You need to weigh in on the cost
factor and count the cost 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'd be willing to stand if
you're the only person in the world for Jesus Christ. That's
the cost factor. You would 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 is not coming to be docile. He is coming to dominate, and
He is coming to slaughter. He is the King of kings, and
He is the Lord of lords, 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. And verse 33, so then, conclusion, none of you can be my disciple. 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's
not backing off. He is increasing the commitment
that he is calling for with every line of this section. He's 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's saying. Your
life is no longer your life, it is now His life. Your 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 it 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 entrusting
all that you are and all that you have to all that 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 seasoned? And the answer is nothing. Verse
35, it is useless either for the soil or for 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. You're not even worth the toilet,
spiritually speaking. Because you have not come to
the place of total surrender of your life and supreme legion
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 every one
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, it is. You will have the weight of sin
lifted off of you. And you will have now 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. And 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. you