Introduction
To begin this morning, let us read a few passages of scripture. I would like you to look for a common thread of thought that connects these writings. Are you ready?
John 8:31
So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine.
John 15:8
“My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.
Of all the possible threads of connecting thought, let us focus on just one. In chapter 8, focus on ’My word’ and ’disciples of Mine’. In chapter 15 centers on ’My Father’ and ’My disciples’. In these passages, Jesus is the center of focus yet each passage reveals an identifying flag for His disciples. The disciples’ identity is Christ. Christ is what distinguishes His disciples. Here is a very important principle: If Jesus Christ is not the focus of identifying any assembly of people, that group of people fails to produce disciples of Jesus. They produce clones of themselves.
Remember the divisions in the Corinthian church. They were headed down the wrong path. Paul wrote: Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 1:12) That sub-assembly of people who claimed to be disciples of Paul could only reproduce clones of themselves around their particular point of view. The point of view centered on their conclusions (right or wrong) identified as from Paul. The same thing is true of the groups of Apollos, Cephas, and Christ. All of these groups were dead wrong in their behavior. Why? Because their particular doctrines was what distinguished them, not Christ. Christ was no longer preeminent but reduced to a secondary position. A particular doctrine about Christ became more important than Christ Himself. God forbid. This morning let us understand as completely as possible why Christ is our distinctive and not any other thing. In doing so, we will need to understand the role of the doctrine of Christ in discipleship. We begin today by listening.
Listen to Jesus Define the Distinctive
According to Jesus, Continuing in His Word Distinguish His Disciples
Jesus made this declaration as recorded by the Apostle John. Jesus was in a public discourse with ’the Jews’ and specifically with ’the Pharisees’. As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him. So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8:30-32) In context, freedom, which comes from knowing the truth, is freedom from sin. Jesus had already pronounced the Jews in bondage to sin. Listen; - And He was saying to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He {i.e., I Am That I Am}, you will die in your sins.” (John 8:23) The Jews did not catch the ’I Am’ statement of Christ here, but they did in verse 58. The Pharisees went down a path of apostasy. But true disciples
Reject Traveling on a Path to Apostasy
Jesus contrasts Himself with the Pharisees. The contrast deals with power and authority to adequately deal with sin. The Pharisees, no matter how holy and righteous they appeared, were yet in their sins because their power was from ’below’ and ’of this world’. It was power coming from themselves. It was self-reliant righteousness derived from their doctrines and traditions. Jesus warned his disciples: “Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” (Mark 8:15)
How did the Pharisees go wrong? There are clues within scripture. And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. ‘But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’ Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.” He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition. “For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, is to be put to death’; but you say, ‘If a man says to his father or his mother, whatever I have that would help you is Corban (that is to say, given to God),’ you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother; thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.” (Mark 7:6-13)
Jesus through Isaiah teaches two realities that occur when God does not have preeminent position in the lives of people. The Pharisees should been aware of substituting their interpretations as the very law of God.
Externals become the norm: ’This people honors Me with their lips’ leading to ’But in vain do they worship Me.’
Internals suffer: ’But their heart is far away from me’ while ’Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’
Invalidating the word of God occurs over time when the commandment of God is neglected. Traditional interpretations themselves over time become viewed as equal to the word of God. Over more time, they become the commandment of God. When interpretations of man become the law of God, God is dethroned and power and authority comes from ’below’ and is ’of this world’. When God is dethroned, sin is not far from reigning in His place. The solution is this very human problem is to be a true disciple. True disciples
Accept Continuing in His Word
The leaven of the Pharisees must be rendered ineffective. Jesus again gives us the key: continue. Never stop. Continue in His word. Never stop learning and never stop applying. Continue. Never stop living out in your body the word of Christ. Continue in His word. Resist becoming the authority on His word, an expert. Continue. The goal is not indoctrination, every i dotted, every t crossed, and you are going to hell if you disagree. The mission is His word alive and increasing in our flesh. Continue in His word, then you are truly His disciple.
Continue to study the word of Christ so that your conclusions from study do the following:
Honor Christ and His Father with both heart and lip.
Be drawn closer and closer to the heart of Christ.
Always set your heart closer to God.
Teach only what you see and hear Christ teach in scripture.
Continue to follow Christ by continuing in His word. But also, Jesus encourages us to prove ourselves His disciples.
According to Jesus, Producing Much Fruit Distinguishes His Disciples
See and hear Christ today: “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. (John 15:4-11)
Jesus gives two direct commands in this revelation. The commands are designed to produce two results.
Abide in Me! Result: You will bear much fruit.
Abide in My Love! Result: You will keep my commandments.
He uses the word abide 10 times in this text. It is the key to understanding the communication. The illustration of the vine and branches help up to understand Him. Abide means to continue in an activity or position. To abide in Christ then would mean to remain in a continual relationship with Christ. But not a casual relationship. A relationship of life and death. If you do not abide in Christ, you will be thrown away, wither away, gathered up, cast into the fire and burned. Jesus make it clear that true disciples
Abide In Christ
Here are the facts according to Jesus:
You cannot bear fruit unless you abide in Christ.
Abide in Christ and Him in you, you will bear much fruit.
Apart from Christ, you can do nothing.
Abide in Christ and His word abide in you, your petitions to God will be supplied to you.
God the Father is glorified when you bear much fruit.
Based on these facts, how do you really know you are a disciple of Jesus? Prove it! Prove you are a disciple of Jesus. Jesus alone gives us the decisive test. Here it is: Bear much fruit. But what is fruit? Is it the fruit of the Spirit? Is it the fruit of righteousness and holiness? Someone once said, "The fruit of a Christian is another Christian." Is that it? I know for myself, anytime these questions are asked of me, I feel terribly inadequate. I question myself; I wonder if I measure up; sometimes I feel guilty.
Here is the truth. Are you ready for the truth? The truth will set you free. It will empower you. You will bear much fruit!
The vine’s fruit that is produced only because you abide in the vine! Is the True Vine producing His fruit in you? And is the True Vine producing much fruit through you? If so, you have proven yourself a true disciple. If not, abide in Christ and allow Christ to abide in you!
Many people assume, since they attend church every time the doors open, that they are abiding in Christ. Faithful attendance, as important as it is, is not the proof of being a disciple. Jesus defined proof as one bearing much fruit. How do we do that, how do we bear much fruit? WE cannot! Sorry, it is not the work of human flesh; it is the work of Divine Flesh. Only the True Vine through His branches bears fruit.
How to Abide in Christ
What we can do; what we must do is fulfill Christ’s command. ABIDE IN ME, and I IN YOU. Either we do that or we are thrown away. And when we do that, we will bear much fruit. Ok, that is the truth. One question remains. Just one. It is the big question everyone needs to know the answer to. How? How do we do that? How do we abide in Christ if it is not commitment to a church? Jesus tell us how to abide in Him.
Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. “For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. “As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. “This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.” (John 6:52-58)
We will study this text in depth in our Sunday morning class next week. But for now, concisely, we have to consume Jesus Christ. He, as a person not a doctrine, has to become the source for our spiritual nourishment. In order for you to abide in Christ and Him in you, you have to digest Him spiritually through an ever-ongoing process of studying and imitating His life. You become as completely as possible Christ made flesh. Just as steak and potatoes ingested into your body become muscle, and bone, and skin, etc., so Christ ingested into your heart becomes your spiritual body. Jesus said it so clearly, “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.”
The more we learn and explore about Christ through duplicating what we learn; the more Christ is internalized within us. The life of Christ becomes our life as we continually live in Him, i.e. abide in Him. Christ is our distinctive. As we commit to be His disciples abiding in Him, we become and are the church of the Christ with His continuing mission of producing His fruit. And thereby, God is glorified.
The church of the Christ is supremely far more than secular man has made of it because Christ is Her distinctive. She bears His name, His power, His strength, and His mission. He is Her head and Her heart when He is Her distinctive.
We are invited to participate in this glory. Let us begin by making the commitment of keeping Christ core distinctive of His church. You know how. Continue in His word; Abide in Him and His love.
