Participants: Ronny Shelton
Series Code: FC
Program Code: FC000220
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00:31 Hello brothers and sisters, my name is Ronny Shelton.
00:34 I hope you've got your Bibles with you today. 00:37 You know, we're fighting a spiritual battle, and we have to 00:41 use a spiritual tool; the word of God. 00:44 I'm hoping you'll open your Bibles with me to Luke 14. 00:48 In Luke 14 Jesus sets up a test of discipleship. 00:54 I want to start reading at about verse 16 of chapter 14. 01:05 There it says: 01:29 As I'm analyzing this parable the first thing I'm thinking 01:32 about is: How many of you have bought a piece of property 01:36 and you've never seen it? 01:37 I recently moved, just a couple of months ago, 01:40 from one place to another. 01:41 I saw this piece of property, and I went out and I began to 01:44 walk across this property. 01:46 Then I stepped it off. 01:48 I wanted to make sure that it was what it was supposed to be. 01:51 Then I wasn't satisfied with that. 01:53 I walked every square foot of it that I could get on. 01:56 I took my tape measure and I measured across the frontage. 01:58 You know, I'm glad that I did. 02:00 It was twenty feet short! 02:02 I brought that to the attention of the realtor, and he grabbed 02:05 up the stake and he moved it twenty feet, 02:07 and he sat it back down. 02:08 You see, so I'm thinking, what an excuse for not going to 02:12 the great supper. 02:13 A man's bought a piece of property without seeing it. 02:15 I'm just not buying that! 02:16 Let's read on. 02:17 Verse 19: 02:26 Now, once again, usually when I give this sermon I'll ask, 02:30 Has anyone bought any oxen lately? 02:33 Well, you know, I never get any hands going up on that one. 02:35 Nobody seems to be buying oxen these days. 02:37 But in Jesus' day it was very prevalent. 02:40 The oxen then did all the work. 02:42 There were no tractors and things that we use now; 02:45 no garden tillers. 02:46 The oxen did all of the work. 02:48 I was in India this past February, and I saw oxen, 02:52 just row, after row, after row of oxen, going down the road 02:55 pulling plows, pulling big wagons, covered wagons, 02:58 doing all of the work. 02:59 I can't imagine in Jesus' day that someone had bought 03:03 five yoke of oxen, and they hadn't proved them yet. 03:07 So, to me again, another flimsy excuse for not attending 03:11 the great supper. 03:12 Let's look on to verse 20. 03:19 As I looked at this I thought, You know, this has got to be 03:22 the worst excuse of them all! 03:24 It's got to be the worst excuse of them all! 03:27 Back to the way I am, and a lot of men are, at our home 03:30 if there's a big supper being planned, or a party, 03:33 or something, and we get an invitation, it will be my wife 03:37 who wants to go to the party, you see. 03:40 Myself, I'll be saying, Ah, honey, 03:42 are you sure that we have to go? 03:43 Do I have to go, or can I stay? 03:45 So this man said, I have just married a wife, 03:48 and therefore I cannot come. 03:49 That's probably the flimsiest excuse of them all. 03:52 Let's read on then in verse 21. 04:16 You see, Jesus had made an exclusive invitation. 04:20 He bid certain people that He wanted there, and He said, 04:24 I want you to come to my great feast. 04:26 I'm preparing something special for you. 04:28 I want you to come to the great feast. 04:30 When they began to make excuses he broadens the spectrum. 04:35 He says, Okay, if My people won't come, let's take it 04:39 a little farther out. 04:40 So then in that verse He said, Let's take it now into the 04:44 streets and the lanes of the city. 04:46 So now we're leaving this certain place, and we're going 04:49 out, and we're bringing the invitation 04:51 to the rest of the city. 04:53 Then in verse 22 and 23: 05:11 You see, once again He has extended the territory. 05:15 So I like to put it this way: He invites us, and we find excuses 05:20 for why we can't go. 05:21 We find excuses for why we can't be in His service. 05:24 We find excuses, just in the day to day humdrum, the rut that 05:28 we live in, our day to day duties. 05:31 We find excuses for why we can't be a participant in this; why we 05:36 can't work for God. 05:37 So the invitation goes farther out. 05:40 Now it goes out of this house, and it goes out to the streets. 05:44 So some people respond, some do not. 05:47 Then the invitation goes out even farther, beyond the streets 05:52 of this town, of your town. 05:53 It now goes out to the rest of the territory; to the county, 05:57 to the state, to North America, to South America, and finally to 06:02 encompass the entire globe. 06:03 The invitation goes out, and still people will find excuses. 06:10 Many will respond, but many will not. 06:13 Let's look at verse 24. 06:14 Verse 24 says: 06:23 Very serious! 06:26 None of those men which were bidden shall taste of My supper, 06:29 Jesus says. 06:31 You see, He calls us to action. 06:32 He calls us out of our pews, out of our chairs, 06:36 and out of our homes. 06:37 He calls us to action. 06:39 When we refuse; when we begin to make excuses for why we can't 06:44 go, we can't do, and we can't serve, pretty soon the 06:49 invitation has left us; left us desolate. 06:53 Verse 24 is a very serious thing. 06:56 You see, to refuse God's call on our lives is a very 07:00 serious matter. 07:01 Jesus then lays out a test of discipleship, starting in 07:06 verse 26. 07:07 Let's read about that. 07:38 You know, I began to look at this. 07:41 I began to look at this text, and I thought, What? 07:45 Does Jesus actually want me to hate my father and my mother, 07:48 my brother and my sister? 07:49 I can't believe that! 07:51 God is a God of love, and I can't believe that He's 07:53 expecting me to hate my father and my brother, 07:57 my mother and my sister. 07:58 So I began to dig a little deeper. 08:00 As I dug deeper it took me to Genesis 29. 08:04 Go with me there to Genesis 29. 08:07 There in Genesis 29; I want to read verse 30 and 31. 08:31 Do you see this right here? 08:33 Now this kind of helped a little bit. 08:35 I thought God is making a comparison. 08:38 Jacob did not say that he hated Leah. 08:42 He said he loved Rachel more. 08:44 He loved Rachel more than Leah. 08:47 So Jesus is making the comparison that anything less 08:54 than 100% is no good at all. 08:57 You see, He's either God of all, or He's not God at all. 09:01 He's either God of all, or not God at all. 09:06 Anything less than 100% is insufficient and will not do. 09:13 So Jesus is not asking us to hate our father and our mother, 09:16 but He's putting a comparison on them. 09:18 Compare your feelings with your close family, 09:20 and your comparison of your feelings with Him. 09:23 So that helped. 09:25 I wanted more, so I turned in the Bible to Matthew 10. 09:30 Turn with me to Matthew 10:34-36. 09:39 There it says: 09:59 See, again Jesus is drawing a picture. 10:02 Will you serve Me? 10:05 Will you put Me first? 10:06 Will I be the only one in your life? 10:08 Here He says, I'm bringing a sword; a sword that will cut 10:13 right down the middle. 10:16 The sheep will be on one side, and the goats 10:18 will be on the other. 10:19 He says that test is coming to you. 10:22 He said, I didn't come to bring peace. 10:24 I didn't come to bring you peace, but a sword, to make you 10:29 make a decision for Christ or against Him. 10:33 For Christ or against Him. 10:35 Let's read on in verses 37 and 38. 10:56 Now see, that helps. 10:58 That helps. 10:59 Once again, Jesus is saying, Not that I want you to hate your 11:02 father and your mother, your brother and your sister, 11:04 your family, your closely associated people. 11:07 He's saying, I must come first. 11:10 I must be first, He said. 11:13 If you love father or mother more than Me, He says, 11:17 if you love brother or sister, or family, or spouse, 11:21 or your job, or your friends, or your bank account, 11:24 or the cares of this world more than Me, He says, You are not 11:28 worthy of Me. 11:30 You are not worthy of Me. 11:34 Verse 39: 11:48 Young people used to say, Let's get a life! 11:51 Get a life! they would say. 11:52 I must find out who I am. 11:54 Who am I? 11:55 I need to find out who I am before I can do 11:57 anything for God. 11:58 I want to get a life! 12:00 That's what they said. 12:02 What does God say about being friends with the world? 12:11 There he says: 12:37 You see, anyone that wants to find their life; any man, 12:41 any woman, any child that wants to find their life, and says, 12:44 I must find out who I am, Jesus says that in the end 12:47 you will lose your life. 12:49 You may find it now. 12:50 You may find out who you are here and now, but in the end 12:54 you forfeit eternal life. 12:56 In the end you will forfeit eternal life. 13:02 Jesus says if we find our life we will lose it. 13:07 But he that loses his life... 13:09 In other words, if I am not going to find myself, 13:12 if I'm not going to be my own person, I'm going to allow God 13:14 to take over my life, then in the end I shall find it, 13:19 and shall find eternal life. 13:21 We must count the cost brothers and sisters. 13:26 Count the cost of living the Christian way. 13:29 County the cost of living the Christian way. 13:33 But I can hear someone say, now wait just a minute! 13:36 Isn't heaven free? 13:38 The Bible says it's a gift of God. 13:41 Yes, it does. 13:43 The Bible does say it's a gift of God, not of works, 13:46 lest any should boast, you see. 13:48 But let's look at that text then in Ephesians 2:8. 14:01 You see, it is a gift of God, and a gift is something that 14:05 comes totally unattached; no strings attached. 14:07 It is a gift of God with nothing further required. 14:12 That sounds free! 14:14 That sounds free enough. 14:15 No strings attached. 14:17 But I'm going to surprise you today and say it is not 14:22 entirely free. 14:23 It comes with a cost. 14:26 You see, salvation has a cost to it. 14:30 It comes with a cost. 14:32 Jesus gives us a tremendous illustration of 14:36 the cost of heaven. 14:38 Let's look at that in Matthew 13:44. 15:05 A very simple illustration. 15:07 A very simple illustration where Jesus is comparing 15:11 the cost of heaven. 15:12 I'd like to use my imagination a little bit, if I could, on that. 15:18 You know people back then took their gold, silver, 15:23 their valuables, and their jewels, and they went out and 15:26 they dug a hole in the ground and buried their valuables. 15:30 You see there was no 1st Bank, 2nd Bank, and 1st 3rd Bank, 15:33 and all of that. 15:35 So a man went out and he dug a little hole, and he put in his 15:38 valuables, and he covered them over. 15:39 Well, often the man would die; forgot where he put them. 15:44 So the man in this illustration, this parable that 15:49 Jesus has laid out, says that this man finds one in a field. 15:52 I can imagine him one day going out into a field. 15:55 He's walking across, and maybe he stubs his toe 15:58 on some little something. 15:59 He reaches down, and he picks it up, and he brushes off the top. 16:04 He says, Wow, what is this I found here? 16:07 What have I found? 16:08 He opens up the lid, and looks inside. and he says, Oh my, 16:13 there is a treasure there; inestimable treasure. 16:17 Wow! 16:20 Being an honest man he puts the lid back on it and puts it 16:23 back down in the ground. 16:26 He puts it back down in the ground and covers it over. 16:29 I can imagine, if it were me, I'd probably grab a little extra 16:32 dirt and throw it in, and make sure that it is covered, 16:35 and maybe drag up a few branches and cover this treasure over. 16:39 Then I make my way into the realtor's office. 16:42 In the realtors office, I go to the realtor and I say, 16:49 You know, there's a piece of property out on the 16:51 north side of town. 16:52 I describe it to him, and I say, I want to buy that property. 16:55 You see, knowing that I know there's a hidden treasure there. 16:58 The realtor doesn't know it. 17:00 The people of the world don't know it. 17:02 But I have found a valuable treasure, and I'm going to do 17:06 all I can to obtain that treasure. 17:08 So I go out and I ask the realtor, How much is it? 17:16 He goes to the back and he brings out the contract, 17:19 and the deed. 17:20 It has the price tag on it like I've never seen before. 17:23 Wow, I think, that's a lot! 17:27 I don't know if I can raise that much money. 17:28 So I go back to my house, and I go out into the yard. 17:33 I take my shovel and I dig up my treasures, and I bring them 17:38 in the house, and I put them on the table. 17:40 On the table I count them, and I say, Oh, that's way short! 17:43 That won't do! 17:44 That won't do at all! 17:46 So I make a for sale sign and I go out and stick it 17:50 in front of the house. 17:52 It says, Live Stock for Sale, Clearance, 17:55 Everything has got to go! 17:56 I sell all of my sheep, my goats, my cattle, my horses, 18:01 my stock, and my camels. 18:03 I sell it all. 18:04 I bring that money and I put it on the table with the other. 18:08 I count it, and I say, That's still short! 18:10 That won't be enough. 18:12 That's not enough. 18:14 What am I going to do? 18:15 Then I take that sign, and I turn it around. 18:17 Now I write on it: House for Sale. 18:21 I'm going to sell the whole place. 18:22 So I sell my house, my cars, my trucks, 18:26 and everything that I have. 18:29 I cashed in my bonds, and I bring it all together. 18:33 Now I put it in one place, and I say, That's everything I have. 18:37 I have nothing else. 18:40 So I go into the realtors office, and I bring all of my 18:47 valuables, everything that I have, and I put it 18:50 up on his desk. 18:51 I say, Is that enough right there? 18:53 Is that enough? 18:55 He begins to count it out. 18:58 He counts it out, and finally we get to the bottom line. 19:04 The bottom line is, Yes! 19:05 That is exactly the price of this piece of property. 19:12 You see, I want to ask you today, What did it cost? 19:17 How much was it? 19:19 The kingdom of God is free. 19:21 But how much did it cost this man? 19:24 How much did it cost him? 19:27 The text says that he sold all that he could; all that he had. 19:32 He brought it all together and bought that property. 19:36 You see, the bottom line is it will cost us all that we 19:40 have ever been. 19:41 And Praise God, what I have been, I want to give to Him. 19:46 How about you? 19:47 I want to give Him my past. 19:50 I willingly turn that over to Him. 19:53 I say, Lord, take it! 19:54 I'll give this for heaven. 19:56 But you see, it doesn't stop there. 19:59 God accepts our past, but now He wants our present. 20:05 He wants our present. 20:07 Our day to day will has to be submitted to Him. 20:10 He says, I want your present, but I also want your tomorrow, 20:15 and the next day. 20:17 Finally, I want all of your life, for the rest of your life, 20:22 as long as you live. 20:23 You see, the price of that Kingdom is everything that I 20:30 used to be. 20:32 It's everything that I am today, and it's everything that I ever 20:37 hope to be. 20:38 Everything that I aspire to be must be surrendered to Him. 20:42 Nothing else will work. 20:47 Let's look again at chapter 13 of Matthew and verse 45. 21:08 You see, once again, brothers and sisters, 21:10 The price was the same. 21:11 The price is the same for all of us. 21:13 We all pay the same price for the Kingdom, and that price is 21:18 everything that we have. 21:21 Everything that we are, everything that we ever aspire 21:25 to be must be turned over to Him. 21:27 I like the way that Ellen White quotes. 21:29 I'm going to quote Ellen White in her book, 21:31 Christ's Object Lessons, page 116. 21:35 And there it says: 21:56 I want to ask you, brothers and sisters, How much did it cost 22:00 for that pearl of great price? 22:02 You see, it cost this man also everything that he ever was. 22:07 We want to give Him our past, Amen? 22:09 We want to give Him our past, but yet we get hesitant about 22:14 giving Him our today. 22:16 He requires our day, today, and tomorrow, and the next. 22:22 He requires service every day for the rest of our lives. 22:26 You see, all that we possess belongs to Him anyway. 22:31 Our talents; that's where we got them! 22:33 We must consecrate them to His service. 22:37 You see, there is a cost of heaven. 22:41 There's a cost. 22:42 That cost is a total, unreserved, consecrated 22:47 surrender to Jesus Christ. 22:48 In short, we are called to live a holy life. 22:53 We are called to live a holy life. 22:58 We are a peculiar people; a royal priesthood, you see. 23:03 We are to be set aside from the rest of the world 23:06 and consecrate our lives to Him, totally and completely, 23:10 living a holy life, and not clinging on to the things 23:14 of this world. 23:15 You may say, but that sounds like a great price to pay. 23:19 That's a lot: my father, my mother, 23:23 whatever stands in the way. 23:25 For our final verse let's look at Matthew 19. 23:29 In Matthew chapter 19, verse 29: 23:53 You see, Jesus says there's a time that's coming when 23:57 He brings that sword to you and to your household. 24:00 That sword is going to cause you to make a decision for Him, 24:05 or against Him. 24:07 Will I stick with my husband, or my wife, or my children? 24:10 Some have said, well, you know, I can't be a Christian. 24:13 I can't join your faith; your denomination. 24:16 Why my son or daughter would just disown me. 24:18 My parents will just have a fit! 24:21 Jesus says that that sword is going to come and divide, 24:26 and you will make a decision. 24:28 Will you be with His sheep, or will you go with the goats? 24:32 You see, it's coming decision time. 24:35 We all must count the cost of living the Christian way. 24:41 Yes, salvation is free, but it will cost you everything, 24:45 everything that you could put together. 24:48 It will cost everything in your life to follow Him, 24:54 because He will not be second to anything. 24:57 He will not be second to our bank accounts, to our jobs. 25:01 You know, some may say, but I can't give up that. 25:04 Does He know that I must eat? 25:06 I must keep my job. 25:07 Doesn't He realize that? 25:09 I must work on the Sabbath. 25:10 Doesn't He know I've got car payments, and house payments? 25:13 He said, I know about all of that stuff. 25:15 It comes down to the text of, Seek ye first the kingdom of God 25:20 and his righteousness, and all these other things, He said, 25:24 will be added unto you. 25:26 All of these others things will be added to you, 25:29 because He knows. 25:30 You put Him first, and you'll not go without food, 25:32 you'll not go without raiment, you'll not go without a 25:36 place to stay. 25:37 If we've had to give up houses, brothers or sisters, 25:43 for the kingdom, He said, they shall be restored unto us 25:47 one hundred fold. 25:48 It shall be restored a hundred fold, He says, and then in the 25:52 end eternal life. 25:53 As I always like to say, that's kind of the icing on the cake, 25:57 you see, eternal life as well! 25:59 You see, we serve a loving God, but a God that 26:04 calls for obedience, and a God that calls us to be 26:08 separated from the world. 26:10 So the cost involved today, brothers and sisters, 26:14 is, Will you put Him first? 26:16 Will you put Him number one? because He will not take second 26:21 to anyone or anything. 26:22 It will be Jesus, and Jesus, and Jesus. 26:27 That's all there is. 26:28 He calls us to that occasion today. 26:32 Put Me first, He says. 26:33 All of these other things will be added unto you. 26:37 So we have to be consecrated, surrendered totally 26:43 to Jesus Christ. 26:45 Nothing else will do, nothing else. 26:51 There's a time coming, brothers and sisters, when you will make 26:55 that decision. 26:56 If you haven't already, and some have. 26:59 Praise God He's been there for you. 27:01 It may look dark right now. 27:03 You may have stepped out in faith and said, Lord, 27:06 I'm going to follow You. 27:08 I'm going to follow Your commandments. 27:09 I'm going to keep them all. 27:10 You may have suffered some persecution, but know that in 27:14 the end you have made the right decision. 27:18 You shall be rewarded a hundred fold, Jesus said, 27:21 and eternal life in the end. 27:24 You see, God is just calling us all away from this world. 27:28 Choose you this day whom you will serve. 27:31 Will you serve God, or will you serve this world? 27:35 You know, I want to pray that each of us will drawn closer 27:39 to His side every day. 27:40 May He give us strength. 27:42 Heavenly Father, again Lord we ask You: Give us strength 27:46 today to follow Your will and Your way. 27:48 We pray in Jesus' name, Amen. 27:52 Amen. |
Revised 2014-12-17