sumed the obligations of a disciple was the
precept.[958]

As Jesus pointed out, it is good common-sense to count well the cost
before one enters upon a great undertaking, even in ordinary affairs. A
man who wishes to build, say a tower or a house, tries to determine,
before he begins the work, what the expense will be; otherwise he may be
able to do no more than lay the foundation; then, not only will he find
himself a loser, for the unfinished structure will be of no service, but
people may laugh at his lack of prudent forethought. So also a king,
finding his realm menaced by hostile invaders, does not rush into battle
recklessly; he first tries to ascertain the strength of the enemy's
forces; and then, if the odds against him be too great, he sends an
embassage to treat for peace. "So likewise," said Jesus to the people
around Him, "whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath,
he cannot be my disciple." All who entered His service would be expected
to maintain their self-sacrificing devotion. He wanted no disciples who
would become like salt that had spoiled, unsavory and useless. "He that
hath ears to hear, let him hear."[959]

SALVATION FOR "PUBLICANS AND SINNERS"--ILLUSTRATIVE PARABLES.[960]

The Pharisees in Galilee had intolerantly criticized Jesus because of
His friendly and helpful ministry among the publicans and their
associates, who were disparagingly classed together as "publicans and
sinners."[961] He had replied to these uncharitable aspersions by saying
that a physician is most needed by them that are sick, and that He had
come to call sinners to repentance. The Judean Pharisees raised a
similar complaint, and were particularly virulent when they saw that
"all the publicans and sinners" drew near to hear Him. He met their
murmurs by presenting a number of parables, designed to show the
incumbent duty of trying to recover the lost, and the joy of success in
such God-like endeavor. The first of the series of parables was that of
the _Lost Sheep_; this we have considered in connection with its earlier
delivery in the course of instruction to the disciples in Galilee.[962]
Its application in the present instance, however, is somewhat different
from that of its former presentation. The lesson on this later occasion
was directed to the self-seeking Pharisees and scribes who personified
the theocracy, and whose bounden duty it should have been to care for
the strayed and the lost. If the "pu