Luke 14:28-30 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sits not down first, and counts the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?… THE COST ATTENDING THE CHRISTIAN PROFESSION. 1. In order to be the disciples of Christ, there is much that we must instantly renounce It is a profession of holiness: it, therefore, demands the immediate renunciation of criminal and forbidden pleasures. By His gospel, and by His Son, God has "called us, not to uncleanness, but to holiness"; so that he that despiseth the precepts of purity, despiseth not man but God. 2. The Christian profession is spiritual, and therefore requires the renunciation of the world. 3. In order to be a disciple it is necessary, in the concerns of conscience, to renounce every authority but that of Christ. The connection of a Christian with the Saviour is not merely that of a disciple with his teacher; it is the relation of a subject to his prince. "One is your Master, even Christ." 4. The cost of which we are speaking relates to what we are to expect. In general, to commence the profession of a Christian, is to enter upon a formidable and protracted warfare; it is to engage in an arduous contest, in which many difficulties are to be surmounted, many enemies overcome. The path that was trod by the great Leader is that which must be pursued by all his followers. 5. The cost of the Christian profession stands related to the term and duration of the engagement — "Be thou faithful unto death." It is coeval with life. II. WHY, WE SAY, IS IT EXPEDIENT FOR THOSE WHO PROPOSE TO BECOME CHRISTIANS TO "COUNT THE COST"? 1. It will obviate a sense of ridicule and of shame (see the context). 2. It will render the cost less formidable when it occurs. 3. If it diminishes the number of those who make a public and solemn profession, this will be more than retrieved by the superior character of those who make it. The Church will be spared much humiliation; Satan and the world deprived of many occasions of triumph. III. THE REASONS WHICH SHOULD DETERMINE OUR ADHERENCE TO CHRIST, NOTWITHSTANDING THE COST WHICH ATTENDS IT. 1. His absolute right to command or claim our attachment. 2. The pain attending the sacrifices necessary to the Christian profession greatly alleviated from a variety of sources. 3. No comparison betwixt the cost and the advantages. (R. Hall, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? |
    |