Kingdom Principle: Jesus bids a man to come and die, and to follow Him.
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The ___________________________ to Follow Jesus
Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
Jesus is calling these first century followers, and us this morning, to abandon our allegiance to all our loves (even our deepest loves) on this earth in order to follow him explicitly.
Mark 12:29–31 (ESV) —29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Matthew 5:43–44 (ESV) — 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…
The confusion is due to Jesus’ use of a Semitic idiom. To love one person more than another is described in OT language as “loving one and hating another” (cf. Gen 29:30–31, RSV). In contrast to Luke’s “word-for-word” translation of Jesus’ words, Matthew gave a “thought-for-thought” translation in Matt 10:37, revealing that Jesus’ demand is for his followers to love/obey him more than anyone else, even their own families. Being Jesus’ disciple entails primary allegiance to Jesus. No one and no thing can usurp his supreme position. Even as God is to be loved supremely, with no other god or thing taking priority over him, so too Jesus takes priority even over family
What is the condition to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? It is to keep Jesus in your highest affections and to have him as your highest allegiance.
Jesus does us two favors in this call to love Jesus more than anything:
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He keeps us from idolatry
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He prepares us for the road ahead
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The ____________ of Following Jesus
Luke 14:27–30 (ESV) — 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’
What is at stake in these illustrations is a man or a woman’s reputation. If you decide this morning to follow Jesus, but you have not counted the cost, the thing that is at stake is how others view you, more than that, it is how others view the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Luke 9:62 (ESV) — 62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
When you stand resolved to follow Jesus, in the face of disapproval and disappointment, it testifies to the world that you understand Jesus to be worthy of the sacrifice you make.
Matthew 13:44–46 (ESV) — 44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
John 15:1-11 (pg. 848)
Is there a condition for following Jesus? The answer is yes. But that condition, to be sure, is not something that we, in and of ourselves can fulfill. The condition is fulfilled by the life of Christ in us.
Questions to Consider
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Do you love Jesus above all else? What does this look like in your life?
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What does you choosing Jesus over all other things to the world of His worth?
