LESSON 5.
THE COST

Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? (Luke 14:18)

It is a good sign if we want to be holy - we may thank God for putting that desire in our hearts. At the same time we ought to think seriously about how being a Christian will really affect our lives. Christ's way to eternal life is a way of great comfort, but it is also a narrow way in which the cross comes before the crown!

1. É will show what it costs to be a true Christian

I am not discussing what it costs to save a Christian's soul. I know that it cost nothing less than the life-blood of the Son of God to provide an atonement for sin and so redeem a person from hell. I want to consider what believers are ready to give up for a life of service to Christ.
I grant that it costs little to be a merely nominal Christian. To attend a place of worship on a Sunday and to be tolerably moral during the week is a cheap and easy Christianity; there is no self-denial or self-sacrifice in it. But it does cost something to be a real Christian - there are enemies to be overcome, battles to be fought, sacrifices to be made, temptations to be resisted. That is why it is important for us to count the cost.
        
a) There is a cost to our self-righteousness. We must put away all pride and all conceit about what we think is our own goodness. We are saved only by the goodness and merit of another - Jesus Christ. Without him our morality, our praying, our Bible study, attendance at meetings for worship, all add up to nothing. We have to know that in ourselves we are poor, helpless sinners. So, to be a true Christian will cost us our self-righteousness.

b) There is a cost to our sins. We must give up every action which is wrong in God's sigh. Whether small or great, whether publicly known or secret, all sins must be renounced. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right (Isaiah 1:16). This will be hard to do. Our sins are often as dear to us as our children; we love them, hug them, cling to them, delight in them! Christ is willing to receive sinners but he will not receive them if they stick to their sins. To be a true Christian will cost us our sins.

c) There is a cost to our love of ease. If we wish to be successful as believers on our journey to heaven, constant effort will be necessary. We must be careful in our behaviour every moment of the day - careful about each thought, each word, each deed. We will need to be careful about our prayers, our Bible study, our use of the `means of grace". This also sounds hard advice. We dislike anything which requires struggle. But we can have, no gains without pains. To be a true Christian will cost us our easy living.

d) It may cost us popularity with our neighbours. If our main aim is to please God, then we may have to accept much ill-will from other people. People may dismiss us as fools, or, fanatics. Jesus said, Remember the words I spoke to you: No servant is greater than his master: If They persecute me, they will persecute you also (John 15:20). This will be hard to bear. It is always unpleasant to be spoken against. But it must be endured. To be a true Christian may cost us the goodwill of our non Christian neighbours.
Let us remember that a religion which costs nothing is worth nothing. A cheap Christianity without a cross would, in the end, be a useless Christianity without a crown!

2. I will show you why it is important to count the cost

There is one group of people for whom estimating the cost of being a true Christian is of great importance. They are not ignorant of religion. They know much about it, but their faith is not strong. They may have picked up their knowledge `secondhand' and not by personal experience. They may have been reared in a religious family. But such persons are in real danger, for their religion requires little effort from them. When they near the end of life, and try to make some last efforts to turn to God, they will find that repentance is not such an easy thing as they had imagined. These people need to look at examples in the Bible of those who did not count the full cost of what God required, and in the end they died in their sins.

a) Thousands of the children of Israel perished in the wilderness between Egypt and Canaan, because they had not counted the cost. They left Egypt eagerly and full of zeal. They had thought that the Promised Land would be theirs at once. But when they experienced difficulties their enthusiasm left them and their courage failed. They had not counted the cost. They lost their faith and died in their sins.

b) For want of counting the cost many of those who listened to our Lord after a while turned back and no longer followed him (John 6:66). They had seen his miracles and thought that the Kingdom of God would appear immediately. But when they found there were hard doctrines to be believed and hard work to be done, their faith collapsed. They had not counted the cost.

c) For want of counting the cost King Herod returned to his old sins and destroyed his soul. He had heard John Baptist preach and liked what he heard. He was interested - and even honoured John as a holy man. But his faith could not control his lust, nor accept the criticisms of his guests (Mark 6:19-28). He had not counted the cost of living according to John's holy teaching.

d) For want of counting the cost, Demas deserted Paul because he was unwilling to give up his friendship of this world for the friendship of God. Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me, wrote Paul (2 Timothy 4:10). Evidently Demas had not counted the cost, when he joined Paul's team of workers.

e) For want of counting the cost many people who hear powerful preaching will for a while appear to be changed. They are stirred to claim a spiritual experience they have not really known. And when the novelty is gone they drift away from the congregation of believers (Matthew 13:20,21). They did not count the cost.

f) For want of counting the cost many who seem to be converted at large revivals and special `evangelistic missions' fail to maintain their faith. They fail to understand that religion is more than a sensation of `coming to Christ'. When they find, after a time, that there is a cross to be carried, that our hearts are deceitful and that Satan is always near us, they return to Christless ways of living. They have never really counted the cost (Matthew 13:20,21).

g) For want of counting the cost the children of Christian parents often fail to develop as Christians themselves. From their earliest years they have known Bible truths, but without really experiencing them for themselves. And once away from home they begin to discover worldly pleasures and have no further time for Christian things. They have not counted the cost -perhaps they had never been taught that there was a cost!

I would be so bold as to say that it would be good if the duty of counting the cost was more frequently taught than it is. People ought to be told honestly what it is they are taking up, if they express a desire to serve Christ. Let us not be like a dishonest recruiting sergeant for the army who speaks only about the uniform, the pay and the glory, and says nothing about the enemies, the battle, and the wounds.

3. How can we count the cost rightly?

There is nothing to make us afraid if we count the cost of being a Christian in a right way. Any cost required of us can be paid, if our faith is strong. We have only to read of such biblical characters as Noah, Moses and Paul to realise that without a strong faith in God the cost of what he asked of them would have been too great for them to pay. It may cost much to be a true Christian, but against that we must always put the reward of heaven's glory.

a) So let us compare the profit and the loss. We may lose some things of this temporary world, but gain the eternal salvation of our souls.

b) Compare the praise and the blame. Other people may want to blame you, but, as his child, you have the praise of God! c) Compare the friends and the enemies. On one side is the devil, and wicked people. But on the other is the favour and the friendship of the Lord Jesus Christ, who has defeated the devil.

d) Compare the life that is now with the life that is to come. There may be struggles and trials now, but they last only for a few years. On the other hand there is the everlasting life of heaven, where there is no sin, no struggle or trial.

e) Compare the pleasures of sin and the blessing of God's service. The pleasures of this world are unsatisfying; they shine for a few moments and then are gone. They depend so much upon happy circumstances. But the blessings of God are for ever, and do not depend upon earthly circumstances.

f) Count up and compare the troubles a Christian may have and those that are in store for the ungodly. Nothing that the Christian may be called to suffer compares with the eternal wrath of God upon the wicked.

Such sums as these are often not done correctly, or even not done at all. Many cannot make up their minds whether it is worth serving Christ. The great secret of counting the cost in a right way is to have a strong faith. I urge you, my reader, to consider whether your present religion costs you anything at all. I urge you to consider what it has cost God to bring salvation to sinners in this world. I urge you to consider how, when in the glory of heaven, you may look back and marvel that you could ever think the cost was too much for you to have suffered!

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