If You Abide in My Word, You Are Truly My Disciples

let's pray father our longings are always higher than our capacities and our abilities because we love for salvation which we cannot accomplish only you can we long for people to be built in their faith and rooted deeply in the truth we long for reconciliation among people who are estranged and for a sweet piece to hold sway in families and in churches we long for our worship to be intensified and our obedience to be made radical we long for more courage in our hearts and for more vision in our global mission our longings outstrip our abilities and that is as it should be and that's why we pray we love your word and now come open your word for us Oh speak your mighty word and grant that your people would have ears to hear and minds to understand and hearts to enjoy and wills to obey in Jesus name Amen if you're a true believer or if you are an unbeliever or if you are a phony believer thinking that you're a believer when you're not this text is filled with important things for you in fact so much is here in verse 31 that I never got to verse 32 from which I took the title to the message so what I've decided to do in spending the whole time in this message on verse 31 is to make verse 32 our Easter Sunday text because it seems to me that if I link it with chapter 11 I am the resurrection and the life you will know the truth and the truth will set you free would be a message probably that anyone you would bring to church next Sunday might be very very helped by believer or unbeliever everybody wants to be free and there are all kinds of different definitions of what freedom is and so it just impressed itself on me as I was preparing that that I should make verse 32 next Sunday's message so you can just kind of transfer the title over there and and that's what you can invite people to here you could say if you want to go here our pastor talked about you will know the truth and the truth will set you free I wanted to come along to one of our our nine services on the weekend to choose from so here we are in verse 31 jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him if you abide in my word you are truly my disciples and I have five questions that I had to answer to understand this verse I'll tell you what they are and then we'll take the mourner to tell him the first question is what does it mean to truly be his disciple second what is he referring to by my word in the singular if you abide in my word third what does it mean to be in the word if you abide in my word fourth what does it mean to abide in what does that word carry and fifth what's the relationship between abiding in the word and truly being a disciple those are my five questions here's number one what does it mean to truly be Jesus disciples verse 31 jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him if you abide in my word you are truly my disciples what is the phrase truly my disciples mean it implies that there are people who are not truly his disciples but are his disciples they think that they are his disciples but they are not truly his disciples the word truly could be translated really really my disciples in other words there are real and unreal disciples there are real and unreal church members real and unreal Christians there are authentic and inauthentic disciples there is a discipleship which is merely outward and there is a discipleship that goes down to the deep roots of your life and changes everything from the bottom up in other words the world is divided not just into two groups believers in unbelievers or non disciples and disciples the world is divided in two three groups namely non disciples unreal disciples and real disciples people who make no pretense of following Jesus people who say they follow Jesus and have a surface connection with him only and people who truly follow him now why did Jesus bring this up this is very disturbing we don't want to be told this because then we're thrown off balance and we have to ask well Who am I I thought I was a real disciples are you saying Jesus I might not be a real disciple why does he why does he bring this up verse 30 says as he was saying these things many believed in him in other words there had been a very large response to his teaching and wherever there is a large response a lot of people get swept into it who wouldn't have wouldn't have moved if they had had to move by themselves when a lot of people are moving towards Jesus and you kind of stand around people are kind of walking by you go and therefore the potential is huge in a large movement to Jesus for people to come who aren't coming they're not coming but they're coming they're not real they're signing the card but nothing is happening on the inside so Jesus doesn't assume that this belief is real all around him here instead what he does is give a test test that you know I know can use to see whether we are phony disciples or whether we are real disciples that's what verse 31 is meant to be it's meant to help us detect if we are real or not and thus to help us be real it's it's both a test of reality and it's a path to reality because to be confronted with the possibility that you're not real and to be forced to come to terms with who you really are deep down is a very precious thing for Jesus to do if we were to to leave us on our own thinking that we're okay when perhaps we're not at all okay that would not be a kind and gracious thing of him to do so what becomes clean clear here in this text and we've seen it at least twice you've seen in Chapter two we've seen in Chapter six is that there is a kind of belief in the Gospel of John that is not belief that saves chapter two verse 23 and 25 chapter 6 verse 26 we've seen this before so here it is again which causes me to want to clarify something about the verse that we've used over and over again about the purpose of this gospel me read it to you against the chapter 20 verse 31 goes like this these are written so this whole book is for this purpose these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that believing you may have life in his name which now I take to mean this is written so that yes unbelievers reading it or hearing it might be awaken from the dead and put their faith in Jesus and have eternal life but also this book is written so that phony believers might be wakened to the fact that they're not real believers and be drawn in and it's written so that real believers might know that they're real believers and have their faith strengthened so for all three groups this gospel is written when he said these are written that you may believe unbeliever fake believer believers all three relevant at every turn so don't don't ever read chapter 20 verse 31 these things are written that you may believe and have eternal life is wealth this is for unbelievers oh no every day of my life I need this gospel and the truth in it to keep me tested and to keep me confirmed make your calling and election firm second Peter says how do you do that read a gospel like this read verses like this so you're in one of those categories which means that what I have to say if I'm faithful to this verse if I get it right is for you all of you so what's a true disciple what does Jesus mean in verse 31 when he says you are truly my disciples I want to be really clear about something here so listen carefully to this particular point of clarification when he says you are truly my disciples he means truly Christian truly born again truly forgiven truly adopted truly in the family truly saved he does not mean truly advanced in the faith as though disciple were a thing you are tain in the Christian life after you got saved for a while the reason I even point this out is because whole ministries have been built on this conception there are these four categories unbeliever save believer he mature later become a disciple and then a disciple maker that's an awful paradigm when he says if you continue in my word you are truly my disciples he doesn't mean those who continue our advanced second stage true disciples and the ones between conversion and their they're just ordinary Christians that's the furthest thing from Jesus mind don't ever use the word disciple that way he means truly Christian a disciple is a Christian one piece of evidence from this text for saying that is to notice that the words he uses in verse 31 jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him if you abide in my word you are my disciples he did not say to professing believers if you abide in my word you will become you will become truly my disciples it's not a later stage it's what you are if you are abiding in his word and if you're not abiding in his word you're not a believer you're not saved not a disciple not a Christian so there's no thought here about true discipleship being a second stage of Christian maturity to disciple means to believer to Christian true follower it means well let's pack it in it means that you're truly for and for your sins look at verse 24 up above I told you Jesus says I told you that you would die in your sins for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins in other words if you do believe you won't die in your sins why not because if you believe in him he takes away your sins he covers her sins he forgives your sins he cancels your sins do you remember chapter 1 verse 29 he's called the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world how does he do that how this coming to Jesus mean that he has in him taken away taken away I don't have them anymore I still do them but I don't have them they're not on me they're gone they're forgiven they're canceled how can that be what did he do and he told us how he did it chapter 10 verse 15 I lay down my life for the sheep he laid down his life so that my life wouldn't have to be taken he put his life in the place of my life and everything that my sin deserved from the wrath of God Jesus absorbed for me so that now it would be double jeopardy and a compromising of God's character if that same wrath were to be put on me in hell it's not ever again wrath is gone because my sin is forgiven that's what it means to be a true disciple it has become mine my sins are gone then if you wonder where'd you get the idea of a wrath where'd you get that you just bring that in from somewhere I got it from chapter three verse 36 it goes like this whoever believes in the son has eternal life whoever does not obey the son shall not see life but the wrath of God remains on him so you got this choice wrath is remaining on everybody because we're all sinners it's on us and one day it will crush us to hell or you can believe in Jesus and that wrath goes on to him because he takes our sins and he bears me lays down his life for the Sheep and as he lays down his life his life is crushed to death on the cross by the wrath that I deserved so it's no longer on me so when I read in verse 31 chapter 8 you are truly his disciples I hear true Christian true believer truly forgiven wrath of God removed true eternal life given to me as a free gift I'm one of the Sheep I'm not a slave anymore I'm a son in the household and therefore I'm an heir of ten thousand blessings that the children of God alone will receive that's a true disciple second question what is Jesus referring to in phrase my word if you abide in my word you are that what we just talked about you're a true believer true Christian true disciple truly forgiven truly vindicated wrath gone sins canceled eternal life imparted if you abide in my word my word my word this is really important isn't it I mean could could could the word be more important than it is in this sentence it's singular Jesus spoke a lot of words and it's often plural in this gospel here it's singular so I take it to refer to the some of his teaching it's the sum of his words uses the singular not to pick out any particular word but to say my words are a word there's a summary to them a by so if you abide in the sum and the totality and the focus in the centrality and the the integrating truth the sum of it all abide in it then you are truly my disciples and we could just leave it at that and go on to the next question say word means some of his teaching but I suspect that Jesus really wants me to pause here wants you to pause here and say what is it like what's the sum of it I think he probably would want us to do that and ponder it and my answer is he is the sum of his word all his words in one way or another especially in this gospel point to him words like I am the bread of life I am the light of the world I am not of this world I am The Good Shepherd I am the door I am NOT I am in the father the father and I are one I am the resurrection and the life and on and on when you take all the words together of this gospel especially they have one great sum Jesus Christ himself so now 20:31 again these are all written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God that's the way John sums up his own purpose everything all the words plural are for this they're they're all for this that you might come to Jesus see Jesus as Christ the Messiah the FULFILLER of all the promises see Jesus as the Son of God and all the other I am statements of the gospel know him see him embrace him that's the sum of his word if anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch in other words when you get to chapter 15 he's not saying if you abide in my word he says if you abide in me then you're like a a branch in a vine and I'm the vine and you are the branches so there just makes it crystal clear on the sub on what you're in if you abide in my word you about me if you get this word right it's all me if you're abiding in the word the some of the point of the word you're abiding in me let me give you a practical implication of of this if you want to know Jesus be much in his word one of the most important convictions I ever developed and I commend it to you it's one of the most important convictions you could ever form is that Jesus as a real living precious present experienced friend and person is known chiefly through his word and the only reason I used the word chiefly instead of only I first wrote only when I wrote this only and in a sense that would be true but here's the reason I stepped back from only and wrote chiefly for this reason you know it from Paul in phobias three you know it if you've walked with Jesus a long time that as you walk with him through his word by his word communing with him trusting his promises striving to obey His commandments and enjoying his fellowship I will be with you to the end of the age as you walk with Jesus hour by hour over 10 20 30 40 years you walk through very very deep valleys very much suffering very many hardships and in those hardships Jesus proves himself in a way that you know him in a way you could not any other way any other way and therefore it is even at those moments it is by his words I'm almost tempted to go back and change it to only but I wanted the chance to say that I wanted the chance to just say that experience with Jesus experienced lived out daily walking trusting right now in this horrible horrible horrible thing there's a knowing there's a knowing there that comes that you don't get anywhere else nowhere else and yet it's by his word at those very very moments let me give you a verse to hold on to for this because this is this is just massively important for living your Christian life and knowing Jesus moment by moment First Samuel chapter three verse 21 goes like this the Lord revealed himself to Samuel by the word of the Lord the Lord revealed him self by the word of the Lord that is a structure of reality that controls my whole life I want to know Jesus not just books not even just the Bible as precious that it is I want the person of Christ he's risen he's risen he is here by his Spirit he is as much a person more than all of us are and he's in this room right now listening to what we say I'll be with you and I want to know him I want to commune with him fellowship with him talk to him listen to him be helped by him be drawn by him be strengthened by him I want to know this Jesus and walk with Him hour by hour how shall that happen answer the Lord revealed himself to Samuel by the word of the Lord if you try to run after the Lord without running through this you will find someone else don't don't feel like that makes you some kind of pedantic academic like oh you gotta be a scholar blah blah blah the least educated person may have the deepest grasp of Jesus through this book there's no correlation between higher education and sweet fellowship with Jesus through the book question number three what does it mean to be in the word that is summed up in Jesus and all these words that mediate Jesus what what does it mean to be in it if you abide in my word you are truly my disciples so here's a picture minute I'm gonna push this picture and maybe it'll stick and I think it's faithful to the scriptures the word of Jesus with himself at the center and the focus has a force field around it this is an image like a magnetic field around it and when you are in his word you're in that force field you're under the sway of the force emanating from the word let me illustrate that part of this force field is the truth of the word so when you're in the word you're in the the persuasion of the truth of the word you're in the grip the hold of the force of the persuasion of the truth of the word the word is compelling persuasion and you're in it it's got you like that so when you correlate your your being with truth its persuasion I'm there droning am compelled second the force field is created by the beauty of the word this beauty attracts so when you move into the word you're attracted and held by the beauty of the word third this force field is created by the supreme value of the word so when you're in the word you're captured by the preciousness of the word as God opens your eyes to see the beauty and the preciousness and the value of the word it compels it it attracts it draws this field pulls you in in to the word forth there is a power and a grace creating this force field so that as you see this power and you see this grace and you're drawn to it there is an experience of peace because of the grace and restfulness because of the power the power and the grace conspire to guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus and in the word you are held by a peace that passes all understanding another part of this force is the life-giving soul sustaining bread of heaven the word is the bread of heaven and therefore when you're in the word you're in the nourishment of the word you experience yourself being nourished like sitting on the couch Saturday morning Noelle's gone to a seminar Toth has gone off to her event and I'm all alone in the house with my iPad and my Bible program and I am feeling so nourished I wouldn't get up from this moment for anything unless I had to being fed in my soul how could I leave I'm in the word in the nourishment of the word or another one is water it's living water and when you're in the word you're in refreshment you're not just being nourished like vitamins and minerals or going down deep and making you strong but you're drinking you're feeling refreshed and energetic by by the word when you're in the word you're in the refreshment of the word and the last one light the word is light this force field is created by this light and it draws you to it because you love being illumined you love being guided you hate the dark once you've tasted the light and love the light you love to come to the light it grips you and hold you in that's an in the word in the Word of God so when Jesus says if you abide in my word being in his word means being in the persuasion of its truth in the attraction of its beauty in the treasuring of its value in the peacefulness of its grace and power in the nourishment of its bread in the refreshment of its water in the brightness of its light to be in the word is to be in a whole new life called true disciple question four what does it mean to abide in it if you abide in my word you are truly my disciples the word abide is simply the ordinary word for remain there is no special spiritual connotation in the word itself it may gain a special spiritual connotation by the way Jesus uses it but it was just chosen from ordinary speech it just remained stay so abiding in the word is stay there don't go away to another competitor rename it means not ceasing to be persuaded of the truth never ever ever elevating anything over the the Bible as a criterion of truth it means not ceasing to be attracted always being attracted by its beauty and value and when you're you you're dangled out there it's not so attractive this looks so beautiful this looks so valuable and you start to drift away from the word he says remain remain that's deceiving or it means not ceasing to rest in the Grace and power of the word as though some greater piece could be found out there like just buy more insurance spend all your time in the stock market cuz if you just got enough money you could fathom peace of mind you won't I promise you you won't rich people are not more peaceful they're more anxious it means never ceasing to eat or drink from the word as the bread of heaven and the living water as though anything else could sustain you nothing can so you're staying I'm staying I'm remaining I'm not leaving it's too good it means not ceasing to walk in the light as though some other new thing on the horizon could reveal the secrets of life because it's it's it's it's light you won't go I'm not going I'm staying I'm remaining here a true disciple is marked by if you abide remain stay in my word of which I'm the son you are truly my disciples and the fact that Jesus puts the emphasis here on abide remain gives the answer to question number five how are abiding in His Word and truly being his disciple related to each other if you abide in my word you are truly my disciples Jesus is saying the mark of the true disciple the mark this is why this is just so useful to everybody true believers say yes yeah that's fake believers say oh no I get to get this right I got to get this right I've just been playing games I'm not in that way out here loving so many other things that and the unbelievers seen at all watching all this thing huh oh this could have the ring of truth the mark of the true disciple is lasting enduring persevering keeping on in the force field it proves you've been really taken you've been really held you're in the force field you can't nobody will pluck them out of my hand I and the father are one you get in this force field you're staying and God uses this tax to keep you here temporary tastes so here this phony believer temporary tastes of truth and beauty and value and power and grace and bread and water and brightness temporary tastes don't make anybody a Christian there are numerous texts in the Bible of those who tasted began Feliway mani taste it began fell away the Sun came out burned him up too hot in the kitchen they got out thorns came up riches cares of this world they're gone money is it fame is it power is it sex is it they're gone they were in the church for a year two years three years ten years didn't make any difference they were never real they were never in the word but do you know what true believers say to whom shall we go you have the words of eternal life I can't leave I've just tasted and drunk too deeply I can't go I can feel the Lord who can't feel the Lord right I'm still a sinner but oh the sweetness of being held in the force field of the word of Jesus with Jesus crucified and risen at the center that's a good place to be conclusion if you're a believer my prayer is that this word God would use this word to confirm you you would sit there and everything in you would just be enjoying just enjoy and yes yes I love to see Jesus exalted I love his word no I'm not perfect I need is forgiveness every day but yes I want you to I want that resonance to make you feel good about your standing with him and for the unbeliever I pray that God would use this word to give you life faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ and so this very night as you listen to this exposition of Christ's word the Holy Spirit I pray will give you life and that life is signified by the yes of faith to the message of Jesus that's the way you know you're alive when babies come out of the womb if they're still born they don't say anything and if they're alive they cry they cry in the cry of the newborn believer is help I need you I love you I trust you I don't know much but I need you you're alive that's good and for the phony believer may God show you the truth of what a Christian is and wake you up and then give you a spiritual taste for the beauty and the truths and the value and the grace the power and the brightness of Jesus in his word let's pray gracious father how we love your son and his word through which we know him no we would know him so much better so we're gonna be like Mary sitting there not scurried about too much like Martha yes house has got to be kept up but God make us like Mary it's listening deeply savoring eating drinking being nourished being refreshed being persuaded being attracted being ravished treasuring until we know you deep enough to walk through the deepest Valley with you do your work I pray even as we see Jesus name you

Channel: Desiring God

Views: 10,123

Rating: 4.852941 out of 5

Keywords: Desiring God, John Piper, God, Jesus Christ, Christianity, Christian Hedonism, Word of God, Disciple, Bible, Worship, Christian, Spirit, Faith, Trust

Id: clzWsyHqUjA

Length: 45min 13sec (2713 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 15 2018