Counting the Cost

A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 22, 1874,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"For which of you, intending to build a tower, sits not down first, and
counts the cost, whether he has sufficient to finish it? Lest haply,
after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all
that behold it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build, and
was not able to finish." Luke 14:28-30.

THIS passage is peculiar to Luke. He tells us that at the time when our
Lord uttered it, great multitudes followed Him. It is observable that
when our Lord was forsaken by the crowd, He was not depressed, and when
His ministry became popular He was not elated. He was calm and wise in
the midst of the excitement of the thronging multitudes. This passage
is sufficient evidence of that fact. On this occasion our Lord spoke
with a view to the winnowing of the great heap of nominal discipleship
which lay before Him, that the chaff might be driven away and only the
precious corn might remain.

The discourse before us reminds us of Gideon's process of diminishing
that vast but motley host of which the Lord said, "The people are too
many for Me." After having bid the faint-hearted go, He next brought
down the remaining thousands to the river and bade them drink. And then
He only kept for Himself those who lapped in a certain peculiar manner,
which indicated their zeal, their speed, their energy and their
experience. Our Lord tested His followers that He might have only those
remaining who would be fit for the conquest of the world. To carry His
precious treasure He would select vessels whom Divine Grace had made
fit for His use–the rest He could dispense with.

Our Lord Jesus was far too wise to pride Himself upon the number of His
converts. He cared, rather, for quality than quantity. He rejoiced over
one sinner that repented, but 10,000 sinners who merely professed to
have repented would have given Him no joy whatever. His heart longed
after the real. He loathed the counterfeit. He panted after the
sub-stance–the shadow could not content Him. His fan was in His hand
with which to thoroughly purge His floor and His axe was laid to the
root of the trees to hew down the fruitless. He was anxious to leave a
living Church like good seed-corn in the land–as free as possible from
all admixture.

Therefore in this particular instance one might even think that He was
repelling men rather than attracting them to His leadership. But,
indeed, He was doing nothing of the kind! He understood right well that
men, to be truly won, must be won by truth–that the truest love is
always honest, and that the best disciple is not he who joins the class
of the great Master in a hurry, and then afterwards discovers that the
learning is not such as he expected–but one who comes sighing after
just such knowledge as the teacher is prepared to give. Moreover, our
Lord knew what sometimes we may forget–that there is no heartbreak in
the world to the godly worker like that which comes of disappointed
hopes.

When those who have said, "Lord, I will follow You where ever You go,"
turn back unto their evil ways. And when the hot breath which shouted,
"Hosanna!" turns into the cruel, cold-blooded cry, "Crucify Him!
Crucify Him," nothing is more injurious to a Church than a large
dilution with half-hearted members–and nothing more dangerous to the
persons themselves than to allow them to put on an untrue profession.
Therefore did the Master take most care at the time when that care was
most needed, that none should follow Him under misapprehension, but
should be made fully aware of what was meant by being His disciples, so
that they should not say afterwards, "We have been misled. We have been
beguiled into a service which disappoints us."

Unlike the enlisting sergeant, who sets forth all the glories of
military service in glowing colors in order to gain a recruit, the
great Captain of our salvation would have His followers take all things
into consideration before they cast in their lot with Him. This morning
our text may be equally suitable and its warning may be as necessary
and as salutary as when first the Master pronounced it, for great
multitudes are just now following Christ–a revival has come and
stirred

the mass of you. Among the would-be disciples (blessed be God!) are
many whom the Lord Himself has called, for every one of whom we give
most hearty thanks!

But with them, necessarily, (for when was it ever different?), there
are others who are not called of God at all. They are moved by the
natural impulse of imitating others and stirred by feelings which are,
none the less, fleeting because just now they are intense. And
therefore, in Christ's name, it is ours to address you even as He did,
and warn you in His own words–"If any man comes to Me, and hates not
his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brother, and
sisters, yes, and his own life, also, he cannot be My disciple. And
whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me, cannot be My
disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, sits not down
first, and counts the cost, whether he has sufficient to finish it?
Lest haply, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish
it, all that behold it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to
build, and was not able to finish."

To assist our memories, we will divide our meditation into three parts.
The first will be headed in this manner–true religion is a costly
thing. The second shall bear this motto–Wisdom suggests that before we
enter upon it we should estimate the cost. And the third shall bear
this inscription–Cost what it may, it is worth what it costs.

I. First, then, it is clear from our text that TRUE RELIGION IS COSTLY.
Far be it from us to create any confusion of thought here! The gifts of
God's Grace cost us nothing, neither could His salvation be purchased
with money, nor with merit, nor by vows and penances. "If a man should
give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be
condemned." The Gospel motto is, "without money and without price." We
are "justified freely by His Grace, through the redemption which is in
Christ Jesus."

Yet, for all that, if a man will be a Christian it will cost him
something. Consider a moment. Here is a blind man sitting by the
wayside begging. He asks to have his eyes opened. Will it cost him
anything? No, the Savior would not accept all the gold in the world for
the cure! He will freely open his eyes. But when they are opened it
will cost that blind man something! Obtaining his sight, he will be
called upon to discharge the duties of one who has eyes. He will not be
allowed, any longer, to sit there and beg, or, if he tries to do so, he
will lose the sympathy which is bestowed upon blindness. Now that his
eyes are opened he must use them, and earn his own bread. It will cost
him something, for he will now be conscious of the darkness of the
night which he knew nothing of before!

And there are sad sights which now he must look upon which never
grieved him before, for often what the eyes do not see, the heart does
not know. A man cannot gain a faculty except at some expense. He that
increases knowledge or the means of gaining it, increases both sorrow
and duty. Take another case. A poor man is suddenly made a prince–it
will cost him the giving up of his former manners–and will involve him
in new duties and cares. A man is set on the road to Heaven as a
pilgrim–does he pay anything to enter by the wicket gate? He does not.
Free Grace admits him to the sacred way.

But when that man is put on the road to Heaven it will cost him
something. It will cost him earnestness to knock at the wicket gate and
sweat to climb the Hill Difficulty. It will cost him tears to find his
roll again when he has lost it in the Arbor of Ease. It will cost him
great care in going down the Valley of Humiliation. It will cost him
resistance unto blood when he stands foot to foot with Apollyon in
conflict. It will cost him many fears when he has to traverse the
Valley of the Shadow of Death. It may cost him his life when he comes
to Vanity Fair, if, like Faithful, he is called to bear testimony at
the stake!

True religion is the gift of God and there is nothing we can do to
purchase it. But at the same time, if we receive it, certain
consequences will flow from it–and we ought to consider whether we
shall be able to put up with them. You may be sure that the cost must
be great, since our Lord compares it to the building of a tower. The
word here used for, "tower," has often been employed to signify a
turreted house, a villa, or country mansion. "Which of you," says He to
the people, "intending to build for himself a mansion in which to
reside at your ease, would not first of all count the cost?" The
building is to be a costly one!

Doddridge is wrong in the supposition that a temporary tower is here
intended. That it would cost a considerable sum is clear from the
Savior's saying that the wise man sits down and counts the cost. He
does not merely stand up and pass his hand over his brow and say, "This
tower will cost me so many hundred pounds." Since it is to be an
elaborate construction, an almost palatial edifice, he sits down, like
a merchant at his desk, and thoughtfully considers the under-

taking. He consults the architect and the mason, and calculates what
will be the expense of the outer walls, of the roof, of the interior
fittings and the like. And he does not make a rough estimate, but
counts the cost as men count their gold.

It is evidently a matter of consequence with him, and so is true
religion–it is no trifle, but an all-important business. He who thinks
that a careless, hit-or-miss, headlong venture will suffice for his
eternal interests is the reverse of wise! True godliness is the
building up of a character which will endure the Day of Judgment. It
begins in laying deep the foundations in faith, love and a renewed
heart. It is carried on by the putting patiently and carefully, and
often painfully, stone upon stone, the materials of the fair edifice,
diligently adding, "to your faith courage, and to courage knowledge,
and to knowledge temperance, and to temperance patience, and to
patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly kindness, and to
brotherly kindness charity."

Our lifework consists in "building up ourselves in our most holy
faith." Don't you see that it is a glorious palace to which the
Christian character is likened? But, lest we should still think the
expense small, our Lord compares it to a war! He speaks of the number
of troops engaged in that war, showing that it is no petty skirmish of
two insignificant tribes. He likens it to a war in which, upon one side
there is an array of 10,000, and on the other a host of twenty
thousand. Now, warfare is always expensive work–besides the cost for
accoutrements and ammunition, there is the cost of human life and
blood.

There is the removal of strong arms from work at home and the direr
risks of defeat, captivity and devastation. The Lord compares religion,
then, in its externals, to a battle between the gracious man and the
evils rampant in the outside world. The disciple of Jesus has to defend
himself against a gigantic foe and he has within himself a power which,
so far as he is concerned, is not sufficient for the contest. The odds
are fearful–10,000 against twenty thousand! Well does the Savior say
in the latter case that it is well to sit down to consult. The king
with the smaller army consults, asks his sage senators, takes counsel
from experience, calls in good advisers and debates whether the thing
can be done or not.

So should we consider the matter of our souls, for religion is a costly
thing and not to be entered on, as the Frenchman said, "with a light
heart." That light heart cost his nation dearly and so it will,
ourselves, if we indulge it. We might have inferred this, I think, from
some other considerations–namely from the fact that true religion is a
lasting thing. It lasts for life. False religion comes and goes. True
regeneration is never repeated and it is the commencement of a life
which will loom no end, either in time or in eternity.

Now anything which is to last must be expensive! You shall get your
glass colored, if you will, cheaply, but the sun will soon remove all
its beauty. If you would obtain a glass which shall retain its color
for centuries, every single step in the process of its manufacture will
be costly, involving much labor and great care. So is it with true
religion. You may get it cheap if you will–it will look quite as well
as the real thing and for a little while it will bring you almost all
the comfort and respect which the genuine article would have brought
you–but it will not last. Soon will its color fly and the beauty, the
excellence which were there but in pretence, will soon have gone. You
need, dear Friend, (I am sure you do), you need a godliness which will
last you till you die! Well, then, it must cost you something, you can
be sure of that.

Remember, also, that true religion will have to bear a strain, for it
is certain to be opposed. This tower will not be built without
opposition! It is like the wall of Jerusalem. Sanballat and Tobias will
be sure to hinder the building. True religion must be able to endure
hardness–if it cannot do that it is good for nothing. The old Toledo
blade cost the warrior much at first hand, but when he has once
procured it, he knows that it will cut through joint and marrow in the
day of battle. Therefore he is not afraid to dash into the thick of the
fray, trusting to its unrivalled temper and keen edge.

Could he not find a cheaper sword? I think he could have found it
easily enough, and with small expense of gold. But then, in the moment
when his sword smote upon his enemy's helmet, instead of cleaving
through the skull, it would snap in the warrior's hand and cost him his
life! Such is the cheap religion with which so many take up. There is
no self-denial in it, no forsaking of the world, no giving up of carnal
amusements–they are just the same as the world–their religion costs
them nothing and at last, when they need it, it will fail them–it will
snap like the ill-made sword in the day of battle and leave them
defenseless!

Oh, if you want that which will endure the conflict, you must pay a
cost for it! Jesus Christ knew that the persons to whom He spoke would
not be able to bear the tests which awaited His disciples. They did not
know that He would be crucified, for just then He was popular, and they
hoped that He was to be the King of Israel. But the Savior knew that
there would come dark days in which the King of the Jews would be
hanged upon a tree and His disciples, even His true

ones, would forsake Him for the moment and would flee. And therefore
He, in effect, said to them, "You must be prepared for cross-bearing.
You must be prepared to follow Me amid derision and shame and reproach.
And if you are not ready for this, your discipleship is a mistake!

In their case it did not stand the test. These people were nowhere to
be found when the time of trial came. And remember, dear Friends–and I
dwell with great emphasis upon this point–we need a religion which
will abide the inspection of the Great Judge at the Last Day. Now,
there are things in the world which will endure for a while, but if
they are closely looked at, and especially if they are placed under a
microscope, they will be seen to have many flaws. No microscopic
examination can, for a moment, be compared with the glance of Jehovah!
He will read us through and through. Oh, what a withering will there be
for fair professions in the day when His fiery eyes shall gaze upon
them! Never does the grass dry up under the hot dry wind one-half as
swiftly as the fair plains of pretended Christianity will wither
beneath the Divine glance in the Last Tremendous Day!

He will look upon what men call Christendom and it will almost, if not
altogether, vanish for, "when the Son of Man comes, shall He find faith
upon the earth?" Will it not, then, be evidently true that "many are
called, and but few are chosen"? "Strive to enter in at the strait
gate," is still the voice of Christ to all of us, "for many shall seek
to enter in, but shall not be able." If our religion is to be weighed
in the balances, and may, perhaps, be found wanting, it is well for us
to see to it and to know that it must be sincere, genuine and costly if
it is to pass that ordeal. What, then, is the expense? What is the cost
of building this tower or fighting this war?

The answer is given by our Savior, not by me! I should not have dared
to invent such tests as He has ordained! It is for me to be the echo of
His voice and no more. What does He say? Why, first, that if you would
be His and have His salvation, you must love Him beyond every other
person in this world. Is not that the meaning of this expression, "If
any man come to Me and hate not his father and mother"? Dear names!
Dear names! "Father and mother!" Lives there a man with soul so dead
that he can pronounce either of these words without emotion–and
especially the last–"mother"? Brothers and Sisters, this is a dear and
tender name to us–it touches a chord which thrills our being! Yet far
more powerful is the name of Savior, the name of Jesus!

Father and mother must be less loved than Jesus Christ! The Lord
demands precedence, also, of the best beloved "wife." Here he touches
another set of heart-strings. Dear is that word," wife," partner of our
being, comfort of our sorrow, delight of our eyes–"wife!" Yet, Wife,
you must not take the chief place. You must sit at Jesus' feet, or else
you are an idol, and Jesus will not allow your rivalry. And "children,"
the dear babes that nestle in your bosom and clamber to your knee and
pronounce your name in accents of music–they must not be our chief
love–they must not come in between us and the Savior. Nor, for their
sakes, to give them pleasure or to promote their worldly advantage,
must we grieve our Lord.

Many a son is master of his father. Many a daughter has been mistress
to the mother. But if it is for evil, this must be ended at once! If
they tempt us to evil they must be treated as if we hated them–yes,
the evil in them must be hated for Christ's sake! If you are Christ's
disciples your Lord must be first, then mother, father, wife, children,
brothers, and sisters will follow in due rank and order. I am afraid
that many professors are not prepared for this. They would be
Christians if their family would approve, but they must consult their
brother, father, or wife. They would make a stand against worldly
pleasures if others would, but they cannot bear to appear singular, or
to oppose the views of relatives.

They say, "My father wishes it and I dare not tell him that it is
wrong" "My mother says that we must not be too strait-laced and
therefore, though my conscience tells me it is wrong, yet will I do
it." Or else they say, "My girls are growing up and must have
amusement. My boys must be allowed their pleasures and therefore I must
wink at sin." Ah, my Brothers and Sisters, this must not be if you are,
indeed, Christ's disciples! You must put them all aside–the dearest
must go sooner than Jesus be forsaken! Does He not say in the Psalms,
"Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear; forget also
your own people, and your father's house; so shall the King greatly
desire your beauty: for he is your Lord; and worship you Him"?

Mark you, you will best prove your love to your relatives by being
decided for the right, since you will be the more likely to win their
souls. Love them too much to indulge the wrong in them! Love them so
truly that you hate that in them which would injure you and ruin them!
You must be prepared to suffer from those who are bound to you by the

dearest ties. Sin must not be tolerated whatever may happen. We cannot
yield in the point of sin–our determination is invincible–come hate
or come love, we must follow Christ!

The next item of cost is this–self must be hated. I am afraid there
are some who would sooner hate father or wife than hate their own life.
Yet such is the command. It means this–that when my own pleasure, or
my own gain, or my own reputation, or even my own life shall come in
the way of Christ's Glory, I am too little to make any account of
my-self–that I must even hate myself if self shall stand in the way of
Christ! I am to look upon father, mother, brother, sister and myself,
also, as foes, so far as they are opposed to the Lord Jesus and His
holy will! I am to love them and desire their good as I also desire
good for myself, but I am not to desire any good for them or for myself
at the cost of sinning and robbing the Lord Jesus of His Glory. As for
myself, if I see anything in myself opposed to Jesus I must do away
with it. I must mortify the flesh with its affections and lusts,
denying myself anything and everything which would grieve the Savior,
or would prevent my realizing perfect conformity to Him.

Next, the Savior goes on to say that if we would follow Him we must
bear our cross–"Whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me
cannot be My disciple." Sometimes that cross comes in the shape of
confessing our faith before gainsayers. "Ah," says the timid heart, "if
I do so I shall have all my friends against me." Take up your cross! It
is a part of the cost of true discipleship. "I shall scarcely be able
to bear myself in the house if I avow my religion." Take up your cross!
My Brother, unless you do, you cannot be Christ's disciple. "Well, but
it will involve a change even in my daily life." Make the change, my
Brother, or you cannot be the Lord's disciple.

"But I know there is one very dear whom I have looked upon as likely to
be my future companion–and he will leave me if I forsake the ways of
the world." Then, heavy as the loss may be, let him go, my Sister, if
it is so that you cannot follow Christ and unite with Him. You must
follow Jesus, or be lost forever! What trying words these are! What
detectors of the hypocrisy of many professing Christians! Did they ever
separate from the world? No, not they–they fell in with its fashions
as the dead fish floats with the current! Have they any cross to bear?
Does anybody reproach them with being too rigid, and too puritanical?
Oh, no! For theirs is the religion which the world praises and
consequently the religion which God abhors! If any man loves the world,
the love of the Father is not in him–and he who has the smile of the
ungodly must look for the frown of God!

But, more than this, the Savior, as another item of cost, requires that
His disciple should take up his cross and come after Him, that is to
say, he must act as Christ acted. If we are not prepared to make Christ
our example, yes, if it is not our highest ambition to live as He
lived, to give ourselves up to act as He did, we cannot be His
disciples. Last of all, we must make an unreserved surrender of all to
Jesus. Listen to these words: "Whoever he is of you that forsakes not
all that he has, he cannot be My disciple." It may yet come to this,
that persecution may arise and you may actually have to give up all!
You must be prepared for the event. You may not have to give up
anything, but the surrender must be just as real in your heart as if it
had to be carried out in act and deed. No man has truly given himself
to Christ unless he has also said, "My Lord, I give to You this day my
body, my soul, my powers, my talents, my goods, my house, my children
and all that I have. Henceforth I will hold them at Your will, as a
steward under You. Yours they are–as for me, I have nothing–I have
surrendered all to You."

You cannot be Christ's disciples at any less expense than this–if you
possess a farthing that is your own and not your Master's, Christ is
not your Master! It must be all His, every single jot and tittle–and
your life, also–or you cannot be His. These are very searching words,
but I would remind you, once again, that they are not mine. If, in
expounding them I have erred, I am grieved that it should be so. But I
am persuaded I have not erred on the side of too much severity. I
confess I may have spoken too leniently. The words of the text lay the
axe to the root and are sweeping to the last degree.

Oh, count, then, the cost! And if any of you have taken up a religion
which costs you nothing, put it down and flee from it, for it will be
your curse and your ruin! Is there any getting to Heaven without this
cost? No! But may we not be Christians without these sacrifices? You
may be counterfeits, you may be hypocrites, you may be brothers and
sisters of Judas, but you cannot be real Christians! This cost is
unavoidable, it cannot be bated one solitary mite. God grant that you
may be enabled to submit to it.

II. The second head is this, WISDOM SUGGESTS THAT WE SHOULD COUNT THE
COST. You feel you would

like to be a Christian. Dear Friend, give me your hand. I am glad you
have such a desire. But as I grasp your hand and

would gladly draw you towards Christ, I look you in the face and say,
"Do you know what you desire?" Are you sure you desire it? There are
men lying on beds of sickness who cry for help, but when they recover
and have to go out and battle with the world, the time may come when
they will say, "I would just as soon be on the bed of sickness again."
I should not like a time to come when any one of you shall say, "I
joined the Church, but it was a mistake. I did not weigh the matter
rightly. I am now in for it, and I am sorry I am, for I ought not to be
where I am."

If honest, you ought to give up your profession, if such is the case.
If you have no Divine Grace, I hope you will have enough of common
honesty not to stick to a practical falsehood. I should grieve, indeed,
if that should happen, and therefore this morning, I pray you, count
the coat! For mark, if you do not count the cost, you will not be able
to carry out your resolves. It is a great building. It is a great war!
No mistake can be greater than the notion that in order to be a
Christian there is only needed a measure of emotion during a few
days–and the belief of some one decisive hour! If I preached such
doctrines I should be deceiving your souls!

Faith and repentance are not the work of a week or two, they are a
lifework! As long as the Christian is on earth he must repent. And as
for faith, it is not saying, "I believe in Jesus, and therefore I am
saved," but it is a daily Grace, the trust of a lifetime. The Christian
continues, still, to believe and repent until he commences to triumph
in eternal Glory. Moreover, faith is continually productive of
sanctifying results upon the life of the Believer, or otherwise he is
not possessed of the right faith. He who believes in Jesus Christ is
saved–but if there were such a thing as a temporary faith there would
be such a thing as a temporary salvation. He who truly repents of sin
is a renewed man, but if repentance of sin were only a transient thing
and were soon over, the life which it indicated would be over, too. You
must not be content with false and fleeting religion! You are beginning
to build a tower of which the top stone will never be laid till you are
taken up to Heaven–and you are commencing a war which will never end
till you exchange the sword for the palm branch.

Remember, also, that to fail in this great enterprise will involve
terrible defeat, for what does our Lord say? He says that not to be
able to finish will expose you to ridicule. I beg you to notice the
form of that ridicule. "All that pass by will begin to mock him, saying
one to the other (for that is the force of the expression) this man
began to build but was not able to finish." Our Lord does not represent
them as saying to the foolish builder, "You began to build and were not
able to finish," but as speaking about him as a third person–"This
man." Now, half-hearted Christians, half-hearted religious men may not
be scoffed at in the public streets to their faces, but they are common
butts of ridicule behind their backs. You false professors are
universally despised! Worldlings laughingly say, "Ah, these are pretty
specimens of Church members!"

The world looks upon a worldly church with utter disdain, and for my
part, little do I regret that such derision is poured upon an object
which so well deserves it! To be a mere pretender to Christian
discipleship is to become an object of scorn in time and in eternity.
And such will be the false professor's fate. Sir, if you mean to be a
Christian, resolve that it shall be the right thing, thorough and
decided–for then, though men will not go about and praise you to your
face, they will honor you–and even those who hate you will know your
value. But if you are only half a Christian and not thorough, they may
not come to your face and show their contempt, but as they pass by they
will sneer and will have more respect for a downright worldling than
for you–because he is what he says he is, and makes no pretence of
being anything else! But as for you, you began to build and could not
finish.

What a wretched object is a sham Christian! We have sometimes seen
great buildings which have been commenced and deserted by
over-speculative persons. The neighbors have called them "Smithy's
Folly," or "Brown's Folly," or "Robinson's Folly," or the like. These
are but fleeting causes of derision. But the pretender, the man who, in
appearance, commenced to be a Christian and then broke down at it, will
be pointed at even by the lost in Hell! The drunkard will cry, "And
you? Have you, also, come here? You who were so eloquent about
sobriety, and so ready to rebuke the tippler." "Aha!" cries another,
"you are the man who lived down our street and made so much show of
your religion! You told me I was very wicked, but are you better off
than I am?"

Behold, I see the openly profane raise themselves up from their racks
of remorse to exclaim, "Have you become like one of us? You
Church-member, are you, too, in Hell? Is the taste of the sacramental
wine still upon your lips? Why, then, do you demand a drop of water to
cool your tongue? That sacramental bread which you did swallow so
readily, does it not even now stick in your hypocritical throat? You
liar before God and man! It is meet and right that you are

cast out even as we." Oh, if you must be lost, be lost as anything but
hypocrites! If you must perish, perish rather outside the Church than
in it! Do not mock the Lord of Glory! I know of no worse act than to
mimic the excellences of the Savior with bold imitation of His Graces!
What worse offense can you render to the Majesty of His sacred virtue
than to travesty His holiness and mock His perfection?

III. The last word shall be this, that COST WHATEVER IT MAY, TRUE
RELIGION IS WORTH THE COST. We

are like a man with the black pest upon him who knows that he is dying
and yet yonder is a drug which will heal him. "Physician," says he,
"you ask so great a price that each drop costs me a diamond! You are
demanding more than its weight in choicest pearls, but it does not
matter, I must have it! If I do not, I am a dead man–and then what
will it profit me that I have kept my gold?" It is the case of every
one of us here present–we must have Christ or perish for-ever–and it
will be better for us to cut off our right arm and pluck out our right
eye than that we should be cast into

Hell fire!

Mark you, Brothers and Sisters, the present blessings of true religion
are worth all the cost. What if I have to rend some fond connection?
Jesus, You are better to me than husband, wife, or child. If it must be
so that she who lies in my bosom shall count me for her enemy, You
shall be in my heart, my Savior, better than a Rachel, or a Rebekah.
Yes, if it must be so that my father shall say, "You shall never darken
my doors again if you follow Christ," he must say it, for when father
and mother forsake me the Lord will take me up. The immediate joy will
recompense for the immediate loss. Yes, doubtless you may count all
things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
your Lord and yet remain a gainer.

And again, what recompense comes for all cost in the consolation
afforded by true godliness in the article of death? To lie a-dying–why
it will give no pain to be able to say, then, "I was cast out of any
family for Jesus." It will be no sorrow to remember, "I was ridiculed
for Christ." It will cause us no pangs to say, "I was counted too
precise and too much of a Puritan." No, my Brothers and Sisters, those
are not the things which put thorns into death pillows. Oh, no! There
we shall see how sweet it was to have borne any part of Jesus' Cross–a
sliver of His Cross will be worth a king's ransom on a dying day!
Moreover, at the Judgment, when the trumpet rings out and the dead are
rising, we shall not say, "I suffered too much for Christ."

When to the right His chosen go, and we among them, we shall not look
back with regret to the fact that we lost caste in society and position
among the refined for Jesus' sake! We shall not lament that we attended
a despised conventicle and worshipped among the poor of this world out
of love to Jesus, and fidelity to His Gospel. Oh, no! I guarantee you
in that day he shall shine brightest who was most beclouded for his
Lord's sake! Midst the bright ones, doubly bright shall be the martyr
band of whom the world was not worthy–who were accounted as the
offscouring of all things! And while each one of the disciples shall
receive a hundredfold for all he may have given up for his Lord's
cause, these shall have the fairest portion.

Moreover, let me remind you, Beloved, that Christ asks you to give up
nothing that will injure you. If you must hate father and mother it is
only in this sense–that you will not yield to their wrong requests,
nor will you leave Christ for them. If you must give up any pleasure it
is because it is not a fitting pleasure for you–it is poisonous sugar
of lead– and not true sweetness. Christ will give you greater
enjoyments by far. I remember that our Redeemer does not ask any one of
us to do what He has not done Himself. That thought pierces me to the
quick–I wish it might affect you, also. Master, do You say, give up my
father? Did You not leave Your Father? Do You bid me even leave my
father's house if it must be for Your sake?

Did You not leave the glorious mansions of Heaven? What if I am called
to bear reproach? They called the Master of the house Beelzebub! What
if I am cast out? They also cast You out. When we think of the
scourging, the shame and the spitting which the Lord endured, what are
our griefs? And if, for His sake, we should even be condemned to death
we know how He hung on the Cross, stripped of His all, that He might
save us from the wrath to come! O Believer, can you follow your Lord
where ever He goes? Soldiers of the Cross, can you follow Him? Is the
path smooth enough for those dear feet and too rough for you? There He
is in the center of the battle where the blows fall fastest–will you
follow Him? Dare you follow Him, or do you pine for the tents of ease
and the soft couches of the cowards, yonder, who are shrinking back and
deserting to the enemy?

Oh, by everything that is good, if you are, indeed, His followers, I
charge you, cry, "Where He is, there let His servant be! As He fares,
so let His servant fare–in this world let His humiliation be ours so
that in the world to come we may be partakers of His Glory." This is
strong preaching, you tell me, but the Savior meant all that I have
said. His was a testing discourse, but there are Truths of God to be
remembered which may console us while hearing them. It is true that you
cannot build the tower–Joshua said to the people in his time–"You
cannot serve the Lord." If you have counted the cost, you know, by this
time, that you cannot wage the war. Ten thousand cannot stand against
twenty thousand. But yet it must be done, inevitable necessity drives
on behind–whatever may be in front–we dare not turn back.

Remember Lot's wife. What, then, must we do? Hear the Lord's words,
"With men it is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Are
you willing? Then the Spirit of God will help you! You shall give up
the world and the flesh without a sigh! You shall fight against your
lusts and you shall overcome them through the blood of the Lamb! The
tower shall be built and the Lord shall inhabit it! Cast yourselves on
Jesus by a simple faith–rest in His power–and from day to day believe
in His strength, and He will bear you safely through!

Do you notice the verse which follows this passage? I wonder whether
anything like it will follow my sermon. It is astonishing that though
Jesus thundered out as from the top of Sinai and His words seemed
harsh, yet it is written, "Then drew near unto Him all the publicans
and sinners for to hear Him," as if they said to themselves, "This man
tells us the Truth of God, therefore we will hear Him." And then He
began to tell them the precious Truths of His Free Grace, acting just
as the farmer does who puts in the plow and turns up the soil–when he
sees the clods breaking in the furrow, then he scatters the golden
seed–but not till then.

Listen, every one of you who would have Christ! Come, and have Him! You
who would have salvation, accept it as the gift of His Sovereign Grace!
But do not receive it under misapprehension–understand what is meant
by it. Salvation is not deliverance from Hell, alone–it is deliverance
from sin! It is not the rescue of men, merely from eternal pain–it is
their redemption from this world's vain and wicked ways! It cannot be
divided! It is a garment without seam, woven from the top throughout.
If you would have justification, you must have sanctification! If you
would have pardon, you must have holiness! It you would be one with
Christ, you must be separate from sinners. If you would walk the
streets of gold above, you must walk the road of holiness below! God
grant you His Holy Spirit to enable you to do so and His shall be the
praise forever! Amen.

PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON–Psalm 103; Luke 14:25-35.
HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN HYMN BOOK"–906, 671, 596
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