Doing Discipleship
John 15:7-17
What are you doing? Has anyone ever asked you that? Have you ever asked yourself that question? What if God asked you that question today: “What are you doing?” Jesus says in verse 8 “show yourselves to be my disciples.” Show yourself by what you are doing. What should a disciple be doing? Discipleship. Are you doing discipleship? Are you showing yourself to be a disciple?
There are two kinds of disciples in Scripture: the true and the false. What kind of disciple are you?
False disciples only associate with Jesus in name, but true disciples have their whole identity in Jesus.
False disciples are disciples only in name, but, true disciples are disciples in their hearts first.
False disciples are in it to get what they can from Jesus, but true disciples are in it to give themselves to Him.
False disciples do not obey the commands of Jesus, but true disciples do.
False disciples want themselves to be seen, but true disciples want Christ to be seen in them.
False disciples have true love for themselves but true disciples hate their sinful self and love Jesus more because of it.
Thousands of false disciples abandoned Jesus in chapter 6 while the 12 remained loyal. Would you have walked away with the thousands or would you have stayed with the 12?
When you are a true disciple, you will find that Jesus describes you here in verses 7-17. In other words: Disciples prove themselves when they are doing discipleship. Are you doing discipleship? I want to draw out 7 descriptions of doing discipleship.
#1: Doing Discipleship means Memorizing Scripture. Jesus says in verse 7, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you”. Jesus presses the point that He wants the words that He has spoken to remain in His disciples. We memorize song lyrics. We memorize sports stats. We memorize all sorts of things. But Jesus wants His words to remain in us.
The Bible compels us to memorize Scripture. Psalm 119:11 says, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” Psalm 40:8 says, “I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.” Colossians 3:16 says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…” The example of Jesus in Matthew 4 compels us to memorize Scripture. When He was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, it was the appropriate Scriptures that He recalled in response to Satan’s attack. Every true disciple of Jesus Christ will hold dear to their heart the words that Christ has said.
1.1 The more His words are closer to our hearts the more control over our hearts His words will have. That’s why it is so important for us to memorize. His words affect us as disciples in ways that we need if we are to be growing. His words are life (6:33). His words cleanse us (15:3). His words convict us (16:8). His words give us peace (16:33). His words increase our faith (13:19; 14:29). His words empower us to reject temptation (Ps 119:11; Mth. 4:4, 7, 10). His words are what we use to teach and admonish each other (Col. 3:16). His words inspire us to sing and be grateful (Col. 3:16).
1.2 His words are ultimately the Father’s words that were given to Him. They were given to Him to give to us. This means that if we want to think like God thinks, we have His mind made available to us. His Words are His mind. We can have our minds transformed to think His thoughts. When His thoughts become our thoughts we begin to see several things:
1.2.1 We will begin to see Him as He really is
1.2.2 We will begin to see ourselves for who we really are. We will begin to see truly how deep our sin penetrates us.
1.2.3 If we think with God’s thoughts we will begin to love righteousness like He does, and hate sin like He does.
#2: Doing Discipleship means an Effective Prayer Life is Expected. Jesus says in verse 7, “ask whatever you wish and it will be given to you.”
2.1 In John 15:7 we are given the promise that our prayers will be answered. But you’ll notice that this verse has two parts: a cause and an effect, a condition, and a result. There is the promise of answered prayer, but, there is a condition that must be met before prayer is answered. You might say God has expectations of us before we can come to Him and expect from Him. Do you want to have an effective prayer life? Do you want to see the power of God at work resulting from your prayers? Do you want to come to God with greater confidence that He will grant your requests?
2.1.1 Then first of all you must be in a right relationship to the Father through Christ. That means that you believe Jesus is your Savior and that His death on the cross paid for your sins.
2.1.2 Secondly, you must be reforming by the words of Christ. You must be living out His words that you have already heard.
2.1.3 Thirdly, if you want your prayers to be answered you have to say them with faith in your heart. Jesus is making a profound promise in this verse. When you study the Word, look for promises. Promises are so wonderful because they are the expressions of God’s faithfulness. Promises are points in Scripture where God puts His character on the line by declaring ahead of time that He will do something.
By doing this He gives us the opportunity to believe Him. Now, when we read a promise like this one, we either believe that the Father will make good on His promises or we believe that He will not. His promises are not only the point at which His faithfulness is expressed to us, but, His promises are the point where we express our faith in Him.
What is a prayer that is not offered in faith? When you pray and you don’t believe God will answer your prayer is just a religious ritual. We’re making an offering with our lips but our lips are lying for our hearts because our hearts don’t believe.
Someone might ask: What about unanswered prayer? “Sometimes God doesn’t answer what I prayed for.” The answer to that is what you prayed for either is not in His will, or, it is in His will but not yet at this time.
The point of prayer is that we are conforming to God’s will and desiring more and more the will of God in our lives. That means we want what He wants and we don’t want what He doesn’t want. God will answer you if you are asking things that are in accordance to His will.
Well, how do I know what His will is? His Word. You cannot have any kind of effective prayer life whatsoever without any kind of grasp of His words. That’s where He made His mind known, and, that’s where His will is made known. Do you see the need for the Word of God in your prayer life?
#3: Doing Discipleship means being a God-glorifier. In verse 8 Jesus says, “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” A God-glorifier is concerned at all times whether he is glorifying God or not. He is intentional and makes sure that his life is at that moment pointing to God’s glory.
Therefore, he exhausts himself to bring fruit forth from his life. This verse cannot be disconnected from verse 7. Our prayer life is connected to bearing fruit. We see the connection of bearing fruit and asking God in prayer again in verse 16. Prayer is necessary for fruit-bearing and the God-glorifier knows it and so he is constantly employing himself in the business of prayer.
We as Christians bring glory to God when we bring forth fruit and that is never done without prayer. In Philippians 1:9-11 Paul spoke of these three things together. “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – to the glory and praise of God.”
#4: Doing Discipleship means Lasting in His Love. Notice verses 9-10 where Jesus says, “As the Father has loved me so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in His love.” The key words in these 2 verses are “as”. We have been loved by Jesus AS he has been loved by the Father. Have you ever thought about the way in which the Father loves the Son? He has given everything to Him. He has exalted Him to the highest place. He has given Him the name above all names.
Our relationship to Him is to be AS his relationship was to the Father. It is one of love. And love cannot be divorced from obedience to His commands. Jesus obeyed everything the Father commanded Him. First John 5:3 says, “This is love for God: to obey His commands.” That is how Jesus showed His love for the Father, and obedience is how we show love to Christ.
Does Psalm 26:2-3 describe your desire to obey God? The man who wrote this says, “Test me, O Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for your love is ever before me and I walk continually in your truth.” Have you ever invited God to test you? Show you what is really in you? Do you have the confidence that David had?
#5: Doing Discipleship means You Know Joy. Verse 11 says, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” Notice right away that Jesus is concerned whether we have joy or not. And He does not want us to be with-out joy, nor does He want us to have some-joy. But rather He wants us to have complete joy.
Here is a working definition for joy: the ability to rejoice or celebrate. Many Christians don’t feel they have any ability to rejoice because of the situations of life. Many Christians are not pinning their reason to rejoice on Christ, but instead in life’s circumstances. But Jesus said in 16:33, “In this world you will have trouble” so why would a Christian ever look to the world or the things of the world for joy? Why when Christ says He offers joy that the world could never give us?
But Christ’s joy is not anchored to circumstances. His joy is anchored to Him. It’s His joy and He gives it and it is available to be experienced in abundance no matter what is happening in your life. Someone might say, well that’s a lot of pie in the sky talk that doesn’t really meet me where I’m at. You don’t know what I’m going through.
Maybe so, but your Savior does. Are you going to tell Him that you can’t have His joy because you’re a prisoner to your circumstances? If anyone knows what bad circumstances are Jesus does. If anyone had a right to not have joy it was Christ. Jesus was going to the cross and yet He had joy. One of His closest friends was betraying Him. Peter was going to deny Him 3 times. The scourging and the cross were hours away. The whole nation of Israel was going to condemn Him to death. His remaining 11 friends were going to desert Him in only couple hours. He was going to die. If anyone ever had a right to not have joy it was Jesus Christ – but He had joy because He is the source of joy.
This joy is ours to experience, but, it is from Him. It is His own joy and it is only in Him that we can have it. If we are looking for our situations to get better so we can rejoice over them, then it’s not Christ we are rejoicing in. The word for complete means “full”, or “perfect” in the sense that nothing else is needed. Nothing is lacking. It is complete. Jesus wants our joy to be perfect, and He doesn’t want it to be lacking. You know where incomplete joy is found? In the things of the world. What the world offers can never bring fullness of joy.
#6: Doing Discipleship means you have a Sincere Love for Christians. Notice verses 12 and 17, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. This is my command: Love each other.” They bear the name of your Savior. They are loved by the Savior and when you love Him, you love what He loves. This love is a special love for Christians. If someone does not have a special love for Christians something is wrong.
Paul praised the Christians at various churches because of their love for Christians. To Paul that was evidence that someone was truly a Christian. (Turn to) He says in Colossians 1:4, “we have heard of your faith in Jesus Christ and of the love you have for all the saints.” See the connection there: faith in Christ produces love for Christians. Paul says it again to in 2 Thessalonians 1:3 “We ought always to thank God for you brothers and rightly so because your faith is growing more and more and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing.” See the connection again: a growing faith in Christ produces a growing love for Christians.
To be honest, if you don’t have a special love for Christians, John just about calls your salvation into question. Take a moment 1 John 4 John gets pretty tough. Verse 8 says, “If anyone does not love does not know God”. That’s love for Christians he’s talking about. Then over in verses 19-20 he says, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.” Your love for Christians, as far as John is concerned, proves you know God and love Him. Your lack of love for Christians, as far as John is concerned, proves you don’t know God and don’t love Him.
Doing Discipleship means having Sincere, Special love for Christians.
#7: Doing Discipleship means Real Friendship with Jesus. In verses 13-15 Jesus explains to them that they are His friends. It’s interesting that He speaks about friendship here. Judas is in the process of betraying Him. Peter, James and John are going to fall asleep in the Garden instead of praying with Jesus. Peter is going to deny Jesus 3 times. But Jesus says to them in verse 13, “You are my friends”.
7.1 The word friend in the Greek is the same word used to describe the best man at the wedding back in chapter 2. Friend means “a friend at court.” It describes the “inner-circle” around the king or emperor. Having an inner circle of “friends”was part of the custom practiced by Roman emperors and kings in the middle east. These men in this inner circle were called “friends of the king” and as such they had special access to the king. They even had the right to enter into his bedchamber in the morning. The king talked to them before he talked to his generals or any statesmen. His friends were included in the closest and most intimate way with the king.
7.2 Jesus calls us His friends. The things which have been spoken between the Father and the Son have been revealed to us. “For everything I have heard from my Father I have made known to you” Jesus says in verse 15. God opens Himself up to us. We aren’t like mere servants who don’t know the Master’s business. They have an impersonal relationship with Him. They are at a distance and they have no access to the King. We are called friends of God. As friends of God we are not only subject to obey Him like slaves, but, we are brought in close to Him and have a special access to Him that ordinary servants do not have.
7.2.1 We find a great example of what it is to be a friend of God in Genesis 18. The Bible calls Abraham both a servant of God and a friend of God. In Genesis 18 the 2 angels of the Lord came down to investigate the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham is seen as a servant in the first 15 verses. He is busy preparing a meal for these 2 angels and making them comfortable. Twice Abraham actually refers to himself as a servant. This old man of 100 years of age the Bible says was running and scrambling all over the place and ordering others to do their duties quickly in order to take care of the 2 angels. Furthermore Abraham did not sit with the 2 angels, but, instead he stood nearby like a good servant ready to do their bidding.
7.2.2 But, in the last half of the chapter Abraham is seen as the friend of God. He is standing and communing with the Lord. He is still a servant, but, now he is seen as a friend of God. In verse 17 the Lord asks the question, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?” And then the Lord goes on to disclose His plans to Abraham. No mere servant has that privilege. God tells Abraham that He is going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah for their sins.
7.2.3 But then notice something amazing. In verse 23 it says that Abraham approached God. No servant would dare approach the Master. The Master approaches you and gives you your orders. And Abraham isn’t approaching God to say goodbye and send the Lord on His way. Abraham was approaching God in regards to what God was about to do. Abraham did something with God that no servant ever could do with his Master – he appealed to Him to change His plans. In order for you to be able to approach the Master, and, in order for you to be able to address the Master’s plans, the Master has to consider you a friend.
7.3 Doing Discipleship means that we have Real Friendship with Jesus. Jesus has called us His friends. The King of kings and the Lord of lords has made us His friends. And if you are a friend of Jesus you are a friend of God. This friendship has 3 characteristics
7.3.1 First, it is one of Sacrifice. Verse 13 says, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” You are a friend of Jesus because Jesus befriended you first. The greatest kind of love is the love that totally sacrifices self for another. This is also the kind of love that Ephesians 5:25 expected from husbands to give to their wives, “Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her.” Friendship with Christ begins with Him sacrificing for you. But it continues in your sacrifice for Him. Our sacrifice for Him is made when we copy that sacrificial love in our relationships with one another. He says in verse 12, “Love one another as I have loved you”.
7.3.2 Second, this friendship is one of Submission. In verse 14 Jesus says, “You are my friends if you do what I command.” The men who made up that special inner circle around the king, those men who were called friends of the King, were subject to the King. They weren’t simple servants, but, they still served the King. They weren’t autonomous and independent. They were under His authority and obligated to carry out His commands.
7.3.3 Thirdly, this friendship is Special. In verse 15 Jesus says, “I no longer call you servants because a servant does not know his Master’s business. Instead I have called you friends for everything I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” No longer called common slaves who were ignorant of the Master’s business. We have been made privy to the plans the Master has. He has opened up to us and disclosed His purposes. That makes us special. Judas (not Judas Iscariot) asked Jesus in 14:22, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” Jesus says in that passage that He will show Himself to those people who have His commands and obey them. His commands came from the Father. If we do what He commands then we will know Him (John 8:31)
Conclusion
Friend Jesus says in verse 16 that He called and appointed the disciples. Jesus still calls people today. Is He calling you? The Bible says that if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart and turn away. Turn to Him that you might be saved. Become a friend of Jesus. He has offered His friendship by laying down His life for you. He did that at the cross to take away your sins. Would you accept His friendship? Do that by trusting in Him today.
John 15:7-17
What are you doing? Has anyone ever asked you that? Have you ever asked yourself that question? What if God asked you that question today: “What are you doing?” Jesus says in verse 8 “show yourselves to be my disciples.” Show yourself by what you are doing. What should a disciple be doing? Discipleship. Are you doing discipleship? Are you showing yourself to be a disciple?
There are two kinds of disciples in Scripture: the true and the false. What kind of disciple are you?
False disciples only associate with Jesus in name, but true disciples have their whole identity in Jesus.
False disciples are disciples only in name, but, true disciples are disciples in their hearts first.
False disciples are in it to get what they can from Jesus, but true disciples are in it to give themselves to Him.
False disciples do not obey the commands of Jesus, but true disciples do.
False disciples want themselves to be seen, but true disciples want Christ to be seen in them.
False disciples have true love for themselves but true disciples hate their sinful self and love Jesus more because of it.
Thousands of false disciples abandoned Jesus in chapter 6 while the 12 remained loyal. Would you have walked away with the thousands or would you have stayed with the 12?
When you are a true disciple, you will find that Jesus describes you here in verses 7-17. In other words: Disciples prove themselves when they are doing discipleship. Are you doing discipleship? I want to draw out 7 descriptions of doing discipleship.
#1: Doing Discipleship means Memorizing Scripture. Jesus says in verse 7, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you”. Jesus presses the point that He wants the words that He has spoken to remain in His disciples. We memorize song lyrics. We memorize sports stats. We memorize all sorts of things. But Jesus wants His words to remain in us.
The Bible compels us to memorize Scripture. Psalm 119:11 says, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” Psalm 40:8 says, “I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.” Colossians 3:16 says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…” The example of Jesus in Matthew 4 compels us to memorize Scripture. When He was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, it was the appropriate Scriptures that He recalled in response to Satan’s attack. Every true disciple of Jesus Christ will hold dear to their heart the words that Christ has said.
1.1 The more His words are closer to our hearts the more control over our hearts His words will have. That’s why it is so important for us to memorize. His words affect us as disciples in ways that we need if we are to be growing. His words are life (6:33). His words cleanse us (15:3). His words convict us (16:8). His words give us peace (16:33). His words increase our faith (13:19; 14:29). His words empower us to reject temptation (Ps 119:11; Mth. 4:4, 7, 10). His words are what we use to teach and admonish each other (Col. 3:16). His words inspire us to sing and be grateful (Col. 3:16).
1.2 His words are ultimately the Father’s words that were given to Him. They were given to Him to give to us. This means that if we want to think like God thinks, we have His mind made available to us. His Words are His mind. We can have our minds transformed to think His thoughts. When His thoughts become our thoughts we begin to see several things:
1.2.1 We will begin to see Him as He really is
1.2.2 We will begin to see ourselves for who we really are. We will begin to see truly how deep our sin penetrates us.
1.2.3 If we think with God’s thoughts we will begin to love righteousness like He does, and hate sin like He does.
#2: Doing Discipleship means an Effective Prayer Life is Expected. Jesus says in verse 7, “ask whatever you wish and it will be given to you.”
2.1 In John 15:7 we are given the promise that our prayers will be answered. But you’ll notice that this verse has two parts: a cause and an effect, a condition, and a result. There is the promise of answered prayer, but, there is a condition that must be met before prayer is answered. You might say God has expectations of us before we can come to Him and expect from Him. Do you want to have an effective prayer life? Do you want to see the power of God at work resulting from your prayers? Do you want to come to God with greater confidence that He will grant your requests?
2.1.1 Then first of all you must be in a right relationship to the Father through Christ. That means that you believe Jesus is your Savior and that His death on the cross paid for your sins.
2.1.2 Secondly, you must be reforming by the words of Christ. You must be living out His words that you have already heard.
2.1.3 Thirdly, if you want your prayers to be answered you have to say them with faith in your heart. Jesus is making a profound promise in this verse. When you study the Word, look for promises. Promises are so wonderful because they are the expressions of God’s faithfulness. Promises are points in Scripture where God puts His character on the line by declaring ahead of time that He will do something.
By doing this He gives us the opportunity to believe Him. Now, when we read a promise like this one, we either believe that the Father will make good on His promises or we believe that He will not. His promises are not only the point at which His faithfulness is expressed to us, but, His promises are the point where we express our faith in Him.
What is a prayer that is not offered in faith? When you pray and you don’t believe God will answer your prayer is just a religious ritual. We’re making an offering with our lips but our lips are lying for our hearts because our hearts don’t believe.
Someone might ask: What about unanswered prayer? “Sometimes God doesn’t answer what I prayed for.” The answer to that is what you prayed for either is not in His will, or, it is in His will but not yet at this time.
The point of prayer is that we are conforming to God’s will and desiring more and more the will of God in our lives. That means we want what He wants and we don’t want what He doesn’t want. God will answer you if you are asking things that are in accordance to His will.
Well, how do I know what His will is? His Word. You cannot have any kind of effective prayer life whatsoever without any kind of grasp of His words. That’s where He made His mind known, and, that’s where His will is made known. Do you see the need for the Word of God in your prayer life?
#3: Doing Discipleship means being a God-glorifier. In verse 8 Jesus says, “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” A God-glorifier is concerned at all times whether he is glorifying God or not. He is intentional and makes sure that his life is at that moment pointing to God’s glory.
Therefore, he exhausts himself to bring fruit forth from his life. This verse cannot be disconnected from verse 7. Our prayer life is connected to bearing fruit. We see the connection of bearing fruit and asking God in prayer again in verse 16. Prayer is necessary for fruit-bearing and the God-glorifier knows it and so he is constantly employing himself in the business of prayer.
We as Christians bring glory to God when we bring forth fruit and that is never done without prayer. In Philippians 1:9-11 Paul spoke of these three things together. “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – to the glory and praise of God.”
#4: Doing Discipleship means Lasting in His Love. Notice verses 9-10 where Jesus says, “As the Father has loved me so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in His love.” The key words in these 2 verses are “as”. We have been loved by Jesus AS he has been loved by the Father. Have you ever thought about the way in which the Father loves the Son? He has given everything to Him. He has exalted Him to the highest place. He has given Him the name above all names.
Our relationship to Him is to be AS his relationship was to the Father. It is one of love. And love cannot be divorced from obedience to His commands. Jesus obeyed everything the Father commanded Him. First John 5:3 says, “This is love for God: to obey His commands.” That is how Jesus showed His love for the Father, and obedience is how we show love to Christ.
Does Psalm 26:2-3 describe your desire to obey God? The man who wrote this says, “Test me, O Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for your love is ever before me and I walk continually in your truth.” Have you ever invited God to test you? Show you what is really in you? Do you have the confidence that David had?
#5: Doing Discipleship means You Know Joy. Verse 11 says, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” Notice right away that Jesus is concerned whether we have joy or not. And He does not want us to be with-out joy, nor does He want us to have some-joy. But rather He wants us to have complete joy.
Here is a working definition for joy: the ability to rejoice or celebrate. Many Christians don’t feel they have any ability to rejoice because of the situations of life. Many Christians are not pinning their reason to rejoice on Christ, but instead in life’s circumstances. But Jesus said in 16:33, “In this world you will have trouble” so why would a Christian ever look to the world or the things of the world for joy? Why when Christ says He offers joy that the world could never give us?
But Christ’s joy is not anchored to circumstances. His joy is anchored to Him. It’s His joy and He gives it and it is available to be experienced in abundance no matter what is happening in your life. Someone might say, well that’s a lot of pie in the sky talk that doesn’t really meet me where I’m at. You don’t know what I’m going through.
Maybe so, but your Savior does. Are you going to tell Him that you can’t have His joy because you’re a prisoner to your circumstances? If anyone knows what bad circumstances are Jesus does. If anyone had a right to not have joy it was Christ. Jesus was going to the cross and yet He had joy. One of His closest friends was betraying Him. Peter was going to deny Him 3 times. The scourging and the cross were hours away. The whole nation of Israel was going to condemn Him to death. His remaining 11 friends were going to desert Him in only couple hours. He was going to die. If anyone ever had a right to not have joy it was Jesus Christ – but He had joy because He is the source of joy.
This joy is ours to experience, but, it is from Him. It is His own joy and it is only in Him that we can have it. If we are looking for our situations to get better so we can rejoice over them, then it’s not Christ we are rejoicing in. The word for complete means “full”, or “perfect” in the sense that nothing else is needed. Nothing is lacking. It is complete. Jesus wants our joy to be perfect, and He doesn’t want it to be lacking. You know where incomplete joy is found? In the things of the world. What the world offers can never bring fullness of joy.
#6: Doing Discipleship means you have a Sincere Love for Christians. Notice verses 12 and 17, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. This is my command: Love each other.” They bear the name of your Savior. They are loved by the Savior and when you love Him, you love what He loves. This love is a special love for Christians. If someone does not have a special love for Christians something is wrong.
Paul praised the Christians at various churches because of their love for Christians. To Paul that was evidence that someone was truly a Christian. (Turn to) He says in Colossians 1:4, “we have heard of your faith in Jesus Christ and of the love you have for all the saints.” See the connection there: faith in Christ produces love for Christians. Paul says it again to in 2 Thessalonians 1:3 “We ought always to thank God for you brothers and rightly so because your faith is growing more and more and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing.” See the connection again: a growing faith in Christ produces a growing love for Christians.
To be honest, if you don’t have a special love for Christians, John just about calls your salvation into question. Take a moment 1 John 4 John gets pretty tough. Verse 8 says, “If anyone does not love does not know God”. That’s love for Christians he’s talking about. Then over in verses 19-20 he says, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.” Your love for Christians, as far as John is concerned, proves you know God and love Him. Your lack of love for Christians, as far as John is concerned, proves you don’t know God and don’t love Him.
Doing Discipleship means having Sincere, Special love for Christians.
#7: Doing Discipleship means Real Friendship with Jesus. In verses 13-15 Jesus explains to them that they are His friends. It’s interesting that He speaks about friendship here. Judas is in the process of betraying Him. Peter, James and John are going to fall asleep in the Garden instead of praying with Jesus. Peter is going to deny Jesus 3 times. But Jesus says to them in verse 13, “You are my friends”.
7.1 The word friend in the Greek is the same word used to describe the best man at the wedding back in chapter 2. Friend means “a friend at court.” It describes the “inner-circle” around the king or emperor. Having an inner circle of “friends”was part of the custom practiced by Roman emperors and kings in the middle east. These men in this inner circle were called “friends of the king” and as such they had special access to the king. They even had the right to enter into his bedchamber in the morning. The king talked to them before he talked to his generals or any statesmen. His friends were included in the closest and most intimate way with the king.
7.2 Jesus calls us His friends. The things which have been spoken between the Father and the Son have been revealed to us. “For everything I have heard from my Father I have made known to you” Jesus says in verse 15. God opens Himself up to us. We aren’t like mere servants who don’t know the Master’s business. They have an impersonal relationship with Him. They are at a distance and they have no access to the King. We are called friends of God. As friends of God we are not only subject to obey Him like slaves, but, we are brought in close to Him and have a special access to Him that ordinary servants do not have.
7.2.1 We find a great example of what it is to be a friend of God in Genesis 18. The Bible calls Abraham both a servant of God and a friend of God. In Genesis 18 the 2 angels of the Lord came down to investigate the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham is seen as a servant in the first 15 verses. He is busy preparing a meal for these 2 angels and making them comfortable. Twice Abraham actually refers to himself as a servant. This old man of 100 years of age the Bible says was running and scrambling all over the place and ordering others to do their duties quickly in order to take care of the 2 angels. Furthermore Abraham did not sit with the 2 angels, but, instead he stood nearby like a good servant ready to do their bidding.
7.2.2 But, in the last half of the chapter Abraham is seen as the friend of God. He is standing and communing with the Lord. He is still a servant, but, now he is seen as a friend of God. In verse 17 the Lord asks the question, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?” And then the Lord goes on to disclose His plans to Abraham. No mere servant has that privilege. God tells Abraham that He is going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah for their sins.
7.2.3 But then notice something amazing. In verse 23 it says that Abraham approached God. No servant would dare approach the Master. The Master approaches you and gives you your orders. And Abraham isn’t approaching God to say goodbye and send the Lord on His way. Abraham was approaching God in regards to what God was about to do. Abraham did something with God that no servant ever could do with his Master – he appealed to Him to change His plans. In order for you to be able to approach the Master, and, in order for you to be able to address the Master’s plans, the Master has to consider you a friend.
7.3 Doing Discipleship means that we have Real Friendship with Jesus. Jesus has called us His friends. The King of kings and the Lord of lords has made us His friends. And if you are a friend of Jesus you are a friend of God. This friendship has 3 characteristics
7.3.1 First, it is one of Sacrifice. Verse 13 says, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” You are a friend of Jesus because Jesus befriended you first. The greatest kind of love is the love that totally sacrifices self for another. This is also the kind of love that Ephesians 5:25 expected from husbands to give to their wives, “Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her.” Friendship with Christ begins with Him sacrificing for you. But it continues in your sacrifice for Him. Our sacrifice for Him is made when we copy that sacrificial love in our relationships with one another. He says in verse 12, “Love one another as I have loved you”.
7.3.2 Second, this friendship is one of Submission. In verse 14 Jesus says, “You are my friends if you do what I command.” The men who made up that special inner circle around the king, those men who were called friends of the King, were subject to the King. They weren’t simple servants, but, they still served the King. They weren’t autonomous and independent. They were under His authority and obligated to carry out His commands.
7.3.3 Thirdly, this friendship is Special. In verse 15 Jesus says, “I no longer call you servants because a servant does not know his Master’s business. Instead I have called you friends for everything I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” No longer called common slaves who were ignorant of the Master’s business. We have been made privy to the plans the Master has. He has opened up to us and disclosed His purposes. That makes us special. Judas (not Judas Iscariot) asked Jesus in 14:22, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” Jesus says in that passage that He will show Himself to those people who have His commands and obey them. His commands came from the Father. If we do what He commands then we will know Him (John 8:31)
Conclusion
Friend Jesus says in verse 16 that He called and appointed the disciples. Jesus still calls people today. Is He calling you? The Bible says that if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart and turn away. Turn to Him that you might be saved. Become a friend of Jesus. He has offered His friendship by laying down His life for you. He did that at the cross to take away your sins. Would you accept His friendship? Do that by trusting in Him today.
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