost? 533 00:34:18,639 --> 00:34:22,760 Whether he has enough to finish, lest after he has laid the 534 00:34:22,760 --> 00:34:24,280 foundation is not able to finish. 535 00:34:24,480 --> 00:34:28,280 All who see will mock him. The man began to build but was 536 00:34:28,280 --> 00:34:33,239 not able to finish. Says What is the cost? 537 00:34:33,239 --> 00:34:38,440 What would it take for you to set out and build a tower? 538 00:34:38,920 --> 00:34:43,199 The second parable he says. Or consider a king who's 539 00:34:43,199 --> 00:34:47,199 thinking about war. Both of these parables were 540 00:34:47,199 --> 00:34:49,480 given so that people would consider the cost, but they're 541 00:34:49,480 --> 00:34:53,960 also given so that people would consider the reward. 542 00:34:56,639 --> 00:34:59,600 I'm speaking to those of you who feel a little ho hum about 543 00:34:59,600 --> 00:35:02,640 following Jesus. I guess following Jesus is like, 544 00:35:02,640 --> 00:35:07,480 I guess exchange the good life. I'm here and I'm sitting through 545 00:35:07,480 --> 00:35:09,360 the sermon, but I can't wait to get to the game. 546 00:35:11,360 --> 00:35:14,320 Jesus says that following him is like setting out to build a 547 00:35:14,320 --> 00:35:17,520 tower that might be lost on our modern ears because we live in 548 00:35:17,520 --> 00:35:19,520 Urban Development, so we see high rises everywhere. 549 00:35:19,520 --> 00:35:21,560 But consider what these people must have heard. 550 00:35:22,160 --> 00:35:24,000 Tower. You're going to use my life to 551 00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:27,040 build a tower. I'm going to go out and build 552 00:35:27,040 --> 00:35:29,320 something that's got a foundation and it's got, it's 553 00:35:29,320 --> 00:35:31,600 going to take a whole crew of people and it's going to go up 554 00:35:31,600 --> 00:35:34,320 to the heavens and people will look back and think what a great 555 00:35:34,320 --> 00:35:40,320 feat. It's costly because it's got a 556 00:35:40,360 --> 00:35:43,920 crown. There's nothing you can do in 557 00:35:43,920 --> 00:35:46,320 this life that's worth any of your time. 558 00:35:46,880 --> 00:35:50,520 There's nothing that you would devote yourself to that has any 559 00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:55,480 reward worth your devotion that doesn't require you to actually 560 00:35:55,480 --> 00:36:00,120 commit to it. And the the the ultimate fork in 561 00:36:00,120 --> 00:36:03,800 the road of your life is, is it better to commit to something 562 00:36:03,800 --> 00:36:07,400 that you can make a great tower for your name on earth, or is it 563 00:36:07,400 --> 00:36:10,680 better to commit to something where you are building on the 564 00:36:10,680 --> 00:36:12,760 foundation of Christ for the glory of God? 565 00:36:12,760 --> 00:36:14,960 That is the fundamental question that's being asked. 566 00:36:17,080 --> 00:36:20,160 If you put him at the center of your life and you devoted to Him 567 00:36:20,360 --> 00:36:23,000 and you wrestled your will to the ground and followed the will 568 00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:26,280 of God, would you be? Would you be getting a good deal 569 00:36:26,280 --> 00:36:29,800 on the exchange? That's what we all secretly 570 00:36:29,800 --> 00:36:31,480 wrestle with. It goes all the way back to the 571 00:36:31,480 --> 00:36:34,280 garden when they wondered, is God really being good by 572 00:36:34,280 --> 00:36:35,880 preventing us from eating from this tree? 573 00:36:37,440 --> 00:36:39,880 Our discipleship has to wrestle to the ground. 574 00:36:39,880 --> 00:36:43,240 The question of is your life better in Christ? 575 00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:46,600 Is your greatness greater in Christ? 576 00:36:48,720 --> 00:36:54,640 And so let me just tell you, we're following Jesus all the 577 00:36:54,640 --> 00:36:59,280 way to the cross actually ends. Following Jesus to the cross 578 00:36:59,280 --> 00:37:04,640 does not end with death. This is why we call Good Friday 579 00:37:04,640 --> 00:37:07,120 good. He paid the price for our sins, 580 00:37:07,360 --> 00:37:09,360 and on the third day he rose again. 581 00:37:10,200 --> 00:37:13,200 Paul says the Philippians have this mind in you that was in 582 00:37:13,200 --> 00:37:15,920 Christ who emptied Himself, coming in the form of a bond 583 00:37:15,920 --> 00:37:22,320 certain, obedient to the point of death, now sitting at the 584 00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:28,560 right hand of God, with the name that every knee will bow and 585 00:37:28,560 --> 00:37:30,600 every tongue will confess that He is Lord. 586 00:37:31,040 --> 00:37:36,240 The cross of Christ brought the glory of Christ, and there is no 587 00:37:36,240 --> 00:37:40,600 greater thing that you can do with your life then to fulfill 588 00:37:40,600 --> 00:37:43,280 the perfect will of God, the good works that He's prepared 589 00:37:43,280 --> 00:37:46,480 beforehand, to fulfill the mission on your life to bring 590 00:37:46,480 --> 00:37:48,560 Him glory. It will be the glory that 591 00:37:48,560 --> 00:37:54,560 outshines everything else, and we will all be tempted by some 592 00:37:54,560 --> 00:38:01,520 way to make our tower on earth. Just think of who in our world 593 00:38:01,520 --> 00:38:05,000 we celebrate as great. And mostly the world celebrates 594 00:38:05,920 --> 00:38:07,560 things that will go by very quickly. 595 00:38:08,080 --> 00:38:11,680 Right now, in just this little season of life, you will be 596 00:38:11,680 --> 00:38:14,400 presented with the Grammys, the Olympics, and the Oscars. 597 00:38:14,480 --> 00:38:18,560 And I assure you, anyone Who Will Win any of those things 598 00:38:18,760 --> 00:38:20,720 counted the cost. They did the hard work and they 599 00:38:20,720 --> 00:38:22,000 accomplished something with their life. 600 00:38:22,160 --> 00:38:24,760 But their accomplishment is a vapor. 601 00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:29,680 It will come and it will go and they will be forgotten. 602 00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:35,520 The the greatest people in the world right now are not 603 00:38:35,520 --> 00:38:38,240 receiving rewards to a round of applause. 604 00:38:39,320 --> 00:38:42,960 The people doing great things with their life right now are 605 00:38:42,960 --> 00:38:45,840 sacrificing their lives so that others can live. 606 00:38:46,680 --> 00:38:50,000 The greatest among us. There are moms who woke up in 607 00:38:50,000 --> 00:38:53,320 the middle of the night last night to care for a child and no 608 00:38:53,320 --> 00:38:58,080 one saw them. There are dads that work lay 609 00:38:58,080 --> 00:39:00,720 down their lives to provide for their kids to disciple them in 610 00:39:00,720 --> 00:39:05,200 Christ and no one thanks them. There are missionaries that we 611 00:39:05,200 --> 00:39:07,960 pray for that are going to spend their whole life reaching a few 612 00:39:07,960 --> 00:39:11,240 souls for the Kingdom and no one's greet him at the airport 613 00:39:11,240 --> 00:39:20,280 with applause and trophies. And yet you should have heard it 614 00:39:20,280 --> 00:39:23,800 in nursery rhymes. One life to live, how quick it 615 00:39:23,800 --> 00:39:28,240 pass. Only what is done for Christ 616 00:39:28,320 --> 00:39:32,600 will last. Count the cost of your devotion. 617 00:39:33,800 --> 00:39:37,200 What are you really after? What are you actually building 618 00:39:37,200 --> 00:39:41,480 with your life? So for two people, we now end 619 00:39:41,480 --> 00:39:43,840 this sermon and we'll, we'll, we'll prepare our hearts for 620 00:39:43,840 --> 00:39:46,400 communion. No doubt we are talking to some 621 00:39:46,400 --> 00:39:48,040 people. The word preached out this 622 00:39:48,040 --> 00:39:51,080 morning is going to some people who can hear this sermon preach 623 00:39:51,080 --> 00:39:52,520 and say I'm probably not a disciple. 624 00:39:52,920 --> 00:39:55,320 And for some of you, I actually applaud you. 625 00:39:56,360 --> 00:39:59,000 For those of you who have considered the cost of calling 626 00:39:59,000 --> 00:40:01,840 yourself a follower of Jesus, and you realize you're going to 627 00:40:01,840 --> 00:40:03,760 have to say no to some things you really like and you're going 628 00:40:03,760 --> 00:40:06,320 to have to use your time and resources and treasures in ways 629 00:40:06,320 --> 00:40:08,320 that you've got other plans for. And you've said, you know, I'm 630 00:40:08,320 --> 00:40:11,320 not ready for that. At least you've counted the 631 00:40:11,320 --> 00:40:14,080 cost. At least you're not part of the 632 00:40:14,080 --> 00:40:17,960 crowd acting like going to church is hopefully going to 633 00:40:18,760 --> 00:40:21,840 turn out good in the end. Jesus said would that you were 634 00:40:21,840 --> 00:40:23,400 hot or cold. At least you're cold. 635 00:40:25,600 --> 00:40:29,560 And then the second crowd, those of us who we have our moments 636 00:40:29,560 --> 00:40:32,880 where we saw a vision of salvation, Jesus on the cross 637 00:40:32,880 --> 00:40:35,400 for our sins, and we said, Lord, I want to follow you. 638 00:40:38,560 --> 00:40:43,160 Is your life orbiting with Jesus at the center? 639 00:40:45,040 --> 00:40:49,760 Have you counted every other devotion, A devotion that would 640 00:40:49,760 --> 00:40:52,360 look like hate compared to the love that you have for Christ? 641 00:40:53,480 --> 00:40:58,920 Have you consider that God's will for your life is going to 642 00:40:58,920 --> 00:41:02,000 do great things for His name and your joy? 643 00:41:04,360 --> 00:41:10,960 Is your devotion something that you can see is turning into good 644 00:41:10,960 --> 00:41:18,360 fruit? Jesus says unless you hate 645 00:41:19,920 --> 00:41:26,560 mother, father, sister, brother, you cannot be my disciple. 646 00:41:27,520 --> 00:41:30,440 What he's really saying is I want you to love me more than 647 00:41:30,440 --> 00:41:33,320 anything else. And the promise of the Good 648 00:41:33,320 --> 00:41:37,720 Shepherd is that he will give you life and life more abundant. 649 00:41:38,240 --> 00:41:40,880 Everything will orbit perfectly around Christ. 650 00:41:41,680 --> 00:41:44,760 Everyone else will be blessed as you put him in the center. 651 00:41:46,840 --> 00:41:49,600 Thanks for joining us today. If you would like to watch the 652 00:41:49,600 --> 00:41:52,120 full service, check out the link in the description. 653 00:41:52,520 --> 00:41:56,400 For next steps and to learn more, visit Calvary Boise com.