The lesson this morning will
be taken from Luke chapter 14. Just a few verses, verses 25
through 27. All of these passages are on
the same subject. But when I looked at this, I
felt like these verses needed some special attention. So Luke chapter 14. Verses 25
through 27. The subject of these verses is
coming to Christ. Let's read these verses together.
Luke chapter 14, verse 25. And there went great multitudes
with him, 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. Now this is not about structured
religion. Structured religion over the
years have compiled habits and things for you to do. So that
it's an ABCD type of thing. You come to the front, you know,
read this card, sign this pledge card. These are our confessions
of faith. You agree with them, sign this,
so on. This is not about structured
religion. This is about men and women coming
to and following after the Lord Jesus Christ. There's no salvation
in religion. Salvation is in a person. It's
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is about men and women
coming to him and following after him. If any man come to me, that's
what he said. Well, they already came. There
were great multitudes, he just said that, great multitudes followed
him. Not a little crowd, not a little
assembly like we got here this morning, but thousands. Great
multitudes. If any man come to me, not a
denominational agreement, not to the front of the church, not
to a baptismal pool, but to Christ himself. If any man come to me."
Well, what does it mean to come to Christ? What's that mean? What's he talking about, coming
to Him? Well, it means one chosen of
God. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. They come to Him. They don't
go anywhere else. They come to Him. Coming to Christ
is how we find rest for our souls. Come unto me, all ye that are
weary and heavy laden, I'll give you rest. Put my yoke upon you. Learn of me, for I am meek and
lowly in heart, and you shall find rest for your soul. Coming
to Christ is to be drawn there by the Father's good pleasure
and means. No man can come to me, that's
what he said in John chapter 6, except my Father draw him. As it's written, they shall all
be taught of God. How does God teach? He teaches
through the means He's ordained. That's how God the Father teaches. Coming to Christ is a saving
act. In John 5, verses 39 and 40,
He says this to the Jews, you search the scriptures, for in
them you think you have eternal life, and they are they that
testify of me, but you won't come to me that you might have
life. They come to him as a great teacher
because he was a great teacher. They come to him as a miracle
worker, and note that. But they wouldn't come to him
to have life. is the way of life eternal. I am the way. Coming
to Christ is coming to God our Father. In Ephesians 1, when
Paul begins this long list of things whereby we're blessed,
he said, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's the only way He can be
our Father, is to be His Father. He said, I'm the way, the truth,
and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. And coming to Christ is the subject
of these verses. If any man come to me. Alright, so what does he have
to say about this coming? Well, the first thing he tells
us, it's an attitude of heart. Coming to Christ is not a physical
motion, it's an attitude of heart. We come to Christ with knowledge
and we come to Christ with our heart. We come to Christ in affection. We come to Christ with an attitude
of heart. And he said, Here's that attitude. He describes it. And hate not
his father, mother, wife, children, brethren, sisters, yea, and his
own life also. He cannot be my disciple. Light exposes darkness. Isn't that what he said? Darkness
can't abide with light. When light comes on, darkness
is chased off. It's exposed. Everything that
was hidden in darkness is now exposed and you see it. When light shines within the
mind and heart, we see what we are by nature, and we hate it.
We hate it. And I hate it in me, and I hate
it in my father, and I hate it in my mother, and my sister,
and my brethren, and my friends, and anybody else that it's in.
I hate it. I know what it is. It makes me
nauseous to look at it and hear it. We're not here being taught to
hate our families. That's not what he's saying here.
That'd be contrary to the law of God, wouldn't it? He said,
honor your father and mother. We're commanded to love even
our enemies in the Scripture. But our love for Christ and our
allegiance to Him shall appear as hatred to this world. That's
what he's talking about. Matthew 10 verses 37 through
39 gives a little bit of light on this subject. In this particular
passage, he describes it this way. He that loveth father, mother,
and so on more than me is not worthy of me. And he that loveth
son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Sin is sin
no matter who it's in. And I'm told here to hate my
own life also. What in the world? I'm to hate
my own life same as I hated theirs because of sin. Because of sin. Listen to this. Job said, I've
heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye
seeth thee. What eye? The eye of faith. Now my eye see a thing. So what
happened? Wherefore, I abhor myself. I hate myself. Well, what happened to that self
that you're so proud of? What happened to the old self
that you relied on its strength and you're so happy with yourself? What happened to that? God exposed
it for what it is. Exposed it for what it is. My
eye seeth thee, wherefore I abhor myself, and I repent in dust
and ashes. So what he's saying here is that
when any of these stand in the way of the honor and interest
of Christ and refuse to bow to his authority, means, and ways,
I must be willing and ready to part with my dearest relatives
and friends. And isn't that understood by
the world as hatred? He sold out his family for that
cult. He sold out his family for his
religion. And we must be willing and ready
to part with our dearest relatives and friends for His honor and
glory, we'd be able to part, be ready to part with the greatest
enjoyment of our life, whatever that is. And with life itself if we're
called on to do so. In James chapter 4 and verse
4, I want you to see this is not my opinion. I want you to
see that this is the Word of God. This is what the Word teaches
us. The Holy Ghost tells us in James
4 that the friendship of the world is enmity with God. It's hostility toward God. Whosoever therefore will be a
friend of the world is the enemy of God. What is it to be a friend of
the world? What's he talking about here? I have to deal with
the world. I can't buy groceries without
dealing with the world. I have to, I got a phone, I got
bills to pay, I have a, you know, we have jobs to do, so on, so
on. We have to deal with the world.
So what's he talking about here being friends with the world?
What is it to be a friend of the world? It's to allow its
principles to reign in our lives. self-will, greed, independence, pride, self-glory. You can't be a friend of the
world without those things. Those are the principles of the
world. And secondly, to find pleasure in such things that
God forbids and warns us of the dangers. and to compromise our faith and
the word of God for the sake of this world's affection so
that we can live in peace. Verse 27, and whosoever does not bear his
cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. What cross? What's he talking about? I have
to bear a cross, what kind of cross do I bear? The cross of Christ is the expression
of this world's enmity for God. Give us Barabbas, crucify him. Crucify him. This is the world's
expression. of their enmity for God. It's
what they think and feel about God's ways and means and about
all who stand for the truth. We have to bear that cross. We
can't shirk it off. We can't hide from it. Well, how do we bear his cross?
By bearing reproach for Christ's sakes. Afflictions. Persecutions. punishment, even
death. We bear the reproach of His death
on the cross. It's a particular death, a satisfying
death, an effectual death, a just and righteous death. And His
death is the highest expression of God's holy name. And in His
death is manifested the very heart and glory of God in the
death of Christ. And when set in its proper light,
it's despised by the world. Tell the world what grace is
and see if I'm not telling you the truth. Tell your sweetest,
dearest relative, you tell them that Christ died for his elect
and see how they swallow that. There's only one who has the
ability, the worth and willingness to reconcile us to God and that's
Jesus Christ. God's only begotten Son. And
there's only one way, and that way is His death on the cross. And He must, as my representative
and substitute, hang between heaven and earth and bear our
sins in His own body on the truth. And He must be looked upon and
judged by His Father as though He actually committed those sins. He must bear the infinite wrath
of God until perfect justice is satisfied, and this he did
for his elect, not for the world. For his elect, for his sheep,
the good shepherd giveth his life for his sheep. Thou shalt
call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sin. And because his son accomplished
God's redemptive will and satisfied divine justice, rightly manifested
the name and glory of God. God has highly exalted him, given
him a name above every name, and he said every knee is going
to bow, every tongue is going to confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Now let me say this. Just think
with me for a minute. If a man came into power in this
country or some other country, if a man came into power that
nobody knew anything about, we don't know anything about him, he would still be in authority.
He'd have the office. He'd be in authority. And we
would obey him out of fear of reprisal. You either have to
obey him or pick up a gun, one or the other. But there'd be no honor. There'd be no love. And there'd
be no allegiance. Not to such a woman. But if one
rose slowly into power, displaying goodness like you've never seen,
kindness, love and mercy and grace. If one rose into power
slowly, manifesting a true selfless giving of himself for the hopeless
and helpless people, people unable to do anything for themselves.
If one rose into power with no bad flaws, no sinful motives,
no hidden agendas, we'd love him. We'd know him. We'd love him. And we'd follow
him. And he'd have our allegiance,
wouldn't he? If he said jump, we'd jump. God hath set forth his Son in
the body of a man. It says he took not on him the
nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham. And the Word was
made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. The
glory is of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. Every quality of the Godhead,
He is the express image of His person, the brightness of the
Father's glory. And it was all manifested in
a man, a representative man, a substitute, a reconciler, a
redeemer. And those who knew Him, those
who know Him, willingly bow to Him. They bow in true submission,
willingly. They bow knowing who He is, why
He came, what He did, and where He's at. They bow to Him. They don't fight His rule. They
love it. You got somebody else you'd rather
have rule than the Lord Jesus Christ? Huh? They're not trying
to get out from under His rule. They pray for its eternal exaltation. Listen to this. They said, teach
us how to pray. He said, pray like this, thy
kingdom come, thy will be done. Huh? We love His rule. We want His rule completely in
our life. And those who come to Christ
must and do come to Him as God has set Him forth. They don't
come to God doesn't leave men to their own imaginations as
to who the son of God is. He leaves no man to draw his
own conclusions and views about his son. He's fully documented
and sent ambassadors to set him forth before the people in truth. And those who would come to him
and follow him will tolerate nothing and nobody to stand in
their way. I don't care who it is. In Matthew
10, he words it this way. In verse 34, he said, think not
that I'm come to send peace on earth. I'm not come to send peace,
but a sword. For I am come to set a man at
variance against his father. You don't know how blessed you
young boys are to have a father who's a believer. I went through
this with mine, and it's a heart-wrenching thing. I'm 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. Now listen, he that loveth father
or mother more than me, he's not worthy of me. Not worthy
of me. He'll be the Lord of all or he
won't be Lord at all. And so strongly his people are
devoted to him that they submitted to public baptism knowing that
they were going to be put to death for what they were doing.
He calls it being baptized for the dead in 1 Corinthians 15. Our love and devotion for him
is counted as hatred by this world. I don't avoid my family because
I don't care for them, but because they put themselves in opposition
to the Lord I love. And I went through this with
my father, and I hope none of you ever have to do it. But in
time, the Lord saved him. He saved him. That man was so
angry and so mad and so upset, the Lord turned him to himself. Ungodly rebellion is just that,
and it's that I don't care if it's in a stranger or in your
closest relative. Most of my siblings died in their
sins, and most of my family have chosen to take sides with the
world against the Savior. And I know why. Do you? I know why. Ignorance. Ignorance. I did these things
Paul said in ignorance. I didn't know any better. Ignorance. Worldly influence. My soul, everybody
in the world believes these things. You saying that here's this little
group here believes this and the whole rest of the world's
wrong? I'd like to know how many times I've heard that. Over and
over and over. Worldly influence, the sheer
numbers of people who are in agreement with a lie. And I don't
hate them, but I had no fellowship with them. I can't. Well, why are they going to be
our foes? Because they have the most influence over you. That's
why. The perfect stranger comes up
and says, well, I don't agree with that. I go my way, you go... You can't say that to your dad.
You can't say that to your mother. And the Lord goes on to say,
Yea, in his own life also. If he don't have his own life
also, he can't be my disciple. What's the center of your life?
I mean the focal point of it. What is it that keeps you going?
What do you live for? What do you long for? Paul said,
for me to live is Christ. That's what my life is about.
Everything about my life is Christ. That's what he said. I think I can say that. I hope
I can say that. For me to live is Christ. And to die is gain. Well, what's that mean? Well,
it has to do with everything in your life. Everything in your
life. It has to do with where I live.
Abraham could not live in the idolatrous house of his father,
nor did he look to his family for advice. God said, come out
of there. Where am I going? I'll tell you
later. Come on. He came out. He came out. When Moses came to years, he
refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Do you
know what it would have meant to him to be the son of Pharaoh? He'd be the next Pharaoh. He'd be lord of everything. When
Moses came to years, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's
daughter and left, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater
riches than the treasures of Israel. It has to do with how my life
is arranged. What's the center point of my
life? What does everything revolve around in my life? Me? What's the center point of my
life? If it's Christ, then everything in it is arranged around Him. Devotions, worship, how and where
I spend my time. It has to do with my finances. If Christ is the center point
of my life, the heart of my finances are arranged to support His work
and relieve those in need. Is it not? It has to do with my leisure.
You know when a believer's the happiest? When he's in the company
of other believers. Check it out during conference
time here. Why are you so happy during conference
time? You're around believers. Here he's got common ground,
a common cause, a common interest, a common hope. You know what
communion is? Common union. That's what it
is. Common union. Brother Mahan used
to say, fellowship is fellows in the same ship. Somebody said birds of a feather
flock together. That's kind of true, isn't it? And I'll tell you something else.
It has to do with my attitude and conduct. Servant, obey your
masters or else. That's not what he said. He said
obey your masters as unto the Lord. Who made that man your
master? Who made that guy your boss? Who gave you that job? Who put
you in this situation? Then quit looking at him and
look to the one who gave it to you. And you do your job as unto
the Lord. We always pick that guy that
we hate, and that's how we set our attitude and mind in our
work. Don't do that. God gave you that
job. Do that job honoring to him.
Look to him. Servants, obey your masters as
unto the Lord. And it's the same in all that
we do. Have I got an unbelieving wife or husband? Huh? Then I need to treat her as unto
the Lord, don't I? I need to look at that relationship
and let that part of that relationship shine. Now don't leave here and go tell
somebody I'm trying to get you to turn on your family and destroy
your family. I'm not doing any such thing.
What I'm laboring to do is to show you who your family is.
That's what the Lord says. Who the Lord is and why and what
it means to come to Him and follow Him. It's an attitude of heart. It's an attitude of heart. And
when we know Him, as he is, boy, it'll just fall into place. You
don't get men to give by preaching on giving. All you gotta do is
preach Christ. If they ever see him, ever come
to know him, they'll give. They'll give.