First starting to preach, I had a very, very, it's a false view of things. I thought this would get easier. That is not so. The more I grow
in the grace and knowledge of Christ, the more I see my inability
to preach the gospel. of Jesus Christ. And had I not
have confidence in God, I could not stand here before you and
declare this message this morning. But my strength and my confidence
rests in God. It is His gospel. It is His Word. It goes forth out of His mouth
and it accomplishes whatsoever He sends it to do. And I tell
you, every time this gospel is preached, No one who hears it
is the same. You either go out of this building
hardened against God, or you'll go out of this building rejoicing
in Christ. This message always has an effect. It always has an effect. And
it's not the preacher. It is the message. It is the
Spirit of God. It is the power of God. Take
your Bibles and turn with me to Luke chapter 14. Luke chapter 14. Our text will be found in verses
25 through verse 35, but I want to go on and see things that
precede this. The title of the message is,
The Lordship of Christ. The Lordship of Christ. Now, in the parable here given
in verse 16, the parable of the great supper, the Lord God has
made a supper, which is a picture of salvation. God has made a
great salvation. And that salvation is in a person. It is not in a creed. It is not
in a doctrine. It is in a person. And that person
is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Lamb of God. For Christ was sent by God to
make an offering, one offering for sin. And He was sent to establish
the law of God to make it honorable. Why? Because we could not make
the law honorable. We have broken the law. We have
despised God. In order for anyone to be saved,
God must have sent His Son to honor and establish the law and
to fulfill all righteousness. And the message that He gives
His servants is this, Come, for all is ready. All is ready. The gospel of salvation is finished. The work is done and there is
nothing left for men to do save come and believe. come and believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. What happens with this message?
It is a gracious message. It is a good message. There's
nothing wrong with the message. Yet, what happens? Men begin
to make excuse. He said, with one consent they
begin to make excuse. Remember, last time I had preached
from this text, I had stated this, that an excuse An excuse
is a lie disguised as a reason. An excuse is a lie disguised
as a reason. Men will not come to Christ because
they love this world. They love this world. I know
many people who have been on their deathbeds. I know many
people who have suffered sickness and grief and pain, and on their
thinking they're about to die, and they say, oh, Lord, save
me! Oh, I need to be saved! Help me! And then when they're
well, oh, have me excused. Yeah, yeah, have me excused.
I love this world more than I love Christ. Others say, have me excused.
Have me excused from this message of the gospel of God's grace
because I want something to do. It's not enough. Christ is not
enough. I've got to have more. I've got
to surely obey the law. I've got to surely add my will
to this to make it effectual. Excuse me, I don't want grace.
I want works. I want to have my part. Some people Say, you know, I
don't want to come because I've got a family. I've got a wife. Have me excused. I've got too
much to do. I've got too many important things
in this world. Some who hear the gospel message
confess it to be good. They like the message of grace,
but they cannot give themselves fully to it because of family. My wife doesn't like this message.
My children won't come. Neither would mine if I didn't
make them. That's no excuse. My children wouldn't come unless
I made them come. I get calls from people from
time to time saying, what kind of programs do you have for my
children? What are they saying? I kind of like your message,
but if you don't have anything for my kids, I really don't want
it. I tell them the same thing every
time. What I have for your children
is the same thing I have for you. Come, all is ready. It's
the same message. I've got no other message. You that have heard me all these
years, have I preached any other message than Jesus Christ and
Him crucified? People leave because they get
bored. They want something else. They want entertainment. If you
want entertainment, you're going to have to go somewhere else.
I don't have a message of entertainment. I've got a message of salvation
for sinners. But they will not come because
of their children. And they, because their children
won't like it. Well, preacher, this message
of salvation by the free grace of God is just too much trouble. Too much trouble in my home.
It causes so much grief in my house." Well, the Lord Jesus,
do you know that He promised this? Do you know that He promised
that this gospel would cause grief in your own household?
He said so in Matthew chapter 10 and verse 34. Our Lord Jesus said, "...think
not I am come to send peace on the earth." Oh my! I am not come
to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set men at variance
against his father, and against 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. Therefore, he said,
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. And he that taketh not his cross and followeth me is not
worthy of me. Is that not the same thing the
Lord here is telling us in our text? It's exactly the same thing
the Lord is telling us in our text. He sees this great multitude
following Him. If you'll notice the Lord's demeanor,
always when He's got either a great multitude or a small group, it
doesn't bother Him at all. Matter of fact, every time He's
got a great multitude, He tries to winnow them out. He says something
that's very hard for them to hear. And you know the only ones
that stick? The only ones who stay are His. The only ones who stick around,
like Peter said, Lord, to whom shall we go? I don't understand
what you said, man, that was hard what you just said, Lord,
but where else are we going to go? You have the words of eternal
life. And the Lord Jesus Christ here,
He makes a very poignant statement. He turns around to this great
group of people that follows Him, and He says this in verse
26, If any man come to Me, And hate not his father, and
mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters. Yes,
and his own life also. Listen, listen, he cannot, he
cannot, he cannot be my disciple. Did you hear that? I didn't say that. Jesus Christ
said that. If any man come to me and hate
not his greatest loves in this world, he cannot be my disciple. Now, if any man come to me, I
declare unto you that are guilty of sin before God, if you stand
in need of a Savior, behold the Son of God, and take away the
sin of the world. If you need mercy, if you need
grace, I point you to Christ and I tell you, come to Christ.
and you shall be saved. If you're thirsty, He's the water
of life. If you're hungry, He is the bread
of life. If you're lost, He is the way,
the truth, and the life. No man comes to God but by Him. There is none other name given
among men whereby me must be saved." Do you see the singleness
of Christ? Do you see that He is all by Himself alone, the
only Savior? That there is no other way to
God. You cannot go around Him. You cannot go above Him. You
cannot go under Him. He is the only way. And if you
were to ever have eternal life, it must be by Him. So whatever He says, you better
swallow it. I don't care how hard it is for
you to hear it. If you're ever to get into heaven, you're going
to have to obey Him. You'll have to obey Him. You
have to go through Him. It's the only way. Come, you
poor, bankrupt, depraved, dead, lifeless sinners. Did you notice
I'm not calling any good people? If you're good, There's the door. I got no message for good people.
I got message for sinners, vile, wretched sinners. I say to those sinners, come
sinners, poor and wretched, wounded, sick and sore, Jesus ready stands
to save you, full of pity, joined with power. Let not conscience
make you linger, nor of fitness fondly dream. All the fitness
He required is to feel your need of Him. Come and believe on Christ. And hear this, you shall be saved. Well, that's good if you need
salvation, isn't it? That's good if you need forgiveness. You
don't need any forgiveness. That's not any good. It's not
enough. You need something else. But for sinners, that's the message. And now then listen to this flip
side of the coin, because there is a catch. Listen to me. There
is a catch. If any man come to me. and hate
not his father, and his mother, and his wife, and his children,
and his brethren, and his sister, and yes, his own life also, he
cannot be my disciple." Friends, listen, salvation is free. Salvation is free. Come empty. Come only empty. Come only as
a sinner in need of mercy, without merit, and you'll find forgiveness. But all who come to Christ It's
going to cost you everything else. When I say you've got to
come empty, that means you have to give up everything else. If you come with your sin only,
you can't bring any self-righteousness with you. If you come to Christ
empty, you cannot bring this world with you. You cannot bring
your sin with you. You must come and give up everything
to have Him. Coming to Christ by faith is
nothing less than absolute and complete surrender of all things. All things. Friends, salvation
is an all or nothing principle. It is an all or nothing principle. Either Christ is all or you're
all. Either Christ is all or this
world is all. But you cannot have both. You cannot have your family,
your friends, and Christ. You cannot have this world and
its pleasures and have Christ. It's either Christ or nothing.
You must come to Jesus forsaking all. The Lord here shows us and
uses the closest and most dear to our hearts, our family. Is
there anything physically closer than family? Truly. Family is
a wonderful thing. God has given us family. And
our family, they can do things to us that really nobody else
can do. Isn't that right? I mean, they can stab you in
the heart, and they can make you mad, and they can make you
frustrated, and yet, somehow, we're always coming back around. See, family is the dearest. Who is so cold in heart, so cold
and wicked that they would not, at the mention of the name of
their mother, not have feelings for her or their father? I've known men in my own family,
the most deviant scoundrels this world has ever produced, and
yet they're children. They've left them, they deserted
their children, and yet, even now, their children still have
affection for them. It's a natural affection family
is. But if any man is to come to
Christ, and not count his own family beneath the Lord Jesus
Christ, he cannot be his disciple. He cannot be his disciple. And we know the Lord Jesus Christ
is not telling us that we should break his law concerning his
family. We know he's not telling us to
sin. When he said, hate your father and your mother, if a
man come to me and hate not his father and mother and sister
and brother and his own life also, the Lord says, honor thy
father and thy mother. That's one of his commandments.
We know that's good. A husband is to love his wife
as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. Wives are
to be obedient to their husbands as unto the Lord. Children are
to obey their parents, for this is right in the sight of God. Fathers are not to provoke their
children to anger. The Lord is not telling us to
be at malice with our family. He's not telling us that that's
what we're to do, is to sin. Our Lord is not ignorant of these
relationships. He made them. Isn't that so?
He made these relationships. So what does the Lord mean by
this shocking and provoking truth? Except you hate your family and
your own life, you cannot be my disciple. What is He saying?
If any man is to come to Christ for salvation, he must come bowing
down to Jesus Christ as Lord of all. As Lord of all. Now let me ask you this, who
wants to go to hell? 100 out of 100 surveys ask that question
and they all give the same answer. Nobody in their right mind wants
to go to hell. Who wants to be damned forever
under the judgment of God? Nobody in their right mind would
say they wanted to be damned forever. And so when Jesus is put forth,
people say, sure, I'd like to have Jesus as my Savior. What they're saying is they want
to use Jesus as a welcome mat to glory. They want to use Jesus
as a fire escape out of hell. He will not be used in such a
way. You see, Jesus Christ, when a man comes to Jesus Christ for
salvation, he recognizes Him not only as Savior, but as Lord. Lord. Men like to call on Jesus when
they're in trouble, and they like to use Him to justify themselves
before men. They like to use Him and say,
well, hey, you know, I'm a good person, too. I believe in Jesus,
too. They use Him for that. But these people are in no way
desire Jesus Christ to be Lord over them, to be Lord of their
life. They want Him as Savior, but
they don't want Him telling them what to do. Isn't that right?
Some of you like to have Jesus as Savior, but you dang sure
well don't want Him to tell you what to do. You can die for me, but don't
you dare tell me how to live my life. I tell you, you know him not
as Savior if that's how you treat him. He said, you cannot, you
cannot be my disciple. They want to believe in Jesus
for him to be their Savior so long as they don't have to give
up their sin, so long as they don't have to give up their family,
so long as they don't have to give up their friends or their
time or their money. If I don't have to give up anything,
sure, I'll take Jesus. No, you won't. No, you won't. Because He won't have you. These are the ones who show up
to worship on occasion when it's convenient. These are the ones
who, when they feel guilty, they might come in, tip their hat
to God, throw a coin in the plate. You have no idea what salvation
is. If that's how you treat Him,
You are bound for hell and have no idea what grace is. That's
not salvation. To believe on Jesus Christ is
to forsake all and to bow down to Jesus Christ as your absolute
Lord and Master and King and Ruler of your life. That's what
it is to believe on Christ. Charles Spurgeon said this, has
ever truly given himself to Christ unless he has said, My Lord,
I give to Thee this day my body, my soul, my powers, my talents,
my goods, my house, my children, and all I have. Henceforth I
hold them at Thy will and as a steward under Thee. I have
nothing. I am nothing. I surrender all to Thee." Unless
that's your heart, you have no part with Him. Unless this is
the heart that you have, to believe on Jesus Christ is to set Him
above all earthly things, all earthly relationships, and all
carnal pleasures and amusements of this life. For this is God's
purpose. You want to know what God's purpose
for this whole thing is? To set Jesus Christ, His Son,
as preeminent above everything. That's His purpose. The whole
reason this world spins is to set Christ up high and lift it
up so that all His creatures bow down and worship Jesus Christ,
His Son. And I'll tell you, you'll either
bow in this life or the next, but you will bow. You will. You mark my words, they'll either
be your joy and glory or they'll be in your ears an echo of regret
forever in eternal hell. You will bow down. What does it profit a man if
he gained the whole world and lose his own soul? What will you give in exchange
for your soul? Therefore, you who would be saved,
is there any that would be saved? Is there any who would come? Then listen to what the Lord
said. He said, count the cost. Count the cost. Jesus said, and whosoever doth
not bear his cross, And come after me, cannot be my disciple,
for which of you intending to build a tower? Sitteth not down
first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to
finish it." I tell you, come and bow down,
all is ready. Feast on the Lord Jesus Christ
and be saved. Come and bow down, take up your
cross and follow Him. You cannot worship Christ half-heartedly. If you put your family above
Christ, you cannot be His disciple. If you put yourself above Christ,
you cannot be His disciple. You must forsake all who would
usurp His place of love and adoration. I tell you I love my children, and I love my wife. But you ask them who's first. I do love them, but I love my
Lord infinitely more than them. He is my Lord. And I am His servant. That's what it is to come. It is to give up your own life
and pleasures. You must love Him above all other
loves. He must take the preeminence.
And yet I am pierced in my heart concerning my own sin. prone to wonder. Lord, I feel
it. Prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart, O take and seal
it for thy courts above. Believer, let us set our affection
upon things above. And I like that the apostle doesn't
use affections. He said affection, one affection,
Jesus Christ and him crucified. That is where we should set all
our affection, all our love, all our energy, all our power,
all our treasure. Everything we have is to be set
at his feet. He's to be Lord of all. I know many times we're like
that Shulamite bride who hear Him calling. And we say, I've put off my shoes. How can I come? I've got so much
to do. Lord, what are you calling me
in the most inconvenient time? Does He not put His hand to the
hole of the door, and the grace, the smell of the grace of God
comes in, and we get up and rush to the door, and then what? He's
gone. What is a believer to do? The lost go lay back down. Not
the believer. Why? We must have Him. So what
does she do? She runs in the streets and she's
smitten by the watchman. What am I doing this morning?
If you have left your Lord, if you have forsaken your Savior,
what does the word do? It smites us in the heart, pierces
our hearts. And what happens? We begin to
cry out, where is my beloved? Where is my beloved? And they say, oh, what is thy
beloved above another? Oh, let me tell you, let me tell
my beloved is white and ruddy. Oh, he's he's God and man. He's chiefest among 10,000. And
what does she do then? She remembers. Oh, yes, I know
where he is. He's in his garden. You who bow down to the Lord
Jesus Christ, do you not hear his word? forsake not the assembling of
yourselves together as the manner of some is, but as seeing the day approaching,
you encourage one another." Is that His Word? That's His Word. Is that advice? Is He giving
you advice? No, lords don't give advice.
they tell you what you should be doing. What should you be
doing? You should be where He is. Is
He not here? I tell you, if you believe on
Him and you've vowed to Him, you know He's here. Where should
you be? If you're not obeying Him, aren't
you putting something above Him? Yes. Count the cost. What is it going
to cost to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? It will cost you everything. Okay. Okay. That's a fair trade. That's a
fair trade! Because I have nothing! I am
nothing! All things are His! And what
am I doing but giving back to God what belongs to Him anyway? Are not my children in His hand? And yet when I give Him my children,
what is that? They were already in His hand
to begin with. Powing down and believing on
Christ is counting all things but done. that I might win Christ,
that I might be found in Him. Not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, but being found in His righteousness. Yes, Lord. Those are two words that every
believer should know well. Yes, Lord. You know what two
words unbelievers know well? Know God. But believers, yes, Lord. Because whatever it is, we know
this, that Christ is infinitely more valuable infinitely more
lovely than anything this world could ever afford. So likewise, whosoever of you
that forsaketh not all he hath cannot be my disciples. Notice
in chapter 15, I was just going to close with this. He started
out with a great multitude, but look who was left. Chapter 15,
verse 1. Then drew near unto him all the
publicans and sinners." The only people that will bow
to Christ are those who have nothing. And those who bow to Christ come
away with everything. Yes, Lord. May God bless this. have the
men come prepare the Lord's table.