Somebody Loves You

Raul Ries: It's not how you start, it's how you finish that counts. So how you finish. You want to finish well as a Christian. Don't tell me how you got saved and how you started. I want to know how are you doing today and how are you going to finish. That's the key. You got to finish well in the kingdom of God.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Somebody Loves You Radio, the Bible teaching ministry of Raul Ries in Diamond Bar, California. We are glad to have you with us today as we focus on living a life of total devotion. In today's teaching, Raul will encourage us to count the cost of true discipleship. Following Jesus is not always easy, but when we take up our cross and walk with him, the spiritual blessings will far outweigh any sacrifice. We encourage you to follow along in your Bible as we consider how following his commands is a living example of Jesus' lordship over our lives.

Here's Raul Ries with the lesson Christianity That Costs. Join us in Matthew chapter 16 beginning in verse 24.

Raul Ries: How do you value your Christianity? That is Christianity they will cost you something. And at the same time, we really have to be careful how we establish our views of God and the Bible and how we receive the Bible as personal knowledge and how we have our own relationship with Jesus Christ. Because when you do talk to a a Mormon, they'll say, well, we're Christians or Jehovah Witnesses. Even Catholics will tell you they're Christians. And yet the Bible clarifies and verifies what a true Christian is separated from all denominations, all religions. You see? Let me give you the background to the text this morning because Jesus already had been ministering for 3 and 1/2 years close to that time.

And he had chosen 12 men to become his followers or his disciples. And among the 12, there was one of them that was the treasurer, and he every day stole from the treasury. His name was Judas. And he also became the betrayer of Christ and sold the Lord Jesus Christ for 30 pieces of silver or $30 literally. And as Jesus Christ was moving through the region of Galilee, he spent 3 years around the Galilee in Capernaum was his headquarters. And he went down to the the Capolises or those little cities that had about a 15,000 people each city.

And as he preached to them and he taught them the word of God and he did miracles and wonders, there were hundreds. The Bible says there were multitudes of people that constantly followed Jesus Christ. But then at the cross, we see the real disciples, those that really believe in Jesus Christ. Now, on his way from the Galilee up into the upper Galilee close to Mount Herman and that area where we call Caesarea Philippi north of the Galilee close to Syria was an area where Jesus was with his disciples walking along and they came to that great city of Caesarea Philippi.

And if you ever been with us to Israel, you know the site where you come in through the gates with the buses and all of a sudden right in front of you is this huge huge mountain of rock. And there's a beautiful stream there running with trout, very clear. All of the snows that are melting in Mount Herman. And as you look up to this rock mountain, you see a cave. And inside of that cave, the god Pan of the Greeks used to be worshiped. But at the same time, when Jesus came there and Jesus was there with all of his disciples, he literally looked at that piece of mountain and he asked the disciples, who do men say that I am?

And they began to say, well, some say you're John the Baptist, some say you're Jeremiah the prophet, some say you're one of many prophets. But then he said to them, who do you say that I am? And he turned to Peter. And Peter responded by saying, you are the son of the living God, the Messiah, the anointed one of God. And Jesus turned to Peter and said, Peter, I want you to know that flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but you've had a divine revelation from my father. And this was the point where now divinely Peter made his confession.

But then as you move down a few more scriptures and you come to Matthew chapter 16 beginning with verse 24 through 26 is where our text this morning takes us and this is now where he separates the disciples and he lets them know the qualifications and the cost of being a disciple of Jesus Christ. Listen to what he said. Then Jesus said to his disciples, if anyone desires to come after me. So first of all, he's actually inviting anyone to be a disciple. Anyone who? Anyone who has the desire. You see, you can be a disciple if you don't have desire.

The desire comes to a child of God when the Holy Spirit begins to work in the life of that person. That's the only way we can have interest for God. So he's asking, he's saying, look, if anyone desires to come after me, here it is. Here are the qualifications. Let him or she deny themselves and take up his cross and follow me. Notice that. Now, immediately the first qualification that he's actually placing before us is the qualification of what? Denial. That word denies a very interesting word in the Greek language. It literally means to forget about your desires, to forget about yourself.

If you want to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, it cannot be you first. It has to be God. That 's why in Matthew 6:33 he said what? Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and then all these things will be added unto you. And if you're going to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, then you have to be careful with your desires. So many times our desires are so carnal and not spiritual. You see? But if you really want to be in the presence of God and you want God to really use your life, you don't want to compromise your position.

You want to share your faith with everyone and anyone the Holy Spirit gives you an opportunity to do that. Then you have to understand that God desires that you would come with self denial. And then secondly, that you not with anybody else, with you that you yourself would pick up your cross. When he talks about taking up your cross, the cross symbolically that he's talking about here is the instrument of what? The instrument of death. You got to die to yourself if you really want to be a disciple of Christ. That's the only way that you can qualify to what the next thing that he says, follow me.

You can't follow if there's no denial and there's no death. There has to be denial. There has to be death in my life because it's a pretty serious thing to be called a disciple of Jesus Christ. Why? Because we're dealing with eternity, with someone's eternity. Once a person dies in this life, it is over for them. They either go to heaven or they go to hell. There is no in between place. Think about that. The responsibility that you and I have as disciples of Jesus Christ and the challenges that are given to you and to me to share with others and to challenge them.

But most important, what he's talking about here too is that it's not just telling people, but can people see your life in Christ without asking questions? Do they know you believe by the way you live? That's what he's talking about. How many people have you led to Christ? That's what disciples do. They lead people to Christ. I think we would be shocked this morning if we every one of us would raise our hands if the question was asked, when is the last time or how many people have you ever led to the Lord? We would be surprised how many people have not led anybody to the Lord.

We need to lead people to the Lord. If we love them, if we care about them, they're going to hell. And the only way that that will ever change is if there's a change of heart and a change of attitude by coming to Jesus Christ and receiving and accepting him as your personal Lord and savior into your life.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. As you make the choice to follow Jesus without reservation, we are here to support you with a wealth of resources. Visit us at somebodylovesyou.com and join Raul for Straight Talk on the Somebody Loves You Worldwide YouTube channel. Let's continue now with more from Raul Ries and our study Christianity That Costs.

Raul Ries: Verse 25. For whoever desires, there's that word desire again. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it. Look, if you're trying to save your life today, you're going to lose it. But whoever loses, underline that, whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Same thing he said in verse 24. Dying to yourself, losing yourself for Christ in your commitment that you're making for Christ. And then he goes on the next verse and he makes it even tougher. For now he deals with the inner man. He deals with the most valuable piece in a man or a woman's life, and that is the soul, the soul of men.

Listen to what he says. For what profit is it to a man or a woman if he or she gains the whole world? So let's say you conquer and you become famous and you become rich and you have everything money could ever buy, but yet you lose your soul. Happens all the time. What he's talking about here is what's your price for your soul? Look what he says. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

Hey, there's a lot of people that sell their souls for trophies, sell their souls for sex, sell their souls for money and fame, relationships. What is your price individually? What will it take for you to sell your soul? Because every one of us has a price. But you see, when you become a disciple of Jesus Christ, you reflect on these things that he has said. You're careful the way you treat your soul. The soul is the most valuable thing in a person's life. The body will die, but the soul will live forever and ever and ever and ever and ever.

That's why we have to be careful how we talk to people about the things of eternity. I think that Jesus here is making it very clear that when it comes to the personal discipleship, he is more interested in what? Quality than quantity. Coming to Jesus Christ, surrendering my life to him fully and completely and saying, yes, Lord, here am I. Take my life and use my life. Use my life. In the Gospel of Luke chapter 9:23 he said again, then he said to them all, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and he adds this daily.

In the Gospel of Luke, take up your cross daily, every day, not weekly, not yearly, daily. That's my relationship with God. And then what? And then follow me. And then again in Luke chapter 14 verse 26 he said, if anyone comes to me and he does not hate his father or mother or wife or children or brothers or sisters, yes, and even his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. I didn't say it. He said it. Now, what does it mean to hate? Does God want us to hate? No. The word hate in Greek there is to love less.

God has to be first. And then if you love God, you'll love the rest of the people. But if you don't love God, how can you love other people when God is the primary, the principal thing? You see? I think we have to be careful that we understand that a disciple literally means to be a learner, to be a pupil, or to be a student, a follower of Jesus Christ. And what does a follower do? Number one, he takes up his own cross. You take up your cross. In Luke chapter 9:23-24 he repeats what Matthew said.

He said, then I say unto you and to all, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake shall save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and then he himself is destroyed and lost? A little different. Destroyed and lost. Secondly, a disciple counts the cost. It's going to cost you something. It may cost your family. It may cost your job. It may cost you your life to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

In Luke 14:20-30 he said, 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? I mean, if you're going to build a house, first of all, how much money do I have? Secondly, how much are things going to actually cost me in building this house? And then the permits and then getting the architect and then getting the laborers and then doing the work. And what he's saying here is that a lot of people they want to build a house, but they don't even have enough to build it.

And by the time they start, they can't finish it. It's a mockery. Look what he says. Verse 29, lest after he has laid the foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it, they'll begin to laugh and mock him saying, this man began to build and was not able to finish. You see? So many people can start on a race, but not everybody finishes the race. It's not how you start, it's how you finish that counts. It's how you finish. You want to finish well as a Christian. Don't tell me how you got saved and how you started.

I want to know how are you doing today and how are you going to finish. That's the key. You got to finish well in the kingdom of God. And then a disciple abides in Christ, abiding. In John 15:6 he said, if anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out like a branch that is withered, and they gather them and they throw them into the fire, and they are burned. And if you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask whatever you desire and it shall be done unto you. But this my father is glorified that you bear much fruit, and if you do that, you will be my disciples.

There it is again. Everything to do with discipleship. And then fourthly, a disciple walks like his master. He walks like his master. 1 John 3 3 to 6. And everyone who has this hope in Jesus Christ purifies himself just as he is pure. Whoever commits sin is also committing lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness. And you know that he, Jesus, was manifested to take away our sins, and in him there is no sin. Whoever abides in him does not sin or does not make a practice of sin. Whoever sins has neither seen him nor really knows him.

A person that continues this obediently in sin doesn't really know God. You see? Doesn't really know him. You don't know the power of God. You don't know the power of salvation. You don't know the power of abiding in Christ. And then a disciple is also one that bears fruit for his master. In John 15:8 he said, by this my father is glorified that you bear much fruit, then you will be my disciples. You see? And then a disciple is one that is obedient to his master. John 14:15 says, if you love me, then obey my commandments.

You see? Obey my commandments. Do what I say. And then seventh, a disciple is loving and caring for God and for people. In John 13:34-35 he said, a new commandment I give to you that you love one another as I have loved you and that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples if you have loved one for another. You see? We don't even we have to preach or tell anybody that we are disciples of Christ. By our love they'll know that we are his children by his love.

And then eighth, a disciple continues to study God's word. In John 8:31 he says, then Jesus said unto those Jews who believed in him, if you abide in my word, then you are truly my disciples indeed.

Guest (Male): As we've heard today, walking with Jesus requires discipline and a commitment to obedience, but following him also leads to everlasting joy. You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. Our study today was titled Christianity That Costs. For an unedited version, just call us at 800-634-9165 and for a donation of $5 or more, we'll send a copy to you. And as you contemplate where you truly stand with Christ, we'd like to tell you about Raul's 10-part study titled Called, Chosen, and Committed available on CD or USB. This series includes today's message as well as nine others that further illuminate the blessings that come from giving God your undivided heart.

You'll find it when you daily seek God's face in the word and in prayer. He'll enrich your life with purpose and fruitful abundance. Visit somebodylovesyou.com or call 800-634-9165 to order Raul's 10-message series Called, Chosen, and Committed. We'll send you the CD set for $22 or the flash drive for $13. That's 800-634-9165 or write to Somebody Loves You Radio, Post Office Box 4440, Diamond Bar, California 91765. Thank you for your partnership in this listener-supported ministry. Every contribution helps us reach more people with the good news of the Lord Jesus. Next time we'll get more insight into Christ's call to follow him without hesitation or reservation, trusting that he will lead us in paths of righteousness to our heavenly home.

Now, here's Raul once again with the closing comment.

Raul Ries: I like the last one. If you really truly want to be a disciple of Christ, then you need to be humble, humility like our master. In Matthew 10:24-25 he says, a disciple is not above his teacher nor a servant above his master. It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub or the god of the flies, how much more will they call those of his household? You see? If you're really keeping humble before the Lord, you are going to be what?

Mocked, laughed at, persecuted because people will see you as they have seen your master, Jesus Christ. How we need this morning to come to that place of we coming disciples of Jesus Christ.

Guest (Male): This program is sponsored by Somebody Loves You Radio in Diamond Bar, California.