Luke 9- The Cost of Christianity Part 2

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And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. Luke 9:57-62

Previously in this chapter, Jesus taught us what the Cost of Christianity was going to be, to deny ourselves, carry our crosses, on a daily basis. The fact is to be a true Christian, will cost you everything. Why? Because Jesus is your everything, He is your Lord and King, and you are his servant. If you don’t understand that then you haven’t come to a true understanding of the gospel message. 

Many people today want Jesus to benefit them. How can Jesus make me more wealthy, how can Jesus make me more successful, how can Jesus make me more happy. They come to Jesus for the wrong reasons, and receive a false gospel becoming false converts. This is why you see alot of dead churches, with dead pastors preaching dead messages. There is no life without the Holy Spirit, you need to be baptized by the Water and Spirit, become Born again in Jesus Christ

In Jesus teaching today , we see more examples of people creating their own agendas and Jesus given them the harsh reality. They say I want to follow Jesus, but I will follow him on my own terms. We might even be guilty of that ourselves, but as Jesus said “Nobody put his hand on the plow and looks back, is worthy of the Kingdom of God” You can’t become Born Again and then think well maybe I was better in my sin. Well maybe I’ll serve God ,if they pay me the right money. Or maybe I’ll be a Christian if I feel a positive experience. 

Pushing the plow is not a glamorous job, its not a self fulfilling job, its not a job anyone dreams about being a child, but its a calling and you fulfill the mission. You might say this has nothing to do with me, if has everything to do with anyone who calls themselves a Christian. Jesus commanded us to “Preach the gospel to all the nations” you are to sow the seeds of the gospel, you are plowing the fields of the world. So yes as a Christian, your hand should be on the plow and not looking back

Another man said Jesus I’ll follow everywhere you go, I want to see your fame and power. But Jesus said “The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” meaning even though Jesus is Lord of the Earth, he owned nothing on this Earth. He humbled himself as the suffering servant to pay the penalty for the sins of the world. You honestly believe you can be and go like Jesus? As Jesus said to his disciples “Nobody can drink from the cup given to him” There is only One Son of God, and you need to serve and worship him, not try to be him. 

So what is the Cost of being a Christian? It will cost you everything including possibly your life. But as Jesus said “Anyone who wants to save their life will lose it” Put your hand on the plow, follow Jesus , and never look back Amen!

Luke 9- Who Is The Greatest?

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Then there arose a reasoning among them, which of them should be greatest. And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child, and set him by him, And said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me receiveth him that sent me: for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great. Luke 9:46-48

One of the greatest challenges of ministry or Church, is to remain humble and “Christlike”. Often we see many Ministries or Churches, when they start to have some success, the egos really start to grow. Soon that humble servant of Jesus, who started in ministry for the right reasons, grows into a false teacher who is in it for all the wrong reasons. 

We seen this even with the early Apostles, a fight broke out about , who is the greatest of the Apostles? Yes, even the Apostles can fall into this deceptive trap of flesh and ego. Jesus knew the sin that was in their hearts and was going to cut them down to size quickly. He promoted a child as the greatest in the Kingdom. That must of made the Apostles look and feel pretty embarrassed. 

Jesus said “Whoever receives this child in my name, they will be great in Gods Kingdom” But what about all of our theological debates, and commentaries on the Bible? No receive this unlearned , innocent child as a disciple. Why? Because they truly love Jesus with all their heart, and you simply dont

And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us. And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us. Luke 9:49-50

Then one of the Apostles was like, hey what about that guy who was casting out demons in Jesus name, he’s not an apostle, we should rebuke him! Jesus is like “Hey whoever is preaching in my name, let them preach, for they are for us and not against us” Its very common also in ministry and Churches to be competitive, even though we are all on the same team! 

We need to remember its all about building Gods Kingdom and not building our egos. Whoever is the least among you , shall be the greatest in Gods Kingdom, that’s something our human flesh can’t comprehend or accept. We must be like on of these children, faith like a child Amen!

Luke 9- Faithless and Perverse Generation

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And, behold, a man of the company cried out, saying, Master, I beseech thee, look upon my son: for he is mine only child. And, lo, a spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth out; and it teareth him that he foameth again, and bruising him hardly departeth from him. And I besought thy disciples to cast him out; and they could not. Luke 9:38-40

Here we see a boy possessed with a demon, and his father brought him to Jesus to be healed. Now from the details it’s clear that this is a demon possession. It’s described as the boy is screaming, convulsing, and foaming from the mouth. As you continue to read through the New Testament, its clear a spiritual battle was going on. There were many demon possessions and people being tormented by demons. So why would we think this is still not going on today? 

Another interesting note is the disciples were unable to exorcise the demon. It doesn’t give a reason why the disciples failed, perhaps its the same reason today many Christians fail to have power over demons. Perhaps its lack of true faith, or lack of understanding, whatever may be the reason they were powerless against the demons at this point

And Jesus answering said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, and suffer you? Bring thy son hither. And as he was yet a coming, the devil threw him down, and tare him. And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the child, and delivered him again to his father.  Luke 9:41-42

Jesus sounds really annoyed at this point, he said “You faithless and perverse generation, how long do I have to stay with you” Wow, so much for the watered down Jesus the liberals try to portray these days. Jesus was disgusted with the lack of faith and perversion of that generation. Imagine what Jesus must think of this generation? 

Jesus rebuked the demon and healed the child, demonstrating his deity as the Christ, the Son of God. But the disciples failed to do this even though Jesus gave them power and authority to perform this duty. Why did the disciples fail? Why do we the Church fail today?

Well since we know the power comes from Christ, then the answer is Christ. If we are failing to have power over demons, then we must examine our relationships with Christ and reveal where we are lacking. We don’t want to be the perverse and faithless generation, we want to be the well done servants generation Amen!

Luke 9- The Transfiguration

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And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering. And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias: Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. Luke 9:28-31

The Transfiguration, one of the most mysterious events in the Bible, yet one that reveals so much about the past, present , and future. First we notice the scene is on a mountain. There is very similar to when Moses went up Mt Sinai to talk to God and received the Ten Commandments. Another fulfillment on how Jesus is the greater prophet of Moses, fortold by Moses himself (Deuteronomy 18:15)

Secondly we see Jesus come into his glory, being transformed into pure white. This is the same we see Jesus in Revelation Chapter 1 and Daniel 7. If you read Revelation 1 you can get the further description of how Jesus probably looked at this moment, eyes of blazing fire, his feet were like bronze, and his voice was like roaring waters. This must of be a terrifying moment for the disciples that were there

Third, we see Moses and Elijah there, now for those who believe in “Soul Sleep” how are Moses and Elijah there? They are still alive and well. I believe Moses represents The Law and Elijah represents The Prophets here. This is a revelation of the New Covenant through Christ, the Law and Prophets have been fulfilled through Jesus

But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him. And it came to pass, as they departed from him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias: not knowing what he said. While he thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud. And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him. Luke 9:32-35

Then the voice of God The Father is heard from a cloud “This is my beloved Son, Listen to him” Imagine the terror of hearing God speak, this is looking more like Mt Sinai. As Peter asked Jesus “Is it good for us to be here”? Imagine as a sinful human standing in the presence of the Holy God, reminds you of Isaiah 6

And when the voice was past, Jesus was found alone. And they kept it close, and told no man in those days any of those things which they had seen. Luke 9:36

Jesus told them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen” why? Because remember up until this point, Jesus wasn’t revealed as the Messiah to most. We just heard Yahweh confirm Jesus is the Messiah, so that would have made it clear cut. But Jesus wanted people to come to him, and learn more about him, have a desire to know God.

The Transfiguration was a unique moment in history, that should be pondered. What would you have done if you were up on that mountain, face to face with the transfigured Lord, in the presence of Moses and Elijah, and hearing the voice of God? Pretty intense, but get ready, because Christ is coming again soon Amen!

Luke 9- The Cost of Christianity

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And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. Luke 9:23-24

What does it cost to be a Christian? Some would say it costs nothing, however that is not true. As Jesus teaches us here, it will cost you everything to be a Christian! Now am I talking about money , no! To be a born again disciple of Christ will cost you your life. You must die to your old self and become a new creature in Christ. 

As Jesus said “If anyone wants to come after him or follow him, they must deny themselves” The first step in becoming saved is understanding you need to be saved! When people come to Christ for the wrong reasons, this is why you have false converts. People need to understand God is Holy and we are sinful, the only way we can become saved is through Jesus Christ. When you don’t have this understanding of your sinful nature, people come to Christ for the wrong reasons.

Jesus also said “If you want to save your life, you must lose it first” If you truly are born again, then there should be evidence of your conversion. If you’re still dead in your sins, then what were you saved from? This is a paraphrase of the late preacher Leonard Ravenhill, you must crucify your old flesh before you can become born again in Christ

 For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels. But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God. Luke 9:25-27

Jesus asks another question “ What does it profit you to gain the whole world and to lose your soul” Money will not save your soul from Hell, only Jesus Christ will. So don’t spend and waste all your time working and acquiring things. Spend your time on your spiritual lives, spend your time serving Christ. Your bank account will not buy you a house in Heaven. Only those who are born again will see the Kingdom of God (John 3:3)

So do you tell others the good news about Christ? Are you ashamed to be a Christian? Jesus said “Anyone ashamed of him , he will be ashamed of them before God the Father” This is about a relationship with Christ, it’s a two way street, you can’t neglect Jesus, and expect him to adore you. You must develop a relationship with Christ by prayer, reading your Bible, and worshipping in a community. Don’t be ashamed of the One who died for your sins, on that shameful rugged cross

Everyone thinks its easy to be a Christian, say a prayer and you have the golden ticket to Heaven! That’s not Biblical or reality, fact is you need to carry your cross on a daily basis and follow your Lord Jesus Amen!