Lucas 9
William Barclay · Citado em PreceptAustin
Lucas 9
Barclay - Jesus knew what crucifixion meant. When he was a young boy of about eleven years of age, Judas the Galilaean had led a rebellion against Rome. He had raided the royal armoury at Sepphoris, which was only four miles from Nazareth. The Roman vengeance was swift and sudden. Sepphoris was burned to the ground; its inhabitants were sold into slavery; and 2,000 of the rebels were crucified on crosses which were set in lines along the roadside that they might be a dreadful warning to others tempted to rebel. To take up our cross means to be prepared to face things like that for loyalty to Jesus; it means to be ready to endure the worst that anyone can do to us for the sake of being true to him (Luke 9 The New Daily Study Bible – The Gospel of Luke) John MacArthur on the dangerous teaching of "second level" Christians - There has been this movement in evangelicalism, and it’s still around.... This movement separates salvation from obedience, separates Jesus as Savior from Jesus as Lord, separates believing from obeying, separates justification from sanctification....It’s a gospel scandal. Sinners are told if they want to be saved and go to heaven, they just need to accept Jesus Christ, accept the fact that He died for them. They just need to ask Jesus to come into their hearts, or invite Him in - common and unbiblical phrases, by the way, suited to a deluded gospel. Very little is ever said about how they have to view themselves. Those people who hold this position discard the evangelistic intent of virtually every recorded invitation Jesus gave. They turn Jesus into a deeper life (ED: SEE HIGHER LIFE BELOW) teacher, or a higher life teacher, somebody who is saying to people who are already saved, “You need to come on up and be a disciple. You need to come on up and get serious. You need to start obeying. You need to start self denying.” That’s the second level of saved experience. So they take everything Jesus said like “Follow Me and deny yourself, and take up your cross, and obey Me, and keep My Word, and keep My commandments, and love Me, and love one another,” as not spoken to those people who need to understand that that’s the attitude of a person who comes for salvation, but rather making it an attitude of somebody who is already a Christian moving to a second level. So Jesus instead of being an evangelist preaching the gospel, becomes a deeper life teacher. A sort of a Keswick speaker wanting to move people to another level of spirituality.....such as that distinction between salvation and discipleship, making them two different things. No distinction has done so much to undermine the authority and the accuracy of Jesus’ evangelistic message. Everything that takes that side strips Jesus of the evangelistic intent of what He says. That’s not a small issue. (The Necessary Components of Saving Faith) Related Resource: Is it biblical to ask Jesus into your heart? | GotQuestions.org What is the Keswick ("Higher Life") movement, and is it biblical? | GotQuestions.org Wishes (desires) (2309) thelo see study of derivative thelema; see synonyms boule and boulomai) is a very common NT verb (208x) which primarily refers to exercising of one's will with the underlying sense of to be willing, to desire, to want or to wish (in Jn 15:7 in context of prayer). To apply oneself to something (or to will). Thelo "expresses not simply a desire, but a determined and constant exercise of the will." (W E Vine) Thélo = desire that comes from one’s EMOTIONS <> active decision of the will, IMPLYING VOLITION & PURPOSE; conscious willing and denotes a more active resolution urging on to action; expresses a purpose or determination or decree; denotes one's active resolution, the will urging on to action; indicates the impulse of the will. Thelo in Luke and Acts - Lk. 1:62; Lk. 4:6; Lk. 5:12; Lk. 5:13; Lk. 5:39; Lk. 6:31; Lk. 8:20; Lk. 9:23; Lk. 9:24; Lk. 9:54; Lk. 10:24; Lk. 10:29; Lk. 12:49; Lk. 13:31; Lk. 13:34; Lk. 14:28; Lk. 15:28; Lk. 16:26; Lk. 18:4; Lk. 18:13; Lk. 18:41; Lk. 19:14; Lk. 19:27; Lk. 20:46; Lk. 22:9; Lk. 23:8; Lk. 23:20; Acts 2:12; Acts 7:28; Acts 7:39; Acts 10:10; Acts 14:13; Acts 16:3; Acts 17:18; Acts 17:20; Acts 18:21; Acts 19:33; Acts 24:6; Acts 24:27; Acts 25:9; Acts 26:5 After (3694) opiso from opis = a looking back) Among classical writers opisō (also spelled opissō) was an adverb of time (“hereafter, following, after”) or of place (“behind, backwards”). In the New Testament opisō functions as an adverb or a preposition. Adverbially, in answer to the question “Where?” or “Whither?” it means “behind” or “back.” In Luke 7:38 the sinful woman was standing “behind” Jesus at His feet. Thus opiso can refer to a position behind another (Lk 7:38), as a marker of one who is followed as a leader - "If anyone wishes to come after Me," (Mt 16:24). In a negative sense 1 Ti 5:15, Rev 13:3). It can describe time - "after me One is coming" (Mk 1:7), "He who comes after me" (Jn 1:15, 27, 30). It means to fall back (Jn 18:6); look backward (Luke 9:62); turn back (Mt. 24:18; Mk 13:16; Lk 17:31; Jn 6:66; Jn 20:14; Ge 19:17, 26; 2 Sa 1:22; 1 Ki 18:37) It is used metaphorically in Php 3:13 "forgetting what lies behind" Paul alluding to his former human accomplishments.Friberg on opiso - adverb; (1) of place, with a verb of motion behind, back (Mt 24.18); neuter as a substantive what is behind (Php 3.13); idiomatically literally go back to what lies behind, i.e. no longer follow (Jn 6.66); (2) as an improper preposition with the genitive; (a) of place behind ( Mt 16.23); (b) of following in close relation after (Mt 4.19+); idiomatically literally go after strange flesh, i.e. practice homosexuality (Jude 1:7); (c) of time after (Mt 3.11) (Borrow Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament) Opiso -34v - after(18), around(1), back(2), back*(3), behind(5), follow(2), follow*(2), withdrew*(1). Matt. 3:11; Matt. 4:19; Matt. 10:38; Matt. 16:23; Matt. 16:24; Matt. 24:18; Mk. 1:7; Mk. 1:17; Mk. 1:20; Mk. 8:33; Mk. 8:34; Mk. 13:16; Lk. 7:38; Lk. 9:23; Lk. 9:62; Lk. 14:27; Lk. 17:31; Lk. 19:14; Lk. 21:8; Jn. 1:15; Jn. 1:27; Jn. 1:30; Jn. 6:66; Jn. 12:19; Jn. 18:6; Jn. 20:14; Acts 5:37; Acts 20:30; Phil. 3:13; 1 Tim. 5:15; Jude 1:7; Rev. 1:10; Rev. 12:15; Rev. 13:3 Deny (720)(arneomai from "a" = negation + rheo = say) literally means "to say no", to say one does not know about or is in any way related to some person or something. Gilbrant - Classical writers understood arneomai to mean “to refuse.” Under certain conditions other shades of meaning appear, such as “to reject” or “to decline”; the word can even mean “to deny something or someone.” It was during the Hellenistic period that arneomai first denoted the meaning so dominant in the New Testament—“to renounce, to deny.” Webster says that to deny implies a firm refusal to accept as true, to grant or concede or to acknowledge the existence or claims of. Gingrich - 1. deny Lk 8:45; Jn 1:20; 2 Ti 3:5; 1 Jn 2:22. disregard oneself Lk 9:23, but be untrue to oneself 2 Ti 2:13 .—2. repudiate, disown Mt 10:33; 1 Ti 5:8; 2 Ti 2:12; Titus 1:16 .—3. refuse Hb 11:24 Friberg - (1) in relation to a question or demand = deny (Lk 8.45), opposite homologeo (admit, confess); (2) in relation to a claim refuse, disown, not consent to (Heb 11.24); (3) in relation to God or a person deny, disown, renounce (1Jn 2.23); (4) in relation to the Christian faith, usually in the sense of apostasy deny, repudiate (1Ti 5.8); (5) as saying no to oneself in order to live wholly for Christ -- disregard, pay no attention to one's own desires (Lk 9.23); as turning from ungodly conduct renounce, deny (Titus 2.12); (6) as acting contrary to one's true character be untrue, be false to oneself (2Ti 2.13) (Borrow Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament) Gilbrant- Arneomai is set in antithesis to homologeō (3533) “to confess”: “He (John the Baptist) confessed, and denied not; but confessed” (John 1:20). Just as homologeō can apply to confessing one’s sin as well as confessing one’s faith, so too, arneomai/ aparneomai (529) can indicate denial from two widely different perspectives. It can mean to “renounce” or “deny” oneself, i.e., self-denial, but it can also denote “to deny” the faith or God. Self-denial is regularly expressed with the intensive form aparneomai, but arneomai occurs in Titus 2:12 when Paul wrote that grace disciplines us to “renounce” ungodliness and worldly pleasures (cf. Hebrews 11:24, where the same word is used of Moses’ refusal to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter). Self-denial involves giving way to God’s desires and others’ before our own. To renounce worldly pleasures involves rejection of their rule and power in our lives. The term arneomai appears in 1 John 2:22 concerning denying the Father (i.e., atheism). Some, through their conduct and evil acts, demonstrate that for all practical purposes they have renounced God (Titus 1:16). The New Testament is most concerned with someone denying Jesus Christ (Matthew 10:33; Mark 14:31; Luke 12:9; John 13:38; Acts 3:13; 2 Timothy 2:12; etc.). In every instance to deny Him means to reject or to denounce association with Him. Renunciation is therefore actually a denial of discipleship. To “deny Jesus Christ” can involve denial of His person (2 Peter 2:1; 1 John 2:22f.); His name (Revelation 3:8); the Faith (Revelation 2:13; cf. 1 Timothy 5:8); and the power of Christianity (2 Timothy 3:5). Such rejection is fatal to man and tantamount to a denial by God of that person at the Day of Judgment. Jesus himself confirmed this: “But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 10:33; cf. Luke 9:26; 2 Timothy 2:12). Nevertheless, the denial of Christ is not an unforgivable sin. Jesus declared that even if someone speaks against the Son of Man, he could receive forgiveness (Matthew 12:32). Peter denied Jesus, but God fully forgave him and restored him totally. “If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself” (2 Timothy 2:13). (Complete Biblical Library) Arneomai - 30v denied(10), denies(5), deny(12), denying(2), disowned(3), refused(1). Matt. 10:33; Matt. 26:70; Matt. 26:72; Mk. 14:68; Mk. 14:70; Lk. 8:45; Lk. 9:23; Lk. 12:9; Lk. 22:57; Jn. 1:20; Jn. 13:38; Jn. 18:25; Jn. 18:27; Acts 3:13; Acts 3:14; Acts 4:16; Acts 7:35; 1 Tim. 5:8; 2 Tim. 2:12; 2 Tim. 2:13; 2 Tim. 3:5; Tit. 1:16; Tit. 2:12; Heb. 11:24; 2 Pet. 2:1; 1 Jn. 2:22; 1 Jn. 2:23; Jude 1:4; Rev. 2:13; Rev. 3:8 Take up (142)(airo) essentially means “to lift from the ground,” hence to raise, lift, take up, pick up (cf Mt 16:24; Lk 17:13; Jn 8:59). In the context of Luke 9:23 the idea is to be prepared to suffer to the point of death. The cross speaks of death (death to self, etc). We are to take up Jesus' cross and take up His yoke. Jesus spoke of taking up or carrying His yoke, which He contrasted with the yoke of the Law (Matthew 11:28-30+). His yoke is easy and light; He implied that the yoke of the Pharisees was heavy, cumbersome, and actually impossible to bear. Service to God can therefore be understood as “taking up” a burden. Gingrich - 1. raise, lift, take up, pick up Mt 16:24; Lk 17:13; Jn 8:59; keep in suspense Jn 10:24; weigh (anchors) Acts 27:13; take or carry along Mt 16:24; 27:32; cry out loudly Lk 17:13. The transition to mng. 2 may be seen in Jn 1:29, where ai means both take up and remove.—2. take or carry away, remove Lk 6:29; Jn 2:16; 19:38. Do away with, kill Jn 19:15; sweep away Mt 24:39; conquer, take over Jn 11:48; expel 1 Cor 5:2; cut off Jn 15:2. Airo in Luke and Acts - Lk. 4:11; Lk. 5:24; Lk. 5:25; Lk. 6:29; Lk. 6:30; Lk. 8:12; Lk. 8:18; Lk. 9:3; Lk. 9:17; Lk. 9:23; Lk. 11:22; Lk. 11:52; Lk. 17:13; Lk. 17:31; Lk. 19:21; Lk. 19:22; Lk. 19:24; Lk. 19:26; Lk. 22:36; Lk. 23:18; Acts 4:24; Acts 8:33; Acts 20:9; Acts 21:11; Acts 21:36; Acts 22:22; Acts 27:13; Acts 27:17 Follow (190)(akoloutheo from a = expresses union with, likeness + keleuthos = a road, way) means to walk the same road (Ponder that simple definition dear believer - Am I willing to walk the same road as Jesus?) Literally to follow (like the crowds followed Jesus) and in a figurative sense to follow Jesus as a disciple. To follow (closely) and was used of soldiers, servants and pupils. To go after someone or something (not as a true disciple however as we see with the crowds who physically followed Jesus, following however without a willingness to commit wholly to Him! cf John 6:60-65, 66) Early in the history of the Greek language akoloutheo came to mean to imitate or follow someone's example. This dual meaning colored the New Testament use of our word akoloutheo. Akoloutheo is a technical term in Hebrew and Greek for the reactions and relationships of a disciple to his teacher. The essence of Christianity in fact lies in the words "to follow Jesus." When we walk with Him, He promised we would never walk in darkness! (Jn 8:12). He is our Lamp wherever we walk, always walking with us, His Spirit within us enabling us to "Walk by the Spirit." (Gal 5:16) Paul expressed walking after Jesus as being His imitator (1 Cor 11:1) When He say's go, I go. When He says stop, I stop. His sheep know His voice and follow Him (Jn 10:27) Sadly , some declined to follow (Mt 19:21-23). Akoloutheo has a variety of meanings which are all quite similar: 1) a soldier following his king; 2) a slave following his master; 3) a citizen following the law of the state; 4) a scholar following his teacher; 5) a young man following the wisdom of an elder. All imply that we must follow Jesus without question anywhere, at any time, at any cost. Akoloutheo - 89x in 86v - follow(35), followed(36), following(17), follows(1). Matt. 4:20; Matt. 4:22; Matt. 4:25; Matt. 8:1; Matt. 8:10; Matt. 8:19; Matt. 8:22; Matt. 8:23; Matt. 9:9; Matt. 9:19; Matt. 9:27; Matt. 10:38; Matt. 12:15; Matt. 14:13; Matt. 16:24; Matt. 19:2; Matt. 19:21; Matt. 19:27; Matt. 19:28; Matt. 20:29; Matt. 20:34; Matt. 21:9; Matt. 26:58; Matt. 27:55; Mk. 1:18; Mk. 2:14; Mk. 2:15; Mk. 3:7; Mk. 5:24; Mk. 6:1; Mk. 8:34; Mk. 9:38; Mk. 10:21; Mk. 10:28; Mk. 10:32; Mk. 10:52; Mk. 11:9; Mk. 14:13; Mk. 14:54; Mk. 15:41; Lk. 5:11; Lk. 5:27; Lk. 5:28; Lk. 7:9; Lk. 9:11; Lk. 9:23; Lk. 9:49; Lk. 9:57; Lk. 9:59; Lk. 9:61; Lk. 18:22; Lk. 18:28; Lk. 18:43; Lk. 22:10; Lk. 22:39; Lk. 22:54; Lk. 23:27; Jn. 1:37; Jn. 1:38; Jn. 1:40; Jn. 1:43; Jn. 6:2; Jn. 8:12; Jn. 10:4; Jn. 10:5; Jn. 10:27; Jn. 11:31; Jn. 12:26; Jn. 13:36; Jn. 13:37; Jn. 18:15; Jn. 20:6; Jn. 21:19; Jn. 21:20; Jn. 21:22; Acts 12:8; Acts 12:9; Acts 13:43; Acts 21:36; 1 Co. 10:4; Rev. 6:8; Rev. 14:4; Rev. 14:8; Rev. 14:9; Rev. 14:13; Rev. 19:14 Arthur Bennett, The Valley of Vision [Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1977], xv Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly… Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the healed heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that to have nothing is to possess all, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown, that to give is to receive… Let me find thy light in my darkness, thy life in my death, thy joy in my sorrow, thy grace in my sin, thy riches in my poverty, thy glory in my [humiliation]. There's Christian song that speaks to the cost of taking up the Cross and following Jesus. It's called "I Pledge Allegiance to the Lamb" (it won a Dove Award for Inspirational Song of the Year in 1994) - watch and listen to this well-done video version as you ponder what it means for you to take up your cross and follow Jesus: I pledge allegiance to the Lamb With all my strength, with all I am I will seek to honor His commands I pledge allegiance to the Lamb I have heard how Christians long ago Were brought before a tyrant's throne They were told that he would spare their lives If they would renounce the name of Christ But one by one they chose to die The Son of God they would not deny Like a great angelic choir sings I can almost hear their voices ring I pledge allegiance to the Lamb With all my strength, with all I am I will seek to honor His commands I pledge allegiance to the Lamb Now the years have come, and the years have gone But the cause of Jesus still goes on Now our time has come to count the cost To reject this world, to embrace the cross And one by one let us live our lives For the one who died to give us life Till the trumpet sounds on the final day Let us proudly stand and boldly say I pledge allegiance to the Lamb With all my strength, with all I am I will seek to honor His commands I pledge allegiance to the Lamb To the Lamb of God who bore my pain Who took my place, who wore my shame I will seek to honor His commands I pledge allegiance to the Lamb I pledge allegiance to the Lamb With all my strength, with all I am I will seek to honor His commands I pledge allegiance to the Lamb Alan Carr has a great illustration about "costs" in his sermon on the related passage Mark 8:34-38 - NO CHEAP SEATS - Intro: Last Sunday was Super Bowl Sunday. Millions of Americans watched the New York Giants shatter the New England Patriots’ dreams of finishing a perfect 19-0 season. While I’m not much of a football fan, I was curious to know what it would cost to see the game. After a few moments of research I discovered that there are no cheap seats for the Super Bowl. The tickets I found ranged from $1,674.00 in the nosebleed section all the way up to $11,668.00 for a pretty good seat near the 50 yard line. No matter how you slice it, it costs some big bucks to go to the Super Bowl. There are no cheap seats! If you want to see Celine Dion in concert, expect to pay between $100.00 and $2,000.00. If you want to see an old rock band named Journey expect to pay between $100.00 and $500.00. It will cost you at least $250.00 to go to trace in Daytona next week. It would cost you nearly a hundred bucks to see either Dolly Parton or Willie Nelson! There are no cheap seats! Jesus wants to teach us the same thing about being His follower. He wants us to know that there are No Cheap Seats in His service....Many believe they can have Jesus and the world too. Many believe they can claim to be followers of Christ, while they live their lives as they please. Jesus lets us know in no uncertain terms that such notions are utterly false. If a person is going to be a follower of Jesus Christ, there is a very high price to pay. This passage (Mark 8:34-38) makes it clear that there are No Cheap Seats for followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. A. J. GORDON We are wont to say that Christ died that we might not die. We should speak more truly if we affirmed that He died that we might die. He died for sin that we might die to sin; He bore our guilt in His own body that we might bear about His dying in our bodies.… Our wills surrender to Christ’s, even as His will was surrendered to the Father’s; our self-pleasing daily foregone for His sake Who “pleased not Himself”; our ease surrendered day by day in order that we may endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ,—these are the crucial tests of discipleship. Our souls are saved only by Christ’s outward cross of atonement; they are sanctified only by His inward cross of self-abnegation. Three Friends - Robert
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Barclay - Loyalty to Jesus will have its reward, and disloyalty its punishment. If we are true to him in time, he will be true to us in eternity. If we seek to follow him in this world, in the next he will point to us as one of his people. But if by our lives we disown him, even though with our lips we confess him, the day must come when he cannot do other than disown us. (The New Daily Study Bible – The Gospel of Luke) What the Bible Teaches - To be ashamed of the Lord and His words in this present time means that in the day of glory He will be ashamed of us....This is a test of the genuine against the false, real believers against mere professors, so this is the shame of those who reject the cross as well as cross-bearing. The loss is eternal. John
Lucas 9
Barclay - There is no passage in which Jesus so directly teaches the duty of tolerance as in this. In many ways tolerance is a lost virtue, and often, where it does exist, it exists from the wrong cause. Of all the greatest religious leaders none was such a model of tolerance as John Wesley. 'I have no more right', he said, 'to object to a man for holding a different opinion from mine than I have to differ with a man because he wears a wig and I wear my own hair; but if he takes his wig off and shakes the powder in my face, I shall consider it my duty to get quit of him as soon as possible... The thing which I resolved to use every possible method of preventing was a narrowness of spirit, a party zeal, a being straitened in our own bowels—that miserable bigotry which makes many so unready to believe that there is any work of God but among themselves... We think and let think.' When his nephew, Samuel, the son of his brother Charles, entered the Roman Catholic Church, he wrote to him, 'Whether in this Church or that I care not. You may be saved in either or damned in either; but I fear you are not born again.' The Methodist invitation to the sacrament is simply, 'Let all who love the Lord come here.' (Luke 9)
Lucas 9
Barclay - To the first man, his advice was, 'Before you follow me, count the cost.' No one can ever claim to have been induced to follow Jesus under false pretences. Jesus has paid us the compliment of pitching his demands so high that they cannot be higher. It may well be that we have done great hurt to the Church by letting people think that church membership need not make so very much difference (Ed: Of course church membership per se saves no one - he seems to be speaking of the true Body of Christ, the Church composed only of believers). We ought to tell them that it should make all the difference in the world. We might have fewer people; but those we had would be really pledged to Christ. (Luke 9) Oswald Chambers on Luke 9:57 - The “Go” of Renunciation - Our Lord’s attitude toward this man was one of severe discouragement, “for He knew what was in man” (John 2:25). We would have said, “I can’t imagine why He lost the opportunity of winning that man! Imagine being so cold to him and turning him away so discouraged!” Never apologize for your Lord. The words of the Lord hurt and offend until there is nothing left to be hurt or offended. Jesus Christ had no tenderness whatsoever toward anything that was ultimately going to ruin a person in his service to God. Our Lord’s answers were not based on some whim or impulsive thought, but on the knowledge of “what was in man.” If the Spirit of God brings to your mind a word of the Lord that hurts you, you can be sure that there is something in you that He wants to hurt to the point of its death. Luke 9:58. These words destroy the argument of serving Jesus Christ because it is a pleasant thing to do. And the strictness of the rejection that He demands of me allows for nothing to remain in my life but my Lord, myself, and a sense of desperate hope. He says that I must let everyone else come or go, and that I must be guided solely by my relationship to Him. And He says, “…the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Luke 9:59. This man did not want to disappoint Jesus, nor did he want to show a lack of respect for his father. We put our sense of loyalty to our relatives ahead of our loyalty to Jesus Christ, forcing Him to take last place. When your loyalties conflict, always obey Jesus Christ whatever the cost. Luke 9:61. The person who says, “Lord, I will follow You, but…,” is the person who is intensely ready to go, but never goes. This man had reservations about going. The exacting call of Jesus has no room for good-byes; good-byes, as we often use them, are pagan, not Christian, because they divert us from the call. Once the call of God comes to you, start going and never stop. We never enter into the kingdom of God by having our head questions answered, but only by commitment. (My Utmost for His Highest) Rod Mattoon - This man's promise is a good one. His attitude is great! Following Christ begins with this kind of desire. The sentiment of every one of us should be, "Lord, I will follow you wherever you go." It should also characterize our conduct. Unfortunately, this man was charmed, but not changed. He looked upon Jesus as a leader, but not as his Lord. I like what a banner said over the desk of a college freshman. This banner baffled his friends when they read it and also created curiosity. It read, "I am willing to be third." The friends inquired and wanted to know what it meant. He answered with a big smile, "Jesus first, others second, and myself third." This is the ideal attitude for every believer. Like the sound of distant drums that echo through mountain valleys and forests, the drum-beats of godly Christians in the past, that made their lives count for Christ, continue to echo down the halls of time even today, "Lord I will follow you wherever you go." We can still hear the heartbeat of folks like Adoniram Judson, William Carey, David Livingston, D.L. Moody, John Wesley, Fanny Crosby, Charles Spurgeon, and George Mueller. The list goes on and on. These folks gave the Lord a blank check to their lives by saying, "Lord I will follow thee wherever you go." That is an extremely powerful statement which will be tested for sure. If you recall, Peter made such a statement and was tested.John 13:37 (Treasures from the Scripture) Steven
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Barclay - His words to the third man state a truth which no one can deny. No ploughman ever ploughed a straight furrow looking back over his shoulder. There are some whose hearts are in the past. They walk forever looking backwards and thinking wistfully of the good old days. The story is told of a certain famous preacher who, when visiting the seaside with his little grandson, met an old minister. The old man was very disgruntled and, to add to all his troubles, he had a slight touch of sunstroke. The little boy had been listening but had not picked it up quite correctly; and when they left the grumbling complaints of the old man, he turned and said, 'Grandad, I hope you never suffer from a sunset!' The Christian advances, not to the sunset, but to the dawn. The watchword of the kingdom is not 'Backwards!' but 'Forwards!' To this man Jesus did not say either 'Follow!' or 'Return!' He said, 'I accept no lukewarm service,' and left the man to make his own decision. (Luke 9) Bruce comments on the 3 would be disciples - The first case is that of inconsiderate impulse, the second that of conflicting duties, the third that of a divided mind. As Spurgeon rightly observed "'NOW' is the watchword of the wise." LATER may be too late! Right NOW counts for ever. How goes your preparation for the future dear saint? It's now or never. "Time is the seed of eternity." To make our life count for eternity, we must be wise in how we spend our time today. What will your eternal destiny/harvest be? (Luke 9 - exposition) Life Application Study Bible - What does Jesus want from us? Total dedication, not halfhearted commitment. We can't pick and choose among Jesus' ideas and follow him selectively; we have to accept the cross along with the crown. We must count the cost and be willing to abandon everything else that has given us security—without looking back. With our focus on Jesus, we should allow nothing to distract us from following him. (See Luke Application Study Notes) John