But Is It Worth The Cost?

Introduction

We have sung some wonderful things together unto God this morning. May the Lord help us to live accordingly. And yes, Jesse, the song, The Cost very much applies to the thoughts of the lesson. You could just add that as another point to the sermon. When I buy a big ticket item, which is not very often, but when I buy a big ticket item, I want to be an informed buyer. I want to make sure that I’m getting a quality product. I want to make sure that I’m getting a good deal. No, I want a great deal. And I’ll never forget the car buying experience. Not that Jesse would have ever sold you a car like this at BMW when he worked there, but I’ll never forget the car buying experience that began with these words.

What monthly payment are you looking to make? Now, if they start with that kind of reasoning, you are about to be taken to the cleaners. The bottom line is we’ll worry about the monthly payments later. I want to know what this car is going to cost. I want to know what the bottom line figure is. I want to know what the interest rate is and what that’s going to mean to me financially over that number of years. Let’s not start with payments. What? Only $300 a month for 20 years. That car will not last 20 years. And I don’t want to have buyer’s remorse. Well, that’s sort of what this lesson’s about this morning. And I want to say at the very beginning that this lesson will be a success if we could cultivate in all of us the attitude that David had in relation to what God asked us to give him.

And I want to take you to 2 Samuel chapter 24. You might need to go back and read this context later. I’m going to give you the brief summation of what’s going on because I want to go other places this morning in our study. David had numbered the people against God’s directions to not do so, even though Joab tries to dissuade him from doing it. Got to respect Joab for that. Joab knew this was a big mistake. And David ultimately acknowledges his transgression in verse 10. David’s heart troubled him after he had numbered the people. So David said to the Lord, I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord, please take away the iniquity of thy servant, for I have acted very foolishly.

God did not want David to put his trust in numbers, the strength of his army from a military standpoint. He wanted David to put his trust in him. But this was an indication of a moment of weakness and a lack of trust that he would violate what God has specifically instructed him not to do. And that is to number the people. But David’s sensitive heart again comes through. But he’s not going to be let off the hook that simply by a mere acknowledgement of his transgression. God gives David three options. Seven years of famine.

Flee three months before your foes, or three days of pestilence. David selects the latter and tells us why in verse 14, as he speaks to Gad, God’s messenger, I am in great distress. And I love this. That’s the reason why I’m going to read this to you. I love this statement. Let us now fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercies are great. But do not let me fall into the hand of men. And so he selects the latter option. But it comes with a significant cost. Seventy thousand men of the nation of Israel die. And where the pestilence concludes, as it is sweeping through the land, much like the death of the firstborn in Egypt, as it is sweeping through the land, it stops at the threshing floor of Aranah the Jebusite.

And it is there that God instructs David through Gad the prophet to build an altar there to worship the Lord. And Aranah generously offers the threshing floor to David for free. But David will not accept it on that basis. He pays him. He purchases the threshing floor of Aranah for a price. 50 shekels of silver in verse 24. But then the famous statement of David precedes the purchase. And this is the attitude that I would like us all to cultivate, and this is easy to remember, 2 Samuel 24. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God, which cost me nothing. He understood that there was a price to be paid in service to the Lord. And it was an acceptable price to David.

The sacrifices required to serve the Lord and to be pleasing to him were worth it. And yet that’s the very question that people are asking all the time in regard to the discipleship that Jesus calls us to, or the cost of discipleship that must be paid. Is it worth it? I don’t know that in a Bible study with someone anybody’s ever verbalized the question. I wish they would, because then I could preach in the sermon. Is it worth it? But while they have not verbalized it, I have seen it running through their minds as I look into their eyes.

Their way. Will it be worth the cost that must be paid? And there is a cost involved. And yet, when people look at it, you mean I’m going to have to be committed. People don’t like that word. That’s not a big word on people’s. I like commitment. We have too many commitments already. The Lord is asking for another commitment, an even greater commitment. And so that’s a big stumbling block for many. It’s not going to be worth it. I just don’t. Commitment? Are you serious? And then there’s this. You’ve got to be kidding me. Self-denial? Give up a variety of desired vices and things that I want to do? No way. Surrender a relationship that might be sinful, that might be labeled adulterous in the eyes of God.

Well, that would just be over the top. Self-denial, and that’s bad enough, as some people consider the cost of discipleship. But then there’s time. That may be the biggest of all. But if I sign on to serving the Lord, it’s going to cost me my precious time. Is it different than this? Can I paint Christianity in a different light for you this morning that in some way doesn’t involve time? Self denial. And commitment. If I do that, I am not preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. It may satisfy the consumer, but it will not get you to heaven. These things are involved in serving the Lord. I want to examine with you for a few minutes this morning the question, is it worth it? Because that’s the question on people’s minds if they don’t ever verbalize it.

1. Truth: The Very Real Cost of Discipleship

Is it going to be worth the cost that I must pay? And I’m going to make three significant points, each beginning with a single word and then a phrase that follows. And so you can follow where I’m going with this. This is point number one. Truth. The very real cause of discipleship that I just enumerated for you. Jesus was very upfront with his disciples about the cost that would be involved in following him. One of those contexts is Luke chapter 9. I mean, there’s no way to get around the fact that Jesus is talking about cost in Luke chapter 9, particularly beginning in verse 17 or 57, when someone along the road said, I will follow you wherever you go. I’ll be a disciple. And Jesus said, interesting response.

The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. So it’s like, what does that have to do with the fact that I just said, I will follow you wherever you go? Well, understand that where I’m going, that where I go, there’s not always a comfortable place for repose. At least foxes have a hole to live in. I wouldn’t prefer that personally. But it works for them. And birds of the air have their nests, and I really would prefer that. I don’t think there’s a nest big enough for us. That would be quite a nest. But the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. Do you understand what you’re signing on to?

And he said to another, follow me. Now, this is Jesus making that request. Follow me. But he said, Well, I’ve got something to do first. I’ve got to go and bury my father. And Jesus said, That attitude’s not going to make it in my kingdom. Allow the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God. And what we learn in this context is that God’s will must come first. I will follow you, Lord, the next fellow says, but first permit me to say goodbye to those at home. But Jesus said to him, No one after putting his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. God’s will is top priority. And then in the context, a few chapters later, in Luke 14, Jesus asked very specifically.

For which one of you in verse 28, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it. He is going to talk to them specifically about the cost that they will pay and to consider the cost before you ever sign on. And he starts that context in verse 25 when he says, if anyone comes to me in verse 26 and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, and I’ve always said about that text, yes, you might have some brothers and sisters in the flesh that you would want to hate. Or you do hate. And when you’re little, sometimes it approaches hate. But he’s not talking about literal loathing here.

Certainly, that would not be acceptable for your father and mother. You have responsibilities to respect and honor and love your parents. He’s talking about comparatively. He must come first. And even his own life, he says in verse 26, if you don’t hate even your own life. In other words, Jesus has to come before every human relationship, even the preservation of self. And if you don’t make that choice, you cannot. And that’s a significant word, isn’t it? You cannot be my disciple. And we can call it Christianity, we can call it religion, we can call it church of Christ. You can put whatever label on it you want to. But if he does not come first, he says, you cannot be my disciple. Those are challenging words.

And he talks about the man who doesn’t plan to build the building, or goes to war and doesn’t take counsel ahead of time of what it’s going to be required to win the war or to make peace with the other side. Count the cost. Okay, so let’s talk about the cost. We’ve talked about three items involved in the cost that are pretty general in summation of the cost that you’ll have to pay. But let me just tell you, ultimately, bottom line, the cost is absolutely everything. And that’s a lot. Ultimately, when we talk about the cost of serving the Lord, it is everything. It’s one of the great paradoxes of Scripture. We talked about paradoxes of the cross recently. He who wishes to save his life shall lose it.

You’re holding on so much to my life. But he who wishes to save his life shall lose it. Ultimately, you’re going to squander it away with that approach. But he who loses his life for my sake. He fine. Matthew 16, 25. It’s enumerated in a couple of places in Jesus’ ministry. Matthew 16, 25 is one of them. What a paradox. Ultimately cost you everything. And that’s illustrated in the example of the Macedonian brethren in 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and verse 5 in regard to their liberal giving out of their poverty for the poor saints in Jerusalem and Judea. And he’s telling the church at Corinth, you need to be like the Macedonians who have given so liberally despite their poverty. But he explains why they did that.

In verse 5, great verse, circle it. Because they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God. They understood the principle. They had already marked everything for the Lord. Listen. Becoming a Christian is not just about doing a few things to please God and be saved. Did you catch that? Becoming a Christian is not about just doing a few things to please God and to be saved. It’s instead about coming to the Lord on His terms fully. I’ll tell you what that’s about. As we talk about the cost being everything, it’s about discipleship. It is about learning from Jesus. It’s about ownership. He owns me. I have been bought with a price. It is following the dictates of all his will, not just the parts that I like.

It’s signing on to the performance and the pursuit of all of it. That’s Christianity. It is discipleship. It is learning from him. It is following. It is being a learner of the master. But it is ownership. God owns me. I no longer am my own. God dictates everything. And thus I follow the dictates of his will. And whatever hard things we are called to do, here’s the good part. The rewards will adequately, yea, even abundantly, compensate. You know, whatever the cost is that’s involved in our service to the Lord, we have God’s assurance. It’s going to be worth it. The compensation is adequate. It’s a good bargain. There will not be buyer’s remorse for signing on to serve the Lord. Even if it means the putting away of a spouse because it is an adulterous marriage.

And some have done that for the Lord. Even if it means putting up with the difficult spouse. And I think I’m one of those. No laughing. Even if that’s what it involves. Because after all, Sherry married me in the first place. Once she signed on to that, she got me. We said for better or for worse. That’s just the way it is. And sometimes that’s what it involves. Dealing with a difficult spouse or a mouse.

Perhaps it’s curbing appetites for some forbidden fruit. Some pleasurable thing, some sinful thing that I that I really want. Yes, it involves delayed gratification. And yes, this is treasure of a spiritual nature. But we will be adequately and abundantly compensated. Now let’s go back to the original question. Is it worth it? What’s exactly involved? Jared and I were talking about this week, and yes, we’re still in communication on a regular basis. We were talking about one of the problems in even getting Bible studies with people is that they don’t want to give up the time. Learning the Lord’s will and coming to an understanding of what the New Testament involves, what it’s actually saying to us and signing on to this, it’s going to require time if you come from a background that knows nothing of this book, especially.

You’re going to have to invest some time. It’s hard to get people to even commit to taking the time to learn the will of God. And then there’s going to be the time involved once you embrace the message of communing with God. I mean, assemblies such as this. You know, this is not just about me. Check. I did the first day of the week assembly, check. You know, I obeyed the gospel. My soul was purified in obedience to the truth unto an unfeigned love of the brethren. I’ve always emphasized that phrase to you in 1 Peter 1 and verse 22. I’m not just signing on to worship the Lord. I’m signing on to worship the Lord and encourage his people. I have an obligation. This is about my obligation to you as well.

And yes, I derive some benefit from worship and my communion with God. And that’s going to involve an investment of my time, an investment of my diligence. Look, you’ve got to invest yourself to worship effectively in a place like this. You’ve got to dedicate your mind to the throne of God as we sing these songs, to worship effectively. The time that you need to spend in daily communion with God and meditating upon his will and studying his will, communion is going to be involved in this cost. And we must jettison all of those things in our lives that do not contribute to holiness, being God’s separate person set apart unto him that do not contribute to holiness and sober thinking as we live our lives. And so much can be said about that.

2. Danger: The Attempt of Cost Reduction

And we must comply with the Lord’s will for marriage, as I’ve already indicated. And we must be committed in every way to the Lord’s instruction. Because as disciples, we are about the business of learning what it means. And I’m still learning this, folks. Learning what it means to imitate the Lord. And to have his attitudes about things, about circumstances, and about other people. And having his attitude when it comes to the kind of behavior that brings glory and honor to God. So there it is. That’s the cost. The truth, the very real cost. And then I want to say to you quickly, in the second place this morning, I want to warn you about the danger. The danger of the attempt of cost reduction. And as I say that to you, I want you to know that’s where Christianity in America is today.

It is all about cost reduction. Let us make this in a way that is palatable to people so that they will sign on. Let’s require less and less and less, next to nothing. And morally, you can do just about anything because we’re going to reduce the cost. But remember, regardless of what you call it, Jesus says, you cannot be my disciple. I can call it discipleship. I can call it wonderful. But what is the Lord calling it? The one who examines me as the Lord. That goes back to our context in our Bible class this morning in 1 Corinthians chapter 4. It’s about his determinations. This is where people are. Tony, reduce the cost for me, please. But I can’t do that. And this is where people are.

Jesus said in his great Sermon on the Mount, what? No man can serve two masters. You love the one, hate the other, cling to the one, reject the other. And then what does he say? You cannot serve God and man. You gotta make up your choice. You’re either gonna love God or you’re gonna love the world, and there’s no middle ground in there where you can sort of love both sides. And that’s what people want in 21st century America, because we’re so busy, we’re so enthralled with the world, we want the world and we want God too. And Jesus made it very clear that’s not gonna work. And again, he used the word cannot in that text. You cannot serve God and mammon. And I’ll tell you what the mindset of people is, yes, even among the body of Christ at times, is what’s the least I can do and get by?

Minimums do not work. After all, in that same context of 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and verse 5, where they first gave themselves to the Lord and unto us by the will of God. He challenges the Corinthians on the basis of the Lord’s example. When he says, Well, I love this verse. One of my favorites in the New Testament. You know I have a lot of favorites. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. That though he was rich, for your sake, he became poor. And that’s just that’s a short way of saying a lot. That though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich. Now that’s a compensation I was talking about. But what he’s using that illustration is hey, you guys need to step up to the plate in regard to the giving here.

Look at what the Lord gave for you. You can never adequately return what he has done for you. And I’ll tell you, 2 Corinthians 8 and verse 9 ought to be motivation for me to pay the cost, whatever it is. Because I can never do what he did for me. Not only does this approach of minimums not please the Lord, it doesn’t benefit you either. Now go back to that statement, the paradox. He who wishes to save his life shall lose it. It’s not in your best interest either. Again, we’re holding communion, time, self-denial, commitment. Nah, I’m going to hold back on that. I’m going to preserve that for myself. It’s temporary. You’re going to lose it. He who wishes to save his life shall lose it.

3. Weigh the Cost: Is It Worth It?

But here’s the great thing. If you’ll surrender that to God and give him his due, and we can never really do that, right? Even if we could give everything all the time, every minute, every second, we can never give God his due. But we have God’s promise. If we lose our lives, for his sake, we fight. That’s a great verse. Don’t fall in to cost reduction. So let me tell you what you do about the cost when you’re weighing. Is it worth the cost? This is point number three. This is where it’s. It’s all about the way you look at things. It’s all about the way you are going to see things. If we had a pair of scales that we could weigh all of this stuff, what I have to give up versus what I get.

Okay, you need to weigh the cost. This is the part of the lesson that you really need to take home with you and think about. About the cost you have to pay for what you get. First of all, several things very quickly here. I want you to think about, okay, there’s some cost involved, but I want you to think about the far greater cost if you lose your soul. Now, that’s a lot more than anything you have to give up in your life.

What does a man profit if he gained the whole world and lose his own soul? The cost of eternal banishment from the presence of God is far greater than any cost associated with serving Him. And the story of Luke 12 tells us that. You fool. This night your soul is required of you. Your soul is not rich toward God. He had all of this stuff. He was tearing down his barns and building bigger barns. It was not the fact that he had been materially blessed, but he was focused on those things above God. He said, You are not rich toward God. And he says, now what? How foolish a bargain is this? Who’s going to be the barn owner now? All that stuff you’ve accumulated ain’t yours no more.

And here you are standing before the judgment seat of God. And you’re not rich toward him. Now, I’ll tell you this lesson is saying we need to be rich toward God. Paying the cost is worth that. Secondly, there’s another cost involved that a lot of people don’t see. The cost of your impact upon the lives and souls of others. The people that could have been influenced if you had paid the cost. Do you realize how generations are affected by one person’s decision to not serve the Lord? Their kids will likely not serve the Lord. Their grandkids won’t serve the Lord. And we’ve seen it all skip generations, haven’t we seen that before? Where one has become unfaithful, but a faithful grandparent leads the grandchild. I’ll tell you, our lives are influential.

And I don’t know if this is true or not. I’ve heard it said. I think it’s probably true. At least 99.9% of the time, nobody goes to hell alone. Think about that. Nobody goes to hell by themselves because there are people, and it doesn’t excuse anyone from being lost because of poor examples, but we contribute to their lostness by our failure to serve the Lord. If it’s not the people that are our descendants, it is the people that we work with, the people that were around every day that we could have influenced, someone we could have rescued, someone we could have saved by sharing the gospel with them. They all pay the cost too. No one goes to hell by themselves, at least not very many that I know of.

There’s the impact upon the souls of other people. And how big is that cost? Oh, let me go back. You know, when you’re a parent, you ought to be thinking about how your commitment to the Lord affects your kids. That’s an important thought. Thirdly. Again, and I’ve already said this, God’s paid the greater cost. Look at all that had to happen throughout history. And by the providence of God, all that he arranged, the passing of time, all those sacrifices that Mike read about, I love that passage in Hebrews, that could not take away sins. What God had to do to remedy our sinful condition, the great personal cost. And I would add to that the fact that 1 Corinthians 5 mentions Christ as our Passover. And it said almost in passing, and this thought came to me as I was preparing this lesson because I saw that movie, Exodus, Gods and Kings.

And the plagues was the only part of the movie I really was super thrilled about. But the tenth plague, the death of the firstborn. That was compelling. As the darkness, as they imagined it, came across the land and the firstborn child of every Egyptian died. And they showed the Israelites painting or putting the blood around the doorposts of their house like the Passover. That was what that was about. And so as that death came upon the Egyptians, the Israelite children lived. It was very compelling to me, I wonder if that’s lost on us.

The only way we can escape death is because of Christ’s shed blood.

The death of the firstborn should be a compelling plague to remind us of what Christ has done so that we could live. And then there’s this. What kind of price tag? I mean, yeah, there’s some costs involved in serving the Lord. But what kind of price tag are you going to put on the fact that we know the Lord?

There’s such a tremendous benefit as we go through our lives, knowing that we know our Creator. We know His will for us. He offers us the peace that surpasses comprehension. Do you ever wake up in the morning and ask yourself this question? I don’t know why God put me here. I don’t ever ask that question. When I wake up every day, I know exactly why I’m here. I know my purpose. I know what my creator planned for me from the very beginning and how he wants me to live, and that this is what he made me to be. There’s a piece to that. I’m not lost not knowing the answers to what life really means. I got the answers. We take that for granted. We’ve been associated with it for so long.

We take it all for granted. Don’t take that for granted. And I pray to God for mercy for the sins of my past, and I know, though I’m undeserving, he’s given it to me. And I can close my eyes at night and know that if I don’t awake the next day that I’m going to be with the Lord. That is a tremendous blessing. How much is that worth? It’s worth all the costs that I have to pay and more. Thank you, brother.

And remember, let’s get back to this. Final point. You’ve listened well. Treasure.

The rich young ruler. We got as much in him before we close. -Can’t pay that cost. Sell everything you have, give it to the poor. Remember the cost is everything, and he’s illustrating this in the rich young ruler. Sell everything you have, give it to the poor, come follow me. But he didn’t say, he didn’t stop there, did he? We sometimes miss this point. I think the rich young ruler missed it. He said, You shall have treasure in heaven. And I’ll tell you, that has to be apprehended by faith. I can’t, I can’t know all that’s going to be about. And the Lord understands that. Like everything else, it has to be embraced by faith. I’ve not been in heaven for 10 seconds. I don’t know what that’s all going to be like, but I’m given some glimpses of that.

I’m told it’s going to be absolutely wonderful. And I’ll tell you this, Jesus called it treasure. What’s not to like about treasure? See, we understand that from a material, what treasure means materially. When that great uncle you didn’t know you had left you 10 million dollars. Not going to happen. But let’s say this.

Conclusion

And hopefully we’d be able to build a new building. Jesus uses the word treasure for a reason. It’s motivation. Look, what did I say? We will be adequately and abundantly compensated. Guarantee you that. And so, is it worth it? Absolutely yes. Whatever the cost, whatever it means, don’t be stingy with the Lord. I would not be preaching the gospel of Christ if I didn’t believe the answer to that question was yes. So, what choice will you make? If you make the choice to enlist as a soldier of the kingdom, you cannot make a better choice in your life. It’s the ultimate decision. And if you’ve made that choice in days of old, appreciate again with the right perspective of how awesome it is to be numbered among the Lord’s people.

And if you need to respond to the invitation of our Lord so that you can enjoy these incredible benefits, we’re here to assist you. Let’s stand and sing. Why not now?