John 8 (3b)
A True Disciple
- Read John 8:31-47, 59
I stand before you today, upset, because of what I have to share with you; but also grateful to a merciful God Who allows me to do so.
Did you notice how verse 31 began? “Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in Him.” Now notice how the chapter ends in verse 59, “And they picked up stones to throw at Him.”
Evidently, their professions, their claims that they believed in Him, the fact that they were attracted to Him, meant nothing in the long run.
We don’t know why they “believed in Him.” They may have liked His teachings. There are many non-believers today who like that stuff about, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”, or, “Judge not lest you be judged”. A lot of people in the world like those ideas.
They may have “believed in Him”, because of the miracles they saw Him perform, or the ones they had heard about at least.
They may have believed in Him because of the way He treated women and the under appreciated. He was known as a friend of sinners, and the fact that He treated the outcasts, the losers in life’s lottery, well, may have attracted them.
I read an article recently, where 2 atheists said that without Christianity there would be no western civilization. They are not Christ-followers, but they like what Christianity did to give women rights, to provide upward mobility, to value life, to build the family, and society. These folks may have “believed in Jesus” for some of those societal reasons.
They may have “believed in Him”, because He fed them, or entertained them, or got their minds off of the their day-to-day struggle to survive. They may have “believed” in Him, because He gave them hope. They heard in His words some ideas that God loved them and wanted the best for them. I don’t know why they, “Believed in Him”, but the fact is, their temporary, surface-only belief amounted to nothing. It changed nothing. In the end they wanted to stone Him.
Sadly, and why I am both grieved and grateful to be able to share this message today, is that there are people today just like these folks, perhaps, some of you.
People who like some idea about God, or they like some of the things about Jesus, or religion, or God, but who have never been changed by what they claim to believe; people who are like some Jesus encountered earlier, who wanted to crown Him king one minute, but who, after hearing the requirements to being one of His followers cried, “This is hard, who can do it”?
This section is written to people who believe and yet, do not believe. Clearly they were inclined to think that what Jesus said was true, but they were not prepared to yield to Him their long-lasting, totally encompassing allegiance that real trust in Him implies.
This is a very dangerous spiritual state. To recognize that truth is in Jesus and to do nothing about it means that in effect one aligns oneself with the enemies of the Lord.
In chapter 6, many of those who excitedly wanted to crown Jesus king, soon withdrew and were not with Him anymore. John 12:12 records the encouraging news that many “even of the rulers believed in Him. because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue (Romans 10:9-10).
In the parable of the sower, Jesus described “those on the rocky soil”, as “those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in the time of temptation, fall away (LK 8:13).
This week, Lonnie invited a man and his family to church. In response, the man, who is spending the weekend in the gulf said, “You only live once and I want to enjoy myself.”
How dangerous it is to recognize Jesus as the Savior, to recognize what He says is true, and then to do nothing to follow up on that knowledge.
In verse 31, a verse I had never completely recognized the importance of until studying on it for several weeks, I believe we have recorded 4 important characteristics of a true disciple, a true follower of Jesus Christ.
1. Discipleship begins with belief. The beginning of discipleship is the moment when a man accepts what Jesus says is true. When a woman accepts what Jesus says about sin, death, punishment, salvation, and says, “Yes, I believe that.”
Saving faith has 3 elements:
1) knowledge of the facts. The facts are these.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Our eternal, all-powerful, ever-present, all-knowing God, created everything out of nothing.
There in the Garden of Eden, God created and placed the first man and the first woman, Adam and Eve. They had everything they needed for life. And God them one rule, one command. Do not eat from that from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, there in the center of the garden. If you do, you will die.
Satan tempted Eve to eat the fruit, which she did and then she tempted her husband Adam. Ever since that time, every man evert woman, every child who had ever lived, has knowingly done things that they know are displeasing to God. They have knowingly, willingly sinned. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
The Bible says, “The wages of sin is death.” Eternal separation from God.
All of have sinned. All of us are condemned, but God loves us, so He sent His Son Jesus Christ to earth to pay the price for our sins.
> John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish but hath everlasting life.
The Bible says, “God commendeth, He proved His love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.”
We have all sinned. The punishment for our sins is eternal separation from God. God loves us, so He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross to pay the price for our sins.
Jesus was crucified, he was buried, and He rose again on the third day. Right now He sits at the right hand of His Father in heaven praying for us.
The Bible says, “If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
If we confess our sins to the Lord, ask Him to forgive us of our sins, and become followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, we will be saved, and instead of being eternally separated from God, when we leave this life we get to spend eternity with Him.
These are the facts. Knowledge.
2) Assent - This is one step beyond knowledge. This is the affirmation that those facts are true. It is saying, “Yes I believe that.”
Now, mere assent to the facts does not equal saving faith, since even the demons have that kind of faith. But genuine faith manifests itself in a person’s changed life.
3) Trust - Acts on those facts by personally appropriating Jesus Christ a the only hope of salvation.
Discipleship begins with belief. The second characteristic of a true disciple is that they continue in His word.
2. True disciples continue in His word - Those whose faith is the real, saving trust; those who are truly disciples of Jesus Christ, will continue in both faith and will continue in His word. What does that mean, to “continue in His word”?
Continuing in His word means:
1) It involves constant listening to the word of Jesus. There used to be a pastor by the name oof John Brown. When he preached, he would pause from time to time, as if listening for a voice. The Christian is a man who all his life listens for the voice of Jesus. The Christian is the man who will make no decision until he has first listened to what Jesus has to say.
2) It involves constant learning from Jesus. The term disciple means literally, learner. All his life the disciple should be learning more and more about Jesus. The shut mind is the end of discipleship. I had a professor who used to say to us preacher wanna-bes, “If you put your books on the shelf, the Lord will put you on a shelf.” What he meant by that was that if we want to remain useful to the Lord, we are going to continue to study, and learn and grow.
What is true of preachers is also true of disciples. To be a disciple is to be a constant learner.
True disciples continue in His word. That involves listening to the word of Jesus. It involves constant learning from Jesus.
3) It involves constantly obeying the word of Jesus.
He does not say, “If you continue in My word you will become My disciples. He said you will be. He declared, the true nature of discipleship consists of continued obedience to His Word. Scripture repeatedly affirms only those who obey Christ are really His disciples.
- John 14:21, 23-24
- John 15:10
- John 15:14
> 1 John 2:4-6 Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God[a] is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.
> 1 John 3:24 The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
> 1 John 5:3 In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,
These verses make it very clear that it is not possible to be saved without confessing Christ as Lord, and giving willing obedience to His Lordship.
All Christians are disciples, and those words are used interchangeably throughout the New Testament. If you are truly a Christian then you are a disciple as well, and true disciples are word oriented. They recognize that it is the word of grace that is able to build them up. They understand the importance of being doers of the word and not hearers only.
Discipleship means constantly remaining in the word of Jesus.
3. True disciples will know the truth -
2 young ladies I know, on a recent family outing to a river, decided to have a mud ball fight. In the process, one of them ended up with some mud in her ear, which later caused an infection and pain.
Ever sense the Garden of Eden, the Devil has been filling the ears of people with lies that lead to pain, damaged relationships, destroyed homes and wasted lives.
The inevitable blessing of believing in Jesus and continuing in His word, is that you will know the truth. You will recognize the truth.
Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life.”
In this most-modern era where many refuse to recognize that there is absolute truth, how refreshing it will be to know and recognize truth when you see it. We live in a time when many, like Pilate, ask, “What is truth?” Modern skeptics are left with nothing but their own ignorance and despair - the fruit of their futile search for truth apart from God.
The truth comes not only from the revelation of Scripture concerning Christ, but also from being taught by the Holy Spirit of Truth.
- John 14:17
- John 15:26
What is the difference between truth and facts. Facts are individual true statements. Truth is how those statements are assembled.
In a courtroom, both the prosecution and the defense have a set of facts, but not both of them have the truth. The truth is how those facts are assembled.
Drew is now living in Colorado. He’s been unable to attend church in his city because they won’t let them assemble. He visited some friends in Virginia last weekend and said how much he enjoyed going to church and how he had missed it.
He returned to Colorado yesterday to find his apartment building had been fined because they hadn’t closed down the pool, the deck area, or gym in the building. They are now closed.
The city closes individuals’ access to pools and gyms and closes the churches; but the restaurants and bars are full, and the downtown streets streaming with people, as young people look for things to do. Just blocks down the road there are still bands of people protesting in the streets.
Does that make sense to anyone? Where is truth?
An old homespun proverb says, “There are none so blind as those who will not see.”
Truth. To what shall I devote my life? What is important? Shall I devote my life to a career? Shall I devote my life to my family? Shall I spend my life with the goal of acquiring things? Shall I spend my life in the pursuit of pleasure?
The truth that Jesus brings, allows us to get our scale of values right; it is in His truth that we see what things are really important and what things are not.
Discipleship begins with belief. Discipleship requires abiding in the Word. Discipleship leads to understanding truth, and Discipleship ultimately brings freedom.
4) True disciples will find freedom
The result of believing in Jesus, obeying His word, and knowing the truth brings spiritual freedom. This freedom is multifaceted and includes:
1. Freedom from fear.
> Proverbs 18:24 One with many friends may be harmed,
but there is a friend who stays closer than a brother.
A true disciple knows He has a friend who sticks closer than a brother. He never has to walk alone again. This is why David, as a youth was able to stay out and guard his sheep against lions and bears, without a gun. It’s why he was able to go up against a giant that all of the rest of the army was afraid of, with only a sling. Because he knew and wrote, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me. Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.
2. Freedom from self.
Many of us recognize our greatest handicap is ourselves. We cry with the Apostle Paul, “I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 So now I am no longer the one doing it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it. 19 For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, I am no longer the one that does it, but it is the sin that lives in me. 21 So I discover this law:[d] When I want to do what is good,[e] evil is present with me. 22 For in my inner self[f] I delight in God’s law, 23 but I see a different law in the parts of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I myself am serving the law of God, but with my flesh, the law of sin.
We recognize that there is a battle going on. We do not do what we want, and we do things we don’t want to do, but discipleship brings freedom from defeat. It brings victory into the Christian’s life.
How many of us can relate to the words of that old poem,
O, that a man might arise in me
That the man I am may cease to be.
We get freedom from fear. We get freedom self. It brings us freedom from other people.
3. Freedom from other people - When you are disciple of Jesus Christ, you lose your fear of what other people think.
H. G. Wells once said, “The voice of our neighbors sounds louder in our ears than the voice of God.”
When, however, you are disciple, you find freedom from your fear of others.
Remember Peter on the night of Jesus’ crucifixion? He was afraid of the people. He was afraid of what a slave girl might say. Oh, but after the Holy Spirit came on him be stood in the streets in front of thousands of people and called them out for murdering Jesus.
Remember Jeremiah? He preached his entire life, and the whole nation stood against him, but he never stopped. Remember Job? When his friends accused him and his wife told him to curse God and die, Job replied, “Though He slay me, yet will I serve Him.”
When you are disciple of Jesus Christ, you lose your fear of what other people may think about you. You lose the crushing fear of public opinion. I am who I am. I am what God says I am, and nothing anyone else thinks or says is going to change that.
As a church family, we have gone to the beach many times. Usually after a visit to Olive Garden. Oh, but the ocean can be a sad place.
Take your stand on the margin of the ocean, on the east coast of our state, where the shore is sand and dunes, and when a long blue wave is rolling towards the land. I do not know any aspect of merely inanimate nature that tends so strongly' to make one's heart sad. I have stood and gazed upon it until I was beguiled into a painfully tender sympathy with a mute struggling captive. Slowly, meekly, but with strength, the sea wave comes on in long, regular array, and striking with its extended front at all points simultaneously against the pitiless beach, is broken into white fragments and thrown on its back all thrilling and hissing with expiring agony. Sullen and sore the broken remnants of the first rank steal away to the rear, and hide themselves in the capacious bosom of the mother sea. Again, you perceive another long blue wave gathering its strength at a distance; with gloomy, unhopeful brow, as if warned by the fate of its predecessor, and hurried onward to its own, it rushes forward and delivers another assault against the shore. It shares the fortune of the last. Again, and yet again, the water wearily gathers up its huge bulk, and again strongly but despairingly launches itself upon its prison walls, to be again broken and thrown back in utter failure. You weep for the great helpless prisoner, who cannot weep for himself year after year, century after century, era after era, that prisoner toils and strikes upon the walls of his prison, but never once succeeds in clearing the barrier and flowing across the continent free. That mighty creature, with its sublime strength, and dumb, patient, unceasing labour, never succeeds in breaking its bonds — never leaps into liberty. Here you find a picture, that no artist could ever paint, of a sinner, or a world full of sinners, as they lie in their prison, ceaselessly striving for freedom, but never attaining it. "The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest." And can this water never get freedom? Is it doomed to lie weltering forever in its prison? Cannot the prisoner by any means be ever set free?
The captive may be set free; the captive is set free day by day. Above the earth there are also waters, as well as in the hollow which constitutes the ocean's bed. They are higher up — nearer heaven — as you see, these aerial waters; but being high in heaven, they are therefore free to move across the earth. Nothing conveys a more lively idea of quick, soft, unimpeded motion, than a flying cloud. Here is none of the effort visible even in the flight of birds. Absolutely free they are; and they swiftly do the errands of their Lord. In this respect there is a great contrast between these waters that have been made free and those that are still enslaved — held down by their own dead weight within their prison walls.
Jesus said, if you continue in My word, you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.
