Our passage this morning is from John 15 and we're looking at verses 1 to 8. I am the true vine and my father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away and every branch that bears fruit he prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 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, so prove to be my disciples. Please be seated. He said, my father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so you will prove that you are my disciples. And so, my question is, is that who is a disciple? What does he mean by this disciple relationship? What is he talking about? Who is a disciple? He said, by this you will prove you are my disciples. Who is His disciples? His disciples are those who are the called out ones of Jesus Christ. Today, we call ourselves Christians. And it's such a broad term that anybody who carries a New Testament in any translation would call themselves Christian, but Christ has a more specific name for his followers. The word Christian is used in the Bible three times, and it's the word Christianos, and it means a follower of Christ. It means his followers. But there is a much more descriptive word that is used throughout the New Testament 274 times. And that word is mathetis. And that word is translated disciple. And that word is defined as a close follower, a learner, and a pupil. But it's not just any learner or pupil. It is one who is specifically a learner or pupil of Jesus Christ. When he's saying these are my disciples, my disciples. So anyone who is in Christ, Anyone who is in Christ is a disciple. If you are in Christ, you are his disciple. There is no such reality where individuals know Christ and are not in him or are changed by him. If you are in Christ, you are following him and you are changed by him. That is the definition of a disciple. You are his disciple if you know him in this way. Jesus Christ is the one in whose ways we are discipled. He is the one that we are meant to be conformed to and learn of. But his means of doing this is through his local assembly of believers, his assembly of called out ones, the ecclesia, the church, the body of believers. Those whose lives are entirely wrapped up in growing in him, those who are intentionally pursuing conformity to Jesus Christ, those are his disciples. And know that if you are in Christ, that is what he calls you as his disciple. And that is who you are meant to be, is one who is changed by the washing of water, by the word, by the work of the Holy Spirit within you. So a disciple is one who is meant to be intentionally pursuing conformity to Jesus Christ. that as you grow, you are looking more and more like Him. You are reflecting His image. Discipleship is an eternal process. It is an intellectual process that has eternal benefits, and they manifest themselves outwardly, externally, and inwardly. and they're manifesting outwardly because of what's happening inwardly. Before we go any further, as we're defining who a disciple is, let's look at what a disciple is not, who is not a disciple. Turn to Luke 18. He says, now a certain ruler asked him saying, good teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? So Jesus said to him, why do you call me good? No one is good but one, that is God. You know the commandments. Do not commit adultery. Do not murder. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Honor your father and your mother. And he said, all these things I had kept from my youth. So when Jesus heard these things, he said to him, you still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Come and follow me. But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich. This man who was in a position of authority, who was a moral man. From his youth, he says, he's kept all these things. He's kept these laws. He says, I'm not broken those things. I'm a good person. I think well of myself. I think that according to your standard, I have met all those things, these outward commandments. And he says, Well, he's also, so he views himself as a moral person. He also views himself as someone who is in authority. He's someone who says to go, and people go, and come, and people come, and so he is in some form of authority. He is a ruler. People look up to him. He's also very wealthy. He's a rich, young ruler. Isn't God impressed with that? He's rich. God's not impressed with that. Jesus didn't say anything about that other than sell and distribute and follow me. He says, follow me. Be discipled by me. Be my disciple. Be this Mathaites person, the disciple. Come and follow me. But when he heard that, he became very sorrowful. He was unwilling. He was unwilling to follow the Lord in obedience in that way. The rich young ruler, he was a religious man. He was moral. He even desired eternal life from the one, the source of life, Jesus Christ himself. But he was unwilling to respond in a positive way and become Christ's disciple. He was unwilling to pay the cost of discipleship. The person who is not Christ's disciple does not belong to him and he is not saved. The person who is Christ's disciple confesses him as Savior and Lord. The moment a person confesses Christ as Savior and believes on Him, places their faith in Him, they are immediately saved, they are immediately justified, they are immediately indwelt with the Holy Ghost, and they are immediately made His disciple, immediately made His disciple. To not be Christ's disciple is to not be His in any way. It's to not be His at all. But to be Christ's disciple is to participate in the Lord's table, which is one of the reasons we're meeting today, is to remember what the price of our pardon and ransom cost the Lord of glory. By doing this, we are participating in the symbol of the body and the blood of our Savior Jesus, represented by this bread and this cup. Because we have participated in the realities of His death on the cross because of Him giving His body and shedding His blood. Now we will take of the cup and the bread as a symbol to commemorate that and remember what he did on our behalf. We have become recipients of his grace and mercy through this shed blood on his giving of his body. Let us remember and celebrate that work. I'm gonna turn to John chapter six. You can turn there as well. starting in verse 47. He says, most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in me and has everlasting life, I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I shall give is my flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world, he says. And through communion, we're celebrating some amazing truths, some facts. What this verse just told us is that we are celebrating the fact that Jesus Christ gave his body for us. He said. He is the bread. That I shall give, he says the bread that I shall give is my flesh. We're celebrating the fact that Jesus gave his body for us. We're also celebrating the fact that we belong to Him. We are attached to Him in a very intentional and meaningful way. Verse 52, he says, the Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, how can this man give his flesh to eat? And Jesus said to them, most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. The words of our Savior. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up in the last day. So we're celebrating the fact that we belong to him. We belong to him in this way. We're also celebrating the fact that we have a permanent union with him. Look at verses 55 and 56. He says, for my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him." This abiding means permanent union. Think of what was just read earlier from John 15 about he is the vine, we are the branches, and God wants us to bear fruit, but we cannot bear any fruit unless we are meaningfully attached to this vine. We have this permanent union with him. And he is the source of life that has given us life. 57 and 58 says, as the living father sent me and I live because of the father, so he who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread which came down from heaven, not as your fathers ate the manna and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever. He's the source of life and he's given his life so that we can have abundant life and eternal life. That is what we're celebrating. We're celebrating that fact in communion. But it cost him. It cost him. Our abundant life or our life. Our eternal life does not begin upon our clinical death here when our bodies cease to function. Our eternal life does not begin at that point. Our eternal life began the day we became a disciple by grace through faith. So do you belong to him? And do you have permanent union with him? Do you have eternal and abundant life through him? then I invite you to join us in partaking of this communion. Join us in that. If you know that you are his disciple, please join us in taking communion. But if you have doubts and question, please let the cup pass. Let the cup pass. If you doubt if you are truly his disciple or not, if you are not abiding in him or attached to him in this way that we're talking about, This celebration is not for you yet, but know that if you place your faith and your trust in Him, He will save you. The worship team will have a song as the elements are distributed here. And please take this time as you worship to confess your sin, meditate on the truth of God's providence and God's beautiful redemptive plan that God so loved his world, or God so loved the world that he sent his only son. and praise God that his son came and followed through and went to that cross and his body was crucified on that cross and his shed blood is now that atonement for our sin. Please worship now with the music, with the worship. As calm on which the Prince of Peace My riches gay, I count the gloss. And pour content on all my pride. So sing from His head, His hands, His feet, Sorrow and love flow me no doubt. It is such rush and sorrow me. So rich a pound. Oh, the wonderful cost. Oh, the wonderful cost. Is me come and die. Mine and I may truly live it. my grace And were the whole realm of nature mine, That were an offering far too small, So amazing, so divine. Deep as my soul, my life, my all. Oh, how wonderful cause. I truly live All who gather here, by grace draw near and bless your day. Wonderful cross, all who gather here, Thy grace draw near, and bless Your name. Oh, the wonderful cross, Lord, how thankful people we are for your wonderful cross. Lord, it brings us life. It brings us joy. It brings us to you and in right relationship with you. When we were cast afar off in darkness, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Thank you, God, for the cross. Thank you for this remembrance of the realities of your cross and the facts of our celebration here today, God. I pray that you bless this bread and bless this cup, Lord. In Jesus' precious name, amen. Matthew 26, 26 says, and as they were eating, Jesus took bread and blessed it and broke it and he gave it to his disciples and said, take, eat, this is my body. Then he took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them, saying, drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death until he comes. We just celebrated being Christ's disciples. We just celebrated the facts of the realities of the new birth. We just celebrated the permanent union that we have in Christ as his disciples. Now let us examine the attributes of a disciple. What does it mean to be a disciple? And there's three things, and if you were at the men's breakfast a couple weeks ago, we covered these things there too. But you know what? The Lord's message hasn't changed in two weeks. It hasn't changed in 2,000 years or for all of human history, and it is settled forever in heaven. And thank the Lord that we don't have to relearn it. But this was my challenge to the men two weeks ago, is that through this passage in John 15, we're going to see that we need to know the Lord Jesus Christ, and that we need to grow in the Lord Jesus Christ, and we need to go in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in his authority. But first things first, that we know. Read with me. Go back to John 15. We're gonna look at verses four and five. He says, abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine. 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 bears much fruit. For without me, you can do nothing. Without Christ, you can do nothing. This abiding, we touched on this a little bit earlier when we were in John chapter six, when we talked about abiding. It means to have this permanent union with Christ. It is a strength that is difficult for us to fathom, this permanent union that we have with Christ. He's telling us to abide in Him. He is the vine, and we are the branches, and He's telling us to bear fruit, and we can bear no fruit as His branches unless we are attached to the vine, attached to Him. So the question is, are you attached to the vine? Are you safe in the Lord's hand, the good shepherd? Flip back a couple pages with me to John chapter 10. In verse 27 he says, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. We're his disciples, we're following him. we know him this verse tells us verse 28 says jesus says and i give them eternal life and they shall never perish neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand jesus's strong hand almighty god author of all the world he spoke everything into existence the almighty The one who is stronger than any is holding us in his hand. We are held by the good shepherd in his hand with a strength we cannot even fathom. He will lose none of his own. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. And he leads me in the paths of righteousness. That is what this good shepherd does, who is holding me with the strength that is I just can't even fathom. That is what it means to have permanent union with the Lord Jesus Christ, that we are abiding in him and that we are meant to remain in him. And he says here back in John 15, he's telling us that the point of our abiding, the purpose of our abiding, is that we would bear much fruit. We're bearing fruit as one who knows the Lord and is abiding in Him. And there is this initial knowing Him, and then there is a knowing Him in that we desire to know Him more. But this initial fruit that we're meant to bear is that we're to be in His word. How else do we know this Lord of glory unless we are in His word and we are abiding in His word? Are you daily in His Word? Are you daily meditating on His Word, just thinking through the things that you've read and the things that you've seen in His Word? That's what meditation looks like, is just ruminating on the truths of God, playing them over and over again in our mind so that we can have a deep understanding of who He is. And are we daily in prayer? Are we in fellowship? And do we worship? This is a worship service. Do you worship outside of these four walls? Do you sing with grace in your hearts unto the Lord outside of these four walls that you praise Him and you adore Him day by day? That is the fruit in your life of knowing Him, of just knowing Him. 1 John 5, 11 through 13 says, and this is the testimony that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life, and he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. 1 John is such a beautiful book for discernment. He tells us just flat out, he that has the Son has life. He that does not have the Son does not have life. If you have the Son, you are his disciple. If you do not have the Son, you are not His disciple. You do not belong to Him. You are outside of the vine. You're not attached to the vine. But to those who know the Son and have the Son, He says that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is saying that you may know, that you know, that you know. I mean, these are things that you need to know. The Lord wants us to know. That's His promise, that we wouldn't doubt So how do we know? Well, are we being changed into his image? Can you look back on the person you were the day that you placed your faith in Jesus Christ? Can you look back on that day and say, I am not that person anymore? Because the Lord saves us right where we are, but he has no intention of leaving us there. Praise God for that. If we're his disciple, we are being changed. into his image, and to know him, to know him in this way is to be transformed into his image, and that we can know that we know that we are his disciples. And as his disciple, you are committed to following, loving, obeying, and conforming to him, to conform to him. We are to know him personally and not just have knowledge about him. Jesus doesn't seek to just impart information. He seeks to awaken commitment to his self. Think, he says in the Great Commission to go and make disciples. He says don't just, they just don't get saved and stay right where they're at. They grow and mature into something that is similar to what you see in Christ, that his ways are influencing their lives profoundly, profoundly. A disciple is pursuing conformity and transformation, that we're no longer looking like the people that we used to be. You cannot rightly know Jesus without being eternally transformed and conformed to him. Romans 8.29 says, for whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son. And this word conformed is very simple. It just means to take on the form of another, to just look like another, so that when you see your brothers and sisters in Christ, you can see Christ in them. When you look in the mirror and challenge yourselves with that, Is Christ in me in that way? Is Christ living in me that way? Is His attributes and His ways manifested in my life in any way? We need to be challenged with that, because we need to be taking on His form. If we know Him, we will look like Him. This is what this says, is that we are predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. Knowing Jesus is not just something that happens when you begin to walk with him, but it is an ongoing thing. Turn with me to Philippians chapter three. Philippians chapter three. Beautiful verse here. Beautiful passage. This is an ongoing thing that takes place in the life of a believer. Let me start at verse one here. He says, Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord, for in me to write the same thing to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation, for we are the circumcision who worship God in the spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Though I also might have confidence in the flesh, if anyone thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so. Okay? So Paul just challenged every single person on this planet and has ever been born into this world. He says, if anybody thinks that they have something to brag about in self-righteousness, he said, get out of the way because I more so. And he's going to give you a list here. Verse five, circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, concerning the law of Pharisee, concerning zeal, persecuting the church, concerning righteousness, which is in the law, blameless. The man said he's blameless according to the law. That is a high statement. But what things were gained to me, these things I have counted loss for Christ. He recognized that these things have had no impact or no benefit in his relationship with the Lord. The Lord confronted him on that road to Damascus, and we read about in Acts chapter 9. The Lord stopped him in his tracks when he had letters that made it legal for him to bring people back to Jerusalem bound so he could persecute them. People that were Christ followers, his disciples, you guys. He would be after you guys today. His disciples. And he says all these righteousnesses, all these outward things that he lists in verses five and six, he's saying these things are just a loss to me. Because Christ interjected himself in his life and transformed him and made him an entirely new person. And he said, all those things that I trusted in before, they're just rubbish. I count them as just garbage. Verse 80 says, yet indeed I count all things lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ. and be found in him, not having my own righteousnesses, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. So what he's saying in this is that he wants to know Christ personally, the one and only true and living God who inhabits eternity, who spoke all things into existence by the word of his power and the one and only potentate King of kings and Lord of lords. He knows him. His disciples know him. You know him if you are his disciple and you want to know him more. And the more you get to know him, the more you want to know him. Quick story in Exodus chapter 33, Moses is at the tabernacle. And when he went there, the people came outside of their tents and stood there and the cloud was there. And it said that Moses spoke with God as with a friend. He spoke with God, read this this week. He spoke with God as though a friend was talking to him. Think of the intimate relationship going on there. This is not just your, this is not an initial relationship encounter with the Lord. This is someone who's walked with God for a long time and has a mature relationship with God and God is revealing himself to him and speaking to him as a friend. And what does Moses say? Read this this week. Moses says, show me your glory. Exodus 33, show me your glory. The more Moses got to know the Lord, the more he wanted of him, and he couldn't have enough. Show me your glory. But the Lord said, no man will see my glory and live. Read it this week. I'm going to leave it there. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Do you have a desire in your heart to know him more, a yearning to know him in such a greater way than you know him today? That's what he's talking about here in verse 10 when he says that I may know him, that I may know him. He says back in verse eight that I may gain Christ. He's saying gain him in relationship and gain him as Lord and Savior, as friend, as brother, He's gaining him in his life. And to be found in him, think of this, verse nine, not having my own righteousnesses. He gave us the list of righteousnesses that, you know, who can compare to that? He said, nobody can beat me out on this list. And he said, but not having my own righteousness, he says, that which is of the law. but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God through faith, or from God by faith. And this righteousness that he's talking about here is imputed righteousness, that God looks at you through the blood of Jesus Christ and sees you as sinless. He sees you as somebody that is justified in his sight, declared not guilty in his eyes. because of the imputed righteousness of Christ. He sees you through Christ's blood. And going on here in Philippians 3 verse 12, he says, He says, but I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Think of this on what happened to him in Acts chapter nine in his life when the Lord stopped him in his tracks, when he was bound, when he was so just pursuing Damascus and to persecute these Christians, he thought he was doing God a favor. going there and doing that, but the Lord stopped him in his tracks and says, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? Isn't it hard to kick against the goads? And he stopped him in his tracks and Saul's response was that, Lord, he calls him Lord. He knew it was the one and only true God, the creator of heaven and earth who stopped him in his tracks. At that day, The Lord reached down and laid hold of Saul, who will become Paul the apostle. And what he's saying here is that he wants to reach back and lay hold of that which laid hold of him. And this is the knowing him that we're talking about, that the Lord has gotten a hold of my life and apprehended me. And now I want to reach back and apprehend that for which I have apprehended. That which laid hold of me, I want to reach back up. and lay hold of. I want to know him more. I desire that walk with him daily, to know him that way. In verse 13 he says, Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended But one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are before." He's forgetting the list in verses 5 and 6. He's forgetting those outward righteousnesses that he used to trust in, and he is pressing forward to those things which are ahead. He says, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call in Christ Jesus. Did you know that we are all called to be disciples? We are called to be his disciples. We are commanded and we are commissioned. And we are also commanded, called and commissioned to make disciples. To make disciples. Being a disciple. is first about knowing Him and abiding in Him. And it is your upward call of God. It is the upward call of every disciple of Jesus. Okay, turn back to John 15, verses 7 and 8 here. He says, if you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you by this my father is glorified that you bear much fruit so you will be my disciples so you will be my disciples he says and i want to i want to hone in on one one part of this is that he says if you abide in me okay we talked about that if you know him in that way and you're attached with to him in that way in this permanent union relationship if you do that he says and my words abide in you and my words abide in you and one amazing thing of this is the word that he chose here for words because oftentimes when we hear the word word in the new testament we think okay logos the personification of the lord jesus christ but this is not the word logos this is the word rima And this word Rima is referring specifically to every single utterance that comes out of the mouth of God. That means every one of his commands and every single testimony, every word that's written in your Bible, specifically, every commission and every calling, every word, that's what it means, every word, Rima, every word. It's a spoken statement, it's the content of what is said. Every individual utterance of the Lord Jesus Christ, that is the word he's talking about here. It's also the same word in Matthew 4.4 that says that man shall not live by bread alone, but shall live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Rima, his word, every word that proceeds out of God's mouth is what we're talking about. God's Word abides in His disciples. One true sign that we are His disciples is that we hunger after His Word. Jeremiah 15, 16 says, Your words were found, and I did eat them, and they were unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart. Isn't that a beautiful statement from the Lord? Jeremiah 15, 16, your words were found and I did eat them and they were unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart. If you are his disciple and his word is abiding in you, what an encouragement that is to us. What a beautiful, what a beautiful statement that is because we identify with that. Your words were found. I ate them up. They're in me. They're abiding in me. I love them. I am your disciple and I love your word. They were unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart. This is a heart check moment. What is the thing that gives you the most joy and rejoicing? If you are his disciple, Jeremiah is making it clear that his word is the joy and rejoicing of our heart. This is a heart check that we need to do. What is the joy and rejoicing? us. What is our joy and rejoicing? His disciples joy and rejoicing is in his word. Jesus says in John 8 31, If you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed. God's word is abiding in his disciples, and it is transforming the lives of his disciples. Romans 12, one and two says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service, and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. We are transformed by the renewing of our mind because, like I said earlier, the Lord saved us where we were at, but he had no intention of leaving us there. And it takes the renewing of our mind to remove those philosophies and vain ideas that we had in there in the storehouses of our mind. And those need renewed. We need a renewing in that, and they need to be brought afresh into the conformity of the Lord Jesus Christ in His rhema, because we are abiding in His rhema, every utterance, every utterance. We are transformed by the Spirit of God, by the washing of water, by the Word, so that my desires become His desires, and that my life reflects His life. 2 Corinthians 3.18 says a very similar thing. It says, but we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory just as by the Spirit of the Lord. My new covenant, new heart desires transformation. by God's Spirit, in loving obedience to him, to bear his image as his disciple, I lay aside all my personal ambitions to take on his commission, to be his disciple, and to make disciples. That was the fault in the rich young ruler who would not be his disciple, is that he would not lay aside his ambitions. He had his kingdom to build. Whose kingdom are we building? Our own or the Lord's? Be involved in His work, be conformed to His image. Okay, that's grow. Now, the very last one here, John 15 and verse 16. We've looked at know, grow, this is go. I'm a musician, so I like to rhyme. I don't need, that helps me is to rhyme. Verse 16, you did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give you, that you would go and bear fruit. To go and bear fruit is to be the one who is attached to the vine, abiding in Him, and that you are being a pattern of growth yourself. You know Him. You are growing in Him, and now you are going in His name and in His authority. Look over at Matthew 28. This is the Great Commission, verses 18 to 20. It's so essential, Jesus started this out by saying, all authority has been given to me in heaven and earth, in Christ's authority, his authority, in his name. He says, go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even into the end of the age, amen. This word that he says, The central thrust of the Great Commission is that we make disciples. That word is mathētū. Mathētū. It's one word. We translate it, make disciples. And it is the central command here in the Great Commission. And it means to believe and to learn. But it's not just believing and learning anything. It's that you're believing and learning from the one who has all authority. the one whose disciples we are. He is speaking to all who exclusively believe in Him and are learning from Him and conforming to His ways, conforming to His ways. Through the Great Commission, God commands his called out ones, the ecclesia, his church, to make disciples. We are to reproduce in others what has taken place in us. That is our commission, is that he's called us to preach the gospel and to come alongside others and grow them in his ways. Grow them in his ways. And that we're meant to be grown in him. Who is qualified for this? Who is even qualified to make a disciple? The scripture tells us. I see scripture telling us that everyone who is his disciple is qualified for this. He says in Acts 1 in verse 8, he says, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. If you are in Christ, you are his disciple, you are immediately indwelt with the Holy Spirit. You have that Holy Spirit in you that you can be this person who is a disciple maker. You have all authority to preach the gospel to those around you. So what does this look like in our local church? In Hayden Bible Church, what does it look like within this assembly of called out ones? And we're just overlaying what scripture commands us into our local expression of his body. And scripture commands us that we're given an example. We're given an example of a pattern of having someone in our life that we're looking up to and being discipled by. Someone who, when questions arise, that we can just directly go to that one and find help in our time of need. That person that we would refer to as a Paul in our life. Because there's a relationship that we see here in scripture that there is a Paul and there is a Timothy. That the Paul is the person who is speaking God's truth into our life and instructing in the word. He's encouraging us toward the intentional pursuit and conformity to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Timothy is the one who is being instructed. Again, stirred up and instructed in the word. Stirred up unto love and good works. God's design is that we be disciples and we make disciples. Look here in 1 Corinthians 4, 14 to 17. It says, I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved children, I warn you, for though you might have 10,000 instructors in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For in Christ Jesus, I have begotten you through the gospel. Therefore, I urge you, imitate me. For this reason, I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ as I teach everywhere in every church. You know, he says here in verse 15, he says, he mentions instructors. You have 10,000 instructors. You have 10,000 people in your life who want to just who want to just talk to you about the facts, you know, and they just want to talk to you about the knowledge. They're not helping you in your walk. They're not helping you dig deep into the truths of God and actually helping you apply these things into your manner of life so that your conduct is actually being transformed and conforming to this truth. Instructors are people who are just putting information out there. He's saying you have 10,000 people in your life who are just putting information out there, but you don't have many fathers. You don't have many people in this relationship of this Paul-Timothy relationship. Look at, my men's group is going through the book of Proverbs right now, and right now, chapters one through nine, almost every single chapter, and sometimes multiple places in the chapter, it's Solomon saying to his son, he's saying, my son, hear me, hear the instruction of the word of God. And he's, it's this relationship of this discipleship relationship of that, this tutoring relationship, he's saying, it's the shema. He's using that same Hebrew word, shema. hear, hear this, hear the words of God. And it's for the sake of being transformed and being conformed to the image of our Lord. Not that we're just soaking up information. That's not the point. It's not about information. And he's saying, he says, you have all these people that are instructing you, but not many fathers, not many who are actually coming alongside you and loving you in relationship toward God and actually showing you how this applies and how this actually works out in your life. But a father does. Paul was that person to Timothy. And now Paul is sending Timothy to be that person to many of the people that Paul knows here. And what a beautiful thing that is, is because he wants, you know, the command is to make disciples. It's not just to leave people and fill them with information. Paul says that, he says, I urge you to imitate me. Many other places in scripture, he says, imitate me as I imitate Christ. He says, follow me as I follow the Lord. The purpose of the Paul and Timothy relationship is that we help one another walk closer to God, that we walk closer with Jesus every single day. It's not enough that we're hearers only. We need to be doers of what God says. We need to be walking in the things that he says and not just agreeing with him, giving mental assent to the things that he says. We need to be living them out. We need to be living them out. So how do we find these people in our lives? By God's grace, this is happening among us. This happens among us already here at HBC, but we must see these things increase and abound. We need to be intentional about these things so that we are not losing out on the blessing of being instructed by one and having a more fruitful relationship with the Lord, and that we actually get the privilege of shepherding a heart closer in love to Jesus. by his word. How do we do this? The Lord will put people on your heart. The Lord will put a person on your heart, a Paul and a Timothy, he will put on your heart, and do not ignore that. That is the Lord's leading. The Lord is leading you and guiding you and directing you by putting that person on your heart. Do not ignore that. He also talks about here in 1 Corinthians there's this there's this one another well not on first corinthians there's this one another aspect that we also need to talk about is the communion of the saints is that john 13 35 says by this all will know that you are my disciples all will know that you are his disciples if you love one another if you love one another there's one another aspect the communion of the saints Hebrews 10, 24, and 25 also speaks to this one another. He says, let us consider one another to stir up to love and good works. And this consider, it means this. It means to render help and counsel to this person's life. Consider one another. It's not just that you're thinking about them, it's that you're actually rendering a help in their life. And stirring them up, he says, to love and good works. Think of how amazing it is when you get together with a brother or sister in Christ and you are just somehow like energized, right? To go and take on the gates of hell with a squirt gun. Because this person has just encouraged you beyond anything that you know or could have been encouraged with that day. Because they're affirming their love for Jesus, you're affirming your love for Jesus, and you realize, hey, I'm not the only one here. And just like Elijah thought he was the only one left, but there was 7,000 that the Lord had that he just didn't see. He just didn't have eyes to see that. He says, let us consider one another to stir up to love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as is the manner of some. Don't forsake this assembling together that we're talking about. What a blessed grace, means of grace that God has given us in the one another relationships that we get to have. He says, exhorting one another, and so much more as you see the day approaching. Exhorting one another means that you're actually teaching God's truth into their life, that you're actually saying, you know what, the word of God says this, and let's commit to walk in that way together. Let's just walk together in that way. We're to stir up in love and good works. Quickly, 1 Samuel 23, 16, this chapter is talking about when David was fleeing from the king, Saul. and Jonathan is well let me just read it says Jonathan's Saul's son arose and went to David in the woods and strengthened his hand in God. Jonathan came alongside his dear brother in the Lord David and here David was at a low point in a valley in his life that he did not see, he couldn't see the way out of. He was under great distress. He's being pursued by the king of Israel and all of the power and pomp that follows with that. And here he's one guy fleeing from that. But it says that Jonathan Saul's son arose and went to David in the woods and strengthened his hand in God. One person. Think of the difference that one person made in his life. Think of the difference you can make in someone's life and the difference that someone makes in your life. It's that same thing. The fellowship David and Jonathan had was a huge encouragement to David to be able to press on in obedience to God and confidence gained only by spurring one another on to love and good works. So what does all this mean for us? How do we apply this? What is God's will and commission and calling and command for us in all this? Well, it's been stated already is that we must be his disciples, that we abide in the vine. We are the branches that must bear fruit and we can only bear fruit by abiding in him, by being attached to him. We have to be his disciples to know him and desire more to know him more. and that we grow in Him, because we don't know everything. Our sanctification process does not end until the day we go home to glory. We must continue to grow in Him, and that we go in His mission that He's commissioned and commanded and called us to go do, which is to make disciples. We're to be His disciples and to make disciples. We want to be intentional about that. If you feel insufficient in making disciples, please know that you are not alone. Please know that everything, quite often, I shouldn't say everything, but the Lord, what the Lord commands us to do, we feel insufficient for because We can only do it in His strength alone. It's not in my power. It's not in who I am or what I've accomplished. You know, things that, successes that I view as successes, or like Paul's list of righteousnesses. It's not based on those things. It's not because of those things that therefore I get to go make disciples. No, it's because I'm insufficient for the task and I rely on the Holy Spirit and God's word to help me, to help me accomplish what he has commanded and called and commissioned me to do. 2 Timothy 1.7 says that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. God will provide you with what you need to fulfill his great commission. So we must know Christ and grow in Christ and go in mission in Christ's name. God has called, commanded, and commissioned us to be his disciples and make disciples, something we are already doing here at HBC, but it must increase and abound for his purposes of making us a functional, mature, intentional pursuit follower of Jesus Christ. Making disciples is the foremost purpose of the blood-bought, born-again believer in Jesus Christ. These are the doings of Jesus' disciples. If you have any question or interest in any of these things that we talked about today, please come see me. My great privilege is to be the discipleship pastor here, and the Lord has called me to do such a thing, and I praise God every day for that. And I'm here to help and provide on-ramps, but I want to follow the Lord's leading and the Lord's command and commission and calling in that. I hope you do too. May the Spirit of God be pleased to cultivate a discipleship mindset and normalize this behavior at HBC. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, God, we love you. God, we thank you for your spirit which guides us and directs us. And Father, we are privileged to be your people. Lord. Thank you for calling us to this task of being your disciples, Lord, that we get to know you and love you every day. Father, thank you for Jesus, our Savior, for the celebration that we had of participating in communion and taking of the cup and the bread as a remembrance for what it cost you for us to be your disciple. And Father, we're so grateful to you for this eternal life that we get to experience today and from every day forward because we belong to you and are attached to you, we are permanently attached to you because we abide in you, Father. Lord, help us to honor you with our doings, help us to be disciples and make disciples, we pray in Jesus' name, amen.