The Cost of Discipleship

[0:00] Lord's help. If we could turn back to that portion of scripture that we read. The gospel according to Luke in chapter 14. Luke chapter 14 and if we read again at verse 25. Luke chapter 14 and verse 25.

[0:20] Now great crowds accompanied him and he turned and said to them if anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters yes and even his own life he cannot be my disciple.

[0:37] Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. I'm sure we've all heard of the phrase the truth hurts. The truth hurts and the truth is the truth does hurt.

[1:02] Because we don't like being told the truth about ourselves. We don't like it when we're told that we're getting old. We don't like it when we're told that we're putting on a little weight.

[1:13] We don't like it when we're told that we we don't look nice in what we're wearing. And one which we can all relate to is that we don't like it when we're told that we're wrong. We don't like being told the truth about ourselves because the truth hurts.

[1:31] But sometimes the truth is necessary. Sometimes we need to be brutally honest. Sometimes we need to just cut to the chase and stop beating about the bush and just say it like it is.

[1:44] And even though the truth will hurt the truth is necessary because there's no point being lied to. And that doesn't help anyone. Being lied to doesn't change anyone's behaviour or the way they live their life.

[1:59] And you know that's what we see here in this chapter in Luke chapter 14. Jesus tells the truth about what it means to be one of his disciples. And the thing about Jesus is he doesn't hide the truth.

[2:13] He doesn't give have this contract for discipleship and he doesn't have small print that you have to read very, very carefully with a magnifying glass. He doesn't, Jesus doesn't beat about the bush.

[2:25] He just says it like it is. Jesus puts the truth out there and the truth hurts. And it hurts because what Jesus says, he says that in order to be one of his disciples, it will cost you everything.

[2:43] It will cost you everything. Now he's not talking about salvation because Jesus paid the price for our salvation. He paid the redemption price in full.

[2:55] But what he is saying is that to be one of his disciples, it requires 100% commitment. And the truth hurts because he says that Christianity, it's not some pick and mix religion where you can pick and choose which parts of the Bible we like and which ones, which bits we want to adhere to and then just leave the rest.

[3:17] And Jesus says the discipleship, the discipleship which we are to sign up to, it's not a contract for offshore Christianity with the provision of two weeks on and two weeks off.

[3:30] It doesn't come with holiday packages or days off. No, my friend, in this passage, Jesus sets out for us the terms and conditions of being one of his disciples.

[3:42] And Jesus says that he doesn't want hangers on. He doesn't want people with a foot in both camps and people who want the best of both worlds.

[3:53] He doesn't want people to just sit in the background out of the way. No, Jesus wants dedicated disciples. He wants committed Christians.

[4:03] He wants active involvement in his church. He wants devotion to him and passion for him. He wants willing servants who will seek to do the impossible and go the extra mile and endeavor to be faithful to their teacher.

[4:21] That's what Jesus wants in discipleship. And the question, I suppose, that arises is, well, what are we doing as disciples of Jesus if we're not applying in our lives all that he's saying to us?

[4:37] What kind of disciples are we if we are hearers only and not doers also? My friend, Jesus is saying to us tonight, if you want to be one of my disciples, it will cost you everything.

[4:52] It will cost you your life, your time, your money, your effort. You will have to prioritize your life. You'll have to swallow your pride. You'll have to humble yourself.

[5:04] You'll have to submit to a greater authority than yourself. The truth hurts to be my disciple, says Jesus, and it will cost you everything because you have to be willing to learn from me.

[5:19] You have to be willing to make me your teacher and the authority in your life and to learn from me. That's what Jesus is saying. And as we were saying about the children last week and the L plates and the learner, that's what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.

[5:36] It's to be a learner. And Jesus' call to discipleship is to be a learner. To be a disciple is to be a learner. And you know, in this passage, we see Jesus doing four things as he explains what it means to be one of his disciples.

[5:53] And the first thing we see Jesus doing is that, as we can see already, Jesus is challenging the crowds. Jesus is challenging the crowds.

[6:07] If you look again at verse 25, he says, Now great crowds accompanied him. And he turned and said to them, If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

[6:27] Now we find this passage of the cost of discipleship, we find this passage in Luke's Gospel, immediately after Jesus has sat and you could say he's had Sabbath day dinner with some of the Pharisees.

[6:41] Jesus had been invited, as we saw at the beginning of Luke 14, he was invited to dine at the house of one of the chief Pharisees. And as we saw the Pharisees, they became annoyed and disturbed as they watched Jesus heal this man on the Sabbath day.

[6:58] But you know, it's interesting that it also says that Jesus watched them. Jesus watched them and what he noticed about the Pharisees was their pride and their pomp as they chose positions for themselves at the dinner table.

[7:14] And they all put themselves first and they sat in their order of religious authority. But when Jesus spoke to them, he reminded them in verse 11, as it says, everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and everyone who humbles himself will be exalted.

[7:33] And from that then, Jesus proceeded to tell a parable about the great banquet in which the master of the house, he prepared a banquet and he invited all of his guests to come but they all began to make excuses.

[7:47] Those who were exalted in position, those who thought highly of themselves and put themselves first and thought they didn't really need to come to the banquet, they made excuses not to come.

[8:00] They all alike, as it says, began to make excuses. And so in response to all these proud excuses, the master of the house commands his servants to go and compel people to come in that his house may be filled.

[8:14] And he even tells the servants to go to those of the lowest positions in life. He says, go out quickly into the streets and the lanes of the city and bring in the poor, the lame, the blind and the crippled.

[8:29] And then we're told down in verse 22, it says, and the servant said, sir, what you've commanded has been done and there is still room. And the master said to the servant, go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in that my house may be filled.

[8:43] For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet. And Jesus is clear. Those who are too proud to come to the great banquet which is offered to them, those who are too proud and give all their excuses, he says, they will not taste my banquet.

[9:02] And of course, Jesus is drawing attention to the self-righteous Pharisees who exalt themselves and only put themselves first. And he says, they shall not taste my banquet.

[9:17] And you know, it seems that Luke is just following on from this theme when he gives Jesus' teaching on what it means to be one of his disciples. Because as we know, the Pharisees, they loved themselves.

[9:30] They loved to make a show of their religion. They loved to stand on the street corners and be seen to be praying. They loved to make a noise and give offerings as they gave offerings in the temple so that everyone would know how much they're putting into the offering plate.

[9:47] They loved to be appreciated by others and receive rewards from people for doing good works. They loved to be first and foremost within the religious community.

[9:59] The Pharisees loved themselves and they loved to be seen and heard by other people. But Jesus says, the truth is, the truth is, this goes directly against the grain of what it means to be one of my disciples.

[10:14] Because Jesus says in verse 26, if anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot.

[10:31] Be my disciple. And of course, when we hear these words of Jesus, we're immediately struck by what he's saying. There's like, a shock factor to it with what Jesus is saying because to use the word hate, it's such a strong word, isn't it?

[10:50] And it seems to go against the grain of everything which Jesus taught. Jesus teaches us to love one another. But what we have to see is that Jesus isn't contradicting himself because Jesus certainly doesn't mean that we're to hate all our family members.

[11:08] That would contradict the fifth commandment. The truth of the matter is that Jesus is trying to get our attention, which he does by saying this, and he's emphasizing that to be one of his disciples, to be his disciple, he must be the priority in our lives.

[11:27] Jesus must be first and foremost before anyone or anything else because to hate everyone else is to love Jesus more deeply and more earnestly.

[11:42] And you know, this certainly flew in the face of the Pharisees because they loved themselves more than God and they loved their religion more than salvation itself.

[11:53] And so, although it may be quite hard for us to get our heads around because Jesus is using the word hate, he is in fact, he's emphasizing the need for love.

[12:06] He's emphasizing the need for love and Jesus is stressing to us that those who are his disciples, those who follow him, they must love him with a deeper love, even more than their nearest and dearest and even more than they love themselves.

[12:23] And what Jesus is saying is that in order to be one of his disciples, he must be the priority. He must be first and foremost, he must be loved more than anyone or anything else in this world.

[12:39] And you know, as I always do, I love what J.C. Ryle says about this in his commentary because he says Jesus did not mean that it is an essential part of Christianity to quarrel with our relatives and friends, but he says he did mean that if the claims of our relatives and the claims of Christ come into collision, the claims of our relatives must give way.

[13:06] We must choose, says Ryle, rather to displease those we love the most upon the earth than to displease him who died for us on the cross.

[13:19] And you know, to read on in his commentary, Ryle goes on to say that sometimes the greatest foes to our soul are those in our own home. And you know, it's so true.

[13:32] I've had experience of it, I'm sure you've had experience of it, because as disciples of Jesus, there's always this temptation to compromise our faith, there's always the temptation to keep quiet, just go along with others, even though we know it displeases the Lord.

[13:49] But Ryle reminds us of the call to discipleship, and the cost of discipleship. He says that we must be willing to offend our family and our friends before we offend the Christ who loved us and gave himself for us.

[14:08] And this is why Jesus brings us secondly to considering the cross. Because as Jesus explains what it means to be one of his disciples, Jesus is challenging the crowds, and then secondly he's considering the cross.

[14:23] He's considering the cross. Look at verse 26 again, he says, if anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

[14:37] Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Jesus makes it very clear to us that if we don't love him more than our family and friends then we cannot be his disciple.

[14:54] If we don't put him first and make him the priority in our lives then we cannot be his disciple. If we don't take up our cross and follow after Jesus then we cannot, we cannot be his disciple.

[15:11] And Jesus is saying to us that it will be a painful experience to be a disciple of Jesus. Because it's painful to disagree with those whom we love, especially when it comes to spiritual things.

[15:25] It's difficult to go against the grain of our friends and our family for the sake of Jesus Christ. It's a heavy cross to bear to disagree with those who are going in a different direction to us.

[15:41] But in his call to discipleship, Jesus is saying, if you want to be my disciple, you have to bear this cross and follow after me.

[15:54] You have to humble yourself. You have to abdicate the throne of your own heart. You have to submit your life under the authority of King Jesus.

[16:04] You have to give your time, your effort, your energy to serving the King. And you know, there was no one who took up their cross like Jesus did.

[16:18] And that might seem like an obvious thing to say, but there was no one who took up their cross like Jesus did. Because the cross of Jesus, it was the greatest act of humiliation.

[16:29] Jesus humbled himself. He became man, bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh. He became a servant. He humbled himself to the lowest position, being obedient unto death, even the death of a cross.

[16:45] And the cross was the greatest act of humiliation, and it was the greatest act of submission to the Father's will. And likewise, Jesus is saying that in order to be one of his disciples, we must humble ourselves and submit our lives under his authority.

[17:04] My friend, the call of discipleship and the cost of discipleship, what Jesus is saying is come and die. Come and die.

[17:16] That's what he's saying in verse 27. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. We must come and die. We have to die to self and all our selfish desires, and we have to die to sin.

[17:33] We have to take up our cross and follow the example of Jesus. And you know, if we think that telling us to hate ourselves and our family, if we think that's an alarming thing for Jesus to say, then to demand someone be his disciple by taking up their cross, it was one of the most startling things that Jesus could ever say.

[17:59] Because to the ears of those in the first century, those crowds who heard this, to them the cross wasn't a piece of jewellery or just a figure of speech. The cross was a symbol of Roman oppression.

[18:13] The cross was the most visible aspect of Rome's terror towards the Israelites. Because as you know, the act of crucifixion, it was designed to punish criminals in the most excruciating manner by prolonging their death.

[18:31] death. And when someone was crucified, they didn't die of the pain when the six-inch nails were hammered through their hands and their feet, and then they were lifted up onto the cross.

[18:44] They didn't die of the pain, they died of suffocation. Because the only way to breathe whilst hanging upon a Roman cross was to push down on the nails and to draw in some breath into your lungs.

[18:57] And this fight for survival, it would go on for hours. the fight between the desire to live and the fear of death. My friend, the cross was an awful way to die.

[19:08] And for every Jew living under the oppression of the Romans, the cross was a symbol of cruelty, and it was a symbol of pain, a symbol of shame. It was a pointer to death.

[19:22] But not only that, when someone took up their cross, when the Romans made someone carry their cross, they were carrying it to their place of execution, they would be carrying it to their grave, to the death.

[19:36] And you know, this act of carrying the cross, it signified submission, submission to the authority of the Roman Empire. But here is Jesus, and he's using the same symbol here to signify the ultimate submission, and the ultimate death that is required in order to be his disciple.

[20:01] And you know, with such an extreme symbol, Jesus was saying that to become one of his disciples, we must be prepared to submit our lives to Jesus.

[20:12] We must be prepared to die to self. We must be prepared to endure opposition and trouble and pain and suffering and conflict for the sake of Christ.

[20:23] We must be prepared to deny self and take up our cross. We must be prepared to make the worship of Jesus the priority in our life. We must be prepared to take up the cross of professing a faith that the world despises.

[20:39] We must be prepared to take up the cross of living a life in which the world ridicules us too strict and unnecessary. We must be prepared to crucify the flesh.

[20:51] We must be prepared to mortify the deeds of the body. We must be prepared, as we were saying with the children, to fight daily with the devil. We must be prepared to come out from the world and be separate.

[21:03] We must be prepared to lose our lives, if need be, for the sake of Christ and the gospel. Because, my friend, if we will not carry the cross, we shall never wear the crown.

[21:17] If we will not carry the cross, we shall never wear the crown. God will not carry the cross.

[21:30] It was the apostle Paul. Because when Paul wrote his letter to the Galatians, and he explained this change that had taken place in his life, he made this wonderful confession of what it means to be a Christian.

[21:46] And he said in Galatians 2 verse 20, I have been crucified with Christ. And as a Christian, Paul confessed that he had denied self, he had taken up his cross, and he was following Jesus.

[22:14] Following Jesus, he died to self, and he died to sin. So much so that he later said halfway through his letter in Galatians, he said, God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

[22:37] Paul lived a crucified life. And my friend, that's what it means to be a Christian. That's what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.

[22:47] us. It's to live a crucified life. It's to be a committed Christian, and a dedicated disciple. Because Jesus says to us, whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

[23:07] And so Jesus explains what it means to be one of his disciples. And he does so by first of all challenging the crowds, then he does it by considering the cross. And then thirdly, he tells us what it means to be one of his disciples by counting the cost.

[23:24] Counting the cost. If you look at verse 28, he says, for which one of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?

[23:40] Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, this man began to build and was not able to finish.

[23:52] Now, we have to understand in these verses that Jesus, he isn't trying to put anyone off becoming one of his disciples. He doesn't want to discourage anyone from becoming a Christian.

[24:08] But he wants everyone to know what is written in the contract before they sign up to it. Jesus wants us to be aware of what it is we are committing to and what's required of us when we commit our life to being a disciple of Jesus.

[24:27] Because with Jesus, as we said, there's no small print. There are no hidden agendas. There's no catches in the contract. It's all out there. It's all out there in the open. Jesus just puts the truth out there.

[24:41] And as we said earlier, even though the truth will hurt, the truth is necessary. Because sometimes, as we said, we need to cut to the chase and stop beating about the bush and just say it like it is.

[24:53] And Jesus does that here. He just says it like it is. And he says that he doesn't want half-hearted disciples. He wants whole-hearted disciples.

[25:04] Jesus doesn't want lazy and laxadaisical and laid-back learners. He wants loving and lively learners. Jesus doesn't want poor and passive witnesses.

[25:15] He wants passionate and practical witnesses. Jesus doesn't want a careless and casual Christianity. He wants a committed Christianity. Jesus wants commitment.

[25:27] And it costs to be a committed Christian. It costs to be a dedicated disciple. But if you want to be a nominal Christian and just do the Sunday thing, if and when you can be bothered and maybe occasionally go to the prayer meeting and live like the world and stunt your spiritual growth and please yourself, if you want to be a distant disciple instead of a dedicated disciple, Jesus is actually saying to you here, don't bother.

[26:00] Don't bother. The truth hurts. If you're not going to count the cost of discipleship, he says then, don't bother. Don't bother.

[26:11] If your Christianity is not going to affect your entire life, don't bother. If your commitment is not going to shape the way you live, the way you think, the way you speak, where you go, what you do, if your commitment to Jesus is not going to make you think about your faith and life, then don't bother becoming my disciple.

[26:33] And we might think this is harsh, but my friend, as we were saying, the truth hurts. And you know, it challenges me right to the core, right to the core, because Jesus is saying that he would far rather a committed Christian than someone who just went along in the crowd and then in time of temptation just fell away.

[27:01] because, you know, there's nothing that does the cause of Christ more harm than a distant and lazy disciple. And as we were saying on Wednesday evening about the church in Laodicea, Jesus would far rather have us cold or hot than lukewarm.

[27:24] Because a lukewarm disciple is room temperature, and someone whose room temperature, they're comfortable. They're a comfortable Christian, and they just blend into their surroundings, and they don't stand out from the world.

[27:40] And if we're lukewarm, Jesus says in Revelation, he says he wants to spew us out of his mouth. My friend, the Christian life, it's not a badge we wear.

[27:53] It's not a club that we're part of. It's not even a lifestyle choice. The Christian life is about believing in Jesus, listening to Jesus, following Jesus, and confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord over my life.

[28:10] And if he is Lord over your life, then he is Lord over every part of your life. And that will cost us, because it requires self-denial.

[28:23] It will cost us our enjoyment of sin. It will cost us our self-righteousness. It will cost us our ease in the world, and our love for worldliness.

[28:35] My friend, to follow Jesus, it will cost us everything. It will cost us everything.

[28:47] And Jesus says to count the cost, or failure to count the cost. would be a big mistake. He says, who would build a tower?

[28:58] Who would build a house without first counting the cost? There are so many things to factor in. The main one being, can I afford it?

[29:10] If I start this building project, will I be able to finish? Will I be able to finish what I've started? do I be able to do? And of course, Jesus is speaking about becoming one of his disciples.

[29:22] And he's saying that we need to sit down and think about what it is we are doing. We can't rush into it and then drop out halfway. But at the same time, Jesus is saying, we can't put it off so that we will be too late.

[29:38] And as we said, Jesus is not trying to put us off becoming one of his disciples. He just wants us to know what we're getting ourselves into.

[29:49] Because following Jesus, it's a serious business. It's not to be taken lightly. It's not cheap grace. And it requires commitment.

[30:01] And we have to be committed. And you know, I know that for many of you here, you know that becoming a Christian and being a disciple of Jesus, you know it's a serious business.

[30:16] You know that. But I don't want you to be put off by what Jesus is saying. I want you to see that Jesus is actually encouraging you to become a disciple of Jesus. He's calling you to wholeheartedly commit your life to him.

[30:34] And I know you might be thinking to yourself, well, what if I start but I can't finish? I'll be like this man who built the tower. What if I become a Christian and make a commitment but then I fall away?

[30:49] I don't want to let people down. I don't want to let Jesus down. I don't want to let the church down. But that's why Jesus is telling us to count the cost. Because if we're serious about committing our life to Jesus then we will count the cost and we'll strive to persevere to the finish.

[31:12] We'll know what's involved when we make that commitment. But you know you're not the only one who thinks like this. Because you know when Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians the Philippians they were also worried about being the genuine article.

[31:30] They were worried about being this genuine disciple of Jesus. They were also concerned that they might fall away. But Paul reminded them, he said to them, the church is praying for you.

[31:41] But more than that he said, if Jesus has begun that good work in you he will bring it on to completion. He who has begun the good work in you, says Paul, he will bring it on to completion at the day of Christ Jesus.

[31:58] My friend, if you want to know if God has begun a good work in you commit your life to him. Commit your life to him. You must concede.

[32:12] Concede to Christ. commit your life to him. Bow your knee before him. Confess that he is Lord over your life. That's what you need to do.

[32:23] Confess that he is Lord over your life. Concede to his authority. And that's what we see last of all. Because as Jesus explains what it means to be one of his disciples.

[32:35] He does so as we saw by challenging the crowd, by considering the cross, by counting the cost. And then he tells us that in order to be one of his disciples, it involves conceding to Christ.

[32:47] Conceding to Christ. If you look at verse 31, he says, Or what king going out to encounter another king in war will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?

[33:06] And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

[33:22] And in these verses, as we see Jesus, he poses another illustration to the crowds that are following him. And in this illustration, it's very similar to the previous one about building the tower.

[33:34] because the king with ten thousand soldiers, he must sit down and count the cost before he goes to war. But in this illustration, Jesus doesn't emphasize the importance of finishing.

[33:48] He emphasizes the importance of surviving. Because the king with an army of ten thousand soldiers, he must consider what will happen if he commands his army to go out and fight against an army of twenty thousand soldiers.

[34:06] And he must ask himself, he must count the cost and say, will he and his men be able to withstand the strength of a mightier king with a greater army?

[34:17] And the obvious answer is no. Because no army could defeat another army that is twice its strength. And so the only sensible thing to do, as Jesus suggests, is for the king with ten thousand men to concede to the king with the stronger army, with twenty thousand men.

[34:38] He says, concede to him and seek terms of peace. And of course, the terms of peace, they will only be dictated by the king with the stronger army.

[34:50] And this illustration which Jesus is using here, it emphasizes to us our need to concede to Christ and confess that he is king. king. Because by our own sinful nature, as we all know ourselves, we're all kings and queens over our own lives.

[35:07] We are the authority in our lives. We rule and reign in our own heart. We sit upon the throne of our own heart. We live as if we are sovereign. But Jesus is reminding us here that the call and the cost of discipleship is to concede to Christ and seek terms of peace.

[35:29] Seek terms of peace. Concede to Christ. Seek terms of peace because the truth is, and it's a truth that hurts, Jesus is a powerful king.

[35:41] And he is the authority in our lives. He rules and overrules in every aspect of it. He is sovereign. He must occupy the throne of our heart.

[35:53] And in order to avoid war with King Jesus, which would end in eternal death in hell, we must submit our lives to him and commit our lives to him and seek terms of peace.

[36:09] We must seek peace and we must pursue it earnestly. And that was the message which Jesus preached to the crowds which followed him. The call to discipleship.

[36:23] It involves a cost. And as Jesus is challenging the crowds by, as we've said, by considering the cost and considering the cross and counting the cost and conceding to Christ, Jesus knows that as he challenges this crowd, there are many people in the crowds who are just going along with him.

[36:46] They're just going along with him. They're going along in the crowd. And you know, it's easy to just go along in the crowd. It's easy to follow in the crowd because in the crowd you just blend in.

[37:00] It's easy to get lost in the crowd and remain anonymous in the crowd and unrecognized in the crowd. But Jesus isn't into crowds. There are crowds in hell.

[37:12] people. Jesus wants, as he says here, he wants disciples. Jesus wants disciples. Jesus wants people who after counting the cost, heed the call and come after him and take up their cross and follow him.

[37:34] And this crowd that went along with Jesus, it was a mixed crowd, just like it is this evening. There are some who are committed, some who are uncommitted, some who are converted, there are some who are unconverted, some who are Christian, some who are not Christian, some who are disciples, some who are not disciples.

[37:53] And we're all going along with Jesus, we're all part of this great crowd. But Jesus is reminding us this evening of what it means to be one of his disciples. Because the call to discipleship, it involves a cost.

[38:07] And Jesus, he's challenging the crowds by considering the cross and counting the cost. And he's challenging them so that they will see their need in conceding to Christ.

[38:22] Their need of conceding to Christ. But you know this passage in Luke chapter 14, it reminds me of what happened in John chapter 6.

[38:37] Because in John chapter 6, there are many crowds who saw Jesus. And they saw him perform miracles and they heard Jesus declare that he is the bread of life. But when Jesus sets out the terms and conditions of following him, just like he did here, when Jesus reminds the crowds in John 6 about the cost of discipleship, we're told that after this, many of his disciples turned back and walked with him no longer.

[39:10] They turned back and walked with him no longer. They no longer remained in the crowd. And then Jesus in John chapter 6, he turns to his disciples and he says to them, will you also go away?

[39:29] And we're told that Peter then he steps forward and he gives the confession of a true disciple. Lord, to whom shall we go? You alone have the words of eternal life and we know and believe that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

[39:50] And my friend, Jesus is asking us all tonight, after setting out for us the terms and conditions of discipleship, he's asking us, will you also go away?

[40:03] will you also turn away from the crowd and follow Jesus no longer? Or will you heed the call? Will you count the cost?

[40:15] Will you take up your cross and confess about this Jesus? To whom else shall we go? You alone have the words of eternal life.

[40:28] love. My friend, I plead with you, take up your cross and follow after him. Be his disciple for time and for eternity.

[40:44] May the Lord bless these thoughts to us. Let us pray. O Lord, our gracious God, we all we give thanks to thee for the truth, for presenting to us the truth even though it hurts us, even though it challenges us to the core.

[41:01] We thank thee, O Lord, that Jesus sets out for us what it means to be his disciple and help us not to be put off but to follow him closer, to love him more deeply, to thank him for his honesty, for his desire to have us as disciples and to know that although it will cost us everything, in one sense it cost him everything, that it cost him everything in laying down his life for us, that we might have life and have it more abundantly.

[41:32] O Lord, bless us, we pray thee, each and every one of us, that we would look to Jesus and know him and follow him as the author and the finisher of our faith.

[41:42] Bless us in the week that lies ahead, a week that again is unknown to us but known to thee. Help us then to cast everything into thy care, knowing that thou art the one who cares for us.

[41:55] Do us good, for we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. We shall conclude by singing in the words of Psalm 25, page 231.

[42:09] Psalm 25, we're singing from verse 4 down to the verse marked 7. Another psalm that emphasizes teaching and another prayer for the Lord to teach us as disciples.

[42:27] Psalm 25 from verse 4. Show me thy ways, O Lord, thy paths, so teach thou me, and do thou lead me in thy truth, therein my teacher be. For thou art God that dost to me salvation send, and I upon thee all the day, expecting do attend.

[42:43] Down to the verse marked 7 of Psalm 25, to God's praise. show me thy ways, O Lord, thy paths, so teach thou me, and do thou lead me in thy truth, therein my teacher be.

[43:17] For thou art God that does do me salvation send, and I upon thee all the day, expecting to attend.

[43:49] Thy tender mercies, Lord, I pray thee to remember unloving kindnesses for they have been noble forever.

[44:17] My sins and faults of you do thou, O Lord, forget after thy mercy, think on me, and for thy goodness great.

[44:51] The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all, now and forevermore. Amen. to, see you