Luke 9:51-62 | Single-minded like our Saviour

Reading from Luke 9 51. At the time as

the time approached for him to be taken

up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out

for Jerusalem.

>> And he sent messengers on ahead. He went

into village to get to get things ready

for him. But the people there did not

welcome him because he was heading for

Jerusalem.

Lord, first let me go and bury my

father. Jesus said to him, "Let the dead

bury their own dead, but you go and

proclaim the the kingdom of God." Still

another said, "I will follow you, Lord,

but first let me go back and say goodbye

to my family." Jesus replied, "No one

who puts his hand to the plow and looks

back is fit for service in the kingdom

of God.

Thank you, Ashley. Let's keep our Bibles

open there to Luke chapter 9. Uh, this

Luke 9 · chapter mention

is our last message in Luke for a time.

Uh next week, Henry Montgomery, as Bryce

was saying, will be here from Asia Link.

Uh and then we will take a break from

Luke and go into Ecclesiastes uh for a

time.

And I just want to say the more I read

it, the more excited I am for that. Um

so don't dread want to say the more I

read it, the more excited I am for that.

Um so don't dread that book.

are not inspired. That was done

thousands of years later.

Luke 9:51 actually starts the next major

Luke 9:51

section of the book of Luke. Um, as

Jesus finishes his Galilean ministry and

begins his journey to Jerusalem, uh,

which kind of goes all the way up until

chapter 19,

but we decided just to finish with this

anyway because it allows us to finish

chapter 9 together. It sums up in some

ways where we have been and it gives us

a taster of where we're going when we

come back to Luke. So when I was writing

papers in Bible college, I remember one

of my professors used to say to me, you

should always park on a downhill slope.

So when you're reading or when you're

writing, don't just finish the section.

Finish the section and write the next

couple sentences of the fir of the next

section as well, just so you can kind of

get started. Again, think of this as us

parking on a downhill slope as we finish

up this section of Luke. We are just

getting a teaser of what the next

section will be when we come back into

Luke. So, let's pray for the Lord's help

now as we look at this section.

We just sang those words, Jesus, to you

we lift our eyes.

And Lord Jesus, that is what we do now.

and we we lift our eyes to you as you

have revealed yourself to us in your

word.

Only you can open our eyes to see your

glory

to see you as that king in all his

beauty that we sang about earlier this

morning. And Lord, we pray that you

would do that for us now. That you would

help us to put aside other distractions

and to turn our eyes to you.

and we pray that you would show yourself

to us in your glory and that we might be

changed. Amen.

We have this expression in English. I

don't know if other languages have a

similar expression.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Sounds like uh you know something you

could counsel a child who's about to do

an Easter egg hunt. Don't put all your

eggs in that basket in case you trip.

But really, we use this, right? Don't

risk everything on one option, you know.

Don't don't apply for just one job or

don't try for just one placement or, you

know, don't bid on just one house or one

rent rental option. Don't put all your

eggs in one basket. Or we have a similar

expression. It's a little more

sophisticated

in the world of investments. You should

diversify your investment portfolio.

Right? Is a little more sophisticated.

Don't invest every penny you have into

one thing because if that thing busts,

you bust.

This is a proverb of our age.

When we think about our culture, we

probably don't think first of commitment

and single-mindedness.

It's probably not the first thing you

think of when you think of our culture,

except maybe when it comes to sport.

I don't know very much about football,

but I'm pretty sure you can't be both a

Liverpool fan and a Manchester United

fan. I'm pretty sure you can't be both

an All Blacks fan and a Spring Box fan

or a Argentina fan and a Brazil fan or

whatever it is.

Single-mindedness.

We get that when it comes to sport.

In some things, I I dare I say less

important things like sport, we are

single-minded.

But generally our culture doesn't not

value putting all our eggs in one

basket. Or to use another phrase we

sometimes use being allin. Now that

comes from poker which is another thing

I know nothing about. But I've seen

enough films where the scaryl looking

guy goes allin and pushes all his chips

into the middle of the table. And we

know what that means, right? You're

staking everything on this one thing.

Our culture does not value being allin,

particularly when it comes to faith and

religion. It's fine to give that a part

of your life. Fine to put a few eggs

into that basket,

but not too many. You put too many eggs

in that basket and you just turn out to

be a weirdo. It's just uncomfortable.

But there's a problem with that kind of

thinking according to the Bible, isn't

there? What is the first and greatest

command?

To love the Lord your God with part of

your heart and part of your soul and

part of your strength?

No.

With all of your heart and all of your

soul and all of your strength.

God calls us to single-minded

faithfulness.

all our eggs in his basket to be allin

for him and his kingdom. And this

passage at the end of Luke 9 is all

about single-mindedness.

In the first half, we see our

single-minded savior. He was allin to

save us. Then in the second half, we see

that our single-minded savior expects

single-minded followers.

every egg that we have in the following

Jesus basket.

So, let's look at these two aspects. Our

single-minded savior and his

single-minded followers. We start with

Jesus, our single-minded savior in

verses 51- 56. Look at verse 51.

As the time approached for him to be,

the NIV says here, taken up into heaven.

Now, the literal wording there in the

original language is as the time

approached for his going up or his

ascension is another way that we could

say that. Now, of course, Jesus

ascension, that's the term that we use

for what happened at the end of Jesus'

life after his resurrection when he went

back into heaven to sit at the right

hand of his father. But I think here

that when Luke writes the time is

approaching for Jesus going up,

I think he's actually referring here to

his cross,

his death, his resurrection, and then

yes, his ascension that cap happens

after that. Remember what has Jesus been

talking about these last few weeks in

Luke 9? Remember verse 22? The son of

man must suffer many things, be rejected

by the elders, the chief priests, the

teachers of the law, and he must be

killed, and on the third day be raised

to life. Then in verse 23, he said that

if you want to be my disciple, you have

to take up your cross and follow me.

Then remember in verse 31 when he's

talking to Moses and Elijah, he talks to

them about his exodus, which is where

his death. And then last week, verse 44,

the son of man is going to be delivered

into the hands of men. What is Jesus

talking about in this chapter? What's he

preparing his disciples for? His death.

What stands between him and returning to

his father? Is Jerusalem

where he will suffer and die and then

rise again.

So, I think that's what it's talking

about when it says that Jesus knows that

the time is approaching for his going

up. It's all of that put together.

So, how will our savior respond

knowing now that his time is coming?

That a time of rejection and pain and

wrath and abandonment and death is

coming.

Look what it says in verse 51.

Knowing that,

Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.

Literally, again, in the original

language, Jesus set his face to go to

Jerusalem.

Jesus doesn't stall.

He doesn't grumble. He doesn't delay or

complain or drag his feet. He's already

predicted it. He has discussed it with

Moses and Elijah on the mountain. And

now knowing full well what lies ahead of

him, he sets his face to go.

Now that language of setting his face is

really important. That's why I'm drawing

it out here because Luke here is subtly

referring to Isaiah. Remember, we've

seen regularly throughout the book of

Luke that Jesus sees and understands

himself to be that servant of Yahweh,

that character from the second half of

Isaiah, the one who brings salvation to

the world.

Remember the first sermon that Jesus

preached in Luke 4. He read Isaiah 61

about this servant of the Lord and then

he said, "Today this scripture is

fulfilled in your midst. I am this

person." Well, now Luke strengthens that

connection again by referencing Isaiah

50, which is another passage about the

servant. Listen to these words. You

don't need to turn there, but listen to

these words. Isaiah 50, starting in

verse 4. Here's the servant of the Lord

speaking again.

The sovereign Lord has given me a

well-instructed tongue to know the word

that sustains the weary. He wakens me

morning by morning. and he wakens my ear

to listen like one being instructed. The

sovereign Lord has opened my ears. I

have not been rebellious. I have not

turned away. I offered my back to those

who beat me, my cheeks to those who

pulled out my beard. I did not hide my

face from mocking and spitting.

Does this sound like Jesus?

This righteous person. And he says,

"I've opened my ears to do whatever God

says, but there's people beating my back

and tearing out my beard and spitting at

me." And then he says, Isaiah 50:7,

Isaiah 50:7

"Because the sovereign Lord helps me, I

will not be disgraced.

Therefore, I have set my face like

flint,

and I know I will not be put to shame."

That's the words of Jesus.

Do you hear that wording that he uses?

I'm righteous. I have done nothing

wrong. People are beating me and mocking

me, but I have set my face like flint.

That is what Luke is referring to here

when he says that Jesus set his face to

go to Jerusalem.

to set your face like flint.

It means to be resolved, to be

committed.

You will not be turned aside from what

you have set out to do. Now,

when is the last time we heard about

Jesus' face?

Two weeks ago on the mountain when it

was shining like the sun,

radiating the divine glory of God. And

now that glorious face,

the face of God made flesh,

sets himself towards Jerusalem to suffer

and die for you.

Do you ever doubt Jesus love for you?

I do.

When you do, you should consider a verse

like this.

the singleminded

determination that Jesus had to save

you. He didn't have to, but it was the

only way to.

So, he willingly set his face to save

you.

And over the next 10 chapters, when we

come back to Luke, we will see him

journeying on that road to Jerusalem on

the road to save you. But first in verse

52, he needs a place to stay on the way

because it's a bit of a journey to

Jerusalem. So he sends some messengers

in front of him to prepare a place and

he sends them to a Samaritan village.

Now what do we know about Samaritans,

splinter group that broke off from the

Jews following the fall of the northern

kingdom of Israel. They despised the

Jews. The Jews despise them. Do you

think they'll get a warm welcome here?

Well, maybe. We've seen some surprising

things in Luke, but not this time. Verse

53.

But the people there did not welcome him

because, now listen again in the

original language, because his face was

going to Jerusalem.

That's why they rejected him. These

Samaritans did not like Jesus

destination.

They don't like Jerusalem.

They have their own temple where they

worship on Mount Garazim. Do you

remember the Samaritan woman that Jesus

meets at the well in John 4. What does

she say to him? She says, "Our ancestors

worshiped on this mountain, Mount

Garazim. But you Jews claim that the

place where you must worship is

Jerusalem." You hear that? The Jew the

the the Samaritans have their own place

of worship. They don't like that the

Jews think you need to go to Jerusalem.

And so when this religious leader Jesus

sets his face for Jerusalem, we don't

want anything to do with that. Move

along.

How will Jesus respond?

Well, James and John have an idea.

Verse 54.

When the disciples, James and John saw

this, they said, "Oh, let's find another

place to stay." No. Lord, you want us to

call down fire from heaven to destroy

them.

Remember, these are the two that Jesus

in Mark 3 nicknames the sons of thunder.

Here you see why.

But before we get too hard on them, we

need to see a few things. In saying

this, they are quoting an Old Testament

story which you need to go read this

afternoon. 2 Kings chapter 1. One of my

2 Kings 1 · chapter mention

favorite stories in the Old Testament.

King Ahaziah is injured. So he decides

to send messengers to consult Baal, the

false god. And Elijah intercepts these

messengers and goes, "Is there not a

king in Israel? Sorry, a god in Israel

that you can ask about this." Ahaziah is

mad. And so he sends 50 men to kill him.

And Elijah says, "May fire come down

from heaven and consume you." And it

does. And it happens more than once. Go

read the story. It's amazing.

Elijah in that story is defending the

honor and worship of the true God. Is

there not a God in Israel? He says to

this idolatrous king. And here James and

John are seeking to defend the honor of

Jesus, aren't they? They are offended at

how this village has rejected him. That

is commendable of them,

but it's still trigger-happy.

Remember verse five of this chapter when

Jesus sent out the 12? What instructions

did he give them if they were rejected

somewhere? Shake the dust off your feet.

That is a long way from fire coming down

from heaven and consuming them.

But there's a bigger problem that Jesus

has with this overzealous response.

Why has Jesus come?

All through these last chapters, what

have we seen? Jesus has come to save.

In his second coming, he will judge.

He is both judge and savior. And he will

judge all those who reject him. But not

here. Not yet. Not now. In this moment,

he is setting his face to Jerusalem to

save the world. The door of salvation is

still open for these Samaritans. It's

not time yet for fire and judgment on

them.

And the same is true today.

The door of salvation is still open

through faith in Jesus for the

forgiveness of your sins.

But one day that door will shut.

And that day it will be too late.

Remember the delay of Jesus in waiting

to return is not because he is

forgetful.

It is because he is patient with

sinners. Remember what Peter says in 1

1 Peter 3:9

Peter 3:9. The Lord is not slow in

keeping his promise. He's talking about

here about his second coming. He says

the Lord is not slow in keeping his

promise as some understand slowness.

Instead, he is patient with you. Not

wanting anyone to perish, but everyone

to come to repentance. If you haven't

come to repentance in Jesus yet, you

need to come today.

The door is open today. But you may not

have another day where the door is open.

You don't know how long you will live.

Come today while the door is still open

by faith in Jesus.

So Jesus with single-minded purpose sets

his face for Jerusalem. He rebukes James

and John and finds another village to

stay. Nothing would stand in the way of

Jesus saving us. Not the temptations of

Satan that we saw, not the opposition of

the disciples, not the scheming of the

religious leaders, not anything. He was

allin

and nothing would stop him from saving

us.

So, first we see our single-minded

savior. But then as we shift to verse 57

and we start on the journey to

Jerusalem, see look verse 57. As they

were walking along the road, so now

we've started towards Jerusalem.

Now we get a contrast. We see three

wouldbe disciples who are not

single-minded.

And in each case, our single-minded

savior tells them that he expects

single-minded followers.

Now, notice how all three of these

interactions are explicitly about

following Jesus. Verse 57, I will follow

you.

Verse 59, follow me. Verse 61, I will

follow you. So, this is all about

following, but they're all slightly

different as well. Jesus wants all of

them to understand something about what

it means to follow him. For the first

one, he wants them to have clarity.

For the second one, he wants him to

understand priority.

And for the for the third one, he wants

him to understand consistency.

This is what it means to follow Jesus.

So let's look at the first interaction

in verses 57 and 58.

As they were walking along the road, a

man said to him, "I will follow you

wherever you go."

Jesus replied, "Foxes have dens and

birds have nests, but the son of man has

no place to lay his head." This first

interaction is with a volunteer, right?

Comes to Jesus. I will follow you

wherever you go.

And at first, it might look like Jesus

responds by warning him about poverty

that will come from following him. You

you'll have nowhere to lay your head, no

home. But I don't think that that's

primarily what Jesus is saying here.

Jesus did have places to sleep. He had

places to lay his head. Of course, he

had no home of his own, but he had

places to sleep. But think about what

just happened in the verses we just

looked at. He looked for a place to lay

his head in the Samaritan village and

they rejected him because of who he is,

because of his journey to Jerusalem. I

think what Jesus is talking about here

is rejection,

isolation, and sacrifice that comes from

following him.

Some of you are experiencing this.

Some of you are experiencing rejection

and isolation from your family for

following Jesus. You may have a place to

lay your head physically, but you don't

have somewhere that feels like home.

Somewhere you can let your guard down

and just be a Christian.

Some of you know what it's like to have

no home because you follow Jesus.

And the issue that Jesus is confronting

here is naivity.

Someone who thinks that following him

will be great and easy. I'll follow you

wherever you go, Jesus. Jesus responds,

do you know where I'm going?

Do you know what following me will

involve?

Do you know that truly openly following

me is going to involve rejection and

sacrifice?

In John 15, Jesus said to his disciples,

"If you belong to the world, it would

love you as its own, but as it is, you

do not belong to the world, but I have

chosen you out of the world. And that is

why the world hates you."

And some of you are experiencing that

today hatred because of Jesus. And you

need to know that Jesus knows. He

understands. He has experienced that and

he sympathizes with you. He experienced

it first.

You know, sometimes you'll hear

Christians or people who say that they

are Christians talking about how we need

to be more loved by the world. We need

to be more accepted by the world. And

yes, of course, we want to live at peace

with those around us. But whenever you

hear that, the false teaching alarm

should go off in your head.

Jesus promised his followers the world

would hate them, not love them.

This week, um, Kevin Oconor, the pastor

at Middleton Baptist, sent me a quote

from a pastor, Richard Sibs, writing 500

years ago. Listen to this awesome quote.

Truth hath always a scratched face.

That's some quote, isn't it? Truth.

Well, let's let's make it a little more

new modern English. Truth always has a

scratched face.

That's true in Jesus day. Jesus day was

scratched. Jesus face was scratched for

his stand for truth. It was true in

Richard Sib's day 500 years ago. It's

true in our day, too. You stand for the

truth of Jesus, your face is going to

get scratched by the world.

Jesus doesn't want his followers to be

naive about following him. He wants us

to have clarity.

Are we clear on what following Jesus

involves?

Are we willing to go with him wherever

he will go? Are we willing to obey

whatever he will command of us? Are we

ready to follow Jesus into suffering for

his name? Or do we want to keep a few

eggs in another basket? I'll go with him

here. I'll go with him here. But maybe

not there.

Do we have single-minded clarity,

brothers and sisters?

Now, if you think that was strong from

Jesus, wait for the next one. Verse 59.

He said to another man, "Follow me." But

he replied, "Lord, first let me go and

bury my father."

Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury

their own dead, but you go and proclaim

the kingdom of God.

Now, at this point, we might be

thinking, "Jesus needs a new PR manager.

He's not going to be attracting any

followers this way." It's a shocking

statement to make, isn't it? This one

isn't a volunteer like the first one.

Jesus just tells this man, "Follow me."

And the man responds with what seems

like a very reasonable request. Let me

first go bury my father.

I just want to say I recognize the

sensitivity here in DBC at this moment

with this response of Jesus.

Many of you over the last few years have

buried your father or your mother or

your husband or another relative or a

friend.

And the way that Jesus responds in verse

60 might seem almost unthinkable to you.

To bury one's parents is one of the most

important duties that a child has.

That's today true today. It was true

even more in Jesus time. So it's not

that they just didn't care about this in

Jesus' time.

Imagine the audacity of this statement.

Imagine your friend

walking to their funeral for their

father and you saying to them, "Can

actually, can you come do something for

me instead in that moment?" Can you

imagine? I think that friendship would

be over.

So, how can Jesus say to this man,

"Let the dead bury their own dead."

First, let me just say,

Jesus wants you to honor your parents.

Remember

the ten commandments?

They were given by the triune God. Jesus

is the second person of the trinity. One

of those ten commandments is honor your

father and mother. Jesus commands you to

honor them. It's not that Jesus doesn't

care. Actually, in Mark 7, he confronts

the Pharisees because they're using

religious loopholes to hold on to money

that they should have been used to

support their parents.

Or think of Jesus on the cross as he is

dying

and he tells John to care for his mother

Mary. Jesus loves parents.

But he uses this extreme example,

something that we would all agree

burying your parent,

it's a priority that you drop everything

else for. There is nothing else that

stands above that priority. And Jesus

uses this most extreme example he can

think of to make a point. What's your

priority?

Me or anything else in the world?

See, the problem with this man's

response is that word first.

First,

let me go. And Jesus says, "No,

nothing should come first between Jesus

and his kingdom. Nothing comes before

them."

Now, in this culture, people were buried

almost immediately.

So, the fact that this man is here

talking to Jesus suggests his father

isn't dead yet, or else he would be

there at the funeral. He his father must

have been in the process of dying. And

so it seems that he's saying to Jesus,

"Once this is done, once my father has

died, once he's buried, then I'll come."

And Jesus responds, "No.

You follow me first. You follow me."

Now,

how can he demand that kind of

allegiance?

I mean, if Jesus was merely a human,

this would be off the charts pride,

wouldn't it be to tell another person to

leave their father's deathbed to come

follow you?

But remember who Jesus is. Remember what

we just saw on the mountain. This is God

veiled in flesh.

This is the one who made us,

who made us for himself.

We are his. We belong to him, body and

soul. There is nothing he cannot ask of

us. Nothing that we do not owe him.

There is no egg that we can keep in

another basket. He rightly demands it

all from us.

That just rubs our cultural

sensitivities, doesn't it?

Jesus is fine as long as he slots into

the priorities that I have for myself,

what I'm comfortable with. But no,

Jesus will demand, he demands nothing

excepts nothing but first.

Only first.

What takes priority in your life over

Jesus?

What takes first place in your time?

Your attention,

your effort,

your energy,

your desires. What takes first?

My point is not that you should we

should all be reading our Bibles all

day. We have responsibilities in the

home and in work. God is honored by us

fulfilling those faithfully, isn't he?

But if we're honest, we all do have

things that compete with Jesus for

priority, don't we?

We have loyalties to particular

priorities.

One pastor writing on this passage, he

says, "We need to watch that our

loyalties do not become our idolatries."

That's a good word.

Jesus is the only one who gets a blank

check in our life to ask whatever he

wants of us. And what he wants, what he

asks is allin. That's what he asks.

And notice what he specifically

identifies as the priority to this man.

Proclaim the kingdom of God.

That's the priority. Spreading the

gospel of Jesus.

Jesus has come to save the world. What

priority does that have in your life?

This has been really convicting for me

this week as I've been thinking about

this.

What priority does spreading the kingdom

of God have in your life?

That doesn't mean that we all need to

quit our jobs and become street

evangelists. But it does mean that we

should see our first task as Christians

as proclaiming Christ's kingdom. Whether

that's in the office

or in the front room with your kids

or on a football pitch or whatever it

is, that is your first job, proclaiming

the kingdom. Job number one.

Maybe you're here and you're not yet a

Christian, but you hear Jesus commanding

you to follow him. What reasons are you

coming up with not to today?

But first this, but first that. No. Now.

Now follow Jesus.

Do we have single-minded priority in

following Jesus?

Jesus also wants his followers to have

single-minded consistency.

Look at the last interaction he has

there in verse 61.

Still another said, "I will follow you,

Lord, but first let me go back and say

goodbye to my family."

Jesus replied, "No one who puts a hand

to the plow and looks back is fit for

service in the kingdom of God."

Here we have another volunteer.

Perhaps not as naive as the first one,

but again, did you hear that word first?

First. let me go back and say goodbye to

my family. Now again, that just seems

reasonable, right? Anyone must think

that that would be reasonable. But Jesus

again has an extremely

strong response.

And he uses the illustration of plowing.

You know, farmers at the time would have

oxen that were hitched to a plow and

then the farmer would walk behind that

plow with their hands on it to ensure

looking ahead to ensure that they were

making straight even furrows in the

ground. If you are looking back while

you are trying to plow, you'll get wonky

furrows, right? Going all over the

place. And Jesus says, "The only one who

is fit, the only one who is suitable for

the kingdom of God is someone who puts

his hand to the plow." In other words,

who follows Jesus

and never looks back.

In other words, Jesus expects not

starters,

he expects finishers.

Those who will stick with him all the

way no matter what. Remember

what he says in Mark or Matthew 24:13.

Matthew 24:13

The one who endures to the end will be

saved.

That's what Jesus says.

Can I just talk to the kids in the youth

here for a minute?

Jesus is not looking for followers on

Sundays and Friday nights and at camp.

He's calling on you to follow him now

and never look back.

Not just in the times where your friends

are around,

but to never look back.

You will fail and stumble along the way.

We all do. So do I.

But you just keep get you get back up

and you keep following. That's what

Jesus is calling you to.

Some of you are in hard trials of many

kinds where you are tempted right now

perhaps to let go of Jesus.

Don't

keep following him. Keep holding on. It

will be worth it in the end.

These light, remember what Paul says,

these light momentary troubles

are working for you an eternal weight of

glory beyond all compare. Remember that

glory? We saw it two weeks ago on the

mountain, didn't we? And if you will

endure till the end, through your

trials, you will see the face of God in

glory.

So, keep holding on in your trials.

Do we have single-minded consistency?

Jesus is calling us to be single-minded

followers, to have clarity on what it

will cost, to have priority in

proclaiming the kingdom, to have

consistency and never looking back. You

put those three things together, that's

a high call.

Think about how they work together.

First, he wants you to have clarity in

what it's going to cost. Then, he wants

you to take that and lift it up to the

first priority in your life. And then,

he wants you to never look back from

that.

That is some call.

Are you sufficient for that?

I'm not. Are any of us sufficient for

this kind of call?

But let's shift our minds now back to

the beginning and remember Jesus.

Jesus does not call us to anything which

he has not already demonstrated for us

and empowered us for by his spirit.

Think of the clarity that Jesus had. He

wouldn't he set his face like a flint

for Jerusalem. Think of the priority

that Jesus had. He would let nothing

sidetrack him from saving you.

Think of the consistency that Jesus had.

He not only started, he finished the

work of salvation. He loved us to the

end. He never looked back. He endured

the cross. He despised the shame

so he could save you.

Our savior was allin for us. He paid

everything needed to save us. the work

of salvation is done.

Ought we not to respond by being allin

for him?

That's what Paul says to us in 2

Corinthians 5.

He says, "Christ's love compels us

because we are convinced that one died

for all and therefore all died and he

died for all that those who live should

no longer live for themselves

but for him who died for them and was

raised again." Do you hear that? He died

for you so that you would live for him.

Allin.

That's the salvation that Jesus brings.

You know, sometimes when we hear strong

calls like this, it can make us nervous

of legalism or nervous of works

righteousness.

Let's be honest, if you try to live this

way without a personal relationship of

faith in Jesus, it will be all legalism

and no grace. If you try to live this

way without a relationship with Jesus of

faith, trusting that he's done it all on

your behalf already, you will look to

your own performance for assurance and

have no assurance at all.

But this call from Jesus is not

anti-grace

and it is not legalistic. It's what

Jesus died to produce in you by his

spirit. Listen to Titus 2. He gave

himself for us

to redeem us for all from all wickedness

and to purify for himself a people that

are his very own eager to do what is

good. Jesus gave himself for us to make

us eager to do good.

If we have seen God's glory in the face

of Jesus and responded to his undeserved

grace in saving us, how could we want to

give him less than our entire selves?

God has always desired that his people

would love him with all their heart, all

their soul, all their strength. But I

just want to remind you that God first

loved us with all his heart.

before he called on that from us. And he

actually says that one of my favorite

passages, I think one of the most

beautiful passages in the Old Testament,

Jeremiah 32, God is promising the new

covenant. Listen to what he says. I will

give them one heart

so that they will fear me always for

their good.

I will never turn away from doing good

to them. And I will put fear of me in

their hearts so they will never again

turn away from me. Then listen, I will

take delight in them to do what is good

for them. And with all my heart and

soul,

I will faithfully plant them in this

land. Do you hear that? God says, "With

all my heart and soul, I have done good

to you."

And now he calls on us with all our

heart and soul to follow him,

to be single-minded in following him.

But he has first been single-minded in

saving us. He sent our single-minded

savior to save us from our sins.

Jesus was allin to save us.

Will we be allin to follow him?

Let's pray.

Lord Jesus,

you have given your all to us.

forgive us. Have mercy on us for how we

do not give our all to you.

And we pray that we would that we would

be all in. That we would put our hand to

the plow and never look back.

And I pray that if there are any here

who have not yet followed you, that they

would hear your call now to follow you.

Amen.