too many people see Christianity as like going to the movies you pay a minimal price for a ticket you take all your snacks and drinks to your seat you sit there as a film entertains you the movie does not ask anything from you then you walk away from the movie unchanged and return to regular life the truth is Christianity is more like the military when joining the military you're committing to laying down your life you train so that you're ready to go to war your job now becomes your life in the military you have basic
physical training then you have specialized weapons training this is followed by tactical and field training and Christianity is very much like this your prayer life and Christianity is very much like this your prayer life needs to be trained so that you develop and become stronger in prayer your faith needs to be tested you need to have a personal program centered around reading the word of God you see Christianity is more than a mere call to sit in church on Sunday and be entertained it is a call to lay down your life in the end it
cost everything JC riyle said here is the cost of being a true Christian it will cost you your self-righteousness it will cost you your sins it will cost you your love of ease it will cost you the favor of the world you see following Jesus will call you to lay down anything he requests on behalf of following after him in Luke 9 Jesus talks about the cost of following after him the Bible says in Luke 9: 57-58 Jesus is walking along the roadside as Jesus Fox a man comes up to him and asks if he
can follow Jesus Jesus lays out the cost he says Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head Jesus was a nomad he didn't have a home or a bed to sleep in for this man Jesus says it will cost you ease and comfort if you want to follow me you will no longer have a home Jesus approaches a second man and tells him to follow after this man says he would love to but first he has to bury his father Jesus says leave
the dead to bury their own dead but as for you go and proclaim the kingdom of God that may sound a bit cruel and insensitive of Jesus I mean let the poor guy go to his father's funeral however in that culture the burial process could last for months it may even be Poss possible that the Man's father is not dead he could be waiting for his father to die to get his inheritance while we don't know the exact circumstance what we do know is that Jesus is calling him to follow it may bring shame on
him to leave before he buries his father yet the cost for this man to follow Jesus is favor from the world finally another man comes to Jesus and says he will follow him however only after he goes home and says his goodbyes Jesus says no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God at the time of Jesus they didn't have computerized tractors to plow the land they used animals in plows for a farmer it's essential to plow a straight line if your line gets crooked that
gives you less space to plant seeds with less space comes fewer crops so to keep a straight line in as they plowed the farmer would find a point directly across the way they were plowing by fixating on that point he would produce a straight line however if he looked back the plow would get off track and create a crooked line Jesus is telling this man that if you follow me there is no looking back if you follow me come and follow now it will cost you your closest relationships do you see how following after Jesus
could cost you it will cost us our self-righteousness it will cost you your sin it will cost you a life of comfort and ease in Matthew 16:4 in the Bible it says then Jesus said to his disciples whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me it can be easy to become desensi TI to the idea of the Cross however the cross was the go-to route of execution by the Romans over centuries they had perfected this death tool to maximize as much pain as possible it would be
like Jesus saying today take up your electric chair and Follow Me by Jesus saying this he is telling us to Bid Farewell to this world and follow after him so what does it cost you to follow after Jesus the truth is whatever he calls you to give up for all of us it's our sin for all of us it's our self-righteousness for others it may be Comfort stability and yet for others it may be our very life Dietrich bonhof was a German Theologian during the time of Hitler's Reign he actually escaped Germany and came to
America while in America he taught in in a seminary after a while in America he felt a longing to go home and be with his people as they suffered in Germany since he often spoke out against Hitler and the other Nazis he was thrown in a concentration camp that is where he would spend the rest of his life until his eventual death many of us would hear this story and think he wasted his life as he could have stayed in America until the end of World War II however Bon hoofer Had No Reservations for what
he did Dietrich Bon Hofer said in his book the cost of discipleship when Christ calls a man he bids him come and die he knew there was a cost to following Jesus and he was ready to pay it even if it meant his life so what is Jesus calling you to lay down on his behalf it may not be your life as is the case for Bon Hofer however it may be your righteousness sin ease or favor whatever the cost is I promise it'll be worth it take up your cross and follow after him now
as we pray each of us need to have a desire for the Lord to prepare our hearts for following Christ may we be committed followers may we be loyal followers of Christ and may we be obedient even until the end dear Lord I pray that you would help us to live lives that please you as you continue to reveal your will to us through your word I pray that you would give us the grace to be obedient to your will father forgive us for our sins whether in thought or inde deed forgive us Lord if
we have been living for self rather than living for you forgive us for all the times that we prioritized personal gain and selfish Ambitions instead of doing things for your glory and for your honor Lord Jesus our prayer today is that you would help us to remain obedient to your word and to your will so that we would never be among those who say Lord Lord but your response is I never knew you depart from me I never knew you workers of iniquity father we don't want that to be us save us Lord we desire
to have a real personal relationship with you help us to not be caught up in what we look like or what we have but instead may we be focused on your word focused on your will and on really living for you Lord I pray that we would be a people who speak the name of Jesus Christ boldly and we able to speak it boldly because we have a close relationship with you when we praise you Lord and when we worship may it come from a deep place within our hearts and may it be genuine and
heartfelt and connect with you father may we be so entren in your word that our lives will become living testimonies help us to speak the gospel with conviction whenever we're given the opportunity may we live in obedience to your ways Lord and forsake the ways of our flesh your word in 1 John 2:17 says the world is passing away and with it it's lust the shameful Pursuits and ungodly longings but the one who does the will of God and carries out his purpose lives forever help us King Jesus so that we would not pursue the
lust of the world keep our desires away from the shameful Pursuits keep us away from the ungodly things of this world in the name of Jesus I pray that our minds would always be focused on the Heavenly things rather than anything here on this Earth your word in 1 Peter 2: 15-17 it is God's will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you for you are free yet you are God's slaves so don't use your freedom as an excuse to do evil respect everyone and love the family of
Believers fear God and respect the king I pray that the way I live my life would be honorable before you Lord may I be a person of Integrity you've given me free will you've given me conscience you've given me the freedom to choose how I live my life and I pray that I would never take this freedom and willingly choose Evil By Your Grace father may I live a life of purpose A Life That's led by the fear of God a life life that is led by faith father right now we say be praised and
magnified you deserve all the glory and honor it's in Jesus name I pray amen your word says then Jesus told his disciples if anyone would come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me for whoever would save his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for my sake will find [Music] it for though we walk in the flesh we do not war according to the flesh for the weapons of our Warfare are not carnal But Mighty in God for pulling down strongholds casting down arguments and every High
thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God bringing every thought into captivity to The Obedience of Christ and being ready to punish all Disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled verse 5 says bringing every thought into captivity to The Obedience of Christ the world is passing away and with it it's lust the shameful Pursuits and ungodly longings but the one who does the will of God and carries out his purpose lives forever it is God's will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you for you are free yet
you are God's slaves so don't use your freedom as an excuse to do evil respect everyone and love the family of Believers fear God and respect the king in Matthew 16:4 in the Bible it says then Jesus said to his disciples whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me [Music]
