You need to weigh in on the cost factor and
count the costs of being a disciple of Jesus Christ. It will cost you popularity, it will cost
you promotion perhaps at times, it will cost you an easy life, you will have to discipline
yourself, you will have to buffet your body, you will have to say "No" to temptation,
you will have to say "No" to this world, you will have to break with the crowd, you will
have to be willing to stand alone for Christ, you will have to be willing to walk to the beat
of a different drummer and to step out of the crowd even if no one follows after Jesus
Christ, you would be willing to stand if you were the only person in the world for Jesus
Christ. That's the cost factor. You will have to be willing to suffer persecution
for Christ and let me tell you, it will come. It might even cost you your life. He is not coming to play games. He not is
coming to be dossel . He is coming to dominate. He is coming to
slaughter. He is the King of kings and He is the Lord
of lord's. and at the end of this age, He will bolt out of heaven on a white steed and His
garments are dripped in blood. The blood of His own enemies and He is coming back to conquer
and to damn. You need to make terms of peace with this
coming King or you will be subjected in damnation forever and Jesus Christ has made terms of
peace. You need to settle out of court with Him.
You do not want to go into that final day of conflict with Christ. For He will be ruthless in the execution of
His Justice but He offers you mercy today. He will agree to terms of surrender. He will
agree to terms of peace but they are His terms of peace, not ours and His terms of peace
are very simply this: You must hate your own father and mother and brother and sister and
even your own life more than Me or you cannot be My disciple And you must take up a cross
and follow Me or you cannot be My disciple. And if you do not, you will meet Me in the
final judgment and it will glorify God in your destruction. He is pressing you for a decision. He will
not be put off. You cannot hit the mute button any longer in your heart,
you must answer to Him. Verse 33, "so then," conclusion, "none
of you can be My disciple" "So then, none of you can be My disciple
who does not give up all his own possessions." He is saying none of you can be a true Christian,
None of you can be in My Kingdom, None of you can be in right relationship with Me or
the Father, None of you can be My disciple Who does not give up all His own possessions. What is our Lord saying? He is not backing
off. He is increasing the commitment that He is
calling for with every line of this section. Well He is not saying that you have to buy
your way into the Kingdom of Heaven for none of us have enough gold and none of us have
enough silver to ever remove the stain of sin that has defiled our inner soul. What is He saying? Who does not give up ALL
of his own possessions. Well this must be taken in context with other
texts of Scripture and let me just cut to the bottom line of the bottom line. You must transfer the ownership of all that you are and all that you have to all that He is. That's
what He is saying. Your life is no longer your life, it is now
His life. You time is no longer your time, it is now His time. Your possessions are no
longer your possessions, they are now His possessions. Your future is no longer your
future, it is now His future. Your treasure is no longer your treasure, it is now His treasure.
And you have transferred all that you are and all that you have to all that He is. That's what is is... to meet His terms of
peace. Yet, the exchange is not bartered or bought with real money but it is purchased
with the total complete surrender of your life to Christ. That's what saving faith
is. It is coming to the end of yourself and completely and entirely and trusting all that
you are and all that you have to all that He is. This is your eternal soul. This is the only
life you will ever live. This deals with the only eternity you will ever have. And so He says, "salt is good but If even
salt has become tasteless, meaning it gives evidence that it was never true salt to begin
with. With what will it be season, and the answer is nothing. Verse 35, it is useless
either for the soil or the manure pile. It's just no good to anyone, not to God, not to
Christ, not to the Kingdom, not to the movement. You're just taking up a seat for someone
else. There were other people who were trying to get into this. It is useless either for the soil. Your not
even worth the toilet, spiritually speaking. Because you have not come to the place of
total surrender of your life and supreme legiance and supreme loyalty to Christ. You have not
yet come under the Lordship of Christ and taken up a cross to follow after Him. And
then He says, "he who has ears to hear, let him hear." You need to give strictest attention to what
God has said in His Son. For God has spoken in His Son to us in this conference and God
has brought everyone of us to this place. Not one of us is here by accident or by happenstance
and it is the goodness of God and the mercy of God that has brought you to this place
where you have heard of Isaiah 53. You have heard of the suffering Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ, who upon that cross became sin for us. Upon that cross He died to self that He
might live for us and that He might bear our sins and iniquities upon that tree and purchase
our salvation. And there is salvation in no other name, for there is no other name under
heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth
and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." And He is calling out to you
today "Come unto Me, all ye who are weary and heavy laden and I will take you in and
receive you unto Myself take My yoke upon you. And learn of Me for I am meek and lowly
in heart and you shall find rest for your souls. For My burden is easy and My yoke is
Light." It is. You will have the weight of sin lifted off
of you and you will now have the yoke of Christ upon you and He gets into that yoke with you
and He pulls with you but it will require the total commitment of your life to Him. Oh, how we ought to search our hearts here
today. Have I come to this place of total commitment in my life? Have I yielded my life
to the sovereign lordship of Him who died upon the cross for me. I want you to know
that the gates of paradise have been swung open to you. The narrow gate is open and if
you will take a step of faith and come through this narrow gate, and commit your life to
Him. Despite the strength of His words. He also says, "him who comes unto Me I will
in no wise cast out." He is calling you today to come, to come to
Him, to take a step of faith and to come to Him but if you come to Him. Don't play games.
You must surrender to Christ.
