Frank, Mariel, and Angelique, thank you for your responses to my question about the tower builder parable. Your observations about the current housing situation and the problem of overspending be it nationally or personally are all great examples of what Jesus was pointing at that we be cautious not to do. However, his focus will then turn to a much greater application than this and will focus on eternal ramifications of this same principle.

28. For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?

29. Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,

30. Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.

All of the commentaries that I have checked say pretty much the same thing about this passage and its surrounding texts.

Basically, they say that Jesus is telling us to count the cost of following him in order to make sure that we can make the whole commitment and be willing to do all that is necessary to be a disciple of his. They say that like any big undertaking, you should make sure that you have enough to finish or else don’t get started at all. Furthermore, they say that if we start out and then fail in our attempt to be Jesus’ disciple that Jesus says that we will be mocked by all who behold it.

They go on to say that in becoming Jesus’ disciple, we must be willing to face an enemy who is represented as the king with twenty thousand which they identify as the devil, who we will be going out to make war against as the king with ten thousand.

I am going to make a bold claim to you right now. What I have learned about this did not come from any commentary or pastor’s teaching. This came from the Holy Spirit and is the kind of teaching that God promised me, years ago, that he would give me if I would follow him. I share it now because of the day in which we live, and because I have been led to do this by God. I leave it to you to decide if what I suggest rings true in your spirit or if you want to hold to what the commentaries say.

But I say with Paul:

1 Cor. 14: 37. If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.

38. But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.

If I have indeed received this from the Holy Spirit then anyone else who is taught by that same Holy Spirit ought to be able to bare witness of this also.

I know that this will not be received by those not led by the Holy Spirit and Jesus said as much when he said, at the end of this passage:

³³ So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
³⁴ Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?
³⁵ It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

I am sorrowful that there are those who do not have the ears to hear this, but I am very happy for those who are able to hear and see this and receive it. For you, I write this and I know that I will see you soon and we will rejoice! Those who do not receive this, please remember this, for it will be important to you soon enough. You will still have a chance to learn what you have done wrong. May you learn well then.

Now I will tell you what he told me it means.

²⁵ And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,
²⁶ If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
²⁷ And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
²⁸ For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?

Jesus knew when he said this that most people would think it means exactly what the commentaries have suggested it means. Most people think that Jesus is saying we should count the cost of following him, but he is not saying that at all. Rather, Jesus is telling all who will NOT allow him to be Lord over their lives to count the cost of THAT decision. (Read verses 27 and 28 again and you’ll see it.) His admonition, “Which of YOU…” is directed at those who do NOT want to be his disciples, not at those who do, so the ones who are building a tower are the ones who do not want to submit to Jesus.

If you look back again at the beginning of the above scripture it says that there were great multitudes following after Jesus. These multitudes are not disciples. They have made no commitment to Jesus and are not even contemplating making such a commitment. These multitudes are content to do what they want to and do not wish to surrender the control of their lives to anyone, including Jesus. So why then are they following? They are following Jesus perhaps out of curiosity or out of a hope that some benefit may be had by doing so; maybe even salvation. They do not believe that complete surrender to him as Lord is necessary for their eternal salvation, because if they did they would probably do so. They seem to be convinced that they are behaving in a way that is acceptable before God just as they are. To them, the suggestion that one become a disciple is very extreme and while it is fine for those who want to go that far, they feel that it is not necessary. They have been taught this way. To them, it is their own good behavior that they have put their confidence in. They are “good” people, doing good things for God. Yet they are not submitted to Jesus, do not hear Jesus’ voice and do not follow him and have never known him. Multitudes like this are still “following” Jesus this same way today.

(Example: that guy [Greg Hawkins] in that u tube video http://revealnow.com/story.asp?storyid=48 where they did a study of their church’s ministry methods of the past 30 years and discovered that they are not effective in making disciples of Christ. He admitted that most of those who go to his church and other churches surveyed like his, are really just explorers from a distance, or “growing” closer but not living a life that is centered on Jesus.)

It is to these kinds of people, who are in the multitudes that are following but not putting Jesus first that Jesus is directing his advice about sitting down and counting the cost of building a tower. The reason that Jesus said TOWER in the first place, and not house or some regular building is that he is referencing the Tower of Babel . This Tower of Babel was attempted to be built by deceived, rebellious people in an effort to reach heaven through their own labors and resources and works and intelligence. It was doomed from the beginning. Jesus wants these folks now to see as he sees and count the cost of trying to do it for themselves, so they will see that this tower costs more than they possess and can never be finished. But that is why he offers himself to provide the way if we will believe him with our whole life.

He likens what they are doing to those who built the Tower of Babel because it is an approach to God that is contrary to the way that God has provided. If you don’t want to submit to Jesus but you still want to get to heaven, there are many ways to try and get there, but they are all summed up by Jesus as attempts to lay your own foundation and build a tower reaching to heaven. (It is the same as one who is TRYING to be perfect, which we covered earlier, in another post. Trying to be perfect is trying to build this tower, and is not submitting to Jesus.) He advises that they count the cost of completing this tower because he already knows that they do not have enough to finish it and he’s hoping that they will see it too, and that they will abandon that tower construction task and come to HIM now before it is too late. Stop working so hard to build your tower and enter instead into HIS rest! He already provided you with a free entry way into the kingdom through HIMSELF, the DOOR! Any attempt to enter by a way other than through the door provided is the same as being a thief and a robber.

John 10: 1. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.

Anyone who will not submit to Jesus as Lord over their life is building this tower. They have laid another foundation other than Jesus to build their life on and we know that:

1 Cor. 3: 11. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Yet this tower builder is laying another foundation of his own making:

29. Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation…

This person’s foundation is not the Rock, but is sand. These are the same as those who Jesus said hear his words but do them not and they are likened to a foolish man who builds his house on sand instead of the rock of Jesus. It matters not how much they may be “doing for God” even within the church. They may be pastors and teachers, and leaders and regulars within the ministry, or regular attendees of church, but if they have not submitted to Jesus and his leadership over them personally and directly, then they are building on a different foundation than Jesus. They may continue this activity without being exposed or inconvenienced for now. But the storm is coming that will buffet the houses and the house built on the Rock (treasure in heaven, heart there also) will stand but the house built on the sand will fall.

One of the claims of the commentaries is that they say Jesus suggested that whoever starts out following him but then falls away, that is to say, they start building their tower, which they say IS being a disciple of Jesus, but then they fall away and can’t finish, they say that all who behold it will begin to mock them. But is this really what happens to someone who falls away from Jesus? Have you ever known someone who tried being a Christian but then gave up on it and went back to the world, and then did the world mock that person? Not the ones I ever saw, they didn’t. The world is all too happy to receive back the ones who leave Jesus. Yet Jesus said all who behold these tower builders that are not able to finish, they all will begin to mock them. What does this mean then?

He is referring to the rapture, folks. Those left behind will be mocked. It’s wise and foolish time here, as in house builders and as in virgins. There is a type in the Old Testament in Elisha and Elijah.

²³ And he (Elisha, who was left behind after Elijah was raptured) went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.

Immediately after the rapture, there will be many who have lived as Christians who will be left behind and the world will begin to mock them and mistreat them very badly, just as some have seen in dreams and visions. The world will say, “Look, this Christian wasn’t able to make it in with the others, HA HA, he tried to build his tower to heaven but couldn’t finish and he got left behind to stay with us!” This is what Jesus is referring to. We are not to count the cost of putting Jesus first (just do it) but rather count the cost of the decision NOT to put Jesus first. Our own rebellious works are not going to reach to heaven, no matter how good they might look on the surface. That’s why we need to submit to Jesus in order to be counted as perfect in righteousness. See how this works? I have never berated anyone because they were not perfect. None of us is perfect, certainly not me! That is in my own works. My faith in having abandoned my tower building attempts and leaving all that and taking up my cross and following Jesus has allowed God to give me Jesus’ righteous performance as a covering or atonement for my shortcomings. If I do not accept this covering by submitting completely to Jesus, but wish to remain independent to be my own boss as it were, then I am still building my own tower trying to be good enough and trying to reach heaven by my performance. This is what Jesus warns we should count the cost of attempting. Not only is this tower never going to be finished and you will be mocked by all who behold it…

But then it gets even worse. The reference to a king that goes out to make war with another king has nothing to do with a disciple fighting against Satan. It has to do with the fact that if you will not trust Jesus with all of your life and let him be Lord over you, then ultimately you are going out to make war with God.

Revelation 2 : ² I know thy works… ⁴ Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, (Somewhat, is in italics, added by translators, not in original)

So, what Jesus really is saying is in spite of your works, I have (to be) against you.

If you are building a tower, then you are the king with ten thousand and God is the king with twenty thousand. He doesn’t want to destroy you with this world, but you must send your ambassage, or ambassador which is your prayer of repentance, while he is yet a long way off, and desire to be at peace with God before he gets here. Once he shows up, it is then too late to make peace. He will reject you and you must then approach him under a new set of rules. He is advising you to decide right now that if you don’t think that you can fight against God and win, then get on his side right now – desire conditions of peace with God! What possible thing is there that is better than being right with God, right now?

The tragedy of many of today’s preachers is that they have let their flocks believe that God accepts them without this submitting to Jesus Christ. They submit in name and word only but not really in a way that costs them anything tangible. It is perfectly acceptable just to follow from a comfortable distance surrounded by the multitudes that are doing likewise and they teach you that you are still saved. If that’s true then Jesus was talking to them just to hear himself talk. Many also of these pastors and teachers have not submitted to Jesus. Blind leaders of the blind, sensual (operating only out of the five senses) having not the Spirit, they just know how to do “church,” yet they are also among that multitude.

Jesus is a person who is able to meet with you and tell you what he wants you to do right now wherever you are and whatever you might be going through. Your pastor’s job was to lead you to Jesus and let Jesus take it from there. Like the woman at the well led her townsfolk to Jesus and they believed because of meeting Jesus for themselves, not because of the woman’s testimony only. You must meet Jesus and get to know him for yourself.

If you think it’s tough to submit to him now, are you ready to get your head chopped off in order to be right with him? If you know that you cannot fight against God and win, then may I suggest that you make peace with him now, while he is yet a great way off, so that when he gets here, you and he will be on the same side?

I know that I will receive grief from some for this message. Jesus’ message has always brought that response. Life to some death to others.

Galatians 4:16. Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?

28. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.

29. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.

30. Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.

31. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

In reference to Frank Molver’s suggestion that I must have undertaken something to bring me to this subject, I will say that yes, I did, but it is not building a tower. Rather I have long since abandoned building that tower and I invite all still thusly engaged to do likewise. Many years ago, though I had been a Christian all my life, I was living for my own desires, counting on Jesus for salvation yet not submitting to his will for me. I struggled with this until he promised me that he would teach me if I would trust him with my whole life. I did, and he has. My sincere hope is that you are doing the same. Why you would choose anything over God is beyond me.