Marks Of A Disciple Series

Marks of a Disciple

The question I would like for us to consider today from this passage is what makes a true disciple of Jesus Christ? What are the marks of a disciple

-This morning we continue to look at the Jesus' Prayer in John 17

-This is the True Lords prayer, the passage we commonly call the Lords prayer was a model prayer that Jesus gave his disciples when they asked him to teach them how to pray

-This prayer is unique because we have all our Lords words recorded

-Its broken down into three parts, First he prayed for the Fathers Glory, then he prays for the 11 disciples and then he prays for all of us

Today we are going to look at the Jesus' pray for his disciples. Even though he most likely was praying this for the 11 that were there at the time the principles that we are going to look at today apply to all of us who are followers of Jesus Christ today and from this we can clearly see the marks of a true disciple.

-It is my hope and prayer that you examine yourself today to see if you are a true disciple or a person who is need of salvation

you see with God its either on or off, saved or lost. And if your life doesn't show the marks of being a true disciple the simple conclusion drawn from the evidence would be that you are in need of being saved.

The word disciple used in scripture, is student, a learner. As disciple we should always be learner more about Jesus and growing in the knowledge of Christ

2Pe 3:18 But grow in grace, and [in] the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him [be] glory both now and for ever. Amen.

Lets look this morning at some of the things that Jesus says in this prayer that identify his disciples

Different than the world

In verse 6, Jesus says, “Whom you gave me out of the world.” then again in verse 9, “I am praying for them, I am not praying for the world.”

verse 14, “the world has hated them” verse 16, “they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world

-There was a very clear difference between the the disciples and the people of the world

The Bible declares that if any man be in Christ he is a new creature old things have past away and behold all things have become new. In 2 Cor. 5:17

If a person truly gets saved it changes the way they live! It changes who they are, it even changed the way they talk and act

Paul said that old things are gone and ALL things have become new

One of the important marks of a disciple is that of a changed life

When the nation of Israel was marching through the wilderness on their way to the promise land God gave them laws to follow so that they might live up to a high moral standard and not act like the pagan nations around them and so they wouldn't act like the Egyptian nation that they were held as slaves in for 400 years

Even though they existed within Egypt they were still a separate nation, the chosen people of God. Some of the Israelites allowed Egypt to get in them. You remember the ones they were the people who wanted to keep going back, the ones who weren't happy with the manna, and the living conditions in the wilderness.

As Christians we live in this world but true disciples do not let the world get into them. We have no need to get ourselves all tangled up with this world trying to keep up with the possessions of this world, the politics of this world, the fashions of this world, the language of this world.

Because we are not of this world

1Jo 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things [that are] in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Paul writing to Timothy warned him about becoming entangled with this world and he compared it to the life of a soldier

2Ti 2:4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of [this] life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

In Sunday school we have been studying through the book of 1 Peter. Within that short book Peter wrote to encourage the Christians that were exiled during a time of severe persecution. And in that letter he called them to live up to a high moral standard that the rumors about them and the speculation might be silenced by their livestyle