THE MARKS OF A DISCIPLE
By Andrew Chan, PBC, Vancouver, BC
June 17, 2001
Text: John 15:16-25
The marks of a disciple are seen in one whose lives are…
1. Called by J_____________________. (Jesus)
During Jesus’ earthly days, a disciple would choose his own master and from his own volition chooses to follow a teacher. For Jesus, the process was different, He was the one who chose His disciples. Mark 3:13-19 (NKJV) records:
13And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. 14Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, 15and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons: 16Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter; 17James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”; 18Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite; 19and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. And they went into a house.
John 15:16 (NLT)
You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name.
a. How do you know if God has called you and chosen you as a disciple?____________________________
Ephesians 1:3-5, 11 (NLT)
3 How we praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual qblessing in the heavenly realms because we belong to Christ. 4 Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave him great pleasure. ... 11 Furthermore, because of Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us from the beginning, and all things happen just as he decided long ago.
b. How then should we respond to this call? __________________________________________________
Ephesians 1:6-7, 12 (NLT)
6 So we praise God for the wonderful kindness he has poured out on us because we belong to his dearly loved Son. 7 He is so rich in kindness that he purchased our freedom through the blood of his Son, and our sins are forgiven. 8 He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding… 12 God’s purpose was that we who were the first to trust in Christ should praise our glorious God.
c. What guarantee do we have that we are chosen by God? ______________________________________
Ephesians 1: 13-14 (NLT)
13 And now you also have heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. 14 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us everything he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. This is just one more reason for us to praise our glorious God.
David Watson in the book Discipleship (1981,p.21) wrote: “when we see ourselves as disciples personally chosen by Jesus, this should alter our whole attitude towards him and motivate us for the work he has given us.” He uses analogy of chosen by our country to be in the Olympics, and how different it is from being a mere spectator. Watson is quite right in his assessment that “the Christian church today suffers from large numbers who feel that they have ‘made a decision for Christ’, or from those who think they have chosen to join a certain church. Such man-centred notions spell spiritual death, or at least barren sterility. It is only when we begin to see ourselves as chosen, called and commissioned by Christ that we shall any real sense of our responsibility to present our bodies to him ‘as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.’”
2. Called to s______________________. (SERVE)
Since we are called by Jesus, we are to carefully pattern our lives around Jesus, His purposes. What was His purpose for the disciples He called?
Mark 3:13-15 (NKJV)
13And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. 14Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, 15and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons.
Serve by ...
a. personally relating to Christ “they might be with Him”
b. preaching the good news “He might send them out to preach”
c. power from His Spirit in service “have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons”
1 Peter 4:10-11 (NLT)
10 God has given gifts to EACH OF YOU from his great variety of SPIRITUAL GIFTS. Manage them well so that God’s generosity can FLOW THROUGH YOU. 11 Are you called to be a speaker? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Are you called to help others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then God will be given glory in everything through Jesus Christ. All glory and power belong to him forever and ever. Amen.
Pastor Andrew - “Everyday I have a transforming relationship with Jesus Christ, who loves and gave Himself for me, and that enables me to serve others with intention”
Write your own mission statement.
3. Called to a c______________________.
John 15:16, 17 (NLT)
16 You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. 17 I command you to LOVE EACH OTHER.
Interesting that when Jesus called us and chose us, He follows up with the call to love one another.
John 13:34-35 (NLT)11
34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
Ephesians 4:1-7 (NLT)
Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. 2 Be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. 3 Always keep yourselves united in the Holy Spirit, and bind yourselves together with peace. 4 We are all one body, we have the same Spirit, and we have all been called to the same glorious future. 5 There is only one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 and there is only one God and Father, who is over us all and in us all and living through us all. 7 However, he has given each one of us a special gift according to the generosity of Christ.
4. Called to s______________________. (suffer)
It is estimated that this past century we have more martyrs for Christ than all the other centuries combined since the church’s existence. Paul wrote this: “For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake” Philippians 1:29 (NKJV).
John 15:18-25 (NLT)
18 “When the world hates you, remember it hated me before it hated you. 19 The world would love you if you belonged to it, but you don’t. I chose you to come out of the world, and so IT HATES YOU. 20 Do you remember what I told you? ‘A servant is not greater than the master.’ Since they PERSECUTED ME, naturally they will PERSECUTE YOU. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you! 21 The people of the world will hate you because you belong to me, for they don’t know God who sent me. 22 They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Anyone who hates me hates my Father, too. 24 If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be counted guilty. But as it is, they saw all that I did and yet hated both of us—me and my Father. 25 This has fulfilled what the Scriptures said: ‘They hated me without cause.’
Watson in his book on Discipleship (p.32-33) said: “It is not a question of our feelings and personal choices; it is a matter of taking with the utmost seriousness the conditions and demands of discipleship that Jesus lays upon us. We are no longer our own, We have been chosen by him, called by him, bought by him; we therefore now belong to him, and by virtue of this fact we also belong to one another, however easy or difficult, joyful or painful, we may find this to be.”
Remember we are not alone… the Spirit is with us… John 15:26-27 (NLT)
26 “But I will send you the Counselor—the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will tell you all about me. 27 And you must also tell others about me because you have been with me from the beginning.
5. Called to i_____________________. (intimacy)
Cost of discipleship is great but it has deep benefits. John 17:18-26 outlines it beautifully. Can you see what they are?
18 As you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. 19 And I give myself entirely to you so they also might be entirely yours.
20 “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me because of their testimony. 21 My prayer for all of them is that they will be one, just as you and I are one, Father—that just as you are in me and I am in you, so they will be in us, and the world will believe you sent me.
22 “I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are—23 I in them and you in me, all being perfected into one. Then the world will know that you sent me and will understand that you love them as much as you love me. 24 Father, I want these whom you’ve given me to be with me, so they can see my glory. You gave me the glory because you loved me even before the world began!
25 “O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know you, but I do; and these disciples know you sent me. 26 And I have revealed you to them and will keep on revealing you. I will do this so that your love for me may be in them and I in them.”
