The Liberal democrat. [volume] (Liberal, Kan.) 1911-1924, 1914-04-17

LESSON TEXT-Luke 14:25-35
GOLDEN TEXT-"Whosoever would
save his life shall lose 1t; and whatsoever
shall lose his life for my sake shall find
It," Matt. 1925
While this discourse is recorded
only by ST. Luke, still there are many
things mentioned here to which our
Lord made reference on other occa-
sions. Last Sundays Easter lesson
made break in the sequence of les
sons we have been following, ana shall
follow for several succeeding Sundays.
Leaving the chief Pharisee's house
wherein he criticized both host and
guests, great multitudes" followed
our Lord. Turning, he uttered some
Of the severest and yet the most won
derful words that ever fell from his
lips, as we shall see il we follow all
of this part of our lesson series.
Multitude Rebuked.
I. A Caution, v. 26. On another oc.
casion, John 6;26, Jesus rebuked the
multitude which followed him. This
multitude who pressed about him did
not realize what was involved in a
true following. They were influenced
by the psychology Of the crowd, and
did not count the cost. Jesus does not
mean that our discipleship will lessen
our love for our kin (Eph. 525, 1881;
6:1-4), but as compared with our love
for him 1t is aversion. See Matt.
10:37; Phil. 3:7, s; Ps. 1925, 26. Aver
sion is to turn aside, and the Master
told US that those who shall turn aside
thus shall have an abundant reward,
see Mark 10:2S-30. Jesus Christ must
be supreme in a Christians affections.
He who freely gave his own self John
1916, Phil. 2:S) has right to demand
like devotion to himself, and as
men have approached nearest to such
a conservation he has exalted them.
The Cross means the shame, sorrow,
pain and death of self and all that lies
in the pathway of loyalty and devo-
ton to him. II Tim, 1912, Acts 1922.
II. A Challange, w. 27-32. () The
Instruction, v. 27. AS II to make this
caution more solemn, Jesus sets be-
fore the multitude the manner of his
approaching death and the condition
of discipleship. He here lays down
the first declaration of the severe
terms of discipleship, but explains
the meaning of his words. There is a
new meaning of this passage sug.
gested by the Revised Version of V.
33, so likewise" is rendered, so
therefore" Our Lord does certainly
Insist that those who build tower or
conduct war must count the cost; SO,
likewise, they who follow him. But
by this change the opposite thought is
suggested, viz, that those who follow
him must do so whatever the cost may
be. (2) The Illustrations. (a) The
builder Of a tower, Wv. 20, 80, and (b)
The King at war, Wv. 81, 80. Too often
we present to men what is to be gained
by Christian discipleship. The gain
does outweigh the cost, but as wise
builders we must present the cost side
of the transaction,
Homely Illustrations.
~. The Conclusion, w. 1885. We
have already indicated the conclusion
towards which Jesus was leading with
terrific logic, and by looking back to
the first verse Of the lesson we see
what 1t was he was seeking to impress
upon the minds of the thoughtless
multitude hn
one Of those homely illustrations
gathered from the common expert
ences of life which he employed so
frequently to amplify or to drive home
q great truth. There must be quality
as we'll as devotion to this disciple
ship. Salt preserves from corruption,
seasons insipidity, freshens and sweet.
ems. These qualities are referred to
abundantly by Scriptural writer's. Salt
is highly priced in the East. The
natural man is presented also as be-
ing corrupt, Gen. GIL; 1921; Ps. 14:2,
3; Eph. 2:1-3. The remedy for this is
the active presence of his disciples
among their fellows. The true dis
ciple is like salt with a good SAVIOR.
On the other hand, salt that has lost
its SAVIOR is not even fit for a dung
hill, but is thrown out and trodden un-
der foot of men. So our Lord sets
aside that disciple Of his who has lost
his usefulness. This expresses our
Lords contempt and scorn Of those
who lack, not merely certain kind
of character, but those whose profess
sion and appearance would indicate
better expectation.
This lesson presents the severity
of the claims of Jesus. Irresistibly he
drew the multitudes to himself. Wit
ness the crowd following him as he
leaves the house of the ruler. But he
paused and by his teaching sifted
them. and seemingly made it difficult
to follow him.
What is the purpose of discipleship?
1t means cooperation. The work Of
the King is to build and to battle, so
the disciple must WELD both, sword
and trowel He must set aside his in
terests and devote himself and all Of
his strength to the work and the war
fare. We must not, as has been inAi-
mated, allow ourselves to imagine