Count the Cost
- 1. Count the Cost All NKJV unless otherwise specified Romans 10v9 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. This is our covenant/contract with Jesus. We are confessing His Lordship over us, and our willing submission as servants to Him. In turn, He saves us. If we remain faithful to our side of the covenant, God will remain faithful to His side of the covenant. We are then redeemed (bought back) from death (Satan’s kingdom) to life (God’s kingdom). 1 Corinthians 6v20 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. Since we are no longer our own possession, but rather God’s possession, we are to live accordingly to the Master’s will. This however comes at a cost. Luke 14v25-33 25 Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 27 “And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28 “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— 29 “lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 “saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 “Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 “Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. 33 “So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. There is a cost involved in following Jesus. This cost is to forsake all worldly things John 17v16 16 “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. The above scriptures mean that Jesus is meant to be the first and greatest priority in our lives. A true disciple can have nothing before God - Exodus 20v3 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. This also means that a true disciple does not place a parent, child, any person, money, fame, looks, vanity, knowledge, etc. before God in their lives. To bear the cross means to suffer for the sake of the gospel. There will be persecution. If you are fulfilling the great commission of God, which is to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Mt 16v15(b)” then you will face persecutions in life. 2 Timothy 3v12 12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. This comes with the covenant we have in Jesus Christ. There is no way around it or shortcut. Have you counted the cost of following Jesus Christ? Matthew 16v24 24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 “For whoever desires to save his life (the worldly life) will lose it, but whoever loses his life (the worldly life) for My sake will find it (eternal life). 26 “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? Matthew 19 v16-22 16 Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” 17 So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to Him, “Which ones?” Jesus said, “ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ 19 ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” 20 The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in
- 2. heaven; and come, follow Me.” 22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. In a nutshell the young man above had kept all of the commandments concerning his conduct towards man, but yet the commandment concerning his conduct towards God by placing Him first in everything - he could not keep. He placed higher value on the possessions that he had versus following God. Jesus speaks of the deceitfulness of riches and how it can choke the working of the Word within a person; Mark 4v19 19 “and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. We all know that the young man made an unwise choice, yet how many Christians, if called to do the same, would choose the same as this young man? However God showed me something very interesting in this story in light of the teaching above. At least the young man made a choice. He counted the cost and decided that it was too high. At least he was not being a hypocrite. How many in the church confess Jesus as Lord, but never count the cost? These are the hypocrites! These are the ones to who the Lord refers when He states: Luke 6v46 46 “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say? Matthew 13 v44-46 44 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, 46 “who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Once the revelation of the Kingdom of God establishes itself in the heart of the believer, he/she realizes that there is no greater treasure available to mankind. It is worth sacrificing absolutely everything to obtain this treasure. Matthew 6 v19,20 19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 “but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The “Let me first’s……..” Luke 9v59-62 59 Then He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.” 61 And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.” 62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” Also see Genesis 19v26 regarding Lot’s wife looking back – symbolic of destruction when we look back on our old life with longing. Hebrews 3 v12-15 12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, 15 while it is said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” The Word of God is given to the believers God has a call upon your life – the life he has bought by the covenant which you have entered into. Time is precious and many souls have yet to hear the Word of God – this requires your involvement – persecution is a given. This was Paul’s heart – will it be yours? Are you ready to commit yourselves fully to God? Have you counted the cost? Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac on the altar out of obedience to God. Even though Isaac was the promised child and Abraham was beyond old – he served God first and foremost. Abraham is called the father of faith.