I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Luke, chapter
14. Luke 14. While you're turning, I want
to say that this morning I'd like to consider an issue that
is the issue of life and death. It's always been the issue between
God and man since the garden. The issue is, here's the issue.
Who is the boss? Now this is the issue right here. Who's in control? Is it God or
is it man? Who rules? God or man? And who am I going to serve?
God or men? Now, according to the Word of
God, the Lord Jesus Christ is the all-powerful Lord of Glory. John 17, 1 and 2, these words
spake Jesus and lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, The
hour has come. Glorify thy son, that is glorify
your son as your lamb, as the one that you've sent to
save his people. Glorify your son that thy son
also may glorify thee as the electing God. as the God who's
been pleased to show mercy and compassion to whomsoever he will. As thou has given him power over
all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou
has given him. The Spirit of God moved upon
the Apostle Paul to write Romans 14, 9, for to this end, Christ
both died and rose and revived that he might be Lord, both of
the dead and living. God Almighty has declared him
the Lord. He's the Lord. So being the Lord,
The one mediator between God and men is but one. The beloved Son in whom God is
well pleased. The great high priest who ever
liveth to make intercession for His people. The one who is able
to save to the uttermost all that come unto Him. Here's the
question. Who am I going to serve? It's either going to be Him or
it's going to be me. One of the two. The Lord. The sovereign Lord
who came into this world to seek and save that which was lost. He, according to His Word, who
laid down His life for the sheep. The one, according to His Word, that will receive all that the
Father has given Him and will in no wise cast them out. That's
what He said. The Lord. before whom every knee
is going to bow. Now, listen to this. Every knee
is going to bow, now or later, but every knee is going to bow.
Every tongue is going to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Now, this is the issue. Okay. Now, Luke 14. I'd like to look
at verses 25 to 35. And may the Lord bless these
words to our heart. This is the issue right here.
I'm telling you, this is the issue. And there went great multitudes
with him, and he turned and said unto them. Now these huge multitudes,
I want you to notice that. It didn't say it was one great
multitude, which it was, but it was broken down. And there
went great multitudes with him, multitudes of people which were
following him obviously for various reasons. I don't doubt that there
were some that knew him and loved him. Called out of darkness,
Some to have their needs met, there was a group, I know he
fed 5,000 men plus the women and children one day and he went
to the other side of a sea and they followed him and when they
followed him they said, well we found you. He said, you came
to see me because of the bread and the fish, that's why you
came. Some out of curiosity, I don't know. But there were
great multitudes with them, and he turned and said unto them,
while they were following, he turned, he looked at them, he
said something that I don't doubt for a second. Probably just shook
many, if not all, to the very core of their being. Now listen
to what he said. come to me. That is, if any man
is coming and saying, I'm going to follow the Lord, I'm going
to follow Christ. If any man come to me and hate
not his father and mother and wife and children and brethren
and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he You cannot be my
disciple. Now, consider who's talking. Now this is the Word of Life
Himself. This is God. Hold your place
right there. Just turn over to Matthew 10.
Matthew's account of this is how the Spirit of God moved on
Matthew to write this. Matthew 10, 34-39. This is what the Lord said. Matthew
10, 34. Think not that I am come to send
peace on earth. I came not to send peace, but
a sword. For I am come to set a man at
variance against his father, and the daughter against her
mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and
a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth
father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he that
loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he
that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy
of me. He that findeth his life shall
lose it. And he that loseth his life for
my sake shall find it. Now, I looked at last, that boy,
he that findeth his life, what did he mean when he said that?
He that findeth his life, here it is. seeks to preserve his
life by sinful compliance to the world and thereby denying
him. That's what he meant. He that
findeth his life. Now, if there's anything that a regenerated sinner
wants, if there's anything he desires, it's to be his disciple. I want, I want, to follow him. I do. I want to follow him. I
want to follow after him. I don't want to be cast out.
I want to know him. I don't want to hear him say
to me, these words I've thought, I mean just, I don't even like
to think about it, but I just thought to myself, he said many
will say to me in that day, many, Lord, Lord. And he'll give some
reasons why they feel as though that he ought to Have them come
in. And he's going to say unto them,
depart from me, you workers of iniquity. I never knew you. I thought to myself, if those
words were said to me, I have no hope. I'm gone. I'm gone. There's no recourse. There's no plea bargain. Depart
from me, ye that work iniquity. I'm thinking, Lord, please teach
me. Lord, teach me of Yourself. I
want to know You. I want to be found in You. Now, He said something back in
Luke 14. He's talking about, if any man
come to me and hate, not. Father, mother, wife, children,
brother, sister. Yeah, he's on life. He cannot
be my disciple. Now, I'm thinking to myself,
he's talking about hating somebody. He's using a word that seems
to contradict what we've been commanded to do. Now listen to
this, John 13, 33. A new commandment I give unto
you, that you love one another. as I've loved you, that you also
love one another. By this, John 13, 35, shall all men know that you're
my disciples if you have love one to another. Romans 12, 10, be kindly affectioned
one to another with brotherly love in honor, preferring one
another. 1 John 4, 7, Beloved, let us
love one another, for love is of God, and everyone that loveth
is born of God, and knoweth God. So here's my question. Is the
Lord saying something in Luke 14 that contradicts all these
scriptures that deal with love for one another? Well, we know
that's not so. So what's He saying? It's all
bound up in that word hate. That's the issue right there.
Hate, if you'd like to look this up, I encourage you to do this.
Vines concordance is where I, you know, vines is a good concordance. If you don't speak Hebrew, if
you happen not to speak Hebrew or Greek, then I would encourage
you to get a good concordance and look it up. Find out what
does that word mean. Hate, same word. Same work. It has two different meanings. One of them is talking about
hate when it's an unjustified hate. It's unjustified. Here's
an example of it in Matthew 10, 22. And ye shall be hated of
all men for my name's sake. But he that endureth to the end
shall be saved. Now, in that word right there, hate, That
word hate right there, God's people hate it for his sake,
that's unjustified, that's no reason. That's just old carnal
man's nature. We hate God, well we hate God
being God. If he would allow us, for us
to be God and let him be kind of the recipient of our actions,
nobody hates that God. But I mean when it's God, this
God right here, that hate. But secondly, that same word,
it may be interpreted to express, and again, I'm just writing down
the definition, an aversion, a strong hatred toward the temptation
of another to forsake Christ. That's the word. It is an aversion
or a strong hatred that one regenerated by the grace of God has toward
that temptation of another to forsake Christ. The heart of his message is revealed
in his words. Now, if you're back in Luke 14,
the heart of his message is revealed in his words in verse 33 of Luke
14. He said, so likewise, I'm gonna
deal with these others between there and there, but so likewise,
whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot
be my disciple. So remember, in his words, back
when we read them in Matthew 10, 37, he that loveth father
or mother more than me is not worthy of me. He that loveth
son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. He never
meant, he never said that it's the duty of believers to arbitrarily
hate their parents. If somebody said something like
that, that contradicts the fifth commandment. Honor thy father
and thy mother, which thy God hath commanded thee, that thy
days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee in the
land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. When the Lord said in Luke 14,
except a man hate his father and mother, He never meant concerning
husbands to have no reason to hate their wives. And he said
in Luke 14, he that hate not his father, his mother, his wife,
his children. Ephesians chapter 5, 25 says,
Husbands, you love your wives, even as Christ loved the church
and gave himself for it. To hate our children? Is that
what he meant? Arbitrary, unjustified. Ephesians
6 verse 4 says, and you fathers, provoke not your children to
wrath, bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. But
the word that the Lord used clearly sets forth that those that follow
Him are to love Him above all others, above all other loves,
the nearest and dearest of all connections, even our own lives. Listen, when we talk about loving
him even above our own lives, now listen to what Job said in
Job 42, five and six. I have heard of thee by the hearing
of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee, wherefore I abhor
myself. I spurn and cast away myself. and repent in dust and ashes. Paul the Apostle said concerning
himself. Oh, he's talking about his old
man. You know this. His old man. There's two men
in every believer. Two men. Old man and new man.
And that old man is bent on tempting, drawing away. That new man, which
he can't do, Sin doesn't have dominion over us. He can't do
it. But that old man has one desire,
to draw us away from Christ. I will not have that man rule
over me. That's the old man. And Paul says concerning himself,
his old man, old wretched man that I am. Job said it like this,
I abhor myself. I loathe myself. That's hatred. That's the word. Now that, the strength of that
word hate, now I want you to grab hold of this now. I've entitled
this message, The Cost of Following Christ. If Lord had said, turned
to him and said, now listen, if any man come after me, I'll
make you rich, I'll prosper you, you know. You'll be, you know,
you'll have, you know, money in the bank and food in the cupboard
and no more troubles. That's not what he said. He said,
if any man come after me and hate not, father, mother. The scripture sets forth back
and holds your place. Deuteronomy 13, I want you to
read this. Deuteronomy 13, verses six to 11. I'm talking
about the heart, the spirit of what the Lord has said in Luke
14. Any man that hate not. Deuteronomy 13, verse six to
11. If thy brother, the son of thy
mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or
thy friend, which is thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying,
let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou
nor thy fathers, namely, of the gods of the people which are
round about you, nigh unto you, or far off from thee, from the
one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth. Thou
shalt not consent unto him. nor hearken unto him, neither
shalt thou not pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither
shalt thou conceal him, but thou shalt surely kill him. Thine
hand shall be the first upon him to put him to death, and
afterwards the hand of all the people. And thou shalt stone
him with stones that he die, because he sought to thrust thee
away from the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land
of Egypt from the house of bondage. And all Israel shall hear and
fear, and shall do no more such wickedness as this is among you."
You know what the law demanded? For someone trying to come and
pull a believer away. attempt to pull them away from
the Lord. You know what the law demanded?
Death. Death. Let me ask you something. You think this is a serious matter
of following Christ? This attitude of, you know, well,
I believe five points of Calvinism. I've said before, devils believe
five points of Calvinism. People in hell, I guarantee you
they believe in five points, the truth of the gospel. They
believe that. Can't do anything about it. This
thing of this attitude, it doesn't matter. Lord says, you hate not. Everything that is dear to you,
it tries to draw you away from me. unless you despise it, reject
it, spurn it, push it away, you cannot be my disciple. That's
serious. This is the hatred, that godly
resentment and opposition toward any that would desire to draw
us away, our soul, our love for Christ, even our very life. John 12, 25, he that loveth his
life shall lose it. And he that hateth his life in
this world shall keep it unto life eternal. What does that
mean? That means I take God's side
against myself. Against me. Psalm 139, 29. Do not I hate them, O Lord, that
hate thee. I hate them. The Spirit of God moved on David
to write those words. I hate those, Lord, that hate
you. And am I not grieved with those
that rise up against thee? For the believer, is there not
a hatred of all that hates him? That word, it's not an unjustified
hate. It's just that feeling of, you
know, I hate your guts. Why? Because I don't like the
way you look. I don't like what you wear. This is a godly hatred. A godly hatred. Jacob have I
loved. Esau have I hated. Who said that?
God said it. So there is a hatred that you
and I, we don't grasp hold of the significance of it. But the
Lord has said, He's expressed seriousness of following after
Him. And experience has shown that
the greatest hindrances, the greatest oppositions to believers,
are they not found within the closest circles of our associations? What did the Lord say in Matthew
10.36? And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. What's the issue here? The issue
is when the Lordship of Christ, who's boss? Who's in control? Who rules? When that issue is made to be
the issue within a family, who's on the throne? God's on the throne.
Who chose His people? God chose them. Who did Christ
redeem? His people. Who's the Spirit
of God call out? All that the Father has given
me. Whenever the lordship, the sovereignty of God is the issue,
when it's the issue, and someone tries to draw you away from that. Oh, I don't think, you're making
such a big deal out of this. It's a big deal. It is a big
deal. This is the priority. Those that
have no heart, to follow after Him who is God, and when they
rise up to draw you away, trying to convince you, spurn them. Don't do it. The law demanded
you kill them. We're not under the law. But
I tell you, that attitude of the heart, no, no. Who are we going to serve? Joshua told the people, he said,
choose you this day who you're going to serve. He said, from
me and my house, I'm going to serve God. I'm going to believe
God. I'm going to walk. I love my wife. And she loves
me. I love my kids. They love me.
But I'll tell you this, none None can take a priority over
my love for Christ, my obedience to Christ. If anyone, the Lord
named them, father, mother, wife, children, He named them. If anyone says, now you make
up your mind, who's it going to be? Who's it going to be? Are you going to follow after,
you know, God, you're talking about, are you going to follow
after me? You have one decision to make. Who's the boss? One
decision. Who's in control? If any man
come after me and hate not, and I've described what that word
hatred means, that which would draw us away from Christ, that
that David spoke, said, I hate those that hate you, I have no choice. Luke 14 verse
27, whosoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot
be my disciple. I'll tell you it's a heavy or
weighty cross to the flesh to bear when we have to take a stand
concerning the glory of God in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ
and disagree. or forsake those that we love,
those that would draw us away from Him. Somebody said, well, I think
you're just taking it too far. I'm taking it as far as the Lord
declared it to be. That's the way He declared it. This cross
for the believer has been taught and is seen by
faith. And He sees by faith. This is
the cross. to stand upon the truth of the faithfulness that
is due unto the Lord and forsake all that would draw us away. No, don't put me in that position. Brother Henry Mahan told me one
time a story of a man and his wife that attended the church
there in 13th Street. I'm sure y'all have heard this. Brother Henry said one time,
he said, the wife, if I remember it correctly, said to her husband,
she said, I'm telling you, if you go to the services tonight,
if you go back, I won't be here when you get back. And he said,
he said, you know, he said, if it wouldn't have
been for what you just said, He said, I could have not gone
to the services tonight, and that would have been my loss. But he said, you've made this
an issue now that I'm going to have to make a decision. And
he said, I have no choice. And she left. He went. But I'm
telling you, this is what the Lord's talking about. And that's
a heavy cross to bear. I know it is. I know it is. But
it's a cross that must be born. Whosoever does not bear His cross
and come after Me cannot be My disciple. Then He gives an example. I'm
going to wrap this up. He gives an example. of counting
the cost, things that we can understand. He said, for which
of you, 28, intending to build a tower, said it's not down first
and counteth the cost, whether it have sufficient to finish
it. Less happily after he laid the foundation and not able to
finish it, all that behold it began to mock. I have driven
down, there's a highway that I drive down, I drive down all
the time, just about since I moved here. You know what's up? The
foundation. That's the only thing that's
up. There's sitting on a lot and it's just a foundation. And
you know what, every time I see that, you know what I think?
You started it and you didn't have enough money to finish it.
Something happened. I don't know what happened, but something happened. That's what the Lord says. saying,
this man began to build and was not able to finish it. Or what
king, going to make war against another king, said, it's not
now first, and consulted whether he be able with 10,000, meet
him, cometh against him with 20,000. Or else, while the other
is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage and desireth conditions
of peace. So likewise, whosoever he be
of you, that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my
disciple. Here's the point. Count the cost. Count the cost. I kept thinking. I've been over
my mind over and over and over. I was getting ready. I was at
the house this morning trying to get ready. And I kept thinking
about that, you know, song, I guess, I want to be a Christian in my
heart. Everybody claims to be a Christian. I'm a Christian.
I'm a Christian. I want to be a Christian in my
heart. I want to know Him, be found in Him. And then the Lord
sets forth after giving those glorious truths of counting the
cost, he sets forth there the sadness, let me say it like that,
of not following after the Lord. Starting like they started a
tower, they started to war, and they didn't finish. He says in verse 34, 35, salt
is good. And the Lord had set forth concerning
his people. He said, you are the salt of
the earth. You know, salt has a peculiar
taste. It's a quality about it. Salt, it flavors food, it's got
a preserving quality. And believers, sinners saved
and blessed by the Spirit of God to know Christ are the means
by which God, through the preaching of the gospel, sets forth the
glorious savor of life in Christ. And through these, when He said,
you're the salt of the earth, through these, saved and kept
by the Spirit of God, God preserves society from total corruption. God's got people in this world,
and He preserves it for their sake, for His glory and their
sake. Salt is good, but if it's lost
its savor, it's useful. It's a preserver of life and
health to keep from putrefying and rotting, but if it loses
its savor. What is that? It's like those
scriptures says in 1 John 2. If it loses its savor, 1 John 2, 18, 19. Little children,
it's the last time, as you've heard, that Antichrist should
come, even though there are many Antichrists, whereby we know
that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they
were not of us. For if they had been of us, they
would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out that
they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. There was a man who used to go
with Paul. He was a preacher. Paul's name was Demas. Demas. Here's what scripture says, 2
Timothy 4, 9 and 10. Do thy diligence to come shortly
to me, for Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present
world. Salt is good. But if salt, and
it's those that claim to be, or claimed one time to be believers,
have lost its savor, Wherewith shall it be salted? Now listen to this. It is neither
fit for the land, nor for the dunghill, but men cast it out. Friend, there's a high cost involved
in following after Christ. I pray that the Lord keep us,
keep us, show us of himself, delivers, Lord keep me, I won't
be kept unless he keeps me. But when it comes to serving,
following after him, if you are ever put in a position to where,
and I'm telling you, I experienced the very words, well let me say
it like this, I heard, somebody told me, it was something that
happened concerning myself. But I heard that the words after,
gone there to preach, and there was a problem. And one man stood
up and said, now this issue that was talked about, about God's
sovereignty and stuff, he said, look, it's not worth splitting
over. That's contrary to what the Lord
said. There's a high cost to what we call free grace. And
the issue is obedience. Who's the boss? Who are we going
to follow? Are we going to follow God or
are we going to follow men? The Lord said, any man comes
after me and you don't hate your father, mother, brother, sister,
even your own life. You cannot be my disciple. Lord,
teach me that. Teach me the truth of that, because
who said it, and he's true, and his word endures forever. I pray
God bless it to our hearts for his glory and our good.