In your Bibles, please, to Luke's Gospel, chapter 14. And we're going to read from verse 25. Luke 14, verse 25. And there went great multitudes with him, that is, with the Lord Jesus, and he turned and said unto them, 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 cannot be my disciple. 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? Less happily, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock, saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able, with ten thousand, to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? 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. Amen. May the Lord bless to us this reading from his word. There went great multitudes with the Lord. Just pause on that for a moment and think about what that's saying. There went great multitudes with the Lord. and it made the Lord uncomfortable.

Perhaps you've never thought about the Lord being uncomfortable or uneasy with the acclaim of the crowd or the exuberance of the press. And while I agree that it isn't explicitly stated here, It certainly seems to be implied, and I feel sure that it was the case, that the Lord was uncomfortable with this great multitude that was travelling with him. We do read of the Lord being at various times angry, grieved and troubled. And we ought not to be surprised that the real man that Jesus was felt all the emotions that we feel with the single proviso that his anger and his grief, his distress and his discomfort was always righteous and without sin. And likewise here, it certainly appears to me that the size of the crowd filled the Lord with a feeling of unease.

He had become a spectacle, a celebrity, if you like. And knowing men's hearts, he understood that their admiration was misplaced and would be short-lived. Some people are delighted if their ministry attracts big numbers. Well, not the Lord. Some people look on hundreds and thousands and they revel in the status of being prominent and famous. That wasn't how the Lord looked on this crowd. Pride is a dangerous thing in anyone. but more so in a preacher.

And the Lord noted these multitudes following him, like he noted the multitude that pursued him, merely to see his miracles and following the feeding of the 5,000. He saw them, and at once he sought to put an end to the procession. I don't know why these people were following, but it's clear that they were not doing so because they were struggling under a sense of sin or seeking salvation from the Lord. Theirs was an altogether different motivation.

Some perhaps were curious to see a miracle. Others looked for an earthly kingdom and thought that Jesus would be their king. And they went along with the crowd thinking that, well, we're travelling up to Jerusalem. That's the place that it'll happen. I want to be there and see what's going on. Some were maybe just enjoying the company, the carnival atmosphere of this big crowd moving along the road together, all shouting about Jesus, all identifying with his work and his ministry.

But as the Lord made his way to Jerusalem, and as he personally anticipated the cross that lay before him, He thought it wise to correct these people concerning their misplaced enthusiasm and disabuse them of any notion that they had of calling themselves his followers. And there are varieties of Christianity around us today. Some kinds Some manifestations of these religious activities attract large numbers of followers, either because of celebrity preachers, or of emotional excitement, or entertainment, or increasingly we see in some countries this muscular macho kind of eschatology. and all of them call themselves Christians. All of them claim to be following the Lord Jesus Christ.

And I'm sure if the Lord were here today, he'd be uncomfortable still to have them follow him around, if not grieved and troubled and angry at their specious and baseless allegiance to his cause. On another occasion, similar to this, the Lord confronted a group of followers, so-called disciples.

It was in John chapter six. And he said to them, but there are some of you that believe not. And then he explicitly preached the doctrine of the new birth and sovereign particular grace. And we read of him in John chapter six saying this, it is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing. And again, therefore said I unto you that no man can come unto me except it were given unto him of my father. That was what the Lord preached to the people on that occasion.

And what was the reaction of those disciples? Well, we read about it in John chapter six, verse 66. From that time, many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. So effective was this winnowing work of Christ that we read, then said Jesus unto the 12, will ye also go away? And I think this is what we have here. All of these people, this large crowd, this multitude that was following after the Lord Jesus, these people needed a dose of realism to be confronted with the true nature of spiritual Christianity. Following the Lord Jesus is not a game. It isn't a lifestyle choice. It isn't an insurance policy. It isn't a social society.

And the language of the Saviour here in this passage in Luke is emphasising necessity, even desperation. When the Lord speaks of hating our family and hating ourselves, He is stressing the spiritual antipathy that every true believer feels towards everything and anything that keeps us from the Lord.

Now the Lord's words sound extreme in the first hearing, in the first listening, but it's because he's painting a picture of the absolute determination felt by a regenerated soul, first to find and then to follow after Christ. When a man or a woman feels their sin, when a man or a woman is under conviction, when they see their need of righteousness, and they come under the Gospel.

When they understand the only way of salvation and the only way of eternal life is to be found in Jesus Christ, then nothing will stand in their way. Nothing will prevent them in coming to and following the Lord. He says in verse 26, 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 cannot be my disciple. If anything is allowed to prevent you from coming to Christ, even your own life, You can't be Christ's disciple and you can't be a follower of his.

And I think that the examples that the Lord then gives show this point clearly. And I think I also have a different emphasis here than perhaps some other commentators have. Some commentators suggest that the Lord is recommending by the builder and the warring king that his followers need to take stock, his followers need to think carefully, they need to reason and weigh up the true cost of what they are going to do. Well, I'm not convinced about that.

I think rather that the Lord is saying here, if you have to count the cost of following me, then it's too high for you to pay and you can't be my disciple. It's like Paul who says, woe is me if I preach not the gospel. The apostles served not by choice, but out of necessity.

This might seem like a trivial example and maybe I should apologise for it beforehand. But I remember hearing a story about a man going to see a very, very expensive vehicle in a car showroom. And while he was listening to the salesman's pitch, he asked the question, what mileage does it get to the gallon? And the salesman said to him, If you've got to ask that question, then this car is too expensive for you.

There is a price to following the Lord. And if you are incapable, or if you are not willing to pay that price, whatever it may be, then it proves that you're only seeking to be a follower out of a desire for self-advancement, self-improvement, self-gain, curiosity, excitement, entertainment, or any other reason such as these followers in the Lord's time were following after. But it isn't out of necessity And the Lord says in verse 27, whosoever doth not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Those who take a free will position in preaching the gospel, they might well decide to come to Christ after making a reasoned decision, after weighing up the options and settling on the best course of action. But those who are recipients of free grace come to Christ out of gratitude.

They're hungry, they're thirsty, they're fainting, they're weary, they're dying. And Christ gives them living bread, living water, divine strength, spiritual rest, and abundant life. and they hold on to Christ like Peter held his hand when he was sinking in the sea. They will not let him go. They say with Peter, where else can we go? You have the words of eternal life.

And what of the price? We pay that price, whatever it may be. We bear our cross and we come after the Lord. Every truly converted soul bears the price, carries the cross and follows the Lord. By his grace, we would not have it any other way. We say, as we must, even to loved ones, Don't make me choose between you and the Lord, because the Lord must win every time. What are those crosses? Well, they're the burdens we bear to follow the Lord. Maybe it's financial, maybe it's promotion at work, perhaps it's a relationship that we cherished and wanted to maintain.

But mostly I think that it's the daily battle that engages us as our flesh wars against the spirit. Mostly it's the weakness that we feel, it's the temptations that we endure, it's the trials in our own heart, the dullness in our own spirit, and it's the cost of being separate from this world, in the world but not of it. The Lord's disciples learned that there was a cost to following Jesus Christ and we will learn that too. We're no different from Moses and Job and David and Daniel and Stephen and Paul of whom it was said, for I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.

But here's the thing. We shall have those graces for which we left the world behind. We shall have Christ and his presence and his mercy and his forgiveness and his comfort and his faith and his refreshings and strengthenings in every fiery trial that we endure. And whatever we are called to bear, Whatever our cross may be, we shall do it gladly, gratefully, sacrificially and be honoured to do so. Christ took his cross and he suffered and he died for us. We who have been made willing in the day of his power will happily take our cross and follow him. May the Lord bless these thoughts to us. Amen.