Spoken At SGBC
1-26-96
Luke #85
Luke 9:57-62
"Honest Evangelism"
"Counting The Cost"
Excerpts from Pilgrims Progress by John Bunyan
Modified for this lesson.
"I saw a man clothed with rags standing in a certain place, with his face turned from his own house, a book (The Bible) in his hand, and a great burden (Conviction of sin.) upon his back. I looked, and saw him open the book, and read therein; and as he read, he wept and trembled; (Ps 38:4 Isa 64:6 Lu 14:33) (Heb 2:2,3) and he broke out with a lamentable cry, saying, "What shall I do?" (Ac 2:37). . The night was as troublesome to him as the day. Instead of sleeping, he spent it in sighs and tears. So, when the morning was come, his family, asking how he was, received the reply, "Worse and worse." He talked to them again and again saying they must ESCAPE WITH HIM from the wrath that was coming but they began to be hardened. They also thought to drive away his religious madness by harsh conduct to him: sometimes they would mock him; sometimes they would chide; and sometimes they would neglect him. Therefore, he kept to his bedroom, to pray for and pity his family and also to console his own misery. He would walk alone in the fields, sometimes reading and sometimes praying; and thus for days he spent his time.
Now I saw him once when he was walking in the fields, he was reading in his Bible and greatly distressed in his mind; and, as he read, he burst out, as he had done before, crying, "What must I do to be saved?" (Ac 16:30,31) Then said one named EVANGELIST, "Why don't you just die, since you are so miserable?" The man answered, "Because I fear that this burden of sin upon my back will sink me lower than the grave, and I shall fall into Hell. Then said EVANGELIST, "If this be thy condition, why do you stand still?" He answered, "Because I do not know where to go." Then he gave him a parchment roll; and there was written within, "Flee from the wrath to come!" (Mt 3:7) So I saw in my dream that the man began to run toward a light in the distance. Now he had not run far from his own door, but his wife and children perceiving it, began to cry after him to return (Lu 14:26); but the man put his fingers in his ears, and ran on, crying, "Life! life! Eternal life!" So HE LOOKED NOT BEHIND HIM, but fled towards the middle of the plain, (Ge 19:17). In response to another, who would have him turn back, this man, named Christian, replied, "I seek an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, that fades not away, (1 Pe 1:4). That inheritance is laid up in heaven, and safe there, to be bestowed, at the time appointed, on them that diligently seek it (Heb 11:16). I read this in my book, he said to one named Obstinate. "Away with your book; said Obstinate, will you go back with us or not?" "No, not I," said Christian; "because I have laid my hand to the plough and I cannot go back." (Lu 9:62).
These words introduce Pilgrims Progress and paint a picture of what has been a reality for hundreds of thousands of converts over the centuries. God the Holy Spirit convicts one of his sin. He is overcome with the terror of certain judgement. He tries to explain to those he loves. He tries to convey the danger, the sense of urgency, the need to run to Christ for refuge, but they cannot hear him. Those he loves the most seem the hardest toward him. He doesn't want to go on without them but he must. In Bunyan's story Christian actually leaves the house to go on his journey to the Cross. In reality the journey is a spiritual one which most often does not require us to leave our loved ones physically. The Christian goes on a journey to be sure, a Spiritual pilgrimage and quest for peace, growth and ultimately Heaven, but he stays with the unbelievers he loves. The newborn wife remains with her unbelieving husband submitting to him as the church to Christ. The newborn husband remains with his unbelieving wife and loves her as Christ loved the Church. Christian parents remain with unbelieving children and Christian children with their unbelieving parents. The Christian is still with his unsaved companions but he is no longer of them, he is now a stranger to them. Both he and they know this to be true. Often they call him away form his journey to paths he used to walk. They work hard to bring back the man, woman, boy or girl they once knew and had fellowship with. However, if this, "Christian," is real, he CANNOT turn back. He cannot turn back EVEN IF IT COSTS HIM HIS MOTHER, FATHER, WIFE, SON, DAUGHTER OR FRIENDS.
Surrounded by people he knows and loves he journeys alone. This is how it must be, there are no alternatives. This is the cost of Discipleship. This is what it will cost you to be a Christian. It will cost you life as you have always known it. For many it is too high a price to pay. Consider our text in Luke 9:57-62 NASB. And as they were going along the road, someone said to Him, "I WILL FOLLOW YOU WHEREVER YOU GO." {58} And Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." {59} And He said to another, "FOLLOW ME." BUT HE SAID, "PERMIT ME FIRST TO GO AND BURY MY FATHER." {60} But He said to him, "Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God." {61} And another also said, "I WILL FOLLOW YOU, LORD; BUT FIRST PERMIT ME TO SAY GOOD-BYE TO THOSE AT HOME." {62} But Jesus said to him, "NO ONE, AFTER PUTTING HIS HAND TO THE PLOW AND LOOKING BACK, IS FIT FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD."
I remember with sadness something that happened many years ago. God had just saved me and I had been speaking to my best friend and work mate about Christ. For months we studied privately and it appeared he had been saved. He began to come to church, to walk and run toward the light. All seemed well until his family saw him slipping away. No one paid attention until they began to see it was not just a whim. The opposition began. His wife mocked, chided, pressed and called him back to the old ways. He began to be afraid. He was fearful he might loose his wife and children. For a time he was torn. He had one hand on the plough while his eye looked back to the life he once lived and the people he loved. Then, he let go of the plough and went back to the City of Destruction. In the end he saved his earthly life and lost eternal life for, "No one after putting his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God."
Salvation is free by faith in the blood and righteousness of Christ. However, following Him will cost you everything you have and are. Jesus always revealed this to those He called or who inquired of Him.
I will follow you says one! Jesus replies, "The foxes have holes, the birds have nests, but I have no home, no certain place to sleep at night. No place to protect me from the sun, rain, cold or heat. You must understand this before you commit to follow Me. The life of a Christian can be very, very hard. Are you ready for this?
Jesus says to another, "Follow Me". He replies, "I will BUT first I must go and bury my Father". "Let the dead bury the dead, says Jesus, you go and preach the Kingdom of God!" The man said, "I will BUT." But what? But there are things more important in my life right now than following Jesus. This man's Dad may have just died. It could be that he just wanted to arrange and attend the funeral. This is unlikely however. It is more likely that his Father was an elderly person who would die in the near future and needed tending too. If this is true the man was saying I will follow you someday, I don't have time right now. Religion will have to wait, I have other things to do.
Christ's answer, "Let the dead bury the dead," is very instructive. He is saying let the spiritually dead tend to the things of this life, you go and do the work of the Kingdom. Go and preach the truth about Me. Begin to occupy yourself with eternal things, not temporal ones. There are plenty of people to take care of the physical things on this earth, I call you to a different task. "Let unbelievers worry about the things of life and death in the physical sense, you come with Me."
Now it appears that Jesus was actually calling this man to a preaching ministry away from his home. It required that he leave now and trust God to take care of his aged or ailing Dad. Was he willing to pay what it cost to follow Jesus? The context leaves us with the impression that he was not. Therefore, he was not a Christian, for Jesus was not the supreme focus of his life. There were other things more important to him.
Most are not called away from their homes or their ailing Parents but all are called to follow Jesus nonetheless. Every professor of faith in Christ must answer the question, "Am I willing to follow Jesus wherever He leads?" "Am I ready to do whatever He asks?" What if the Dad objects to Christianity. This Son or Daughter may be one who cannot stand the disapproval of Dad and therefore, will refuse to follow Jesus. This person is no Christian for His sheep hear His voice and they follow Him. Understand, our Lord is not counseling the neglect of needy Parents. Nor is He denying the appropriateness of a Christian burial. Rather He is speaking of priorities. Every true Christian is a person who will do whatever it takes to follow Christ. The cost may be great but it doesn't matter to one born from above.
The next person declares, "I will follow you Lord, BUT FIRST, permit me to say good-bye to those at home." To this Christ answers, "No one, after putting his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."
To become a Christian is to become a Disciple of Christ. The two cannot be separated. A Christian follows Jesus. To say you will follow Him is to include no ifs, ands, buts, or wait-a-minutes. It is to set your face NOW AND FOREVER toward Him who is the light. It is to open the book and read and learn and do or not do. It is to do the will of God whether the world likes it or not. It is to walk with Him day to day even if it means walking alone. Even if it means you leave the people you love behind. Lord willing, they will come with you. But if they do not it must be ok. You must march on! You must follow Jesus! For no man, no woman, no child who has made profession of faith in Christ and turns again to the things of the world is fit for the kingdom of God. Why? Because he is not saved by faith in Christ.
To listen to the modern evangelist one might think that salvation means little more than you'll go to Heaven. People are told you don't have to understand the Gospel to be saved. They are told they need not expect a change to occur in their lives. They are told they can actually be saved without submitting to Christ as Lord and commander of their lives. Just repeat after me, it is said, and you will be saved, even if there are no results! These would be teachers re-write the scriptures so they say, "My sheep hear my voice and are saved but they don't have to follow Me."
How differently our Lord speaks when dealing with men about their souls. He was not concerned with notches on His evangelistic gun but with truth, integrity and the production of genuine Disciples. Thus He says to all who come with excuses as to why they cannot follow Him, "Forget it, you cannot be my Disciple." You cannot be a Christian with one eye on the world and one eye on Me, it just doesn't work that way. SO COUNT THE COST BEFORE YOU BEGIN SOMETHING YOU CAN'T FINISH. Let's consider the words of Luke 14:25-35 NASB. Now great multitudes were going along with Him; (Many of them were no doubt saying they would like to become His Disciples.), and He turned and said to them, {26} "If anyone comes to Me, (To become My Disciple.) and does not hate (That is prefer Me over. . ) his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, HE CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLE. (In other words I'll take second place to no one, not even your nearest and dearest relatives.) {27} "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. (The "cross" one may have to carry is the loss of those he loves on this earth. He may even lose his life for Christ's sake. Therefore, one must not go after Jesus in a casual way but only after "Counting the Cost.") {28} "For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and CALCULATE THE COST, to see if he has ENOUGH TO COMPLETE IT? {29} "Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, {30} saying, 'This man began to build and was NOT ABLE TO FINISH.' (He looked like a Christian for a time but obviously he was not for he did not continue in the way. He had not considered the cost and could not pay the price.). . . {33} "SO THEREFORE, NO ONE OF YOU CAN BE MY DISCIPLE WHO DOES NOT GIVE UP ALL HIS OWN POSSESSIONS. Which is to say if worldly things hold more sway over you than Christ does you cannot possibly be saved! One must let go of this world to cling to Christ.
Our Lord concludes with these words. {34} "Therefore, salt is good; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? (You can't fix salt that is not salty.) {35} "It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
Have ever come across salt that has lost its saltiness? Think about it, SALT DOESN'T LOSE ITS SALTINESS but if it did it would be of no use whatsoever to anyone for anything. It would simply be tossed out. The real Christian is the salt of the earth. He flavors and preserves by the Spirit of God within him. In one Born Again there is the taste of Holiness, love, grace, there is the very image of God. The real Christian does not get less salty with time but more so. He does not get less Christlike with time but more so. The real Christian will run the race to his death. He will follow Jesus, come what may. The real Christian will finish the tower, he will pay any price even to the giving up of all he has, including his life. The hypocrite however loses his saltiness because his profession was imitation in the first place. The flavor of Christ that appeared to be there sprang from human effort, not the grace of God. Self imposed religion, imitation saltiness soon loses its flavor and at last goes away altogether. Why? Because it wasn't real in the first place. REAL SALT NEVER LOSES ITS SALTINESS. Real Christians never quit following Jesus and the price they have to pay is irrelevant.
Many years ago when God put me to work as a Pastor-Teacher in a local church I heard a saying. The comment usually came when I revealed my struggle with the question, "Am I really called to be a Pastor?" The reply, over and over again, was this, "If you can do anything else forget preaching and go do it. For years I was disturbed by this statement for there are many things I can do. Before I was a Pastor I was a reasonably good mechanic. I am also a pretty good carpenter. I've built and remodeled my own house. I built a beautiful set of oak cabinets for a cousin that are a sight to behold. By the grace of God I can do many things to make a living. I don't have to do this. Thinking about the statement in those terms always left a touch of doubt in my mind as to whether or not I should continue to preach for I was capable of doing many other things. But that is not what the statement meant. The question is not one of skill and ability but of freedom. "If you are free in you conscience to do anything else, go for it, this is not your calling."
The discovery of this truth was not sudden or easy. I learned it while trying to raise a family and maintain a home on a Pastors salary. There has never been a lot of extra money laying around our house. So, for years I tried to do things on the side to add to my income. I did remodeling, hung sheet rock, built cabinets, and a host of other things trying to stay ahead of the next pair of Nikes. But I never got ahead. I never caught up and I was in a CONSTANT STATE OF TURMOIL INSIDE MYSELF. I had no peace in my conscience when I spent time away from my Pastoral work. Yet I thought I had to continue earning more money for my family. This went on till I threw up my hands and said, "I can't do this anymore!" I emphasize the word "Can't!" At last I had discovered, that I can do nothing but preach the word of God. That is to say I am NOT FREE to do anything else. I am the Pastor of a local church, a husband and a father and I CANNOT be anything else, I CANNOT. By grace and calling I am a willing bondslave of these things.
At the moment of that discovery there was a great burden lifted off my shoulders. At last I understood the counsel that had been given me so many times. At last I knew I could do nothing else but preach and teach the word of God. The need I felt to make extra money was gone and peace filled my mind. God has provided the monetary things I was seeking and He always would have. The difference is, I am no longer concerned about it. I just do my job and He does His. This is how I learned the meaning of the statement, "If you CAN do anything else but preach, do it."
I said all that to explain how you can tell if you will follow Christ as a real or temporary Disciple. Here's the test, "If you are FREE to do anything but run to Christ for forgiveness and salvation go do it." If you are FREE to follow after the world's things, to walk in their ways, go for it, for you have not been called to faith." "If you CAN keep from crying out for mercy and grace go on your way for Christ is not your Savior." Do you understand what I am saying?
Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice and they FOLLOW Me!" They are no ifs, ands, buts or wait-a-minutes!" When God the Holy Spirit convinces you of the reality of sin, and the coming wrath of God you will weep and cry like the man in Bunyan's story. And when God the Holy Spirit causes you to see that Jesus is your only hope of forgiveness and eternal life YOU WILL RUN to Him. When you realize it may cost you every earthly treasure you will keep on running to Jesus because you are FREE TO DO NOTHING ELSE. If your loved ones call you back, if the world calls you back, if your flesh calls you back you will put your fingers in your ears and cry out with Christian, "Life! Life! Eternal life! I seek an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, that fades not away, (1 Pe 1:4). That inheritance is laid up in heaven, and safe there, to be bestowed, at the time appointed, on them that diligently seek it (#Heb 11:16). I read this in my book he said, I must, I will go on, "because I have laid my hand to the plough and I cannot, by grace, I will not turn back."
I tell you my friend when Jesus fills your eye you can't see your mother, your father, your wife, your husband, your children, your friends, or your money. When the Pearl of Great Price becomes your treasure you will, without a second thought, walk away from everything to have Him and you will not feel cheated.
I have said for years that you can't keep people out of the kingdom of God. You can't keep one called by grace from Christ. You just better get out of his way! Those called and changed by grace ask with one voice, "What must I do to be saved?" When they are told to run to Christ by faith they take off a runnin crying out for mercy and life. They say with one voice,"Give me Jesus or I die!" These have no question in their minds about jobs or relatives or property or suffering or funerals. These are FREE IN ONLY ONE DIRECTION AND THAT IS TOWARD JESUS. These have, by grace, counted the cost and are glad to pay whatever price must be paid to walk through life into eternity with Jesus. There may be tears and sad partings but they will follow Christ. The called are not free to do anything but come to Christ for salvation and to follow Him all the days of their lives. He who has an ear to hear let him hear what has been said.