If I Could Te

You Jus

ThingNatha

Pitchford

Chapter Seven: Choose This Day

Thus far in my message to you, I have tried to do two things: first, show you exactly whatChristianity is, and second, show how it applies to you personally, no matter who you may be. Now, Iintend to show you that this message, with its necessary personal application, cannot be ignored or shelved indefinitely: it demands a response, and the time for that response is now. I repeat the words of the prophet Elijah, when on Mount Carmel he put the truth of his God to the proof against the opposingreligions of his day: “If the Lord [Christ] is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him”

.Sotoday, I am proclaiming, “If Christ is the Lord, submit to him and embrace his gospel; but if whatever other religion or philosophy you embrace is true, then follow it.” In either case, a decision must bemade. “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...but as for me and my house, we willserve the Lord”

.If you are not yet a Christian, or if you are a Christian in name only, I cannot impress upon youtoo strongly that the time of decision is now. Every breath that you take is another gracious gift of theGod whose law you have broken and whose grace you have spurned; and you never know at what timeGod's patience may run out, your day of opportunity may end, and he may snuff out your fleeting lifeand plunge you into an eternity of darkness and wrath. Right now he calls out to you, offeringunspeakable good and blessing; but if you refuse to hear, he will one day refuse to hear you as you plead for another chance, but only to find out to your horror and dismay that it is already too late

. If you shrug off my appeal with a glib intention to await “some more convenient time,” that time maynever arrive

. If you suppose you may come and follow Christ after the death of your parents, after some milestone you are striving to reach, after you have lived such a life of pleasure as you crave, thenhe will pass on and leave you forever

.If you put off your response because you have just purchased ahouse or married a spouse or have any of the other countless distractions of this world preventing you,you will one day wake up and realize that it is too late, that God has been filling his house with other invitees who were not too busy to come

.You will hear the door slam shut, and cry out for another chance to come in, but only to hear those terrible words, “Too late, too late, ye cannot enter now”

.Oh,that you could see the urgency of this appeal, and casting off every distraction come to Christ at once!“Behold, now is the acceptable time! Behold, now is the day of salvation!

”I would not have you make your choice in an emotional fervor, without considering clearlywhat is demanded of you, what you must give up, and what you may expect in return. It would befoolish to begin building a new house without first taking into careful consideration the necessaryfinances required to finish the product, and whether you had sufficient resources to complete what youhad begun

; and neither should you undertake to embark upon the Christian life without firstconsidering what it will cost and what it will offer in return. In this chapter, I propose to assist you toengage in such a careful evaluation, first by explaining what it costs to be a true Christian, and second by explaining what you may expect to gain as a true Christian.

1 1 Kings 18:212 Joshua 24:153 Proverbs 1:24-334 Acts 24:255 Matthew 8:21-226 Luke 14:15-247 Quotation from Alfred, Lord Tennyson, in his short lyric “Late, Late, So Late”, taken from “Guinevere” (from

Idylls of the King

); based on the biblical parable of the wise and foolish virgins in Matthew 25:1-13.8 2 Corinthians 6:29 Luke 14:28-30

If I Could Te

You Jus

ThingNatha

Pitchford

What is the Cost?

The shortest answer to the question, “What does it cost to become a Christian?” is only this:

everything

. You cannot come to Christ only halfway, or be willing to give him only a portion of your life. He will not accept such an offer, he will make no concessions and accept no plea-bargains; but if you would come to him, you must give yourself up freely, entirely, and without reservation. But let'sconsider a little more fully what it is you must give up, what kinds of things you may in no wise beclinging to as you approach the Savior.First, you must be willing to give up all your earthly goods and possessions. You may not be soattached to the things of this world that you cannot bear to leave them, and still account yourself afollower of Christ. When the rich young ruler came to Jesus seeking to be his disciple and find eternallife, the Savior demanded of him that he sell all his goods to give to the poor, and leave everything behind to follow him. He was not willing, and thus went away sorrowing

.In the same way, manytoday would like to be Christ's disciples, but cannot bear to part with their worldly possessions; andinasmuch as those worldly things hold the first place in their affections, they cannot be Christ'sdisciples at all. A rich man cannot enter heaven apart from God's sovereign enabling, for he is tooinclined to trust in his wealth

; and in trusting it implicitly, he is worshipping and serving it. But it isimpossible to serve God and Mammon, the God-substitute of earthly money and worldly financialsecurity

. The first generation of disciples proved that they were Christ's indeed when the accepted the plundering of their good with joy in their hearts, and were thankful to be counted worthy to suffer for the sake of their Savior

; if they had not responded in this way to the loss of their riches, they wouldhave disproved the sincerity of their confession.Let me confront you, then, with this first truth: if you are not willing to suffer the loss of your bank accounts and your IRAs, and in fact all the worldly goods in which you place your security, youmay not be a Christian. God may never call you to give up all your goods (although, then again, hemay); but examine your heart: are you willing? If you were robbed of everything just because youclaim the name of Christ, something that in fact happens to many Christian brothers and sisters in some parts of the world even today, could you still trust in him and rejoice in his unspeakable gift of thegospel

? If you answer no, then the cost is too great; you have counted it and have realized that youcannot be a Christian after all.Second, if you would come to Christ you must be willing not just to leave all your goods and possessions, but also to suffer the loss of all your treasured relationships. You must be willing to acceptrejection by all your friends and family, and be content with Christ alone. Are you willing to do this? If not, then mark the words of Christ the Savior: “If anyone comes unto me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, and what's more, even his own life, hecannot be my disciple”

; and again, “Do not suppose that I came to bring peace upon the earth; I didnot come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to divide a man against his father and a daughter against her mother and a daughter against her mother-in-law; and a man's enemies will be hishousehold members”

.If you become a true Christian, I can promise you that you will have enmity and relationaldiscords that you did not have before. Here in America, it might just be contempt and mockery. Maybe

10 Matthew 19:21-2211 Matthew 19:23-26; cf also 1 Timothy 6:9-10, 1712 Matthew 6:2413 Hebrews 10:34; cf also Acts 5:4114 2 Corinthians 9:1515 Luke 14:2616 Matthew 10:34-35

If I Could Te

You Jus

ThingNatha

Pitchford

your family, whether they profess to be Christians or not, will simply not understand why you have become so “fanatical” as to let every part of your life be utterly directed and shaped by a message thatmakes absolutely no sense in this present world. Maybe they have always believed certain doctrines or creeds that you have been forced to reject in your commitment to pursuing the truths proclaimed in the bible alone; and they consider your rejection of the beliefs you had been raised with as a personalattack. Maybe they will never recover from the offense that you caused, and your relationship willnever be the same. And it is always possible, depending on the family you were born into, that their anger at you if you commit yourself fully to Christ will be so great that they will truly hate and persecute you, and even spill your very blood in protest. It happens all the time in this world which liesin the power of the Evil One

.So here is the question: are you willing to accept such a breach of your most treasured relationships in order to come to Christ? If you are not willing, then you cannot be hisdisciple.In the third place, you must be willing to lay aside all your prestige and honor on this earth, if you would be Christ's. The message of the cross, which is the only message by which you must besaved, is weakness and foolishness to the world

,and they who cling to it, not by outward confessiononly but with an earnestness that affects their whole lives, will always be regarded as weak and lowly

.If you would be a disciple, if you would enter the Kingdom of Heaven at all, you must be as a simple,credulous child

; and if you would be great in the Kingdom, you must be the servant of all

. If eventhe apostles upon whom the church was built were the most despised and lowly of all their generation,and underwent immense shame and reproach

, what do you expect, if you would follow them as theyfollow Christ

? More to the point, if Christ himself suffered unimaginable shame and reproach, do youexpect better, if you would come to him? No, “for the servant is not above his master”

; if they hatedand persecuted Christ, so will they hate you who come to Christ

.Fourth, to become a Christian you must be willing to give up all your pride and self-sufficiency.Christ is not a self-help counselor, he does not “help those who help themselves,” but he saves his ownto the uttermost

, apart from any contributing works that they might offer. The foundational corollaryto the gospel of God's free and sufficient grace is only this, that by it works and boasting are utterlyexcluded

. If salvation is by grace, then it is not by any works or human merit whatsoever, and if it isin any sense at all by works, then it is no longer by grace

.This immoveable rock of all-sufficientgrace provides infinite cause for confidence in coming to God; but at the same time, it requires infinitehumility and lack of self-trust; if you are not willing to give up your pride and autonomy, then youcannot at all be a Christian.Fifth, you must not only give up your pride and self-confidence, but also your very best worksand all your own righteousness. In the economy of God's sovereign grace in the gospel, your very bestrighteousnesses are as filthy menstrual pads

, not only absolutely worthless to make you acceptable toGod, but revolting to his holy nature and able only to bring down his greater wrath and judgment.

17 1 John 5:1918 1 Corinthians 1:18-2519 1 Corinthians 1:26-3120 Matthew 18:1-421 Matthew 20:25-28; 23:10-1222 See 1 Corinthians 4:9-1323 See 1 Corinthians 11:124 Matthew 10:24-2525 John 15:20-2126 Hebrews 7:2527 Romans 3:23-28; 1 Corinthians 1:29; Jeremiah 9:2428 Romans 11:6; Galatians 2:16; Romans 9:1629 Isaiah 64:6