The Cost of Following Jesus

By Benjamin Sealey

To know Jesus and to follow Him is the greatest privilege that any of us can have here upon the Earth. It is our very reason for living, the centre of the walk of any Christian and by extension, the purpose of our churches.

It is the calling of the people of God to be unlike anything found in this world. We are designed to be the craftsmanship of the Holy Spirit and vessels of His purity and His power. Those who walk with God produce a character unlike anything found in the world. They are people of peace, joy, strength, authority, stability, humility and love. Surely there will be nothing as powerful on the Earth as a person who follows Jesus, and those willing to pay the cost to follow Him will gain the greatest prize of all, Jesus Himself.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Benjamin Sealey
• Release date: Jul 19, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370797172

Benjamin Sealey

Benjamin Sealey is a British pastor with a passion to see God's church know Him greater, and to encounter all that He has for us. If you have any questions about his works, please feel free to contact him via the links.

Book preview

The Cost of Following Jesus by Benjamin Sealey.

Smashwords Edition

©2017 Benjamin Sealey

All Bible verses taken from the NIV ©1973 unless otherwise stated.

About the Author

Benjamin is pastor and worship leader based in the UK. His desire is to see God's people know Jesus and walk closer to Him, bringing the glory of His kingdom onto the earth.

He is a regular speaker at conferences, churches and house groups across the world, anywhere there are people hungry for God, no matter how big or small. If you would like to contact him, or have any further questions, feel free to email him at [e-mail] or connect on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Benjamindsealey

Benjamin's books, Restoring the Heart of Worship and The Kingdom Church are also available on Amazon.

Introduction

"Then Jesus said to his disciples, If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Matt 16:24-25.)

To know Jesus and to follow Him is the greatest privilege that any of us can have here upon the Earth. It is our very reason for living, the centre of the walk of any Christian and by extension, the purpose of our churches.

It is the calling of the people of God to be unlike anything found in this world. We are designed to be the craftsmanship of the Holy Spirit and vessels of His purity and His power. Those who walk with God produce a character distinct from all others. They are people of peace, joy, strength, authority, stability, humility and love. Surely there will be nothing as powerful on the Earth as a person who lives their life in submission to Jesus.

The goal of developing our relationship with Jesus is the focus of much of my teaching. This is more than simply becoming a Christian and inheriting Christianity's values and culture, it is about following Jesus Himself and walking in all that He has for us. It is a harsh reality that many of us take on the name of Christ without ever learning to follow Him. Consequently, little of the church as we see it displays the brilliance of God in the way that it is called to. In truth, much of the church only reflects the works, opinions and flesh of man. The beauty that His church is called into will never be realised while it is built by man’s methods, it will only reflect Jesus when we learn to follow Him.

The gospel that Jesus taught is very different to the one which we often hear today. The grace of God is both beautiful and powerful, but there has been distortion of Jesus’ message of grace to the point that many of us do not understand what Jesus asks of us. We will never become the person God wants us to be, and nor will we live in the level of relationship that Jesus longs for unless we understand the true message of the gospel.

I want to stress at the outset that our salvation cannot be earned, it is solely an act of the grace of God. Neither can we gain God’s love through our works or obedience. There is however a depth and reality of our walk with Jesus that we will never see realised until we understand the whole of Jesus' message. Salvation is a gift of God that comes only through the sacrifice of Jesus, but those who want to come after Him and go where He goes must learn to also pick up their cross and follow Him.

"Then Jesus said to his disciples, Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. (Matt 16:24.)

It is my hope that this booklet addresses what it is to walk with God. The message contained within here is never going to be popular, and neither will it attract large crowds to our churches or make us successful in the eyes of man. However, for those who are willing to lay down their lives to follow Him, the reward will not be counted by the riches of the world, but will be the far greater treasure of simply knowing and loving Him.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them. Matt 5:3

The message of Jesus

For years the Israelites had been waiting for a saviour who would be their king and to lead them to freedom from Roman occupation. When that man came there were few who recognised Him, even from within His chosen people. In fact, not only was He not recognised, it was the Israelites themselves who encouraged Jesus’ torture and death. This may seem amazing to us today, but if Jesus returned to us now in the same way, many Christians still would not recognise Him or His authority.

"Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matt 7:21-23.)

The religious leaders who were established in God’s name found Jesus to be an affront to them and a threat to their positions. They were looking for a messiah who would come and do what they desired, setting Israel up as an independent nation again that was free from Roman rule. Instead, when Jesus came He came to establish the Kingdom of God, a Kingdom built upon God’s will rather than man’s. Jesus’ message of becoming the least, of returning our hearts to God and of seeking Him offended the Israelite teachers of the time. They had neither the heart nor the humility to understand that what Jesus came to establish was not the earthly kingdom that they were anticipating. Far from being a king who would secure their positions of power, He was a man who threatened it.

Nobody was expecting the messiah to be born in the humble circumstances of a stable, and Jesus’ birth went quite unnoticed by the religious