Counting the Cost: True Discipleship in Christ

1) "When it comes to the cost of discipleship, we often underestimate. We underestimate what it means to be a Christian. What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus Christ? What does it mean to be a missionary? What does it mean to be a pastor? What does it mean to be in full-time Christian service? In Luke chapter 14, in Jesus' own words, he begins to break this down for us. My wife, the song that she had sung at the piano is a song that she wrote. She writes many songs on the field, but this is one called Overcome. And I love it because it emphasizes very much the understanding of what it means to be Christian. Christian. There's a lot that we have to overcome, but we don't do it on our own. It's all by dependence on Christ." [42:42] (44 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2) "See, our allegiance to Christ should seem as if we hated everyone else, including ourself, in comparison. See, between Jesus and every other person in the world, there is no possible term of comparison. So it's not like loving the president and, oh, I'm just going to love the president, I'm going to vote for the president, I'm so excited about the president. And people say they're so passionate about those things, but they're not as passionate about Christ. And there is no one in comparison in this world to Jesus Christ. See, Jesus founded his empire upon love, and at any hour, millions of men and women would be willing to die for him. No other person in the world has that." [49:15] (47 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3) "The greatest threat to us is putting Jesus as second in our life. See, our own relationships, our own life is not a bad thing. It's not a bad thing to have relationships. What is bad? It becomes evil when it takes the place of Jesus Christ. This verse is powerful. I mean, I'd like to spend an hour just expounding on it. But when it comes to how we ought to live in our life, there is a conditional discipleship, a conditional discipline that we have in our life. But not only that, but notice verse 27. And he says, He shows us even as we structure our life that there's also this companion's duty." [50:40] (52 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4) "The task to be a disciple of Jesus Christ is excruciating. It's a difficult task. See, when enlisting in the military, it's more than just accepting an invitation. It's a commitment to forsake all to defend home and country. And here Jesus is asking us, I want you to forsake all. I want you to even deny your own self. Take up your cross. Take up your cross and follow me. See, I love how Jesus uses that phrase, come after me, because he's denoting that future scene that would take place on his way to the cross. When Simon the Cyrene would come and he would take up the back end of the cross as Jesus began carrying it." [52:06] (38 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5) "We have to count the cost because in verse 33, he reminds us, he says, so likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. He's telling us what it means to not be my disciple. To not be a disciple. See, if you're not sacrificing everything, you can't be. It's costly. See, Jesus said that if you do not forsake all, then you can't be my disciple. I mean, I want you to understand that if we don't consider the cost, then we're not doing it the right way. And I'll say this as well. The cost is greater rejecting than it is accepting." [59:06] (42 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6) "See, when we preach the gospel, we're not preaching that your life will simply be prosperous because the Bible says, all who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. First Thessalonians chapter three says that we as believers were appointed to affliction. He tells us, forsake all. In other words, Jesus is instructing us to say goodbye to everything we have and trusting it all to him. It's a costly devotion for every person. Are we willing to sacrifice everything or do we have reservations? Because now, today, is the day to take care of that. We ought to structure our life emphatically. We ought to sacrifice everything." [01:00:02] (48 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7) "The cost of discipleship is being able to understand that even a portion of your life lived outside of Christ damages your effectiveness. It damages it. When we say we desire to be used by God, even like 2 Corinthians 8, the Bible says that they had a willing mind. Now understand the complexity behind this because as Jeremiah says, our heart's deceitful above all things, desperately wicked. That means your heart deceives you. You may say, well, I just don't really feel the burning sensation to be a follower of Christ. Your heart is deceitful." [01:02:51] (48 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


8) "We ought to be a valuable follower of Christ. Sometimes we just don't take the time to calibrate how we are living. We think we can just get by. We think we can deceive. We can deceive people. Look at the way that I dress. Look at the way that I talk. Look at the way that I operate. Nobody really cares. They say, oh, they're a really good Christian and kind of move on. It's what happens Monday, right? What happens at work? What can I get away with while I'm in secret, when nobody's watching? Nobody knows about those things. I can get away with it. And here it affects us." [01:03:41] (41 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)