Undergoing a Chemical Reaction

Pt. 3: Concessions to end the fighting
Luke 14:31-32

I. Introduction – In the April 20, 1916 New York Times, an article ran describing a battle that had just taken place in Europe during WWI. The Germans had suffered a terrible defeat as they had tried to attack trenches that were well fortified. The officer who had witnessed it and written most of the article says that “the gunners had made fine practice” as they mowed down the enemy. For a defeat to be that large someone had made a terrible mistake.

II. Consider who you are putting in harm’s way. The king is putting the very lives of his men on the line and he must be sure that all of those lives, which will undoubtedly be lost, will not be lost in vain as a result of defeat.
a. Yourself – your life may get very hard if you follow after Christ to the fullest. Are you ready to do so?
b. Christians around you – if you don’t figure what it will cost to follow after Christ you put other Christians around you in harm. They have a more difficult time ministering because you have made it so. They have to deal with what you have done to the name of Christ.
c. Lost Souls – Lost people begin to get an idea of what a Christian is based on what they see in you. Is that an example you want to set?

III. Consider what you lose by failing to abide. The king would have to make concessions to the opposing King should he have to send someone to make peace. The king with 10,000 has the weaker army and no leverage to negotiate with. He would have to lose something.
a. You lose that relationship with other Christians - Think about the people you know who have left the church. Many have also lost their relationships with people in the church.
b. Your strong relationship with God – A devout Christian will have a close relationship with the Father and has all the rights and privileges that are a part of that relationship.
i. You can’t lose your salvation, but you can lose its joy.

IV. Consider who you let down by failing to count the cost. The king is now a disgrace. He has let his troops down because he did not come prepared for the battle. They may end up coming under the rule of someone else because his actions.
a. Other Christians – Other Christians need us for the kingdom work. We are supposed to be a body that cannot function without each part working together.
b. Lost Souls – We eternal let down lost people when we fail to remain in Christ. They may very well end up serving Satan rather than God because of our actions.
c. God Himself – We most of all let down the creator of the world who has offered this opportunity to follow after Him.

V. Challenge – Today is the day to make a decision to follow after Christ. It is not an easy road, it is not an easy task, but He has promised to maintain us and give us the strength to follow after Him. We are unable to do it on our own, but if we will count the cost and be willing to make the sacrifice, He will remain always with us so that we can abide in Him.

Christmas Time is Here

Undergoing a Chemical Reaction

Pt. 2: Ridiculed for Failing a Math Test
Luke 14:28-30

I. Introduction – Jesus tells the crowd a parable concerning the importance of calculating the cost of following after Christ before even agreeing to go on the journey. This is important because we live in a time of very cheap faith and grace.

II. Costs require scrupulous counting ahead of commencement
a. The cost needs to be counted on the front end
b. When anyone sits down for a project of any substance, he will figure what it is going to cost him.
c. Jesus was telling the ones who were following Him that it would be important for them to count the cost of their decision to follow Him.
i. It needed to be counted on the front end of the decision as well.
ii. But why was it so important that it be counted?

III. Construction receiving shoddy calculations avoids obtaining consummation
a. the builder who fails to count the cost ends up unable to finish
b. Failure to consider the cost of a project can get the one who is working on it in a lot of trouble.
i. Corners may have to be cut to try to complete it or as in Jesus’ story it may simply not be finished.
ii. While it is true that some surprises come along during a construction project, if these surprises are assumed from the beginning, they cease to be true surprises.
c. The cost of following after Christ is very high and to accept the call to follow after His is an agreement to pay the price that it takes to follow.
i. If we count the cost before hand, we can complete the journey,
ii. Failure to do so will result in an incomplete tower, a life not lived up to its potential in Christ.

IV. Completion repels social condemnation, acclaiming one’s character
a. an uncompleted tower would serve as a monument of shame
b. This builder would have his tower incomplete, standing there for the world to see. Passersby would snicker and jeer because the man had invested so much and had nothing to show for it.
c. This would also ring true for the disciple who stops short of counting the cost of his commitment and fails to abide in Christ.
i. They have brought shame upon themselves.
ii. They also, as is so evident in contemporary Christianity, bring shame upon the name of Christ, causing those who are outside the faith to question the reasoning behind being within it.

V. Challenge – We live in a day and age where TV preachers and self-help experts peddle a faith that is cheap and easy. A discipleship that is without trial nor test. This is not the faith of our forefathers. This is not the faith of the Christian martyr. And this is far for the faith that Christ tells the crowd they must have to follow Him. Have we taken stock of what true faith means?