Category: sermon

IN A DREAM #3

Matthew 2:13-18 NET.

¹³ After they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to look for the child to kill him.” ¹⁴ Then he got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and went to Egypt. ¹⁵ He stayed there until Herod died. In this way what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet was fulfilled: “I called my Son out of Egypt.” ¹⁶ When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he became enraged. He sent men to kill all the children in Bethlehem and throughout the surrounding region from the age of two and under, according to the time he had learned from the wise men. ¹⁷ Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: ¹⁸ “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud wailing, Rachel weeping for her children, and she did not want to be comforted, because they were gone.”

Preaching a sermon based on a traditional Christmas text is difficult. The paths are well trodden. That was why I was somewhat nervous about planning a whole series of messages based on the Christmas stories in Matthew’s Gospel. But God’s word is always powerful and effective. It is like one of those special knives in the kitchen drawer that stays sharp no matter how often it is used. Here’s what I see in today’s story:

Joseph’s faith was challenged by suffering.

After the wise men leave, Joseph finds it hard to come down from the thrill he feels. Visitors from other nations have graced his home, worshipping Jesus and blessing his family with precious gifts. They spoke of their interview with Herod and his request that they tell him of Jesus’ location. At first, Joseph thinks that is wonderful. If these Gentiles are so excited about Jesus, imagine how thrilled Herod would be! But then Joseph remembers what kind of person Herod the Great is. He is a sick man, mentally and physically. He has already murdered so many people to protect his throne. What would he do to a child who people claim is the new king of Israel?

With those thoughts floating around in his mind, Joseph finds sleeping hard. When he finally does sleep, he gets another dream.

Like his previous dream, an angel appears to him. But in the first dream, the angel tells him not to fear. In this dream, the angel tells him the exact opposite. He says that Herod is going to look for baby Jesus to kill him. The angel instructs Joseph to pack up and get out of Bethlehem quickly. His family had not lived in Bethlehem long, so that would not have been too difficult.

The tricky part of the instruction was when the angel told Joseph to escape. He said that they must go to Egypt. This would not be like his departure from Nazareth for the census. This was a move to another country. Joseph and his family would be refugees.

All around the world today, some people have had to leave their homes and move to another country. They are called refugees or displaced people. Many of them are forced into unbearable situations. They are between a rock and a hard place. They cannot stay, and they are not welcomed wherever they go.

The United States was built by this kind of person. Waves of immigrants came to this country in search of a better situation or to escape certain death from war, famine, or some other tragedy. Most faced prejudice and opposition here and where they came from, but they were determined to endure it in the hope that their descendants would overcome it. Some even came to our shores on slave ships – against their will.

Joseph did not want to be the father of a family of refugees. He wanted stability and peace for his family, and he was sure that a move to Egypt would disrupt those plans. But Joseph obeyed the angelic revelation, so he took his family and escaped.

Imagine how Joseph felt when he got word of what happened in Bethlehem after they left. Many innocent families suffered. Their little boys were not guilty of any crime. Their only problem was that they were born at the wrong time in the wrong place. They were born in or near Bethlehem at about the same time as Jesus. They suffered because of an evil king inspired by an evil spirit named Satan.

When you read through the Bible and encounter a story, you must ask yourself why this story is included and why it is included in this particular spot. What does the story of the slaughter of the innocent children tell us that we need to know? Why is this part of the Christmas stories in Matthew’s Gospel?

I think that Matthew is showing how important Jesus is. The wise men’s visit showed that Jesus was so important that a delegation of prominent visitors from a foreign country would travel for months to see him and show their appreciation for him.

The escape to Egypt was God’s way of protecting Jesus from the soldiers that Herod sent to kill him. The slaughter of the innocent children showed that Herod was determined to eliminate this child because he saw him as a threat to his rule. Satan wanted to eliminate Jesus for the same reason. God is doing something significant here, and the suffering is collateral damage.

This passage is also a personal message from the Holy Spirit to you and me. God is going to be doing something significant in our lives as well. But we will also experience suffering. That suffering is a test for us. It tests our faith in God. Satan brings that suffering to make us question whether God is at work in our lives at all. He accuses us of being unimportant to God. He submits our suffering as evidence for his case. He says that God would not allow such stressful events to occur if God loved us.

The exact opposite is the case. The Holy Spirit is confident that his power in us is enough for us to overcome any obstacle we might face. We will experience storms in this life, but our Master himself is with us, sleeping peacefully in the boat. Joseph and Mary experience trouble, heartache, and uncertainty. But the same Jesus was with them, asleep in the manger. He is Emmanuel, and his presence is all we need.

Joseph’s faith was strengthened by revelation.

Matthew highlights two points in today’s story to show how the Holy Spirit ministered to Joseph and empowered him to keep obeying despite the suffering he faced. The first is the ministry of an angel. An angel who spoke to him in a dream told Joseph what he must do.

All through the Gospels and Acts, angels appear in the historical record. They are there to reveal God’s word and to encourage God’s people. Jesus suffers deprivation and temptation in the wilderness. Angels come to minister to his needs (Matthew 4:1). Jesus agonizes in the Garden of Gethsemane, and then an angel comes and strengthens him (Luke 22:43). Angels revealed the fact of the resurrection (Matthew 28:2, 5; John 20:12). Angels revealed the fact that Jesus is going to come again (Acts 1:10-11). 

Whenever you see an angel, God says, “Don’t fear – I am in this.” Joseph was blessed to have four dreams in which angels appeared to him. There were four different dreams, but each one was a revelation of God’s presence and gave him confidence to keep obeying and believing.

The ministry of prophets also bolstered Joseph’s faith during this time. Satan would come to Joseph and say, “How is Jesus going to make a difference for his people now? He’s stuck here in Egypt. Joseph could counter: “The prophet Hosea said that God called his son out of Egypt. Egypt is the present, but God has a future for my son.”

Satan would come to Joseph and say. “Jesus couldn’t even stop these mothers from losing their sons in Bethlehem.” Joseph would counter: “The prophet Jeremiah spoke of Rachel mourning when her descendants went into exile. God was still in it. This tragedy signifies evil, but my son will change that.”

Today’s text is a challenge for all of us to keep believing and obeying no matter what comes our way. Suffering is not designed to stop us. It is intended to show the world that our faith is in God and his word, not our circumstances. Joseph led his family well, crisis after crisis. Now, we need to lead our families with the same confidence.

For further study:

Anderson Edward E. The Gospel According to St. Matthew; with Introduction and Notes. T. & T. Clark 1909. pp. 9-10.

Barclay, William. The Gospel of Matthew., 1958. pp. 24-29.

Baumgaertner John H. The Bitter Road: a Lenten Journey with the Suffering Christ from Bethlehem to Calvary and the Garden. Concordia Pub. House 1968. pp. 21-31.

Crowder Bill. Windows on Christmas. Discovery House Publishers; Distributed to the Trade by Barbour Publishing 2007. pp. 26-32.

Erdman, Charles R. The Gospel of Matthew: An Exposition. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1920. pp. 30-32.

Lange, Johann Peter, and Philip Schaff. The Gospel According to Matthew. New York: C. Scribner, 1865. pp. 62-63.

Wilson Stephen Douglas. In the Fullness of Time. Broadman Press 1991. pp. 76-86.

IN A DREAM #1

Matthew 1:18-25

¹⁸ Now the birth of Jesus Christ happened this way. While his mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Because Joseph, her husband to be, was a righteous man, and because he did not want to disgrace her, he intended to divorce her privately. ²⁰ When he had contemplated this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will give birth to a son and you will name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” ²² This all happened so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled: ²³ “Look! The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they will call him Emmanuel,” which means “God with us.” ²⁴ When Joseph awoke from sleep he did what the angel of the Lord told him. He took his wife, ²⁵ but did not have marital relations with her until she gave birth to a son, whom he named Jesus.

Last year, I shared a few messages based on Luke’s Christmas stories, and this year I am doing the same thing, only with Matthew’s Christmas stories. Both Gospel writers tell us the same basic truth – that Jesus was born in Bethlehem and God announced that birth miraculously. But each Gospel writer focuses on how that birth affected a particular group of people besides Joseph and Mary. Luke highlighted what God was doing in the lives of Zechariah, Elizabeth, John the Baptist in his mother’s womb, the shepherds around Bethlehem, and Simeon and Anna. For Luke, the primary source for these stories appears to be Mary.

But with Matthew, the focus changes. He chooses stories that illustrate what he said about Jesus: that he is the son of David and Abraham. Joseph is a key figure in these stories. When I reread these stories in preparation for this series of sermons, I noticed that the same phrase appeared numerous times. That is why I titled all the messages “IN A DREAM.”  We see that phrase in verse 20 of today’s text. It also appears four times in Matthew 2. Once the recipients of the dream are the group of wise men, but in every other instance, Joseph receives the dream.

When God is about to do something significant in redemption history, he often announces it by giving someone a dream. When someone is in danger, God sometimes intervenes by revealing that fact in a dream.

There is something else that is kind of peculiar about these Joseph stories. If you read through them, you might notice that Joseph does not say anything in any of the narratives. I don’t think that Joseph had been struck mute like Zechariah was. But it seems odd that no word in all the narratives is attributed to Joseph. Here, we have stories about the adoptive father of Jesus himself, but not one of his actual words is recorded. That’s right. Our Christmas plays must invent words for Joseph because not one of his words is recorded in Matthew or Luke. Even when Luke tells the story of Joseph and Mary finding Jesus in the temple when he was twelve, only Mary has a speaking part.

I don’t think Joseph was a functional mute. I just think his part in the Christmas stories had more to do with what he did than what he said. He was sensitive to what God was doing in his life. Some people can have dreams every night and pay no attention to them, but not Joseph. When the angel Gabriel visited Mary, it was while she was awake. But when the angels spoke to Joseph, it was in dreams. It was just as real in either situation. Why did God choose to reveal himself to Joseph through dreams? Maybe God had spoken to Joseph at other times in his life through dreams. Maybe that was why it was settled for Joseph once he had the dream. He would obey the dream because he knew it was God’s real revelation.

The story begins with Mary’s BLESSING (18).

Matthew reduces the whole story of Gabriel’s announcement to Mary into one verse. You can read all the details about that visit in Luke chapter 1, but Matthew is only concerned with this detail: that Mary “was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.” It was a blessing. What Matthew wanted to make clear was the fact that Mary was going to give birth. In verse 20, “the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” In verse 21, she “will give birth to a son.” In verse 23, “The virgin will conceive and bear a son.” In verse 25, Joseph “did not have marital relations with her until she gave birth.” At some point in history, some heretics will emerge and insist that Jesus was not a real human being – that he only appeared to be in the flesh. Matthew spoke to that heresy directly here. Joseph had a dream about Jesus. But Jesus was not a dream. He was a real human child, and he was a blessing.

Like most blessings from the Lord, Mary’s pregnancy was also challenging. When Mary told Joseph she was pregnant, Joseph’s immediate reaction was wrong but understandable.

We learn of Joseph’s PLAN (19).

Before his dream, Joseph only knew that Mary was pregnant and that the child was not his son. His plan for dealing with that blessing was to abandon Mary. He did not want to accuse her of infidelity and force her to undergo a public trial, so he decided to break off the engagement privately and let Mary deal with the consequences of her lack of self-control alone. He could not imagine a scenario in which Mary was telling the truth. No angel had visited him yet, so as much as it pained him to lose his fiancé, he thought that was the only choice to make.

Then we learn of the angel’s CHALLENGE (20).

The dream made all the difference. The angel encouraged Joseph not to let his fear make him give up on his relationship with Mary. Her child is not a mistake. He is the Holy Spirit’s work. The angel told Joseph that Mary would give birth to that child and that he – Joseph – would be right there with her.

Then we learn of the angel’s INSTRUCTION (21).

Joseph would name his adopted son Yeshua because that means “He saves.” The world needs to know that the LORD saves. He saves his people – not just from foreign rulers or present dangers. He saves his people from their sins. No other human being would ever be able to do that. But Jesus is special. His birth is special. His life is unique. His purpose is one that only he could achieve. He is more than a king. He is more than a temporary deliverer. He is the Savior.

Then, we learn Matthew’s EXPLANATION (22-23).

Matthew breaks into his own narrative to explain something about Jesus that even the angel did not reveal. Matthew says that this all happened to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah that when the virgin gives birth, it would be to Emmanuel: God with us.

“God with us” can only happen by means of an incarnation. John tells us that the divine WORD “became flesh and took up residence among us. We saw his glory — the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth, who came from the Father” (John 1:14). Joseph adopted Jesus, but Jesus was already God’s Son. The LORD wanted all of us to know that he had not abandoned us. Jesus is his proof. That is why they called him Emmanuel. And the Lord Jesus will never abandon his followers. That is why Jesus told us that he is with us always, to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20).

The final thing we learn is Joseph’s OBEDIENCE (24-25).

The dream had given Joseph all the assurance he needed. He woke up from sleep and went to the courthouse to sign his marriage license. He got out of his pajamas and put on his tuxedo. His breakfast would be his marriage feast. From then on, Joseph did not question his role in God’s plan.

Joseph was a craftsman – a builder. He made his living constructing things out of wood and stone.  He was also a dreamer. I’m sure he had daydreamed many times about starting a new life with that young lady. But he wanted to do it right. He had a plan and was going to stick to that plan. But then the angel appeared to him in a dream. Suddenly, Joseph’s plans didn’t matter. Once he knew God’s plan, Joseph was all in.

If we learn anything from Joseph, we must learn how to respond to God’s revelation as he did. We must be open to letting God tell us the whole truth from his word. Then, we need to have the courage to walk in that truth. The walk will probably not be easy. It certainly wasn’t easy for Joseph. He had to live his whole life under the shadow of an accusation he could not disprove. He had to raise the Son of God – a challenge that any of us would find daunting. He had to travel to Bethlehem at the worst time to travel there. They wound up sleeping with the animals that night. Later, they had to entertain foreign wise men. Then, they had to become refugees in Egypt for a while. When they returned, they were forced to go back to Nazareth – far from Jerusalem because the government still wanted baby Jesus dead.

In the Old Testament, we read about someone called Joseph, son of Jacob, who was a dreamer. His dreams got him into serious trouble, but finally, he became a savior of his people. Here, in the New Testament, we encounter another Joseph – also a son of Jacob (Matthew 1:16). He is also a dreamer. He heard God speaking to him through an angel in his dreams. He obeyed every instruction. His story challenges us to follow in his footsteps.

You might have some plans for the rest of your life. Joseph had a plan. But he was humble enough to turn his back on his plan when he learned God’s plan. He was sensitive enough to God’s will that when the dream led him in a different direction, that is the direction he went. He was courageous enough to endure all kinds of misfortune because he would stay in the center of God’s will. His love for Mary was not enough to keep them together, but his love for the LORD was.

Every year we wish each other a Merry Christmas. This year, I want to wish you all a Joseph Christmas.

For further study:

Boice James Montgomery. The King Has Come. Christian Focus Publications 1992. pp. 51-61.

Brown Raymond E. The Birth of the Messiah: A Commentary on the Infancy Narratives in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. New updated ed. Doubleday 1993. pp. 122-163.

Cottrell Stephen. Walking Backwards to Christmas. SPCK 2014. pp. 59-68.

Gleddiesmith Stacey. Welcoming the Stranger: Readying Ourselves for Christmas. Regent College Pub 2010. pp. 44-45.

Jeremiah David. Why the Nativity? Turning point ed. Tyndale House 2006. pp. 25-29.

Laferton Carl. Rescuing Christmas: The Search for Joy That Lasts. GOOD Book Company 2017. pp. 61-63.

Moltmann Jürgen. The Way of Jesus Christ: Christology in Messianic Dimensions. 1st Fortress Press ed. Fortress Press 1993. pp. 80-87.

COMPUTE THE COST

Luke 14:25-33 NET.

²⁵ Now large crowds were accompanying Jesus, and turning to them he said, ²⁶ “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. ²⁷ Whoever does not carry his own cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. ²⁸ For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t sit down first and compute the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? ²⁹ Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish the tower, all who see it will begin to make fun of him. ³⁰ They will say, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish!’ ³¹ Or what king, going out to confront another king in battle, will not sit down first and determine whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? ³² If he cannot succeed, he will send a representative while the other is still a long way off and ask for terms of peace. ³³ In the same way therefore not one of you can be my disciple if he does not renounce all his own possessions. ³⁴ “Salt is good, but if salt loses its flavor, how can its flavor be restored? ³⁵ It is of no value for the soil or for the manure pile; it is to be thrown out. The one who has ears to hear had better listen!”

Well, the wedding is over, and the marriage has begun! The newlyweds are back in Colorado, enjoying their lives together in their new house. And now Mom and Dad can relax. I am grateful that we had the wedding here because it turns out that we needed the help of a few good friends to pull it off. We want to thank all of you for the help because getting ready for this wedding took more than we could do alone.

Which brings me to today’s topic. We have been studying the commands of Christ, and today’s command has to do with the cost of discipleship. It is important that I explain why we must talk about cost when it comes to discipleship. Salvation is by grace. It is God’s work, and therefore it is by grace since no one deserves it. We cannot bribe God with good works because everything good comes from him anyway. Trying to bribe God is like a child giving his parents money from his piggy bank to get what he wants. The piggy bank and the money in it come from the parents already.

You cannot blackmail God either. He does nothing wrong, so you cannot extort him into giving you what you want by recognizing some misdeed and threatening to tell on him. He has no authority higher than he is, so there would be no one to tell.

If we got what we deserved, we would all be incinerated. So, when we talk about the cost of discipleship, we are not talking about something we could do to “buy in” to grace. Grace cannot be bought into. It is free, and it must be free, or else it is not grace.

Discipleship is our human response to God’s grace of salvation. It is a life of repentance in response to the gospel of God’s grace. We don’t produce grace; we respond to grace. But our response is an indication that we have experienced grace.

Some people talk about cheap grace. There is no cheap grace. God’s grace cost God the life of his only Son. God’s grace cost Jesus the cross. God’s grace is more costly than any other gift.

What people mean when they talk about cheap grace is cheap repentance. It is saying yes to God without reading the fine print of the salvation contract. It is not cheap grace; it is cheap discipleship. It is saying to Jesus, “I do” when you have no intention of doing anything. Today’s text reveals that Jesus was in a situation where a lot of people were being tempted to embrace cheap discipleship.

We are following the Gospels as they describe the life and ministry of Jesus. We started out in Galilee, then went to Judea, and now we have crossed the Jordan River to the region of Perea. Jesus will only spend a few months here, but his ministry here will be hugely popular. Large crowds will show up wherever he goes. But because there will be so many crowds, many of the people who come to Jesus will not really understand what he is calling them to do. Let’s look at today’s text.

First there is the question at hand: fan or follower? (25, 33).

The text tells us that there were large crowds accompanying Jesus. It does not say that they were following him. It does not say that they had already become his disciples like Peter and John and the others were. Remember our study of Mr. Idleman’s book. They were fans, not true followers. A fan is interested in Jesus, but not interested enough to do what he says to do.

J. Dwight Pentecost talks about three different kinds of people who claim Jesus. He talks about the crowds who were curious about Jesus; those who were convinced about him, and those who were committed to him. Those who were curious might stick around to see his miracles and listen to his teachings. They might even become convinced that he is who he says he is. But that would not be enough. Jesus says a person is not truly committed unless he is willing to renounce all his possessions and follow him.

The question for all of us today is are we curious fans – looking at Jesus from the outside as a possible sideline in our lives. Are we convinced that he is who he says he is? If so, isn’t it time we became all in? Jesus came to save whosoever will. But it isn’t whosoever will be curious. It isn’t even whosoever will be convinced. It is whosoever will follow.

To teach this, Jesus told two mini parables. He illustrated his command with two hypotheticals.

There was a tower illustration (28-30).

He asked, “Which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t sit down first and compute the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish the tower, all who see it will begin to make fun of him”

The tower Jesus was talking about was not like the tower of Babel. It was a farmer’s tower. It was a structure designed to prevent robbers from stealing a farmer’s harvest. The farmer or some of his family members or slaves could perch themselves in that tower and keep watch over the crops and keep people from sneaking in and making off with the family’s food. To protect the whole crop, the tower had to be large enough to provide the guards with visibility of the whole field. It also had to be substantial enough to safely house all those guarding the crop.

Jesus said that if a person was going to build such a contraption, he had to think it out. He had to get the proper supplies and construct it in such a way that it would not fall apart after it was constructed. It’s not about just wanting to build a tower. It is about investing in the construction so that the tower will serve its purpose. It’s not how you begin. It’s how you end. If the tower collapses, it can’t serve its purpose. If the farmer cannot complete the construction, it will bring shame to him, not honor.

Then, Jesus told a battle illustration (31-32).

He switched characters, and the farmer became a king. The king has an enemy, and he contemplates going to battle against that enemy. He decides to risk ten thousand soldiers in his army. But he learns that his enemy has twenty thousand soldiers ready and waiting. Suddenly, negotiation sounds a lot more practical.

Then, the plan: renunciation (33).

Jesus’ message to those crowds in Perea was that building the appropriate tower is going to cost everything they owned. Coming against the real enemy in their lives is going to require them to renounce all their own possessions. Renunciation is what turns the curious and convinced into the truly committed. Renunciation turns fans into followers.

Remember last week we talked about the man who planned a great banquet. He sent out the invitation, and lots of people said, “Sign me up,” but then when the banquet was ready, they all gave excuses. They had said yes, but they were not really committed. Each of them had something in his life that he was not willing to give up. For one it was a tract of land, for another it was a team of oxen, for another it was a new bride. But in the story, the man chose a new group of invitees. He swore that none of those originally invited would taste his feast.

That is a warning for all of us who gather in Jesus’ name. Those who are just curious about Jesus might fool those around them, but the master of the feast knows. Those who are merely convinced about Jesus might seem like his sheep, but they are really goats. One day there will be a separation: sheep on the right, goats on the left. Being convinced about Jesus is not enough. The cost is commitment.

Finally, Jesus talked about the product: influence (34-35).

What does it look like when a person is truly committed to Jesus? Maybe we should ask what it tastes like because that is how Jesus described the product of a disciple. He said “Salt is good, but if salt loses its flavor, how can its flavor be restored? It is of no value for the soil or for the manure pile; it is to be thrown out.” Flavorless salt is not salt. It is a substance that might look like salt, but it does not salt anything.

An uncommitted Christian is an oxymoron. I asked Mr. Google for some examples of an oxymoron, and he said, “accurate estimate; alone together; awfully good; bittersweet; climb down; close distance; grow smaller and jumbo shrimp.”

An uncommitted Christian looks like salt but doesn’t salt. He looks like he is saved, but he doesn’t obey the Lord’s commands, so he’s not going to get anybody else saved. He looks like he is going to the banquet, but he has really responded to the second invitation with an excuse.

On that day during his ministry in Perea, the Lord challenged all the fans to become actual followers. He challenged the curious and even the merely convinced to stop sitting on the fence and become committed. He challenges you and me to do the same thing. He challenges us to renounce all our possessions – anything that keeps us from being all in. Real repentance does not share the kingdom of God with any other priorities. Real repentance makes building the kingdom priority number one.

For further study:

Blackaby Henry T and Melvin D Blackaby. Experiencing God Together: God’s Plan to Touch Your World. Broadman & Holman 2002. Pp. 191-192.

Bouwman Gilbert. The Bible on the Imitation of Christ. St. Norbert Abbey Press 1965. Pp. 89-91.

Crowder Bill. The Mind of Christ. RBC Ministries 2008. Pp. 32-33.

Couch James F. Parables. Serendipity House 2003. Pp. 54-55.

Glen, J S. The Parables of Conflict in Luke. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1962. Pp. 121-133.

Idleman Kyle. Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus. Zondervan 2011.

Kealy Sean P. Jesus the Teacher. 1st ed. Dimension Books 1978. Pp. 41-42.

Laurie Greg. Discipleship: Giving God Your Best. Harvest House 1993. Pp. 19-31.

Moorehead Bob. Courageous Christianity. College Press Pub 1990. Pp. 74-75.

Pentecost J. Dwight. Design for Discipleship. Zondervan Pub. House 1971.

Phillips Keith W. The Making of a Disciple. F.H. Revell 1981. P. 28.

Swindoll Charles R and Ken Gire. Living Above the Level of Mediocrity: A Commitment to Excellence: Bible Study Guide. Rev. and expanded ed. Insight for Living 1994. Pp. 36, 40, 70.

Williams H. A. Tensions. Collins 1989. Pp. 97-98.

Yohn Rick. Now That I’m a Disciple. Harvest House 1976. Pp. 66-67.