May 23 is Christ worth it. If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother

and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Look 14, 26 and 27.

Jesus is unashamed and unafraid of telling us upfront the worst, the painful cost of being a Christian.

Hating family, verse 26, carrying the cross, verse 27, renouncing possessions, verse 33,

there is no small print in the covenant of grace. It is all big and bold. No cheap grace,

very costly, come and be my disciple. But Satan hides his worst and shows only his best.

All that really matters in the deal with Satan is in small print on the back page.

On the front page in big bold letters are the words, you will surely not die, Genesis 3, 4.

And all these I will give you if you will fall down and worship me, Matthew 4, 9.

But on the back page in small print, so small, you can only read it with the magnifying glass

of the Bible. It says, and after the fleeting pleasures, you will suffer with me forever in hell.

Why is Jesus so willing to show us his worst as well as his best while Satan

will only show us his best? Matthew Henry answers, Satan shows the best, but hides the worst

because his best will not counterbalance his worst, but Christ will abundantly.

The call of Jesus is not just a call to suffering and self-denial.

It is first a call to a banquet. This is the point of the parable of Luke 14, 16 to 24.

Jesus also promises a glorious resurrection, where all the losses of this life will be repaid,

Luke 14, 14. He also tells us that he will help us endure the hardships, Luke 22, 32. He also tells us

our Father will give us the Holy Spirit, Luke 11, 13. He promises that even if we are killed for the

kingdom, not a hair of your head will perish. Luke 21, 18, which means that when we sit down to

calculate the cost of following Jesus, when we weigh the worst and the best, he is worth it.

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