Truth That Changes Lives

These are the three areas of a person's life that will most present themselves as an idol that would stop you from loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength: your relationships with other people. People will use excuses. "Oh, it's my family, my kids, my parents," and they won't follow Jesus. So Jesus says you have to love me more than that.

Guest (Male): Thank you for joining us on Truth That Changes Lives. Pastor JP Jones is the senior pastor of Crossline Community Church in Laguna Hills, California, and a professor in biblical studies at Biola University. Today on Truth That Changes Lives, Pastor JP will be giving us a message from a series entitled Read the Red. Let's listen in as JP gives us part one of Luke 14:15-35.

JP Jones: If you want to be a follower who follows, this is what it looks like. You see, the invitation, the offer of salvation, is to go to the ends of the earth and everybody is to be invited. But Jesus is the one who dictates what it means to really be a disciple. I have two daughters. They are having birthdays in the next couple of weeks. They will be 21 and 18. In a few years, I see wedding plans coming up and I see dollar signs, basically, as the dad. How I am going to pay for it, I don't know, but I know I am going to have to put on some kind of wedding. Part of that is we will invite guests. We will invite people.

Does everybody who gets invited to a wedding actually attend the wedding? No. So just because someone is invited doesn't mean they are an actual guest. We are going to ask for people, I am sure we will, because it is just protocol for an RSVP. Does everybody who RSVPs an event always show up to the event? No. So just because someone may be invited, or even because they may RSVP, doesn't mean they are an actual guest. When the event happens and I actually put on a wedding for my daughter and the people are there and I am counting heads of how many meals I am actually paying for, it is the people who are actually there. They are the ones who are the guests who accepted the invitation.

Luke 14, Jesus talks about the invitation and then he talks about what does it mean to accept the invitation and actually show up. Being a follower who follows. Why am I getting all worked up about this? Because there is a lot of people who say they are followers, but they are not following. There may be some of us here who think we are followers, but we are not following. Jesus is talking about being a follower who follows, and he is the one who defines what that looks like and dictates the terms, not us.

Second observation: followers who follow prioritize Jesus over themselves, their relationships, and their stuff. Jesus gives three criteria for being a follower who follows, and each of the examples that Jesus gives reflects the priority that Jesus is to have over something else. Jesus is to have priority over all our relationships. Jesus is to have priority over our own lives. Jesus is to have priority over our stuff. In other words, Jesus is to be number one in our lives. He is to be first.

That is the bottom line if you are going to bottom line this passage about what Jesus is teaching in terms of what it means to be a follower who follows. Jesus needs to be first in your life. That is what Jesus says. But he uses three dimensions of life to reflect that truth. He says he needs to be first in our relationships, but he says it even stronger. Using a Hebrew form of comparison, he says, "Unless you hate father, mother, brother, sister, and even your own life, you cannot be my disciple."

Time out, because I have been teaching the Bible for some years. I have had Biola students and people in my church and people who send me emails. Let me just ask you, based upon all that Jesus teaches and what the whole Bible teaches, do you think Jesus is really saying hate your mother, hate your brother, hate your sister? Do you think that is what Jesus is teaching us? That is the takeaway: hate people? No. It is a comparison term.

He is basically saying when you compare your love for your wife, your brother, your sister, your kids to your love for me, you should love me so much more, it is as if you hate them. He is not teaching us to hate them; he is really teaching us to love him more. What Jesus is saying is a follower who follows loves Jesus more than anyone else. Loves Jesus more than their wife, loves Jesus more than their kids, loves Jesus more than their parents, loves Jesus more than their own life. We are to love Jesus more than anything and anyone. That is what Jesus says it means to be a follower who follows.

Then Jesus says, with respect to loving him more than we love our own life, what are we supposed to do? Take up our cross and follow him. When Jesus says take up our cross and follow him, he doesn't mean like what people mean when they say, "That's just my cross to bear." No. The cross was an instrument of death. Jesus died on the cross. To take up our cross means to die to ourselves so that we might live fully for Christ.

A.W. Tozer is one of my favorite authors. He wrote *Knowledge of the Holy* and *The Pursuit of God*. This is a quote from A.W. Tozer on *The Pursuit of God*, helping us to understand what Jesus meant when he said take up our cross and follow him. He uses some poetic language, so bear with it, but try to hear what Tozer is saying, what it really means in actual experience to daily take up our cross and follow Jesus.

He says, "Self is the opaque veil that hides the face of God from us. It can be removed only in spiritual experience, never by mere instruction. There must be a work of God in the destruction of the self before we can be free. We must invite the cross to do its deadly work within us. We must bring our self-sins to the cross for judgment. We must prepare ourselves for an ordeal of suffering in some measure like that through which our Savior passed when he suffered under Pontius Pilate."

"In human experience, that veil is made of living spiritual tissue. It is composed of the sentient quivering stuff of which our whole being consists, and to touch it is to touch us where we feel pain. To tear it away is to injure us, to hurt us, to make us bleed. To say otherwise is to make the cross no cross and death no death. It is never fun to die. To rip through the dear and tender stuff of which life is made can never be anything but deeply painful. Yet that is what the cross did to Jesus, and it's what the cross would do to every person who would desire to be set free."

"Let us beware of tinkering with our own inner life in the hope of changing ourselves. God must do everything for us. Our part is to yield and to trust. We must confess and forsake and repudiate the self-life, reckon it crucified with Christ. We must be careful to distinguish lazy acceptance from the real work of God. We must insist upon the work being done and insist that the work be done in truth and in grace. The cross is rough, it's deadly, but it's effective. It does not keep its victim hanging forever. There comes a moment when the work is finished, the suffering victim dies, and after that is resurrection glory and power. And all the pain is forgotten for the joy that the veil is taken away and we've actually entered into spiritual experience in the presence of God."

I don't know if you picked up on that, but basically what he is saying is to take up our cross and follow Jesus is not a mental exercise or religious exercise, but it is a real work of God on our hearts where we die to self and live to God. We have to actually experience that. Jesus is teaching us here in this passage what it means to be a follower who follows. A follower who follows loves Jesus more than every other relationship, and a follower who follows actually experiences the work of the cross on their life. They die to self to live to God.

A follower who follows, according to Jesus, gives away all their possessions. I wonder what that really means in the Greek. This is a teaching that Jesus gives on several occasions. He does use a very interesting word that is translated in our versions as "give away." It is the Greek verb *apotassomai*, which literally means to separate from or withdraw from or to be separate from. The concept behind *apotassomai*, which can be translated as give away or sell or to rid oneself of, isn't so much the literal act but the conscious awareness of.

In other words, I don't define myself by my possessions. I am separate from them. I don't identify myself with them. I have withdrawn from them. Before we think we are off the hook, no. When Jesus said these words to the 12, the actual apostles, they took it literally because they left their fishing nets and followed Jesus. So it may mean for some followers of Jesus, you actually walk away. You give it up. Not sell it for a profit, give it away.

Is that what Jesus is saying to every follower? I don't think so. Why not? Because when you see this company of people that Jesus is speaking to, that wasn't the expected response from them. In Acts chapter 2, when you see the beginning and birth of the church and then development of the church, you see it wasn't the expected response from them either. But what you do see is this. Acts chapter 2, the church is born. People believe the message. They are baptized. They are indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

They gather together. They became aware that somebody had a need. So what did people do when they became aware that somebody around them had a need? They sold houses and land. They sold their house. Somebody goes, "Oh, you have a need, I'll sell my house." Why? Because it is not my house. I separated myself from it. It is God's house. Land is not my land. That is God's land. I separated myself from that. You see, what you see is they fully internalized the spiritual value that Jesus was talking about.

To be a disciple, to be a follower who follows, you've separated yourself from your stuff so it is not your stuff anymore. It is God's stuff that he is letting you use, and if he wants to use it, you give it to him. If somebody else needs it, you give it to them because you have separated yourself from it. What Jesus is touching on in Luke chapter 14 is basically he says, these are the three areas of a person's life that will most present themselves as an idol that would stop you from loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Your relationships with other people. People will use excuses. "Oh, it's my family, my kids, my parents," and they won't follow Jesus. So Jesus says you have to love me more than that. Your own life: my dreams, my career, my hopes, my values, my pursuits. Jesus says you have to take up your cross and follow me. My stuff: my 401(k), my salary, my house, my furniture. The bottom line of what Jesus is saying is he is the one who dictates the terms of what it means to be a follower who follows and he has to be first among everything. First. First in everything.

Here is a third observation and it is really the one that I would want anyone who would follow after Jesus to consider. Followers who follow count the cost of following Jesus and are willing to pay any price to be his disciple. Jesus says this: "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower, will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king, will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with 10,000 men to oppose the one coming against him with 20,000? If he is not able, he will send a delegation and while the other is still a long way off, he will ask for terms of peace."

Jesus uses two examples to illustrate the spiritual truth of thinking about, considering, and counting the cost of following him. The first one is a construction project and the other is a military campaign. He says if you are about to engage in a construction project, you don't just dive in and start working on it. You get a plan, you calculate what it is going to cost to build the building, and you figure out whether you can do that. Otherwise, if you just jump in, you will get halfway built and you have to stop. Have you ever seen that happen with somebody?

I remember the first time I went to Russia back in 1990 or 1991. It was still the Soviet Union at that time. I flew into the airport, got in a car, drove to Moscow, and I was shocked at how many unfinished buildings there were. Concrete structures, halfway erected, and then just finished. I remember thinking, how can this be like a superpower that we're having to contend with? I realized they're taking all their money and putting it into defense, and there is no more money for the infrastructure, so there were all these construction projects half finished because they didn't have the money to finish them.

There are a lot of people's lives that are like that. Jesus said, think about what it means to be one of my followers. Consider. Count the cost. Then he uses the example of a military campaign. He says how foolish would it be for a king to get his army all together to go fight against another foe and all of a sudden kind of go, "Oh, they have us way outnumbered. They have better weapons. They have a better strategy. They have better generals. They are going to kick our butts. We're fools. What are we doing? Let's see if we can make peace."

That is the JP translation of the story. But the point is, if a country is going to launch into a military campaign, they need to sit. Do we have a contingency plan? Do we have the resources? Do we have the weapons? Do we have the personnel? Can we win this? He takes those two illustrations and said, how much more significant would it be for you to count the cost of being my follower, to being a follower who follows, so that you in your own heart of hearts know, you know you are willing to pay any price to be my disciple.

You know that. You have thought about it and you are willing to pay any price. August 1975, Arrowhead Springs, leadership conference. There were about a thousand students. I was there. You probably heard me tell this story but it's a defining moment in my life because I remember it so well. Josh McDowell was speaking and he challenged us there at that Campus Crusade conference to be willing to go anywhere God wants us to go, to do anything God wants us to do, to give up anything God wants us to give up.

I was 20 years old. I had just come back from serving on a mission project. I thought I loved Jesus with all my heart, but as he said that, some things started to come into my mind about my expectations and dreams in life. They were not ungodly things; they were just kind of things that I always wanted. But I had to think about, am I really willing to go anywhere God wants me to go, to do anything God wants me to do, to give up anything God wants me to give up to be a disciple of Jesus?

Josh finished speaking. I was at Arrowhead Springs and there is this lower part of Arrowhead Springs called the village. I walked from the village up onto the hill. It was in August, so it was all this smog, you could barely see the lights of San Bernardino. But I remember being there till the middle of the night just praying and saying, God, I want to be that way. I want to know with absolute conviction I will go anywhere you want me to go, I'll do anything you want me to do, I'll give up anything you want me to give up to be your disciple.

I didn't come down from that mountain until I had that absolute assurance in my heart that, yes, I would go wherever God wanted me to go, I'd do whatever God wanted me to do, I'd give up whatever God wanted me to give up. Now, I could try to tell you this unbelievable sacrificial life that I have lived since then. My wife and I were sitting the other day; we were so blessed. We couldn't believe how much God's blessed us.

Our lives have turned out so much more blessed than we ever thought they would when we were poor missionaries when we first got married. But my heart today is the same as it was all those years ago. Jesus, to the best of my knowledge and my relationship with you, I will go wherever you want me to go, I'll do whatever you want me to do, and I'll give up whatever you want me to give up. I am willing to pay whatever price it is to follow you, Jesus. Because that is what Jesus says it means to be a follower who follows. That is what Jesus says it means to be a follower who follows.

As we end this worship service, what I want to try to help create for all of us is some space to talk to God and to ask him, "God, look at my heart and speak to me. Whatever the cost of discipleship is for me, I want to pay it. I want to pay whatever price." In your bulletin, there is a little card that just says "cost." This isn't between you and the church or you and me; this is between you and God. What I'd like you to do is just say, "God, speak to my heart."

If you have the absolute certainty in your heart that you are willing to pay any price, just express that in prayer. Write that out in that card, stick it in your Bible, have it there to remember it. If, on the other hand, God speaks to you about something in your life that you're aware of stands in the way of you being a follower who follows, talk to God about that. Even maybe write that down on the card and say, "God, help me. Help me overcome this, help me surrender this, help me trust you with this." And let God speak to you. Let God speak to you.

Guest (Male): What a great message for all of us today. Pastor JP provides us with great insight. That is why we'd like to make it available to you on CD. Just get in touch and mention today's date. We'll send it your way for just five dollars. Or if you'd like to support this ministry, you can write us at Truth That Changes Lives, 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California 92653, or give us a call at 949-916-0250.

For your gift of 25 dollars or more, we will send you a signed copy of JP's new book, *Facing Goliath*. Please join us every Sunday at 9:00 or 11:00 AM at Crossline Church in Laguna Hills. The address is 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California 92653, or check us out on the web at crosslinechurch.com. We're going to get to the address and phone number again in a moment, but before we do that, Pastor JP, do you have any insight from today's message?

JP Jones: Thanks, Greg. We're in a series called Read the Red. It's looking at the teachings of Jesus. What did Jesus actually teach about God, the kingdom, salvation, discipleship? In Luke chapter 14, Jesus defines for us what it means to be a disciple. The Greek word for disciple is the word *mathetes*. It means a follower or a learner. Someone who was a *mathetes* was actually involved in the dynamic process of following and learning.

Being a disciple of Jesus Christ has a beginning and then it continues on. It begins at salvation. We become disciples the moment we receive God's offer of forgiveness. Jesus in Luke 14 describes that as being invited to the wedding banquet and coming with the proper attire. The proper attire in salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. But then Jesus says living as a disciple, living as a follower, involves a total surrender of our lives to Christ.

It's embracing the lordship of Christ. Christ's lordship over our own life and values and priorities and ambitions. It involves surrendering our relationships to Christ where Christ is more important than any of our relationships, even the most important human relationships in the family. Being a disciple means that Christ is first with regard to our money and our stuff and our material possessions.

The lordship of Jesus Christ is to be central in our life, and being a disciple means we fully embrace Jesus as Lord in every area of our life. The lordship of Christ is what Jesus is calling every one of us to, to surrender to Christ, to yield to Christ, to enthrone Christ where he rightly belongs because he's the king. The question is, being a disciple means we follow Jesus the Lord and King.

Right now in your own heart, would you surrender to Christ and would you acknowledge Christ as the king and Lord of your life? God, thank you that you alone are the king and thank you that you are the Lord Jesus. You surrendered your life for us and you rose again from the dead and you call us to surrender our life to you. May we do that and live under your lordship moment by moment, day by day, every day, in Jesus' name, amen.

Guest (Male): We want to help you in your relationship with Christ. Please get in touch with us at Truth That Changes Lives, 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California 92653, or call us at 949-916-0250. On the internet, you will find us at crosslinechurch.com. We hope to see you at one of our services every Sunday at our new campus in Laguna Hills. For more information and directions, please go to crosslinechurch.com. Please join us next time on Truth That Changes Lives.