There's is an old fable about an Emperor who many years ago gathered together the wisest people in his kingdom and said, "I want you to assemble all of the great knowledge of our civilizations so that it will be available for future generations."
They worked many years before returning with ten bound volumes. The Emperor glanced at the stack of books frowned and said, "Too long." The sages scurried back to work and did not return until they had edited the ten volumes down to one. However, when they handed it to the Emperor he refused to open it. He said, "It is still too lengthy."
Over the next two years, the sages condensed the book into one paragraph. The emperor still wasn't satisfied.
Finally, these wise people came back with a single sentence inscribed on an index card. The Emperor read it, smiled, and said, "This is perfect. Now future generations will understand why we have been so successful. All the genius we possess is contained in this brilliant solitary phrase." The sentence read: "There is no free lunch." The truth is whether you eat dog food or filet mignon depends on how high price you're willing to pay for the meal. In other words, greatness depends upon sacrifice. Sacrifice is what Jesus is speaking of in the passage we are going to study today. In fact, in classic sermonic form, Jesus, first of all, gives an explanation of sacrifice. Then He gives an illustration of sacrifice. Then He makes an application of sacrifice.
Verse 25 says that Jesus was speaking to "great multitudes." He was not speaking to just his core followers. He was talking to everybody. We would call this crowd today "groupies." Three different times, in this passage, (vv. 26, 27, 33) Jesus said unless you meet certain conditions you "Cannot be my disciples." Quite frankly, Jesus was trying to thin out the ranks.
Unlike the modern day church, Jesus was not looking for a crowd; He was looking for commitment. He was not looking for decisions, He was looking for disciples.
Though we rarely refer to Christians today as disciples, the word disciple was the most common name used for the followers of Jesus. In fact, in the gospels in the book of Acts, Christians are called disciples 264 times. What Jesus teaches in this passage about being a disciple is exactly the same lessons we must learn if we are going to achieve greatness either individually or together, because nothing great ever happens without sacrifice. Sacrifice involves four key actions, all of which together guarantee greatness.
I. There Is a Decision That Must Be Determined
"If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple." (v. 26) This verse has caused a lot of people a lot of unnecessary problems. Because it appears as if Jesus is telling us that we should hate the ones we should love the most. But this is not what He meant at all.
The same Jesus, who tells us to love our enemies, would certainly not turn around and tell us to hate our families. In this particular verse, the old adage is true that "everything is relative." The word "hate" here really has the meaning "to love less." The real sense of this verse is found is in Matthew 10: 37 where Jesus said:
"He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me."
One of the reasons why Jesus said this to this crowd was this. Two thousand years ago, if you gave your life to Jesus, you most likely would have to give up your family, especially if you were Jewish. Even today, in certain countries such as many Muslim countries, if a Muslim converts to Christ he is immediately disowned by his family and often times put under the curse of death.
Jesus makes this demand because He is dealing with the question of priority. If you are going to be a follower of Jesus Christ, He must be your first love. He will not take second place to anyone or to anything. Can you ladies imagine if a man was proposing to you and said, "I want you marry me under this one condition; if down the road another woman comes into my life that I like and love more than you, you'll have to leave?" Do you think there is a woman on earth that would accept that type of proposal? I don't either.
No woman should accept that because whenever a man marries a woman, that woman deserves to be the only woman in that man's life. That's the decision that was made when they got married. Anything you put above the Lord Jesus Christ becomes your Lord, and He demands to be the only Lord of your life.
I was reading how one of our great Southern Baptist leaders, in the past who was a great preacher, proposed to his wife. Here's what he said to her: "Sweetheart, would you be willing to take second place in my life for the rest of your life?" In other words he was saying to her, if you're willing to be second to Jesus, then you and I can get married.
There is a sacrifice you must make to take even the first step toward Jesus Christ. He must come first: ahead of family, ahead of friends, and ahead of finances. That is a sacrifice that you have to make.
II. There Is a Price That Must Be Paid
"And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple." (v. 27) I want to emphasize that although salvation is free, it is not cheap. Just as Jesus paid a price in order to save you, you must pay a price in order to serve Him. The fact of the matter is, it not only pays to serve Jesus, it costs to serve Jesus. That may turn some people off. As a matter of fact it will; it turned a lot of people off in His day.
Billy Graham once said something that I agree with wholeheartedly. "I think the main reason people do not come to Christ is because they do not want to pay the price. But Christ will not compromise and He will not negotiate."[1] Now, when Jesus speaks of bearing a cross, you have to understand what a cross represented 2000 years ago.
Today we would talk about the electric chair or the gas chamber, because a cross was the symbol of one thing—a symbol of death. There was only one reason that a man would take up the cross, and that is because he was going to die. Jesus not only wants you to live for Him; He wants you to die with Him. That's why He goes on to say in verse 26 that you must love Him more "than your own life."
If you're going to be His disciple, then your number one ambition must be to fulfill whatever His ambition is for your life.
The cross always comes before commitment. The cross always comes before the crown. Jesus makes it plain. If you're not willing to die to yourself, to your ambitions, your goals, your desires, and surrender your life totally to Him you cannot be His disciple.
If you want to win a popularity contest in this world, don't bother following Jesus. The world mocked Him and it will mock you. The world scorned Him and it will scorn you. The world rejected Him and it will reject you. That is a small price, quite frankly, to pay when you consider the benefit of becoming His disciple and living for Him and with Him for all eternity.
Someone once asked George Mueller, the great prayer warrior and Christian, "Mr. Mueller, what is the secret of your great life?" George Mueller, after some thought, replied, "There was a day when George Mueller DIED." That is, Mueller was willing to make any sacrifice in order to please the Lord Jesus and to be His follower.
You go back and study anything that's ever been achieved of any notoriety whatsoever and you will find that somewhere, someplace, somehow, somebody paid a price and somebody made a great sacrifice.
We live in a free country called the United States of America today because our founding fathers made a great sacrifice. They paid a heavy price.
The Declaration of Independence is the birth certificate of the United States of America. The 56 signers of that declaration made a bold promise to one another. When they signed the great document, they pledged "our Lives, our Fortunes, and sacred Honor." Were those just empty words?
Well of those 56 courageous men who signed that document, five were captured by the British and tortured before they died. Nine died in the war, either from hardships or bullets. Twelve had their homes sacked, looted, burned, or occupied by the enemy. Two lost their sons in battle. One had two sons captured.
The plantations of Georgia signers, Lyman Hall and Button Gwinnett, were destroyed as were the homes of William Ellery, George Clymer, William Floyd, and William Hooper.
The plantations of Edward Rutledge, Arthur Middleton, and Thomas Heyward were burned to the ground. These men, from South Carolina, also became prisoners of war.
The farm and livestock of John Hart, of New Jersey, were destroyed. His wife died trying to avoid capture and his health was ruined.
One of New York's signers, Francis Lewis, not only had his home burned to the ground, but his wife was made a prisoner of war. Shortly after her release, she died.
Richard Stockton, another signer, was captured; made a prisoner of war, lost his health, came back to find his home burned. And because, under pressure, he had signed an amnesty declaration, his own friends shunned him for the rest of his life.[2]
Not only is this country here because of sacrifice; but the church is here because of sacrifice. The church is here today because eleven disciples obeyed the command of Jesus to go into all the world and make disciples. But consider what happened to those disciples.
James, the brother of Jesus, and James, the son of Zebedee, were killed by mobs in Jerusalem. Matthew was run through with a sword in Ethiopia. Philip was hanged in Greece. Bartholomew was slain alive in Armenia. Andrew was crucified in Achaia and Thomas was killed with a lance in east India. Thaddeus was shot with arrows, Simon, the Zealot, was crucified by the Persians. Peter was crucified upside down by the Romans. The Apostle John died alone on the island of Patmos.[3] Greatness means there is a price to be paid. Always has meant that and always will mean that.
III. There Is a Cost That Must Be Counted
There are two statements that may sound contradictory to you but they are really complimentary. The first statement is: The way to heaven is easy because the way to heaven is Jesus. And Jesus said: "My yoke is easy." (Matthew 11: 30) But the second statement is this: Jesus is no easy way to heaven. There is a demand to discipleship.
Jesus exhorts this crowd to really think through carefully before they decide they want to make a commitment to Him because there is a cost to be counted. You know, too often, we worry about the price of something when we ought to consider the cost of something.
There's a big difference between price and cost. You take a $100,000 Mercedes. Now though the price is the same for everybody the cost would be far less to Donald Trump than it would be to Donald Chump. Likewise, there is a cost to be counted if you are going to follow the Lord Jesus. Jesus illustrates that consideration in two parables.
"For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it." (V. 28)
The Christian life is like a strong tower. It is to be a tower of work a tower of worship, a tower of witness, and a tower of warfare. But there is a tremendous cost in building this tower.
Do you know why so many so-called "Christians" drop out of church? Why so many "Christians" fall by the wayside and disappear? It is because they did not count the cost. Jesus points out why the hordes of hell and the hypocrites of this world laugh at, mock, and criticize the church.
"Lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘this man began to build and was not able to finish.' " (vv. 29–30)
The number one problem with a lot of church members is that they are half-finished towers. How many people do you know that ran one lap of the Christian life and quit? Or they fought one round and quit? Or they played one quarter and they quit?
If you are not careful, you will wind up as a half-finished tower. As I have told you before, what matters in a race is not how fast you start, but how strong you finished. Nothing breaks a pastor's heart than to look at Christians who used to do something. They used to tithe. They used to be soul-winners. They used to work in Sunday School. They used to sing in the choir. Magically, a "used to Christian" is a "used up Christian."
Then Jesus gives another parable:
"Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?" (v. 31)
The Christian life is not a frolic, it is a fight. It is a war. We have been called to be soldiers of the cross. In this army, there can be no cowards for the odds are too great.
Do you see here that this king was facing odds of two to one? Now we face odds today more like three to one because the world, the flesh, and the devil are all against us. But that should not discourage us because God plus one is a majority. We must be people of courage, who will make the sacrifice to face any fear and fight any foe knowing that with Jesus we cannot lose.
You can't be a coward and be a disciple. You can't be a compromiser and be a disciple. "Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace." (v. 32) We have been called to be soldiers and not diplomats. The average Christian wants to be just Godly enough to be accepted by the Lord and just worldly enough to be accepted by the world.
That's why Jesus ended by saying in verse 33: "So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple." (v. 33) To say "Hello" to Jesus, you must say "Goodbye" to this world.
I read a story recently about a man at Hartsfield International who was worried about missing his plane. He had no wristwatch and couldn't locate a clock, so he hurried up to a total stranger and said, "Excuse me, could you give me the time?"
The stranger smiled and said, "Of course." He sat down the two large suitcases he was carrying and looked at the watch on his wrist. He said, "It is exactly 5:09. The temperature outside is 73o and it is supposed to rain tonight. In London the sky is clear and the temperature is 46o. The barometer reading there is 29.14 and falling. In Singapore, the sun is shining brightly and it is 81o. By the way, the moon should be full tonight as you fly out of Atlanta. . . .The man interrupted him and said, "You mean your watch tells you all of that?"
The man said, "O yes, and much more than that. You see I've invented this watch and there is no other timepiece like it in the world. It can tell you what Wall Street is doing; give you individual stock prices. It keeps up to 50 thousand names, addresses, and phone numbers. With just a touch of a button, you can send Email or be on the Internet."
The man said, "That is unbelievable. I want to buy that watch. I'll give you $5,000 for it right now." As a stranger reached down to pick up the big suitcases, he said, "Oh no. It's not for sale." The man said, "Wait a minute. I'll pay you $10,000."
The man said, "Oh, I can't sell it. You see, I plan to give it to my son for his 21st birthday and I invented it for him to enjoy."
The man said, "Listen, I'll pay you $50,000 for that watch right now and here is the money." The stranger paused and said, "$50,000? Okay, it's yours." The man was absolutely elated; he paid the stranger, took the watch, snapped it on his wrist with glee and said, "Thanks" as he turned to walk away. The stranger looked at him and said, "Wait a minute. You need these." With a big smile, he handed the man the two heavy suitcases and said, "Don't forget the batteries." You must count the cost!
IV. There Is a Reward That Will Be Reaped
Don't get the idea that sacrifice is a negative. It's a positive. The football team that sacrifices, on the practice field and the weight room, wears the championship ring. The athlete that sacrifices, on the practice field and the track, wins the gold medal. No sacrifice you could ever make for Jesus could possibly compare to the reward you will get for making that sacrifice.
Jesus said to His disciples:
"Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospels, who shall not receive a hundred-fold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come, eternal life." (Mark 10:29-30)
I cannot help but think about a man by the name of David Livingston. David Livingston was a brilliant scholar. He studied Greek, theology, went to Glasgow University and graduated with a degree in Medicine. He could have been anything he wanted to be: a professor, an author, a doctor. But God had saved him and God had called him to the mission field.
In the course of time, God led him to Africa. Now at the time that Livingston went to Africa, no white man had ever entered the interior of Africa. Livingston was going to a place deep into the darkest part of Africa where no missionary had ever been seen; no Gospel had been preached; no Christ had ever been shared; no salvation had ever been offered.
The sacrifice he made was incredible. While out in the bush, preaching the Gospel, one day a huge lion leaped on him and clamped his teeth on his shoulder and crushed it leaving his left arm totally useless. One of his helpers killed the lion and saved him. Through that ordeal, Livingston was nursed back to health by a woman named, Mary, who became his wife. She went with him to Africa. As the years past, they had five children.
While crossing one of those vast plains of Africa, one of their children died. They concluded that it would be safer for his wife and four remaining children to go back to Scotland. Livingston said that decision was the most difficult of his life. They left and for five years Livingston did not see the faces of his wife and children and the loneliness was unbearable.
Finally the day came for Livingston to return home to his family. When he got back to his house in Scotland, he found it empty. His family had just buried his father, a godly man, who Livingston loved more than life itself. His heart was broken. Another price had been paid.
He and his family enjoyed some time together. But after awhile, he knew he had to go back to Africa. So once again he parted company with his family. More years passed and finally he received a letter that caused his heart to leap. The children were now grown and Mary was coming to Africa.
For months she traveled across oceans and up steamy African streams and rivers until finally she was in the arms of her husband. But she had barely arrived when she was struck down by an African fever. Dr. Livingston used every ounce of his medical skill to try to save her, but he could not.
He buried his wife under a huge African Baobab tree. After having a short memorial service, he went back to his cottage and wept like a baby. He had made unbelievable sacrifice and endured unbelievable burdens, enough to crush a thousand men. But listen to what he wrote that day in his diary:
"My Jesus, my King, my Life, my All; I again dedicate my whole self to Thee. I shall place no value on anything I possess or on anything I do except in relation to the Kingdom of Christ."
Through it all, the Lord sustained him.
After 16 years in Africa, Livingston went to England for the first time. He had become an international celebrity, which really meant nothing to him at all. He was invited to speak at the University of Glasgow where he had graduated many years before.
That was the custom, of that day, for undergraduates to heckle visiting speakers. So they were ready for this preacher with their toy trumpets, whistles, rattles, and all manners of noisemakers. They even had peashooters. When Livingston was introduced, they were all ready to make fun of him, laugh at him, and disrupt his speech. That is, until they saw him.
Livingston came to the platform with a tread of a man who had already walked 11,000 miles. That left arm hung uselessly at his side. His body was emaciated; his skin a dark brown from 16 years in the African sun; his face wrinkled from the ravages of several American fevers that had racked his body. He was half deaf from rheumatic fever and half blind from a branch that had slapped him in the eyes.
Before he could even begin to speak, the students did something unheard of. They put their noisemakers down and silently they all stood to their feet, out of respect for this man of God. Because they knew they were looking at the epitome of sacrifice. Here was a life that had been sacrificed totally for God and for fellow man. Throughout Livingston's entire speech, not one student sat down and not one student said a word.
Was the sacrifice worth it? Well, you consider this. Twenty-five years after his death in 1900, there were ten million Christians in Africa. Today, there are over 300 million. But there's one other thing. When Livingston died, the Lord Jesus greeted him standing at the gates of heaven and said without a doubt, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." Because Jesus knows what we better learn. Nothing great is ever done without sacrifice. But any sacrifice for Jesus is always great.
[1] Decision, September 1986, Page 3
[2] "Independence exacted high price for many Declarations signers," The Atlanta Journal Sunday, July 2, 1995.
[3] James D. Kennedy, What If Jesus Had Never Been Born? Page 157