First Sit Down and Count the Cost, So You Don’t Start and Then Stop (Luke 14:28-35)

Jesus said, “Which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?” (Luke 14:28). Jesus wanted to prevent people from starting to follow Him and then stopping later. Expectations shape experiences. When you know the cost involved in following Christ, there’s a better chance of persevering. So, He used two illustrations that both involve foresight: building a tower and going to war. https://youtu.be/nqUqFGC59vQ In Luke 14:28 Jesus said, “First sit down and count the cost,” to prevent people from starting to follow Him and then stopping. Table of ContentsJesus Wants Unbelievers to Count the Cost So They Don’t Start and Then StopTwo Metaphors Illustrating Counting the CostFirst, Count the Cost When Building a TowerSecond, Count the Cost When Going to WarJesus Wants Believers to Count the Cost So They PersevereIs There Anything You Won't Renounce?Christians Share Similarities with SaltFirst, Salt FlavorsSecond, Salt PreservesThird, Salt HealsFourth, Salt NourishesOnly Apostates Lose Their SaltinessApostates Look Like Believers"Enlightened""Tasted of the heavenly gift""Shared in the Holy Spirit""Tasted the goodness of the word of God""The powers of the age to come"Apostates' Saltiness Can Never Be Restored Consider the duality of the Gospel. Gospel means “Good News” and there’s much good news: Jesus takes the punishment our sins deserve We’re given the very righteousness of Christ We will spend eternity in heaven with the Lord We don’t have to spend eternity in hell. I’ve heard people say, “Don’t tell people about hell, because that’s the bad news.” I don’t think it’s bad news to learn that you don’t have to go to hell. To me, that’s great news. But there’s also a cost associated with all this good news, or a cost associated with being Christ’s disciple: Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters yes, even their own life such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. Following Christ can be hard! Jesus said, "For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few" (Matthew 7:14). Jesus himself said following Him is hard. So, guess what could happen? People can start following Christ, but then stop. They begin, but don’t finish. Jesus Wants Unbelievers to Count the Cost So They Don’t Start and Then Stop If you are like me, when you think of the parable of the soils you think of three bad soils and one good soil. That’s true, but it’s also true that three of the soils started off well, and two of them stopped, leaving only one good soil: Luke 8:6 And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it (grew up with the plants, meaning the seed started growing) and choked it. Jesus interpreted the soils: Luke 8:13 And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. 14 And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. One soil "believes for a while," which is to say begins, but doesn't finish. This is apostasy, which we'll talk more about in a moment. The other soil grows up enough thorns choke it, which is to say it also begins, but doesn't finish. Two of the three soils start and stop Jesus wants to prevent unbelievers from starting and stopping, so He preached the following: Luke 14:28 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? This introduces an interesting balance. On one hand we have 2 Corinthians 6:2, quoting Isaiah 49:8, which says, "Now is the day of salvation." This sounds like people should make a decision today! But in these verses Jesus tries to prevent people from making a hasty decision by telling them to first count the cost. How do we explain this? I think the balance is, press people to make a decision, but make sure they understand what’s involved. Tell people to repent and turn to Christ, but encourage them to count the cost. Two Metaphors Illustrating Counting the Cost The spiritual application from both metaphors is that it is best to figure out as early as possible whether we really want to follow Christ. First, Count the Cost When Building a Tower I don’t think we see this much in our day, because of the financing people receive for building projects. What typically happens is people build something and it ends up being much more expensive than they initially thought, but it seems like at least it gets built. But in Jesus’s day people couldn’t go to the bank and get a big loan. So, if they ran out of money the building would stop, even if they were right in the middle of building. To prevent this, people should first sit down, take out their pencil and paper, and do all the math to see if they have enough if to complete the project. If they don’t, they could end up with a building that is half completed and Jesus described what happens: Luke 14:29 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.’ We know Jesus isn’t trying to give us construction advice. These illustrations, like all of Jesus’s teachings, use physical examples to teach spiritual truths. He is discouraging people from starting to follow Him, but stopping later. He said, "all who see it begin to mock him." If you start a building but don’t finish, you’re going to look silly and people will make fun of you. They know you ran out of money because you didn’t plan well enough. Spiritually speaking, picture people who talk about their relationship with Christ, tell others that they should repent and put their faith Christ, maybe even criticize other people’s religion. But then they stop following Christ. How does that look? It looks bad and people might mock them: “You said you are a Christian. You are supposedly thankful that Jesus died for you, but now you say you’re not a Christian anymore? It would’ve been better if you never claimed to be a Christian in the first place than to have made that claim and stopped following Him.” Second, Count the Cost When Going to War Luke 14:31 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. If kings are wise, when they go to battle, they first sit down and determine whether they have enough soldiers to win the fight. If they don’t, they lose. Many of their soldiers are killed, their cities could be plundered, and their nation could be conquered. But kings don’t always know the size of the enemy army until that army is heading toward them. At that point if the king recognizes he does not have enough soldiers to win, then he tries to make peace. He also tries to do this as early as possible: "while the other is yet a great way off." The king seeking peace doesn’t want the other king to get very far and be angry about the long trip he unnecessarily took with his army. The earlier the king seeks peace the better chance the approaching king will give him favorable terms. But if the opposing king makes it very far, he might say, “No, you wanted to go to battle and I came all this way, so we are going to fight.” Only foolish people go up against a king that they can’t defeat. Wise people pursue peace before they face the king. There’s a King we are going to face, and we don’t want to go to war with him. It’s a battle we would lose. Instead, we should seek terms of peace, and "we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1). If you’re not a Christian then you will face God as a terrifying king at war with you. If you are a Christian, you will face God as a loving Father, who welcomes you as one of His children. Jesus Wants Believers to Count the Cost So They Persevere There are two sides to Jesus’s teaching. He is discouraging unbelievers from following him so they will not start and then stop. But He is also encouraging believers to follow Him so we persevere. As much as these illustrations let unbelievers know what is involved in following Jesus so that they don’t try to, they also let believers know what is involved in following Jesus, so that we don’t end up falling away. Expectations shape experiences. When you know the cost involved in following Christ, there’s a better chance of persevering. That’s why both illustrations involve foresight, or looking ahead. Jesus wants us to have the foresight to not be like the failed tower-builder. Instead, he wants us to have the foresight of the king who knows ahead of time not to go to battle, but to seek terms of peace instead. It’s like Jesus says, “I don’t want you to start and then stop, so think about what’s involved so you can persevere.” Is There Anything You Won't Renounce? Luke 14:33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. The word "therefore" causes us to look back at what was just said. Those who are not willing to count the cost will not be willing to renounce all that they have. The Greek word for renounce is apotassō, which means “bid farewell.” Here’s one example of its use: Luke 9:61 Another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell (apotassō) to those at my home.” Jesus says,