Sunday, August 22, 2010
COUNT THE COST
Last week we looked at Matt. 28:18-20, "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." Today we are going to look into more about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.
Here’s the question we want to consider: What does it cost to follow Jesus? We might say, “It doesn’t cost us anything to follow Jesus. Jesus paid it all when He died on the cross. To say there is a cost for us is to make salvation a matter of works. But we know that salvation is by grace though faith, and not of works, lest any man should boast (Eph. 2:8-9). Surely Jesus paid the only cost. All we do is trust Jesus.” That statement is absolutely true. However, we must define what it means to trust Jesus. “But Pastor, that’s the problem. We’re always defining things. We need to just look at the simple gospel. Jesus meant what He said; we don’t have to add anything to it.”
Please hear me. There is great danger in defining things, because often we define things in order to explain away the clear commands of scripture. However, what we must understand is that our religious culture has been redefining the gospel for over a century in order to make it more comfortable for modern man. Our modern religion has popularized a system which has given us a wrong definition of the gospel. If we are going to truly follow Jesus, we must come to Him and hear what He Himself says about the gospel.
Let me put it this way: Even in His own day, Jesus found it necessary to define the gospel. Yes, He said, “Repent and believe the gospel,” (Mark 1:15), but that isn’t all He said. Listen to these words of Jesus: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life” (John 6:47). What could be clearer than that? Believe on Jesus, and you have eternal life. If we give those words to people, will they not understand what they mean? As a matter of fact, most people around us will not understand those words from Jesus. Most often they are interpreted to mean something like this: “Just put your trust in Jesus, who died on the cross for your sins. Confess that you believe. That’s all there is to it.” Really, that is absolutely true. But how do we account for the millions of people in our society who say they have put their trust in Jesus but who live just like the rest of the world? Does trust in Jesus guarantee a person a place in heaven, even if his life on earth remains unchanged? Is that what Jesus taught?
Please turn to John 6:47, that verse we just read. Here’s the bottom line -- Jesus saw the need to explain what He meant even to those people to whom He spoke. Even they didn’t understand what He meant by “believe.” Go back to John 2:23-25, "Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. 24. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, 25. And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man." We are told they believed, but the context makes it clear that it was not genuine saving faith. The belief described here in chapter 2 is a far cry from Thomas’ response when Jesus said, “Be not faithless, but believing” (John 20:27). Thomas said, “My Lord and my God.”
Let’s read John 6:47-58…
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. 48. I am that bread of life. 49. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 51. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. 52. The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? 53. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 54. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 55. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. 57. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. 58. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
Do you understand? In the verses up through verse 47, Jesus talked about believing, but in verses 48 through 58 He doesn’t use the word “believe” a single time. Yet it is clear that He is still talking about eternal life. What are the words in verses 48-58 that replace the word “believe” from verse 47 and the earlier verses? “Eat” and “drink.” Jesus wanted them to know that to believe in Him was not a matter of giving mental assent to certain truths. Rather, it was to actually take Him into themselves, as when a person eats and drinks. Jesus said that if a person doesn’t eat His flesh and drink His blood, he doesn’t have life (eternal life). Clearly, they had trouble understanding this. In verse 54, Jesus actually changes the word that is translated “eat.” It is no longer the normal word for “eat,” but now it is the word that means “to chew on.” He also changes the tense of the verb, so that it no longer means eating at a point in time, but to a continual chewing on. When you truly believe on Jesus, you eat Him. By a miracle of God, He becomes a part of you. And then as a result, you continually chew on Him for the rest of your life. In short, He becomes your life. Let no one miss the implications of this passage -- if this eating and continual chewing on Jesus doesn’t take place, then there is no genuine belief and no eternal life. The point is simple. We must let Jesus Himself define repentance and belief. We can’t just take a couple of verses and ignore the other things that Jesus said (such as we read in this passage).
So let’s investigate some passages where Jesus urges people to count the cost of following Him.
Matthew 16:24-25
Do you remember a man named Peter? Certainly, we do, because Peter tended to be a man who made himself known. Go back to that day when Jesus said to His apostles, “Whom do men say I am?” After they told Him what different people were saying about Him, Jesus then asked, “What about you guys? Whom do you say I am?” You remember that Peter was the one who answered for the group: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus commended Peter for his answer, only reminding Peter that it was the Father who had made that truth known to Him.
Immediately after that incident, we read these words in Matt. 16:21-23…
From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. 22. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. 23. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest [set your mind on] not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
Did Peter believe on the Lord Jesus? He certainly thought he did. After all, he had just stated what we call “the great confession,” saying that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, the Son of the living God. But Jesus found it necessary to rebuke Peter. Peter did not yet understand what it meant to believe on Jesus. The Lord needed to dispel some false concepts Peter had. Peter couldn’t grasp the idea that Jesus would die.
It is in that context that we come to the words of verses 24-25. Now Jesus expands His conversation with Peter to include one and all. Notice the word “any.” Let’s read Matt. 16:24-25…
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
Don’t be confused by the “will” of the King James, as the word was used differently 400 years ago. Jesus said, “If anyone wants/desires to come after me.” Do you want to be a disciple of Jesus? Then here are the requirements. There are three of them, though they are so closely related that they can hardly be separated. First, “Let him deny himself.”
Do you see why we need to let Jesus define His gospel so that there will be no misunderstanding. Modern man has redefined it to say man needs to love himself, protect himself, feel good about himself. Some so-called Christian counselors would have us believe that a person must learn to love himself before he can love his neighbor. Self-esteem has become the key to mental, emotional, and spiritual health, and much of the professing church has bought into it completely. You can’t get any of that from Jesus, because He said, “Let a person deny himself” -- not love himself, but deny himself. You can’t harmonize loving self with denying self; they are mutually exclusive.
But what does it mean to deny self? It means that self is no longer the center of life. Personal desires have been replaced by the Lord’s agenda. Perhaps the best way to explain denying self is to read Gal. 2:20, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." To deny self is to recognize that you have been bought with a price and that you no longer belong to yourself. 1 Cor. 6:19-20, "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20. For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."
Jesus doesn’t stop there. “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross.” Jesus was not talking about the physical act of carrying around a wooden cross. He was giving a graphic picture of what it is like to be His disciple. The cross meant one thing; it meant death, a shameful and painful death. To come to Christ means to die. Jesus is saying to Peter, “Peter, not only must I die, but you too must die.” Some people say things like, “Yes, this disease I have is the cross I have to bear.” No, that is not the cross that Jesus is talking about. Jesus is talking about death to self, about dying with Jesus. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can have resurrection life without dying first.
And finally Jesus says, “And follow me.” Literally, “keep on following me.” It is impossible to believe on Jesus and keep going your own way. Jesus died to deliver us from going our own way. That going our own way is a definition of sin itself. Is. 53:6, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way.” When we believe on Jesus, He rescues us from pursuing our own path. Once we are His, we are on the narrow road, but the road which leads to life (Matt. 7:14).
It is tragically ironic that in our day we can talk about being a Christian without following Jesus. Isn’t that crazy? I know I am a real stickler at this point, but I try to insist that we talk about following Jesus instead of “accepting Jesus.” He didn’t say, “Deny yourself, take up your cross, and accept me;” Jesus said, “Follow me.” Suppose you talk about “accepting Jesus Christ as Savior.” (By the way, that terminology is nowhere used in the scripture.) When you speak that way, what you mean may be very sound, but I assure you that many people to whom you speak will not understand it that way. The way “accept Jesus” is used in our day, it speaks of a one-time decision that a person makes to settle things for all eternity, regardless of how he lives in the future. Far better to speak of the a denial and death to self. Then the person who has denied himself and taken up the cross of death continually follows Jesus.
Now come to the very next verse, Matt. 16:25, "For whosoever will [wants to] save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it." Cling to your life, and you will lose it. Lay it down by denying yourself and dying with Jesus and you will find it. In the words of John 12:25, hate your life in this world and you will keep it for eternal life.
Luke 14:25-33
Let’s come to the classic passage about counting the cost. Let’s read Luke 14:25-33…
And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them, 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. 27. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. 28. For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? 29. Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold 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, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? 32. Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. 33. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
This passage is especially significant because of the words of verse 25, “And there went great multitudes with him; and he turned and said to them…” Jesus was being overwhelmed by the crowds who were following Him. From the outside, it might look as if people were recognizing Him for who He was and were ready to repent and believe. Surely all Jesus needed to do was to say, “Just bow your head and pray this prayer, and you will have eternal life.” That’s not what He says. Instead, He drops a bomb on them. If I may summarize Jesus’ message, it is simply this: “Before you try to follow me, you better count the cost. There is a cost involved.”
So what is the cost? Jesus explains it carefully and concisely. In verse 27, Jesus basically repeats what we read in Matt. 16:24. He tells them that in order to be His disciple, they must bear the cross and come after Him. If you are thinking that taking up the cross seems really important as a requirement for following Jesus, you are definitely getting the picture. The fact that Jesus repeats this often ought to cause us to take careful note.
In verses 28-32 Jesus uses two illustrations to drive home his point. He speaks of building a tower and then of going to war. A tower is a significant structure and it takes some thought. You don’t just go out and start on it without considering if you are going to be able to bring it to completion. Do you have the money to buy all the materials? If not, you better wait until you do. Going to war is even more serious. By the way, the New Testament repeatedly speaks of the Christian as a soldier in the Lord’s army. Here in this illustration, Jesus makes the point that a king doesn’t lead his army into battle until he has considered the cost. Will he be able to defeat that strong enemy who has more troops than he does? If not, he better wait a while before entering the war. Following Jesus is far more significant than building a tower or even going to war. “You people have come out here to follow me, but are you sure what that is going to demand? Like the builder and the king considering war, you better count the cost first.”
You probably noticed that we haven’t yet considered verse 26. While Jesus speaks of bearing the cross and following Him, as He did back in Matt. 16, now He adds a much more specific consideration. Let’s read it again 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 you don’t hate your family and yourself, you cannot be my disciple.
Let’s be honest. That gives us some trouble. Even if we get a handle on hating our own life in this world (as in John 12:25), how can we even think about hating our wife and children? Doesn’t the scripture tell a man to love his wife? As we think about this, it is impossible to ignore what Jesus said in Matthew 10. Since this is another passage about counting the cost of being Jesus’ disciple, let’s read it in Matt. 10:32-39…
Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. 34. Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35. For I am 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. 36. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. 37. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. 39. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
On this occasion, Jesus says that if a person doesn’t love Him more than his own family, he is not worthy to be His disciple. We can understand that much better than the idea of hating out family. When we consider both of these passages, it seems clear that Jesus is saying something like this: “The love you have for me must be so much greater than the love you have for your own family, that in comparison your love for family will seem like hatred.”
I believe that is what Jesus is saying, but there is a great, great danger here. “Oh, that’s what Jesus means. He just means that I need to love Him more than my family. Okay. No problem.” You must deal with this question: “Why did Jesus say that if we do not hate even those dearest ones of our family, we cannot be His disciple? Why didn’t He just leave it at loving Him more than family?” Jesus knew His hearers then and His hearers now. If we just hear that we are to love Him more than family, we don’t consider it any big deal. But when we hear Him tell us we must hate our family, that gets our attention. That is exactly what Jesus wanted to do -- get their attention.
If we read this passage in Matthew 10 carefully, we begin to see that loving Jesus more than family is not such a small deal either. Verse 34, “Don’t think I came to send peace on the earth; I didn’t come to send peace, but a sword. I have come to set a man against his father and a daughter against her mother.” Wow! I thought Jesus was the Prince of Peace. What’s all this division about? Jesus came to make peace between a man and God, not necessarily between family members. Consider a husband and wife. The wife is reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, but her husband divorces her as a result. That’s what Jesus is talking about. A Muslim young woman becomes a follower of Jesus and her parents beat her severely in order to persuade her to reject Christ and return to Islam.
Here’s our problem. We in this society have made the family an idol and we don’t even realize it. Yes, a man is to love his wife. Parents are to love their children. How? With the love that comes from the Lord Himself. That is the only way we can love them properly. But where is the kind of love for Christ that makes love for family seem like hatred. We know very little of that. We have very little understanding of Matt. 12:46-50…
While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him. 47. Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. 48. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? 49. And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! 50. For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.
When we are honest, many of us have to admit that Jesus’ actions seem rather cold. How could He be so uncaring about His own mother? We don’t get it. Jesus loved His mother and brothers, but He refused to stop teaching the truth of God in order to meet their request to see Him. He valued His mother and brothers, but His real family was made up of those who do the will of the Father in heaven. In comparison with doing the will of the Father, Jesus hated his mother and brothers.
When it becomes a conflict between doing the will of the Father and pleasing family, which do you do? You say, “There is no conflict.” That’s because our idolatry has blinded us to the conflict. I’m not saying we will encounter this conflict every day or ever week, but such conflict will come. Remember Abraham. God tested him to reveal his true love. Did he love God more than he loved his precious son Isaac, who was a gift from God? Yes. Abraham passed the test.
We must count the cost. Are we willing to receive the sword that comes with following Jesus? Young person. Suppose you knew that if you follow Jesus, your parents would turn their back on you and hate you. Would you still follow Jesus? If not, then you cannot be His disciple.
On the other end of Jesus’ two illustrations about counting the cost are these words in Luke 14:33, “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.” Jesus sums it all up. He calls us to forsake everything in order to be His disciple -- family, self, and everything else. A true disciple of Jesus can’t continue to value the things he valued before coming to the Lord.
Luke 12:21
Let’s look quickly at one other passage. Let me just read it from Luke 12:13-21…
And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. 14. And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? 15. And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. 16. And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 17. And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? 18. And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. 19. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 20. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? 21. So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
The rich man was a fool. That’s what Jesus called him. Why was he a fool? Because he laid up treasure on earth, where moth and rust will corrupt and thieves can break through and steal. All the treasure we can lay up on earth is going to pass away. I doubt any of us would disagree that this rich man was a fool. However, I want you to notice the last verse, verse 21, “So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” Notice that word “so.” Jesus is now going to throw many other people into the same category as this foolish man. The NIV brings it out clearly: “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” Bluntly, if you store up things for yourself and are not rich toward God, you are a fool. It doesn’t matter if you profess Christ, claiming to be a child of God. If you store up for yourself and are not rich toward God, you are as big a fool as this man.
We can’t miss the contrast between storing up for self and being rich toward God. You might take Jesus’ words to mean, “Well, it’s okay to store up for self, as long as you are still rich toward God.” No, that is not what He is saying. How do I know? Because of the larger context of scripture, because of the things Jesus says over and over. “Lay not up for yourselves treasure on earth… but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven… for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matt. 6:19-21). “You cannot serve God and mammon [money]” (Matt. 6:24). We will become rich toward God only when we quit storing up for self.
There are various ways of storing up for self. For some, it consists of buying lots of things to try to bring satisfaction. But for many of us, that is not the temptation. The temptation is to store up so that we can have security, so that if bad times come, we will have plenty to see us through. Do you notice that this is exactly what the rich fool was doing? The reason he thought he could eat, drink, and be merry was because he thought he had enough stored up that nothing could touch him. So he thought. May God deliver us from the idolatry of seeking security!
Now we get a little restless. We want to ask questions about how much is enough. No, I don’t have all the answers. But this I know -- when Jesus truly becomes our focus, our attitude toward possessions changes, “for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things which he possesses” (Lk. 12:15).
Back to Luke 14:33, “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.” Jesus calls us to forsake all -- self, family, comfort, stuff, All.
Now I need to say a very quick word about being a disciple of Jesus. I am well aware there are those who teach that you have to count the cost to be a disciple of Jesus, but it is not necessary for a Christian to be a disciple. In other words, being a Christian and being a disciple are two different things. A person can believe on the Lord Jesus and thus become a child of God, but he can later decide whether or not he will be a disciple. Brothers and sisters, friends, that’s a lie. You can’t get that from the teachings of Jesus. When he spoke to the great crowds in Luke 14:25ff, He was speaking to people who were considering following Him. He was not speaking to a group of believers who were thinking about taking on something additional called being a disciple. Don’t be deceived.
Conclusion
There is a cost to being a follower of Jesus. So when we boil it all down, what will it cost you to follow Jesus? Everything. That’s what Jesus said. Can anyone deny that? Jesus said that if we don’t forsake all, we cannot be His disciples. You say, “I haven’t forsaken all, and yet I am a disciple of Jesus.” Here is the question you must answer: “Are you interpreting your experience in light of what Jesus said? Or, do you interpret what Jesus said in light of your experience?” You say, “But look around. Just look at the hundreds and thousands of Christians around us. They haven’t forsaken all.” I say, “Don’t look at those around you; look at Jesus and what He said, for Jesus said that His words are spirit and life.” Don’t trust what you think; trust what Jesus said.
So am I talking about works salvation? Not at all. It is only when the Spirit of God works from the inside out that a person is able to be rich toward God and forsake the earthly treasure. It was when Jesus got hold of Paul by the power of the Spirit that Paul counted all his treasure as rubbish and gave Jesus supreme value. He is still doing the same in lives today. Is He doing it in yours?
Now I leave you with this two questions. The first is this: If I follow Jesus, what do I get out of it? You get the treasure, the Lord Jesus Himself. When we have Jesus, nothing else matters. How can we talk about giving up anything, when we understand that Jesus is the treasure? In your bulletin today, you will find this quote from Jim Elliot: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” Those words aren’t found in scripture, but they accurately reflect the teaching of Jesus.
The second question is this: What is the cost of not following it Jesus? If you do not follow Jesus in truth, what will it end up costing you? It will cost you everything. “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matt. 16:26). The Bible tells us that it is appointed unto man once to die and then the judgment (Heb. 9:27). If you are not one of Jesus’ true disciples, you will hear Him say, “I never knew you; depart from me, ye who work iniquity” (Matt. 7:23). But Lord, I asked you to be my Savior. I went to church and read the Bible. I did many good things. Read that passage that is much like Matthew 7; it is Luke 13:24-27…
Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. 25. When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: 26. Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. 27. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.
Someone has said: “Sin will take you farther than you wanted to go, keep you longer than you wanted to stay, and cost you far more than you wanted to pay.” Believe it. Jesus told of a rich man who lived in luxury in this life, but after this life was over, he was in torment in hell. His sin cost him far more than he wanted to pay.
But praise God that there is a Savior. 1 John 4:10, "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." “But God commended his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). “The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Is. 53:6). "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (2 Cor. 5:21). “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom. 10:13).
Perhaps you look at all this and say, “I want to go to heaven, but I’m just not sure I can forsake all for Jesus.” Or maybe you claim to be a Christian, but you have to say, “I’m not sure I meet the demands Jesus lays down.” Listen to me. Here is the good news! The key is seeing Jesus for who He really is! During the last couple of months we have kept coming back to that little parable that Jesus told. Matt. 13:44, "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field." Jesus is the only true treasure in life. When you see Jesus as the treasure, you will no longer value anything else in comparison to Him.
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