October 2, 2025 • 16 mins
A crowded Pharisee’s house. Watchful eyes. A suffering man. That’s where Luke 14 begins—and where our assumptions about religion, status, and comfort start to unravel. We follow Jesus as he heals on the Sabbath, not to provoke but to restore the true meaning of rest: trusting God while letting mercy move toward real need. From there, the room’s quiet power games come into focus as people angle for honor. Jesus flips the script with a simple practice—choose the low seat—and then points the host toward a better guest list: invite the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame. Hospitality becomes worship when it’s aimed at those who can’t repay.
We dig into the parable of the great banquet, where good excuses crowd out the best invitation. Property, work, and relationships are good gifts, but they make poor masters. The master’s response is startling: widen the invitation until the house is full. That expansive grace challenges our rhythms and our priorities. Along the way, we share a story of hidden generosity that captures the secret joy of blessing someone who can’t bless you back—an act that narrows the audience to One and turns an ordinary moment into an altar.
Then comes the sharp edge: Jesus calls for love that outruns every other loyalty, a life that counts the cost before building, and the daily courage to carry a cross. Partial surrender creates inner conflict; wholehearted surrender creates freedom. We talk about why “Jesus is Lord of all or not at all” is not a slogan but a pathway into a larger life—one where humility, mercy, and costly obedience make us salty again. If you’re wrestling with excuses, longing for purpose, or ready to trade control for deeper joy, this conversation will meet you at the table and lead you to the feast. If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review to help more people discover the journey.
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The More We Dig. The More We Find.
Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT).
Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome to the Bible Breakdown Podcast.
Every day, we take one chapterof the Bible, dig deeper, and
discover that the more we dig,the more we find.
You can find out more at theBiblebreakdown.com.
Now let's grow in God's wordtogether.
Well, hello everyone, andwelcome back to your journey
through the Gospel of Luke.
Today, Luke chapter 14.
(00:21):
And remember, as always, we arelooking at this idea of the Holy
Spirit inspiring a guy namedLuke, who was by profession a
doctor, but he was commissionedby someone named Theopolis,
likely a high-ranking Romanofficial, to go into the Judean
countryside and to investigatethe claims that have been made
about Jesus.
Now, Luke was already abeliever.
(00:42):
He was a traveling companion ofPaul, which makes a lot of sense
because Paul was getting beat upeverywhere he went.
So it would make sense that histraveling companion would be a
doctor to constantly patch himup.
But what's amazing is he goesand he investigates the claims
made about Jesus, likely fromhearing the sermons of Peter or
Paul, and then writing back toTheopolis.
(01:03):
And we know that it actuallywasn't Theopolis that
commissioned Luke, it was theHoly Spirit.
The Holy Spirit commissionedLuke through Theopolis because
this was inspired by the Lord togive a chronological account of
the life of Jesus.
That's why you hear, if you'vebeen reading with us along the
way, you hear different piecesthat was found in the other
gospels.
(01:23):
We just got through reading, youknow, the past two to three
chapters, a lot of what you canfind in Matthew 5, 6, and 7, the
Sermon on the Mount, you canhear those things because that
was one of the main messagesthat Jesus would preach.
And Luke is sharing with us thatit was that this point in Jesus'
ministry when he would talkabout such things.
And I love the idea of Lukegoing and investigating the
(01:45):
claims and the healings of Jesusduring the lifetime of these
people and how easy it would beto refute and say, no, no, no,
you know, it wasn't Zacchaeusand it wasn't in a tree, it
wasn't none of that.
But those things weren't able tobe, you know, played downplayed
because it was true.
And he has he has the receiptsto prove it when he's writing
back to Theopolis.
And I wondered today who Lukewould have interviewed to come
(02:08):
up with Luke chapter 14.
You know, it's going to talkabout how Jesus went to the home
of a Pharisee, which is, I lovethis idea because remember,
Pharisees were the enemies ofJesus.
They hated Jesus, they hatedwhat he was saying.
And so they may have hatedJesus, but Jesus didn't hate
them back.
Now he had a lot of sincere andcutting things to say about
(02:29):
these Pharisees because of howthey were treating God's people,
but he still loved them, even ifhe didn't mind telling them the
truth.
And we can see that by the factthat he went and he ate with
them.
He was trying to reach them aswell.
And so I just wonder, becausethe Bible says that most of this
chapter is from that encounterat the Pharisee's house.
I wonder if it was maybe one ofthe Pharisees that invited him
(02:50):
to their home.
And maybe now this Pharisee is aChristian and he's telling about
this, or maybe it was one of thedisciples, or maybe it was one
of the people serving everybodyelse.
I don't know.
You can use your imaginationbecause the Bible simply doesn't
say, but I want us to read thistogether and kind of imagine
sitting around the table withLuke.
And Luke is hearing thisfirsthand, maybe he's writing it
down as he goes.
And I just I love that idea aswe get into this and we read.
(03:12):
And what really catches me themost, and that's what I want us
to pay attention to today, isthe last section of Luke chapter
14.
He's going to talk about thecost of being a disciple.
So if you got your NLT Biblesready, you got your coffee
ready, we're going to read thistogether and let's see what the
Lord has to say to us today inLuke chapter 14.
Here we go, verse 1.
One Sabbath day, Jesus went toeat dinner in the home of a
(03:35):
leader of the Pharisees, and thepeople were watching him
closely.
There was a man there whose armand legs were swollen.
Jesus asked the Pharisees andthe experts of religious law, is
it permitted in the law to healpeople on the Sabbath day or
not?
When they refused to answer,Jesus touched the sick man and
healed him and sent him away.
Then he turned to them and said,Which of you doesn't work on the
(03:57):
Sabbath?
If your son or if a cow fallsinto a pit, don't you rush and
get him out?
And again, they couldn't answer.
Pause for a moment.
So once again, Jesus is callingout their hypocrisy because God
had instituted the Sabbath day.
It's amazing to think about.
You go back to the book ofExodus.
He had set a nation of Israel, aslave nation, free.
(04:19):
And he one of the first thingshe lays down to this slave
nation is you need to rest.
You need to work, but you alsoneed to rest.
The Sabbath was intended to be aday of trusting in the Lord.
That I'm going to take one dayout of seven and I'm going to
spend time with the Lord, andI'm going to rest, and then God
is going to multiply my effortsin the next six.
So it was meant to be a goodthing.
But what the Pharisees had doneis they had taken something that
(04:40):
God intended to be good and madeit a law, made it something that
took the life out of it.
And that's what Jesus is saying.
Here we go, verse 7.
When Jesus noticed that all whohad come to the dinner were
trying to sit in the seats ofhonor near the head of the
table, he gave them some advice.
(05:02):
When you're invited to thewedding feast, don't sit in the
seat of honor.
What if someone who is moredistinguished than you has also
been invited?
Then the host will come and say,Give this person your seat.
Then you'll be embarrassed, andyou will have to take whatever
seat is left at the foot of thetable.
Instead, take the lowest placeat the foot of the table.
And then when your host seesyou, he will come and say,
(05:23):
Friend, you have a better place.
We have a better place for you.
Then you will be honored infront of all the other guests.
For those who exalt themselveswill be humbled, and those who
humble themselves will beexalted.
Then he turned to the host.
They will invite you back, andthat will be your reward.
(05:46):
Instead, invite the poor, thecrippled, the lame, and the
blind.
And then at the resurrection ofthe righteous, God will reward
you for inviting those who couldnot repay you.
Now pause.
We see this in other places inthe Bible where Jesus is
constantly inviting us to getoutside of our comfort zone, to
do things for other peoplebecause we know that our reward
(06:07):
doesn't come from them, it comesfrom Him.
And if you think about it, itdoesn't make any sense to help
people who can't help you backunless you know that you're not
doing it just for them.
You're doing it as an act ofworship to the Lord.
And you know that the Lord willtake care of you above
everything else.
And so it really takes youraudience down from everybody
around you to an audience ofone.
(06:28):
Then when you do whatever it isyou do for the Lord, then
nothing you do is ever in vain.
I think that's amazing.
That's awesome.
It adds value to every singlething you do.
It's great.
All right, here we go.
Verse 15.
Hearing this, a man sitting atthe table with Jesus exclaimed,
What a blessing it will be toattend the banquet in the
kingdom of God.
Jesus replied with a story.
(06:50):
A man prepared a great feast andsent out many invitations.
When the banquet was ready, hesent his servants to tell the
guests, Come, the banquet isready.
But they all began makingexcuses.
One said, I have just bought afield and I must inspect it.
Please excuse me.
Another said, I have just boughtfive pairs of oxen and I want to
try them out.
Please excuse me.
(07:10):
Another said, I just got marriedand I can't come.
The servant returned and toldthe master what had they had
said.
The master was furious and said,Go quickly into the streets and
the alleys of the towns andinvite the poor, the crippled,
the blind, and the lame.
After the servant had done this,he reported, there's still room
for more.
So he said, Go into the countrylanes and behind the hedges and
urge everyone you can find tocome so that my house will be
(07:33):
full, for none of those who Iinvited will get even the
smallest taste of my banquet.
Once again, Jesus doubles downon this idea of not just giving
to those who can give back, butto give to those who can't give
back.
I tell you, I've learned in myown life that it is wonderful to
bless your friends.
Isn't it great?
It's wonderful.
And there's there's that slightbit of, you know, I'm I don't
(07:55):
want anything in return, butthere is this idea that if I'm
generous to them, then they'regonna be generous to me in time,
right?
That that of course, you knowwhat the best blessing is?
Is when you bless someone whocannot bless you back.
You bless someone in a secret.
Let me let me give you a like aquick rabbit trail, as they
would say.
One time, a long time ago, mywife and I were coming back from
a trip and we had an opportunityto stop somewhere and get
(08:18):
something to eat.
And while we were there, it waslate at night, and in this
restaurant, there was a pregnantlady who was serving the tables,
and we just wanted to talk intoher, and she was a sweet lady,
and she was working a lot ofextra shifts in order to get
ready for this new baby.
And someone had just got throughgiving us a financial gift.
And my wife looks at me and shesaid, Brandon, what if we added
(08:40):
that to the tip and we blessedthis lady?
And I was like, Man, that wouldbe amazing, that would be
awesome.
This lady doesn't know us, wecan give her this gift and we
can go.
So, what we actually did was iswhen she walked away, we wrote,
you know, down the amount of ourtip and we quickly left.
So she couldn't, you know, shewouldn't be able to say anything
to us.
(09:00):
And you want to talk aboutfeeling like Christmas morning.
We were so excited that we hid,you know, around in our in our
car and we hid and we looked tosee when she was gonna find the
the ticket to see how much moneywe had left her as a tip.
And when she looked at that, shelooked up, she looked around,
and when she didn't see us, shejust sat back down again, and we
(09:22):
could see her just starting towipe tears.
And can I tell you, no matterhow blessed she might have been,
it wasn't even a little about ofthe amount that we were blessed.
It was so exciting to be able tobless someone like that.
And what was even more amazingis it it was even more because
it was a complete, total act ofworship to the Lord.
(09:42):
And that's what Jesus is sayingis he's saying, You want to know
what it's like to truly beblessed?
Bless people who can't bless youback.
Okay, that's kind of a sidetrail.
Let's get back on and let'sfinish it up.
Verse 25, we're gonna finishthis up.
The Bible says a large crowd wasfollowing Jesus.
He turned around to them andsaid, If you want to be my
disciple, you must, bycomparison, hate everyone else.
(10:05):
Your father, your mother, yourwife, your children, brothers,
sisters, yes, even your ownlife.
Otherwise, you cannot be mydisciple.
And if you do not carry your owncross and follow me, you cannot
be my disciple.
But don't begin until you countthe cost.
For who would begin aconstruction of a building
(10:25):
without first calculating thecost to see if there is enough
money to finish it?
Otherwise, you might completeonly the foundation before
running out of money, andeveryone would laugh at you.
They would say, There's a personwho started the building and
couldn't afford to finish it.
Or what king would go to waragainst another king without
first sitting down with hiscounselors to discuss whether
(10:46):
his army of 10,000 could defeat20,000 soldiers marching against
him.
And if he can't, he will send adelegation to discuss terms of
peace while the enemy is stillfar away.
So you cannot become a disciplewithout giving up everything you
own.
Salt is good for seasoning, butif it loses its flavor, how do
you make it salty again?
Flavorless salt is good neitherfor the soil nor for the manure
(11:08):
pile.
It is thrown away.
Anyone who has ears shouldlisten and understand.
So what did Jesus say when hefinished this?
Well, can I tell you he said theexact opposite of what many of
us in the church world saytoday?
Many of us will share the gospelwith someone, share with them
the love of God, and then say,Man, come to Jesus and we'll
figure out the rest from there.
(11:28):
Can I tell you, I'm ashamed tosay, I've said that before on
stages.
I didn't say it with any, youknow, any idea to deceive
anyone, but it's the idea that,man, if I can just help you see
how much God loves you, man, youdon't need to worry about the
rest.
Can I tell you that's not at allwhat Jesus says?
Jesus says he has a plan foryour life, but at the same time,
(11:49):
he says you gotta understandfollowing me is gonna cost you
everything.
Jesus is either Lord of all orhe's not Lord at all.
Can I tell you that early in myrelationship with God, the
reason why I struggle with myrelationship with God is because
I wanted God to have 90%.
I still wanted to keep like 10%.
(12:10):
I wanted to have some of myhabits I didn't want to give up.
I wanted to be able to call myshots.
I didn't, I didn't want to, youknow, seek God in everything.
I was good with Sundays, I wasgood with other times, but you
know, I still had my own way Iwanted to do things.
I'd asked God to kind of blesswhat I was already up to.
Can I tell you it was horrible?
But then one day when I went allin and I was like, you know
what?
I Jesus, you're gonna be myLord.
(12:32):
I'm gonna follow you.
And compared to everybody else,it's gonna look like I hate them
compared to how much I love you.
That's when my life changed.
That's what that's that wholeidea.
And we even get used to the ideathat verse 27, Jesus said, if
you do not carry your own crossand follow me, you cannot be my
disciple.
Well, we get used to the idea ofwhat a cross is.
(12:52):
Now, a cross is, you know, whereJesus died.
But the cross was brutal, thecross was torture.
They actually, the wordexcruciating was a term that was
invented to describe whatsomeone goes through when
they're being crucified.
That's how horrible that is.
And Jesus says, those who youwho aren't willing to carry your
(13:12):
cross, other words, you're notwilling to lay down and die, no
matter how painful it is, anddie to yourself and to follow
me, you cannot be my disciple.
It's just not gonna work.
It's just simply not gonna work.
And I love that because Jesus ishonest.
He tells us, it's gonna be theworst battle of your life
because we don't like giving upcontrol.
(13:32):
And you know, I want to tell youon the other side though, the
more control I give to the Lord,the more freedom I experience.
God doesn't take away anythingfrom me other than my sin and my
brokenness.
He gives me life, he gives mepurpose, he gives me hope.
He actually gives me all of mydreams, but in the process, he
he helps me change my dreams towhat I really want.
(13:52):
And it's it's amazing to realizethat he requires us to give him
everything only to find outlater.
He gives us so much more than wecould ever imagine.
But first, we have to be willingto come and die.
And so, to be honest with you, Ithink Jesus would disagree with
a lot of the ways that we talkabout salvation today.
Because where we say, just comegive your life to Jesus and
(14:13):
everything will be okay, andcome give your life to Jesus,
and we'll worry about the restlater.
Jesus actually says, stop, countthe cost, and make a decision.
Because just either all in orit's not gonna work.
I have the most miserable personI know is someone who claims to
be a Christian but doesn't livelike it.
Because they know what's right,they know what's wrong, and they
don't like it.
(14:34):
But the person who goes all in,who really does think about it,
am I willing to commit my lifeto Jesus?
Those are the people who trulyget set free.
So I'm gonna ask you thisquestion today.
Have you truly given everythingover to Jesus?
99 and a half won't do.
Have you truly made Jesus Lord?
If you have, then what you'regonna experience is life.
(14:58):
Life of overflowing inabundance.
But I'm gonna tell yousomething.
If you find yourself as a Christfollower being miserable, then I
don't know your story, butsomething that I would highly
recommend you look at is haveyou given him only 90%?
99%?
What if you even today, as soonas you turn off this recording,
you just say, Jesus, I want togo all in with you.
(15:19):
I want to make you the Lord ofmy life completely, counting the
cost, and if it cost meeverything, I'm gonna go all in
with you.
Can I tell you that's a boldprayer, but it's also the most
freeing prayer you can pray?
Because I'm gonna go ahead andtell you, I'm gonna go ahead and
let you get it, sneak behind thecurtain.
When you give Jesus everything,you discover that he is more
(15:41):
than what you could need.
He actually gives you dreamsthat you never even knew you
needed.
And you go, Yes, that's whatI've been trying to think of all
my life.
That's what I've been trying todo.
He has all the answers forquestions you don't even have
yet.
But you got to give himeverything first.
It's one thing to know about thelove of God, quite another to
experience the love of God foryourself.
So let me pray for you, and thenwe'll end together.
(16:01):
Father, thank you so much foryour goodness and your mercy.
I pray that you will makeyourself real to us every day.
Open our eyes to see yourgoodness, and we celebrate you
in all things.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
All right, God bless you.
I love you.
I'll see you next time for Lukechapter 15.
Welcome to the Bible Breakdown Podcast.
Every day, we take one chapterof the Bible, dig deeper, and
discover that the more we dig,the more we find.
You can find out more at theBiblebreakdown.com.
Now let's grow in God's wordtogether.
Well, hello everyone, andwelcome back to your journey
through the Gospel of Luke.
Today, Luke chapter 14.
(00:21):
And remember, as always, we arelooking at this idea of the Holy
Spirit inspiring a guy namedLuke, who was by profession a
doctor, but he was commissionedby someone named Theopolis,
likely a high-ranking Romanofficial, to go into the Judean
countryside and to investigatethe claims that have been made
about Jesus.
Now, Luke was already abeliever.
(00:42):
He was a traveling companion ofPaul, which makes a lot of sense
because Paul was getting beat upeverywhere he went.
So it would make sense that histraveling companion would be a
doctor to constantly patch himup.
But what's amazing is he goesand he investigates the claims
made about Jesus, likely fromhearing the sermons of Peter or
Paul, and then writing back toTheopolis.
(01:03):
And we know that it actuallywasn't Theopolis that
commissioned Luke, it was theHoly Spirit.
The Holy Spirit commissionedLuke through Theopolis because
this was inspired by the Lord togive a chronological account of
the life of Jesus.
That's why you hear, if you'vebeen reading with us along the
way, you hear different piecesthat was found in the other
gospels.
(01:23):
We just got through reading, youknow, the past two to three
chapters, a lot of what you canfind in Matthew 5, 6, and 7, the
Sermon on the Mount, you canhear those things because that
was one of the main messagesthat Jesus would preach.
And Luke is sharing with us thatit was that this point in Jesus'
ministry when he would talkabout such things.
And I love the idea of Lukegoing and investigating the
(01:45):
claims and the healings of Jesusduring the lifetime of these
people and how easy it would beto refute and say, no, no, no,
you know, it wasn't Zacchaeusand it wasn't in a tree, it
wasn't none of that.
But those things weren't able tobe, you know, played downplayed
because it was true.
And he has he has the receiptsto prove it when he's writing
back to Theopolis.
And I wondered today who Lukewould have interviewed to come
(02:08):
up with Luke chapter 14.
You know, it's going to talkabout how Jesus went to the home
of a Pharisee, which is, I lovethis idea because remember,
Pharisees were the enemies ofJesus.
They hated Jesus, they hatedwhat he was saying.
And so they may have hatedJesus, but Jesus didn't hate
them back.
Now he had a lot of sincere andcutting things to say about
(02:29):
these Pharisees because of howthey were treating God's people,
but he still loved them, even ifhe didn't mind telling them the
truth.
And we can see that by the factthat he went and he ate with
them.
He was trying to reach them aswell.
And so I just wonder, becausethe Bible says that most of this
chapter is from that encounterat the Pharisee's house.
I wonder if it was maybe one ofthe Pharisees that invited him
(02:50):
to their home.
And maybe now this Pharisee is aChristian and he's telling about
this, or maybe it was one of thedisciples, or maybe it was one
of the people serving everybodyelse.
I don't know.
You can use your imaginationbecause the Bible simply doesn't
say, but I want us to read thistogether and kind of imagine
sitting around the table withLuke.
And Luke is hearing thisfirsthand, maybe he's writing it
down as he goes.
And I just I love that idea aswe get into this and we read.
(03:12):
And what really catches me themost, and that's what I want us
to pay attention to today, isthe last section of Luke chapter
14.
He's going to talk about thecost of being a disciple.
So if you got your NLT Biblesready, you got your coffee
ready, we're going to read thistogether and let's see what the
Lord has to say to us today inLuke chapter 14.
Here we go, verse 1.
One Sabbath day, Jesus went toeat dinner in the home of a
(03:35):
leader of the Pharisees, and thepeople were watching him
closely.
There was a man there whose armand legs were swollen.
Jesus asked the Pharisees andthe experts of religious law, is
it permitted in the law to healpeople on the Sabbath day or
not?
When they refused to answer,Jesus touched the sick man and
healed him and sent him away.
Then he turned to them and said,Which of you doesn't work on the
(03:57):
Sabbath?
If your son or if a cow fallsinto a pit, don't you rush and
get him out?
And again, they couldn't answer.
Pause for a moment.
So once again, Jesus is callingout their hypocrisy because God
had instituted the Sabbath day.
It's amazing to think about.
You go back to the book ofExodus.
He had set a nation of Israel, aslave nation, free.
(04:19):
And he one of the first thingshe lays down to this slave
nation is you need to rest.
You need to work, but you alsoneed to rest.
The Sabbath was intended to be aday of trusting in the Lord.
That I'm going to take one dayout of seven and I'm going to
spend time with the Lord, andI'm going to rest, and then God
is going to multiply my effortsin the next six.
So it was meant to be a goodthing.
But what the Pharisees had doneis they had taken something that
(04:40):
God intended to be good and madeit a law, made it something that
took the life out of it.
And that's what Jesus is saying.
Here we go, verse 7.
When Jesus noticed that all whohad come to the dinner were
trying to sit in the seats ofhonor near the head of the
table, he gave them some advice.
(05:02):
When you're invited to thewedding feast, don't sit in the
seat of honor.
What if someone who is moredistinguished than you has also
been invited?
Then the host will come and say,Give this person your seat.
Then you'll be embarrassed, andyou will have to take whatever
seat is left at the foot of thetable.
Instead, take the lowest placeat the foot of the table.
And then when your host seesyou, he will come and say,
(05:23):
Friend, you have a better place.
We have a better place for you.
Then you will be honored infront of all the other guests.
For those who exalt themselveswill be humbled, and those who
humble themselves will beexalted.
Then he turned to the host.
They will invite you back, andthat will be your reward.
(05:46):
Instead, invite the poor, thecrippled, the lame, and the
blind.
And then at the resurrection ofthe righteous, God will reward
you for inviting those who couldnot repay you.
Now pause.
We see this in other places inthe Bible where Jesus is
constantly inviting us to getoutside of our comfort zone, to
do things for other peoplebecause we know that our reward
(06:07):
doesn't come from them, it comesfrom Him.
And if you think about it, itdoesn't make any sense to help
people who can't help you backunless you know that you're not
doing it just for them.
You're doing it as an act ofworship to the Lord.
And you know that the Lord willtake care of you above
everything else.
And so it really takes youraudience down from everybody
around you to an audience ofone.
(06:28):
Then when you do whatever it isyou do for the Lord, then
nothing you do is ever in vain.
I think that's amazing.
That's awesome.
It adds value to every singlething you do.
It's great.
All right, here we go.
Verse 15.
Hearing this, a man sitting atthe table with Jesus exclaimed,
What a blessing it will be toattend the banquet in the
kingdom of God.
Jesus replied with a story.
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A man prepared a great feast andsent out many invitations.
When the banquet was ready, hesent his servants to tell the
guests, Come, the banquet isready.
But they all began makingexcuses.
One said, I have just bought afield and I must inspect it.
Please excuse me.
Another said, I have just boughtfive pairs of oxen and I want to
try them out.
Please excuse me.
(07:10):
Another said, I just got marriedand I can't come.
The servant returned and toldthe master what had they had
said.
The master was furious and said,Go quickly into the streets and
the alleys of the towns andinvite the poor, the crippled,
the blind, and the lame.
After the servant had done this,he reported, there's still room
for more.
So he said, Go into the countrylanes and behind the hedges and
urge everyone you can find tocome so that my house will be
(07:33):
full, for none of those who Iinvited will get even the
smallest taste of my banquet.
Once again, Jesus doubles downon this idea of not just giving
to those who can give back, butto give to those who can't give
back.
I tell you, I've learned in myown life that it is wonderful to
bless your friends.
Isn't it great?
It's wonderful.
And there's there's that slightbit of, you know, I'm I don't
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want anything in return, butthere is this idea that if I'm
generous to them, then they'regonna be generous to me in time,
right?
That that of course, you knowwhat the best blessing is?
Is when you bless someone whocannot bless you back.
You bless someone in a secret.
Let me let me give you a like aquick rabbit trail, as they
would say.
One time, a long time ago, mywife and I were coming back from
a trip and we had an opportunityto stop somewhere and get
(08:18):
something to eat.
And while we were there, it waslate at night, and in this
restaurant, there was a pregnantlady who was serving the tables,
and we just wanted to talk intoher, and she was a sweet lady,
and she was working a lot ofextra shifts in order to get
ready for this new baby.
And someone had just got throughgiving us a financial gift.
And my wife looks at me and shesaid, Brandon, what if we added
(08:40):
that to the tip and we blessedthis lady?
And I was like, Man, that wouldbe amazing, that would be
awesome.
This lady doesn't know us, wecan give her this gift and we
can go.
So, what we actually did was iswhen she walked away, we wrote,
you know, down the amount of ourtip and we quickly left.
So she couldn't, you know, shewouldn't be able to say anything
to us.
(09:00):
And you want to talk aboutfeeling like Christmas morning.
We were so excited that we hid,you know, around in our in our
car and we hid and we looked tosee when she was gonna find the
the ticket to see how much moneywe had left her as a tip.
And when she looked at that, shelooked up, she looked around,
and when she didn't see us, shejust sat back down again, and we
(09:22):
could see her just starting towipe tears.
And can I tell you, no matterhow blessed she might have been,
it wasn't even a little about ofthe amount that we were blessed.
It was so exciting to be able tobless someone like that.
And what was even more amazingis it it was even more because
it was a complete, total act ofworship to the Lord.
(09:42):
And that's what Jesus is sayingis he's saying, You want to know
what it's like to truly beblessed?
Bless people who can't bless youback.
Okay, that's kind of a sidetrail.
Let's get back on and let'sfinish it up.
Verse 25, we're gonna finishthis up.
The Bible says a large crowd wasfollowing Jesus.
He turned around to them andsaid, If you want to be my
disciple, you must, bycomparison, hate everyone else.
(10:05):
Your father, your mother, yourwife, your children, brothers,
sisters, yes, even your ownlife.
Otherwise, you cannot be mydisciple.
And if you do not carry your owncross and follow me, you cannot
be my disciple.
But don't begin until you countthe cost.
For who would begin aconstruction of a building
(10:25):
without first calculating thecost to see if there is enough
money to finish it?
Otherwise, you might completeonly the foundation before
running out of money, andeveryone would laugh at you.
They would say, There's a personwho started the building and
couldn't afford to finish it.
Or what king would go to waragainst another king without
first sitting down with hiscounselors to discuss whether
(10:46):
his army of 10,000 could defeat20,000 soldiers marching against
him.
And if he can't, he will send adelegation to discuss terms of
peace while the enemy is stillfar away.
So you cannot become a disciplewithout giving up everything you
own.
Salt is good for seasoning, butif it loses its flavor, how do
you make it salty again?
Flavorless salt is good neitherfor the soil nor for the manure
(11:08):
pile.
It is thrown away.
Anyone who has ears shouldlisten and understand.
So what did Jesus say when hefinished this?
Well, can I tell you he said theexact opposite of what many of
us in the church world saytoday?
Many of us will share the gospelwith someone, share with them
the love of God, and then say,Man, come to Jesus and we'll
figure out the rest from there.
(11:28):
Can I tell you, I'm ashamed tosay, I've said that before on
stages.
I didn't say it with any, youknow, any idea to deceive
anyone, but it's the idea that,man, if I can just help you see
how much God loves you, man, youdon't need to worry about the
rest.
Can I tell you that's not at allwhat Jesus says?
Jesus says he has a plan foryour life, but at the same time,
(11:49):
he says you gotta understandfollowing me is gonna cost you
everything.
Jesus is either Lord of all orhe's not Lord at all.
Can I tell you that early in myrelationship with God, the
reason why I struggle with myrelationship with God is because
I wanted God to have 90%.
I still wanted to keep like 10%.
(12:10):
I wanted to have some of myhabits I didn't want to give up.
I wanted to be able to call myshots.
I didn't, I didn't want to, youknow, seek God in everything.
I was good with Sundays, I wasgood with other times, but you
know, I still had my own way Iwanted to do things.
I'd asked God to kind of blesswhat I was already up to.
Can I tell you it was horrible?
But then one day when I went allin and I was like, you know
what?
I Jesus, you're gonna be myLord.
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I'm gonna follow you.
And compared to everybody else,it's gonna look like I hate them
compared to how much I love you.
That's when my life changed.
That's what that's that wholeidea.
And we even get used to the ideathat verse 27, Jesus said, if
you do not carry your own crossand follow me, you cannot be my
disciple.
Well, we get used to the idea ofwhat a cross is.
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Now, a cross is, you know, whereJesus died.
But the cross was brutal, thecross was torture.
They actually, the wordexcruciating was a term that was
invented to describe whatsomeone goes through when
they're being crucified.
That's how horrible that is.
And Jesus says, those who youwho aren't willing to carry your
(13:12):
cross, other words, you're notwilling to lay down and die, no
matter how painful it is, anddie to yourself and to follow
me, you cannot be my disciple.
It's just not gonna work.
It's just simply not gonna work.
And I love that because Jesus ishonest.
He tells us, it's gonna be theworst battle of your life
because we don't like giving upcontrol.
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And you know, I want to tell youon the other side though, the
more control I give to the Lord,the more freedom I experience.
God doesn't take away anythingfrom me other than my sin and my
brokenness.
He gives me life, he gives mepurpose, he gives me hope.
He actually gives me all of mydreams, but in the process, he
he helps me change my dreams towhat I really want.
(13:52):
And it's it's amazing to realizethat he requires us to give him
everything only to find outlater.
He gives us so much more than wecould ever imagine.
But first, we have to be willingto come and die.
And so, to be honest with you, Ithink Jesus would disagree with
a lot of the ways that we talkabout salvation today.
Because where we say, just comegive your life to Jesus and
(14:13):
everything will be okay, andcome give your life to Jesus,
and we'll worry about the restlater.
Jesus actually says, stop, countthe cost, and make a decision.
Because just either all in orit's not gonna work.
I have the most miserable personI know is someone who claims to
be a Christian but doesn't livelike it.
Because they know what's right,they know what's wrong, and they
don't like it.
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But the person who goes all in,who really does think about it,
am I willing to commit my lifeto Jesus?
Those are the people who trulyget set free.
So I'm gonna ask you thisquestion today.
Have you truly given everythingover to Jesus?
99 and a half won't do.
Have you truly made Jesus Lord?
If you have, then what you'regonna experience is life.
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Life of overflowing inabundance.
But I'm gonna tell yousomething.
If you find yourself as a Christfollower being miserable, then I
don't know your story, butsomething that I would highly
recommend you look at is haveyou given him only 90%?
99%?
What if you even today, as soonas you turn off this recording,
you just say, Jesus, I want togo all in with you.
(15:19):
I want to make you the Lord ofmy life completely, counting the
cost, and if it cost meeverything, I'm gonna go all in
with you.
Can I tell you that's a boldprayer, but it's also the most
freeing prayer you can pray?
Because I'm gonna go ahead andtell you, I'm gonna go ahead and
let you get it, sneak behind thecurtain.
When you give Jesus everything,you discover that he is more
(15:41):
than what you could need.
He actually gives you dreamsthat you never even knew you
needed.
And you go, Yes, that's whatI've been trying to think of all
my life.
That's what I've been trying todo.
He has all the answers forquestions you don't even have
yet.
But you got to give himeverything first.
It's one thing to know about thelove of God, quite another to
experience the love of God foryourself.
So let me pray for you, and thenwe'll end together.
(16:01):
Father, thank you so much foryour goodness and your mercy.
I pray that you will makeyourself real to us every day.
Open our eyes to see yourgoodness, and we celebrate you
in all things.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
All right, God bless you.
I love you.
I'll see you next time for Lukechapter 15.
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