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Key Verse:
John 13:34-35 (NKJV)
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Jesus was speaking to His disciples when He gave this command. To be a disciple of Christ means to be ready and willing to hear from the Holy Spirit and to carry out what He asks of us. This is an impossible task if we do NOT have love for one another. Jesus tells us in these verses that our love for one another should be the SAME love He has for us. To achieve all this, we need God’s help! Today we will learn how to be a loving disciple of Christ and how to be loving toward one another.
I. Disciples Follow Christ.
Matthew 4:19
Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Disciples are followers of Christ. We do not follow superstitions, or false gods. We follow Jesus! As a disciple of Christ we must submit to Him and go wherever He asks us to go!
1 Peter 2:21 (NKJV)
For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:
Christ does NOT always lead us to places where we want to go, but He always take us to the places where we need to be!
II. Discipleship Means Putting Christ FIRST.
Mark 8:34-38 (NKJV)
34 When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 35 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? 37 Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
The life of a Christian is to be lived for the benefit of Christ. We do not follow Christ to be blessed but rather to be a blessing to others!
III. Disciples Obey Christ.
John 8:31 (NKJV)
Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.
Christians must be obedient to Christ. We must diligently study God’s Word, fellowship, pray and serve without grumbling.
Philippians 2:14 (NKJV)
Do all things without complaining and disputing,
Not only does God not like complaining, but disciples are NOT to brag about their obedience!
Matthew 6:3-5 (NKJV)
3 But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly. 5 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
IV. Disciples Are to Bare Fruit.
John 15:5-6 (NKJV)
5 “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. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
Many Christians today live a defeated life simply because they have NOT submitted themselves to God so that they may bare Fruit.
V. Disciples Must Make MORE Disciples!
Matthew 28:18-20 (NKJV)
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore[a] and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Jesus is our example of how we should make disciples. Christians need to study the Gospels and apply the teachings of Christ to disciplining others.
Conclusion:
As a disciple of Christ we are COMMANDED to love one another. If we are to love one another, we must first love Christ. By loving one another, the world will know that we are His! Jesus is always recruiting new disciples, today is your day to enlist.