With
God Part IV – The Price
Luke 18:18-30
INTRO:
It is the dream of many people to be rich. They daydream about it. Talk
about it. Fantasize about it.
JOKE: My friend said, I wish
I had a million dollars. I said, “You know money ain’t everything!”. He said, “I
know, but it can take you downtown where everything is!”
Jesus acknowledged in his answer to Peter (verse 29) that in order to
go WITH GOD, you might have to leave some things or someone behind.
Not everyone will want to go with you on your journey WITH GOD.
Luke 9:57 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.
58 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.
59 And he said unto another,
Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
60 Jesus said unto him, Let the
dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.
61 And another also said, Lord,
I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at
my house.
62 And Jesus said unto him, No
man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the
kingdom of God.
The Bible is filled with illustrations and verses that teach us that in
order to go with God, we are going to have to make a decision – a life changing
decision – to walk away from OURSELVES in order to go WITH GOD.
·
NOTE:
Luke 16:13 No
servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the
other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve
God and mammon.
The Bible is very clear – to go WITH GOD, you must be willing to
forfeit some things.
·
TURN TO
Luke 14:25-33
GOING WITH GOD COST MOSES HIS
POSSESSIONS
·
Moses
– Hebrews 11:24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son
of Pharaoh’s daughter; Choosing rather
to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin
for a season; Esteeming the reproach of
Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the
recompence of the reward.
GOING WITH GOD COST PAUL HIS
POSITION
·
The
Apostle Paul – Philippians 3:4
Though I might also have confidence in
the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the
flesh, I more:
·
5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of
Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the
law, a Pharisee;
·
6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church;
touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
·
7 But what things were gain to me, those I
counted loss for Christ.
·
8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but
loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I
have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may
win Christ,
In
your life, if Jesus is not LORD OF ALL, He’s not LORD AT ALL.
ILLUSTRATION: In 1904 William
Borden graduated from a Chicago high school. As heir to the Borden family
fortune, he was already wealthy. For his high school graduation present, his
parents gave 16-year-old Borden a trip around the world. As the young man
traveled through Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, he felt a growing burden
for the world's hurting people. Finally, Bill Borden wrote home about his
"desire to be a missionary."1
One friend expressed disbelief that Bill was "throwing himself away as a missionary."
In response, Borden wrote two words in the back of his Bible: "No reserves."
Even though young Borden was wealthy, he arrived on the campus of Yale University in 1905 trying to look like just one more freshman. Very quickly, however, Borden's classmates noticed something unusual about him and it wasn't that he had lots of money. One of them wrote: "He came to college far ahead, spiritually, of any of us. He had already given his heart in full surrender to Christ and had really done it. We who were his classmates learned to lean on him and find in him a strength that was solid as a rock, just because of this settled purpose and consecration."
During his college years, Bill Borden made an entry in his personal journal that defined what his classmates were seeing in him. That entry said simply: "Say 'no' to self and 'yes' to Jesus every time."
Borden's first disappointment at Yale came when the university president spoke in a convocation about the students' need of "having a fixed purpose." After that speech, Borden wrote: "He neglected to say what our purpose should be, and where we should get the ability to persevere and the strength to resist temptations." Surveying the Yale faculty and much of the student body, Borden lamented what he saw as the end result of an empty, humanistic philosophy: moral weakness and sin-ruined lives.
One friend expressed disbelief that Bill was "throwing himself away as a missionary."
In response, Borden wrote two words in the back of his Bible: "No reserves."
Even though young Borden was wealthy, he arrived on the campus of Yale University in 1905 trying to look like just one more freshman. Very quickly, however, Borden's classmates noticed something unusual about him and it wasn't that he had lots of money. One of them wrote: "He came to college far ahead, spiritually, of any of us. He had already given his heart in full surrender to Christ and had really done it. We who were his classmates learned to lean on him and find in him a strength that was solid as a rock, just because of this settled purpose and consecration."
During his college years, Bill Borden made an entry in his personal journal that defined what his classmates were seeing in him. That entry said simply: "Say 'no' to self and 'yes' to Jesus every time."
Borden's first disappointment at Yale came when the university president spoke in a convocation about the students' need of "having a fixed purpose." After that speech, Borden wrote: "He neglected to say what our purpose should be, and where we should get the ability to persevere and the strength to resist temptations." Surveying the Yale faculty and much of the student body, Borden lamented what he saw as the end result of an empty, humanistic philosophy: moral weakness and sin-ruined lives.
During his first semester at Yale, Borden started something
that would transform campus life. One of his friends described how it began:
"It was well on in the first term when Bill and I began to pray together
in the morning before breakfast. Borden's small morning prayer
group gave birth to a movement that soon spread across the campus. By the end
of his first year, 150 freshman were meeting weekly for Bible study and prayer.
By the time Bill Borden was a senior, one thousand of Yale's 1,300 students
were meeting in such groups.
Borden's outreach ministry was not confined to the Yale campus. He cared about widows and orphans and the disabled. He rescued drunks from the streets of New Haven. To try to rehabilitate them, he founded the Yale Hope Mission. One of Bill Borden's friends wrote that he "might often be found in the lower parts of the city at night, on the street, in a cheap lodging house or some restaurant to which he had taken a poor hungry fellow to feed him, seeking to lead men to Christ."7
Borden's missionary call narrowed to the Muslim Kansu people in China. Once he fixed his eyes on that goal, Borden never wavered. He also challenged his classmates to consider missionary service. One of them said of him: "He certainly was one of the strongest characters I have ever known, and he put backbone into the rest of us at college. There was real iron in him, and I always felt he was of the stuff martyrs were made of, and heroic missionaries of more modern times.
Although he was a millionaire, Bill seemed to "realize always that he must be about his Father's business, and not wasting time in the pursuit of amusement."
Upon graduation from Yale, Borden turned down some high-paying job offers. In his Bible, he wrote two more words: "No retreats."
William Borden went on to do graduate work at Princeton Seminary in New Jersey. When he finished his studies at Princeton, he sailed for China. Because he was hoping to work with Muslims, he stopped first in Egypt to study Arabic. While there, he contracted spinal meningitis. Within a month, 25-year-old William Borden was dead.
When the news of William Whiting Borden's death was cabled back to the U.S., the story was carried by nearly every American newspaper. "A wave of sorrow went round the world . . . Borden not only gave (away) his wealth, but himself, in a way so joyous and natural that it (seemed) a privilege rather than a sacrifice" wrote Mary Taylor in her introduction to his biography.
Borden's outreach ministry was not confined to the Yale campus. He cared about widows and orphans and the disabled. He rescued drunks from the streets of New Haven. To try to rehabilitate them, he founded the Yale Hope Mission. One of Bill Borden's friends wrote that he "might often be found in the lower parts of the city at night, on the street, in a cheap lodging house or some restaurant to which he had taken a poor hungry fellow to feed him, seeking to lead men to Christ."7
Borden's missionary call narrowed to the Muslim Kansu people in China. Once he fixed his eyes on that goal, Borden never wavered. He also challenged his classmates to consider missionary service. One of them said of him: "He certainly was one of the strongest characters I have ever known, and he put backbone into the rest of us at college. There was real iron in him, and I always felt he was of the stuff martyrs were made of, and heroic missionaries of more modern times.
Although he was a millionaire, Bill seemed to "realize always that he must be about his Father's business, and not wasting time in the pursuit of amusement."
Upon graduation from Yale, Borden turned down some high-paying job offers. In his Bible, he wrote two more words: "No retreats."
William Borden went on to do graduate work at Princeton Seminary in New Jersey. When he finished his studies at Princeton, he sailed for China. Because he was hoping to work with Muslims, he stopped first in Egypt to study Arabic. While there, he contracted spinal meningitis. Within a month, 25-year-old William Borden was dead.
When the news of William Whiting Borden's death was cabled back to the U.S., the story was carried by nearly every American newspaper. "A wave of sorrow went round the world . . . Borden not only gave (away) his wealth, but himself, in a way so joyous and natural that it (seemed) a privilege rather than a sacrifice" wrote Mary Taylor in her introduction to his biography.
Prior
to his death, Borden had written two more words in his Bible. Underneath the words "No
reserves" and "No retreats," he had written: "No regrets."
CONCLUSION: That is what
Jesus was talking about in our text, Luke
18:29 when He said …Verily I say unto
you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or
children, for the kingdom of God’s sake,
Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the
world to come life everlasting.
Are you willing to pay the price in order to be a disciple – a follower
of Jesus Christ?
What is it worth to you to go
WITH GOD?
