What would it be like to serve God all your life only to hear Him say the words “I never knew you?” Hearing the music of Jaws right before the attack, or the scraping of Freddie Krueger’s claws, the moans of zombies, or the wings of Dracula would not instill fear in a person as intense as hearing our Saviour say that we are not going to heaven. No car wreck, divorce, bankruptcy, or disease could ever be more damaging than taking an eternal journey through the valley of death! With these four words “I never knew you” eternally ringing in our ears, will we not spend an eternity beating ourselves up for having let a lifetime of opportunities to say YES to Christ only to be answered with a profound NO? Wearing all our pretentious good deeds on our hearts will not hide the fact that the stone was never turned to flesh. It saddens me greatly that way too many people in the church have a form of religion that gains them a good reputation but not an eternal home in heaven!

Does this passage not serve as a warning not only to those who knowingly reject God but also to the pretenders as well? Do you this morning have a false sense of security because you are standing on the foundation of unbelief? You may say but pastor I believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God! This is a good start, but I want to remind you that even the demons believe in Jesus and shudder in fear (James 2:19), but everyone knows that they are not going to make it into heaven! You may say but pastor I read my Bible, pray and sing the hymns! No matter how high the mountain of cheap grace one is standing on without making Jesus Christ as the Lord of one’s life, one cannot expect anything at the end of the valley of death but to be cast into a sea of fire. My intention in today’s sermon is not to put fear into one’s heart but out of love to encourage you to examine your heart to see if you have counted and accepted the costs of becoming a disciple of Christ. To accomplish this, I am going to examine Luke 14:25-35 and in doing so outline four points of what it truly means to be His disciple!