Missing Real Christianity

Sermon 65 in Series

Luke 14:25-35

[25] Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, [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. [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.’ [31] Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? [32] And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. [33] So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

[34] “Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? [35] It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

DEEP SHEET: Sermon Study Questions
1.  How does this passage test authenticity and combat self-deception? How does it reawaken zeal in the believer?
2.  What is it about Jesus’ audience that prompts this teaching? How is it similar today with those who express interest in Jesus?
3.  What does Jesus mean in v. 26 when he says one must hate his own family? How does this play out in terms of prioritization and persecution?
4.  What does it mean to live a cross-bearing life? By contrast, what does it look like for a false disciple not to bear a cross?
5.  What effect should Jesus’ two illustrations about counting the cost have on our evangelism? How should this impact our parenting?
6.  Where have we seen renunciation already in Luke? What does it mean to have Jesus as our one treasure, and how does Matthew 13:44 portray this?
7.  How does Jesus’ picture of salt that has lost its saltiness emphasize perseverance? How does it relate back to the previous verses?

References: Matthew 10:16-39 (corporate reading); 2 Corinthians 13:5; Luke 6:27; Genesis 29:30-31; Luke 12:51-53; Matthew 5:11; Luke 8:13; 9:23-24; 5:11, 28; Matthew 13:44; Philippians 3:7-8; Acts 20:24; Matthew 5:13; Luke 9:62.