Taking it to the Next Level - Life of Christ Part 50

I don't know if you saw the cover of Time Magazine last week, but it was a big red cover and it had some shocking quote on the front. And here's what it said.

It said, there are no devils left in hell. They are all in Rwanda. And when you read the article inside, the article says that the best guess is that so far there have been somewhere between a hundred and five hundred thousand people slaughtered in Rwanda. The killing is still going on. The rivers are swollen with corpses, dead bodies floating downstream quoting time. First come the corpses of men and older boys slain trying to protect their mothers and sisters. Then come the women and girls. Last are the babies who often bear no wounds.

They are simply tossed into the water to drown on their way downstream. End of quote. The US ambassador to Rwanda said the butchery is inhumane and ghastly. And a UN official said it may have begun as politics, but it's become genocide.

If you look into the eyes of these marauding killers, there is something there that is not in the eyes of normal people. There are no devils left in hell. They're all in Rwanda. What's interesting is that that quote was not made by a UN official. It was not made by an ambassador. It was actually made by a missionary, a Christian missionary.

There are no devils left in hell. They're all in Rwanda. And you know, the Christians there and the missionaries there have not been exempt from all of this killing. Reports tell of these killers going into churches, slaughtering thousands of Christians, all of the leaders, all of the missionaries, and countless missionaries have been killed already, the names of whom we won't all know until the killing stops and we can get in and find out. And yet reports coming out tell of missionary after missionary who, when offered the opportunity to leave, has turned it down and said, no, they're going to stay because they believe God wants them to. Now, as I read this horrible saga, these missionaries kept coming to mind and I kept thinking about them.

Time magazine said Western nations quickly whisked their nationals to safety, leaving terrified Rwandans to fend for themselves. And folks, in spite of that, faced with the prospect of almost certain death if they were caught or captured, these missionaries, these men and women, refused to run for their lives. Now, if we were doing a performance evaluation on these folks and we came to the word commitment, I guess we'd all have to agree that we could rate these people taking it to the next level under commitment. Don't you think?

I do. I got an advertisement from a baseball school that my son goes to down at Old Dominion University, and it says in there, this camp is designed for the player who wants to take his skills to the next level. That just kind of seems to be the phrase of the day, the next level. So what I want to talk to you about this morning is about we as Christians taking our Christian commitment to the next level. That's what Jesus talks about in the passage that we have this morning. And so if you're here and you're a Christian, that's great. But Jesus wants to talk to you about whether you've taken your commitment to the next level or not.

So let's look at this passage and see what he has to say. Verse 25, large crowds, it said, were traveling with Jesus. Now Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, and there was a huge crowd that was going with him. Maybe some of them were there because they wanted to see another miracle. Maybe some of them were there because they heard he made food and they were hungry. Maybe some of them were there because they thought he was going to overthrow Rome and set up a new government. And if they were close enough, early enough, they'd get a political appointment.

You know how that works. But for whatever reason they were there, they were there for reasons that Jesus wasn't completely satisfied with. You would think he would have been thrilled to have this huge crowd with him, but he really wasn't. And the reason he wasn't is that he knew what lay ahead for him. He knew what lay ahead for his followers. And he knew that the kind of superficial enthusiasm that the crowd had was not going to be enough to see them through what was ahead. He knew that they were going to need a deeper commitment than the one that they had.

The one they had was too shallow for him to be able to use them to shake the world. So he turned to them and he said this, verse 25, If anyone comes after me, doesn't hate his father and his mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters, yea, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. And anybody who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. Now look at verse 33. And in the same way any of you who does not give up everything, he cannot be my disciple. Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It's not good for anything anymore, not for the soil, not for the manure pile.

You just throw it out. Now the person who has an ear to hear, let him hear. What was Jesus doing in saying these words to the crowd? He was challenging them, friends, challenging them to move beyond self-centered enthusiasm that was driving them and to think radical commitment. That's what he was doing. He wanted them to think radical commitment. He was trying to take them to the what?

To the next level. Now Jesus, whenever he spoke, Jesus was a great preacher. He always had an outline, and he has an outline here.

He has a two-point outline. The first point is this one, that there is a difference between being a believer and being a disciple. There's a difference. There's a difference between being a citizen of the Kingdom of God and being a soldier of the cross.

There's a difference. And Jesus is speaking to people, many of whom may have been citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. They may have trusted Christ as their Savior, but Jesus said, the first point, I want you to understand there is a difference between being a citizen and being a soldier. I need soldiers.

Citizens are great, but to change the world, I need soldiers. And three times would you notice he said, verse 26, verse 27, verse 33, if you don't make a certain commitment, you may be a believer, but you cannot be my disciple. Three times he said that. He didn't say you couldn't have your sins forgiven. He didn't say you couldn't go to heaven.

He said you couldn't be part of the force he uses to change the world. Folks, I hope you understand the difference. You know, salvation is for everybody. Discipleship is for people who make a deeper commitment. Salvation means coming to the cross. Discipleship means carrying your cross. Salvation comes when we trust Jesus Christ. Discipleship comes when we're willing to forsake everything and follow Jesus Christ. Salvation is based on Christ dying for us. Discipleship is based on us being willing to die for Jesus Christ. Salvation's free. Discipleship has a high cost. You understand?

There's a difference. That's the first thing Jesus wants these people to understand. And if you're here this morning and you've never trusted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, He's really not talking to you this morning.

This passage is not for you this morning. There is something that Jesus has for you. He has salvation for you. He has forgiveness of sin. He has eternal life. It's free. It's based on what he did on the cross for you.

What do you have to do to get it? Absolutely nothing except trust Christ instead of trusting your own human effort. But that's not what he's offering here. And I hope if you're here and you've never done that that you will because that's open to everybody.

It's free and God wants you to have it. But he's talking here to people who've already taken that step and now there's a new level he wants to challenge him to. So if you're here and you're a Christian, then this passage is for you. What Jesus says here is, I'm not trying to simply attract citizens by saying these words.

I'm trying to enlist soldiers. Now there's a second point Jesus had. Jesus said, I'm trying to enlist soldiers but I want people to understand before they sign up that there's a cost and I want to make sure they're prepared to pay it.

Look what he said in verse 28. Jesus said, suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and he's not able to finish it, everybody who sees it will make fun of him saying, What an idiot. What a stupid fellow. He started to build a building and he didn't have enough money to finish it.

What a fool. Second of all, Jesus said, suppose a king's about to go to war with another king. Won't he first sit down and consider whether he's able with 10,000 men to oppose somebody who's coming with 20,000 and if he decides he can't win, he'll send a delegation while the other person is still a long way off and he'll ask for terms of peace.

What's Jesus saying in these two examples? He's saying smart people count the cost before they get involved in something. Smart people don't go start building a building until they first made sure they got enough money to finish it. Smart people don't start a war until they're sure they've got enough resources to win.

And in the same way, whether it's in business or industry or education or romance or wherever, smart people don't get into something until they have thought the cost through and they're sure they're prepared to pay it before they get into it. Right? You know, when I was about 11, 12 years old, we lived down in Portsmouth, Virginia, and there was this Little League field that was about two blocks from my house, two and a half blocks, and that's where we played Little League, and then we would walk to it. And then when Little League season was over, we'd go up there, we'd have pickup games and play baseball all day long, and it was great. One day we were there and we were playing, and this new kid, I'd never seen him before, showed up. He was wanting to play with us, and so we let him play. And partway through the game, this guy started really causing trouble.

I mean, I was kind of used to controlling things because that's the way I'm wired. But he thought he was in charge. I don't know who told him that, but he thought he was in charge.

And he wasn't, and so it was just that simple. And so we were talking, and we talked a little more, and we talked a little more, and things got a little heated, and one of my friends said, look, can I speak to you in a second? So I walked over and he said, hey, look, I know this guy. This guy's tough. I'm warning you. This guy's tough. Don't mess with this guy.

This guy is bad. I said, all right, thank you very much. God bless you.

Thank you very much for telling me that. Walked back. We started arguing some more, and finally I got frustrated arguing with this guy, and I said, I'm not going to argue with this guy anymore. I'm going to punch him out. And so I drew back, and I hit this guy so hard. I hit him so hard, I came off my feet. I hit this guy so hard, hard as I could hit.

And he stepped back and went, and then you know what he did? He destroyed me. I mean, that was the only punch I landed in the whole fight. He wiped home plate with me. I have never been beat up so bad in my entire life.

I mean, massacred is a mild word for what this guy did to me. And I learned a very important lesson that day. You know the lesson I learned? Count the cost, what, before you get into something.

See, I thought, well, I'll hit him, and then I'll deal with it from there. That is not a smart way to live. And Jesus said, when it comes to being a disciple, he wants us to count the cost before we sign up. It's better, Jesus said, not to enlist than to enlist, and then you can't pay the cost, and you go AWOL. I'd rather have you not enlist. You don't hurt the kingdom of God as much when you don't enlist as when you enlist, and then you disgrace the commanding general.

That's bad. Jesus said, so I want you soldiers, but folks, you make sure you count the cost and you're ready to pay it before you sign up. Now, that's our passage. Let's summarize. What's Jesus' two points?

Just real simple. There's a difference between believers and disciples. Jesus is looking for disciples. And two, if you want to be a disciple, that's great.

Make sure you count the cost before you enlist. Now, that's the end of the passage, but of course, you know the question, don't you? What's our question? So what? Right. What differences make for me? Jesus said this 2,000 years ago.

I live in the 20th century. So what? Okay, well, let's answer the question. There were two key words that Jesus is throwing around in this passage. The first one is commitment. The second one is cost. The first one's commitment. The second one's cost. We ought to talk about those two words.

Let's do it. First, commitment. What kind of commitment is Jesus Christ asking for to be a disciple? There are three of them right in the passage.

Let me show them to you. The first one is a commitment to God as number one in your life. A commitment to God is the number one thing in your life. Look at verse 26, Jesus said, if anyone comes to me and doesn't hate his father, his mother, his wife, his children, his brothers, his sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Now, does Jesus really want us to hate our parents? Of course not. I mean, look, commandment number five in the 10 commandments is what?

Honor your father and your mother. Now, why would he give that in the 10 commandments and then say, hate your parents? You say, I don't know. It doesn't make sense.

Of course not. What Jesus is talking about here is relativity. In other words, compared to, relative to the love and the loyalty and the commitment we have to him, our love and our loyalty and our commitment to parents, wives, husbands, brothers, sisters, friends, even our own life has to pale in comparison. That's what he's trying to say. That no other loyalty should even come close to displacing the loyalty we have for him.

And God, in a disciple's life, is number one and there's not even a rival anywhere. I got a phone call this week while I was working on this message. I was actually sitting working on it. And the phone, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah comes and I got picked up the phone. And it was a young lady on the phone that had been in my office a few months ago. And we talked about her love life and about the guy she was dating and the fact that the guy wasn't a believer. And we talked about whether she should keep seeing him or whether she shouldn't.

And we kind of agreed that it was probably a good idea that she shouldn't, but she'd had a hard time following through on this and I knew that. And so she called me on the phone. She said, I called to tell you I've broken up with that boy. And I said, oh, really? And she said, yeah, I did. And she said it was really hard, but I did it. And we talked a little more and she said to me, you know, Lon, she said, I always knew what the Bible said about marrying somebody that wasn't a believer. I knew what the Bible said.

For me, the issue was not interpretation, but obedience. And she said, as I thought about it and I prayed about it, she said, I really love him a lot. But she said, I decided I'm not going to trade God for some guy. And I said, woo, that's a great quote.

Can I use that? She said, sure. I'm not going to trade God for some guy. Now, folks, that's the language of discipleship.

That's the language of a disciple. I'm not going to trade God for anything. God is number one in my life and I don't care what it costs me.

He's number one. And I said, God bless you, dear. God is going to really bless your life for making that decision. I know it was hard, but that's a discipleship decision and God blesses discipleship decisions. Number two, not only a commitment to God being number one in our lives is what discipleship is all about, but number two, a commitment to the will of God being the marching orders for life. The will of God being the marching orders for my life and your life if you're a disciple. Look at verse 27. Jesus said, and anybody who doesn't carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. Now, in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, not my will, but what?

Thine be done. And what was the will of God for Jesus Christ? Well, a big part of it was going to the cross. And you know what the Romans did? The Romans made a convicted criminal carry his cross right through the city street.

And then when they got to the place of execution, they killed him on the cross he carried through the street. And this is the imagery Jesus is talking about here in saying that he's carrying his cross. What he really means is he's working out the will of God for his life.

It doesn't matter whether he likes it, doesn't matter whether he wants to do it, doesn't matter whether it's comfortable, doesn't matter whether it hurts, doesn't matter whether it costs him. It's the will of God for his life and Christ said, if the will of God for my life is carrying that cross through the street, I'm going to do it. Now, Jesus said, if you and I don't have that same commitment, you say what, to carrying a cross and being executed?

No, no, that's just the imagery. If we don't have that same commitment to the will of God for our life being our marching orders, Jesus said, you can't be my disciple. I can't have disciples who decide and debate, negotiate whether they like the orders of the commanding general. I can't have soldiers like that. Soldiers don't question, soldiers obey. Politicians question.

You want to be a politician? Fine, but disciples are not politicians. And this is the kind of commitment Jesus Christ asks of disciples. Verse 33 says the same thing. Jesus said, I'm telling you, if you're not willing to give up everything you have, you can't be my disciple. Does that mean Jesus wants us to go give everything away?

No. He simply says, we've got to be willing to die to whatever he asks us and be willing to do whatever he asks us to do, whatever that means. It means our own fantasies, our own ambitions, our own independent choices for life. Disciples say they're gone.

They're gone. And in every situation in life, the question a disciple asks is the very same question. You say, what is it? A disciple will look at any situation in life and say, God, what do you want me to do?

That's the question. God, in this situation, not what do I want to do? What do I feel like doing? What my fantasy is? What would be nice for me?

What will make me the most money or make me the most comfortable? Disciples ask the question, God, what do you want me to do? Tell me and I'll do it. That's discipleship. It doesn't matter whether it hurts. It doesn't matter whether the cost is high.

It doesn't matter whether it's humiliating or tough. It may even mean staying in Rwanda, but disciples do what their commanding general tells them to do. You know, you may be reading, I don't know if you've been reading in the paper about Grant's tomb, you know, who's buried in Grant's tomb, you know, that old thing. Well, you know, there really is a Grant's tomb. Did you know that? It's in New York City. I didn't know that until I read this article. I thought it was a joke. It really is a Grant's tomb. And the things dilapidated and the pigeons are, you know, using it for nests and making, messing it up and all this kind of stuff. And so some people kind of got this thing, they're going to refurbish Grant's tomb.

I'm not sure why, but they are. Well, you know, Ulysses S. Grant actually was a very famous general during the Civil War. I think you know that. And he was in the Western theater of the Civil War when it began. Nobody had ever heard of him.

Nobody knew who he was. And his fame really began at Fort Donaldson. At Fort Donaldson, he surrounded the fort and the Confederate commander of the fort sent out a note asking for what the terms of surrender were. And Grant sent a little note back to him and said, no terms except unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted. And so the guy surrendered. And after that, the press turned his initials, U.S., Ulysses S. Grant, into, they substituted Ulysses S. and began calling him unconditional surrender Grant.

And that's how his fame began. And you know, when I thought about that, I thought, if we would take the word grant out and put your name in, unconditional surrender Solomon, unconditional surrender and put your name in, you've just described the second part of being a disciple, unconditional surrender to the will of God as the marching orders for your life and my life. I mean, could we describe your life that way as a Christian? Third and finally, discipleship means a commitment to the will of God as the marching orders of your life, a commitment to God as number one in your life.

And third and finally, a commitment to evangelism as a way of life, a commitment to evangelism as a way of life. Look at verse 34. Salt is good, Jesus said, but if it loses its saltiness, what are you going to do with it? Now, friends, salt affects the world around it. Salt that's good makes a difference in its world. If salt is active and salt is alive and salt goes on something that is around you, you know it. If you cut your finger and put salt in it, brother, you know it. If you eat something with salt on it, you know it. I went to the Canon's game last night, ate one of those big old pretzels with all those mega pieces of salt on it.

You know that thing? And I knew I'd eaten salt because I drank four cokes afterwards trying to drown out that salt. You know if salt was around, Jesus said his disciples ought to be like salt. We ought to make a difference in the world. The world ought to know we're here. You say, well, what kind of difference should we make? Jesus said, go into all the world and tell the message of Christ to every person out there. That's the kind of difference we ought to make. Go in the world and do that. And friends, that doesn't happen automatically.

You can't go on autopilot and have that happen. If that's going to happen, it means you and I are going to have to leave our house every single day with a commitment, a deliberate commitment that we're out there to talk about Jesus Christ and represent Jesus Christ. It's a way of life for us and whatever it costs us is fine, but this is a commitment we have to Christ.

We're going to make a difference. Disciples do this. Jesus didn't call people to be disciples and then be in a secret service.

He called them to be disciples and have everybody know it. So let's summarize what kind of commitment is Jesus Christ asking for from disciples? Number one, a commitment to God is number one in your life. Number two, a commitment to the will of God is the marching orders for your life.

And number three, a commitment to evangelism is a way of life. Now, let's talk cost. Because you know what? If you live this way, it's going to cost you something. It's going to cost you something. Say, Lon, like what? Well, like maybe you'll lose some social status. People will say, I don't like her anymore. I mean, she talks weird.

She talks about God and all this weird stuff. Let's not invite her to the party. I don't want to invite her. She'll ruin the party.

It might do that. It might cost you some estrangement from your relatives. You might have some relatives get upset with you. You might even get cut out the will. Oh, boo hoo. God's got more money than your grandmother anyway.

Don't worry about it. It might cost you some creature comforts, like having to get up on Sunday morning and come on in here to worship God and serve God while your neighbors sleep in and read the paper and drink their morning cup of coffee. Yeah, it might cost you some creature comfort. It'll probably cost you some friends because you don't go where you used to go and do what you used to do and live the way you used to live, and so they don't want to be around you anymore. It might cost you some friends. You know, it might even cost you a boyfriend or a girlfriend who, when you tell them, we're not going to sleep together anymore, we're not having sex anymore, God says this is wrong. I've decided to be a disciple.

I'm going to obey God. You might lose your boyfriend or your girlfriend. It might cost you that.

It might cost you your own plans for your life. When I went to college, I was going to be a chemist. Do I look much like a chemist today? I ask you.

No. In fact, I can't even help my son with his high school chemistry anymore because the last time I did it was 20 years ago and it's like what I studied was alchemy. You know what I'm trying to say?

I can't make any sense out of this stuff. He said, I thought you took chemistry in college, Dad. Well, I did, son, but God had different plans for my life. That's my excuse.

Well, it's true. I had plans for my life and God had different plans. It changed the plans for my life. You know, it might cost you a business deal, guys or gals, where everything's not on the up and up, where there's some shady stuff going on and you as a disciple can't be part of it. You might lose a business deal. It might cost you some disposable income because you decide you're going to invest it in advancing the Kingdom of God instead of expending it on yourself.

It might cost you some more taxes because you got to tell the truth on your 1040. You know, it might even cost you some lower grades because you can't cheat like everybody else does in school as a disciple. It might cost you some pride because in obedience to God, you may have to go humble yourself in front of somebody and ask for their forgiveness if you've wronged them. It might cost you some pride. It might even cost you your life if God asks you to stay in Rwanda when you want to go. It's going to cost you something.

And disciples are people who've prayed about it, thought about it, and decided whatever it costs me, I'm still going to be a disciple. I may not know the cost ahead of time, God, but it doesn't matter. I'm going to pay it whatever it is.

It doesn't matter. A few weeks ago, I hit a parked car. I think I told you a little bit about that. I'll tell you about hitting this parked car. I came out, it was during the winter, and I'd taken my two kids to school, and I scraped off my windshield. You know, I had, like, snow and all kind of crud on it. But I was in a hurry, and so I didn't scrape it off all the way.

You know, I just scraped it off, and I had a little bit of glaze on it, you know. So we're coming out of my neighborhood, and we're coming up the hill, and coming out of my neighborhood as you come up the hill, the sun, if you hit it just at the right time in the morning, the sun shines right down the hill and blinds you. And so with this glaze on the windshield and the sun right on the windshield, I couldn't see a thing. So as I'm kind of going up the hill, my older son is in the car, says to me, he says, Dad, why don't you stop and scrape the windshield off so you can see where you're going? And I said, don't tell me how to drive. I've been driving before you even thought.

I mean, I know how to drive. So I roll down my side window, and I'm looking out the side window, seeing where the road is, and I figure as long as I can see where the road is, I can kind of judge basically that I'm not in the ditch, I'm on the road. So I'm driving like this, looking out the side window. What I didn't realize was somebody had parked their car out in the middle of the street because there was snow all piled up on the side, and he couldn't park in his driveway, so he parked it right on the street, in the lane, you understand?

So I'm driving up the road like this, boom! And my son said, what happened? So I think we hit a car. So I got out. I destroyed this guy's car. I totaled it. I bent his frame. I said, how fast were you going out of the neighborhood?

Well, about 15, 20, something, I don't know. I never looked, so I have no clue how fast I was going. I didn't even hurt my bumper.

I'm serious. I didn't break my radiator. I didn't even dent the bumper.

I didn't even put a nick in it. We call it the lead sled, this thing I drive. Just put a turret on it. Folks, I'm telling you, I could take it to war.

I'm serious. So I got out, and I went over, and I looked at his car. I knew it was bad. I mean, you know, the whole thing was, like, scrunched around, you know. And so I scared back, and I said, give me a piece of paper out of the glove compartment, will you?

And I said, I got to write my name and phone number and insurance policy and all that stuff. And my younger boy in the back goes, well, why would you do that? Nobody knows who hit him.

Let's go! Not that you would have ever thought that. I know. I said, no, I can't do that. I can't do that. That just wouldn't be pleasing to God.

I can't do that. So I wrote my name, my phone number, and my insurance policy number. The next day, this guy drives up in front of my house in this old van, and he gets out.

He's unshaven. He walks up to me, and he says, are you the guy that hit my car? I said, I don't know.

What's your car look like? He said it was the one that was sitting up there with you left your name and phone number on it. I said, yeah, I hit, yeah.

I thought he was going to hit me right there. Well, actually, he said, we got to talking a little bit about it. He said, I call your insurance company.

They're going to total my car. I really appreciate that. This is a collector's item.

I've had it for 15 years. I said, well, I'm sorry, man. I said, I feel terrible. He said, how could you hit a parked car?

I don't know. I kept telling my son I should stop and scrape the windshield off. And he said, no, I'm late for school, Dad.

You've got to hurry. I didn't say that. Anyway, you know what this guy said to me as we got to talking more?

You know the thing? He said, what I can't figure out is why you left your name. He said, I can't figure that out. He said, I would never have been able to find out who did it. Why did you leave your name?

It's going to cost you a fortune. And it did. Trust me. I said, well, I'm glad you asked that. I said, because 23 years ago, I committed my life to Jesus Christ. And when I committed my life to Jesus Christ, I committed my life to obeying Jesus Christ. And the ethical right thing to do was to leave my name and number.

And that's why I did it. He said, oh, that's an incredible answer. I said, what's the truth? Now, you say, Lon, have you always done everything exactly right?

Of course not. But I'm learning the hard way as I grow older that Jesus Christ can change the world with disciples. He can't change the world with just citizens of the kingdom. He needs disciples. People are going to obey him. And, folks, that's what he wants you to be. That's what he wants from your life. Say, Lon, why should I?

Well, I wish I had time to develop these, but I'll give them to you real quick. Number one, because God will reward you for doing it. You heard the verse, people who've given up anything for me, Jesus said, I'll give you back 100 times what you give up. Two, because there's people's lives hanging in the balance out there, and you'll never be able to touch them for Christ unless you're a disciple. And third and finally, Romans chapter 12 verse 1 says, I beseech you, I beg you, brothers, Christians, in light of the mercies of God, present yourself a living sacrifice. You see, friends, in light of all the mercy that God has shown you and me, wiping away our sins and all the mercy he keeps showing us, is there really anything God asks from you that's unreasonable for you to do? Huh? Anything he could ask would be reasonable.

Like I say, I wish I had time to develop those, but those are the reasons. And I'm hoping God will challenge those of you who are here who know that you're Christians to take it to the next level, because that's what God wants, and God will bless your life for doing it. There's a great verse in the Old Testament.

It says, those who honor me, 1 Samuel chapter 2, I will honor, says the Lord. And you honor Jesus Christ with your life by being a disciple, and I promise you, you will never come out on the short end of the stick. God will see to it.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you so much for speaking to us in the Word of God about what real discipleship's all about, because there's so much bad information out here. Thank you for teaching us your view, that it's commitment to you and commitment to the will of God and commitment to making a difference in terms of evangelizing our world. And, Father, I pray that as we sit here this morning, most of us here are being Christians and we know it, I pray you would deal with our hearts and challenge us not to be satisfied just with being a citizen of the kingdom, but, Lord, challenge us to take it to the next level and become a soldier. Father, I pray that as we sit here this morning, there would be many people right now silently in their heart saying, God, I'm going to count that cost and I think I'm going to do it. Thank you, Lord, that we never give up anything for you, that you don't give us back a hundred times.

Thank you that you're never any man's debtor. Remind us that we don't do this alone, but Christ holds our hand. But this is something you want from us, lordship. And I pray, Lord Jesus, that you would move in our hearts and that every heart here that knows Christ would say, yes, Lord, I'm going to the next level with you. Thank you, Lord Jesus, that we can trust you, that whatever the cost is, the grace will be more than abundant. And it's in that mindset that we make our commitments this morning. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.