What Does it Take to be a Disciple?

In tonight's passage we are going to be looking at when Jesus called his first disciples. In the midst of Him calling disciples, we also learn what it takes to be a disciple. We also learn some benefits of being a disciple.

Seek

For this part we will look at John 1:35-39

John 1:35–39 ESV

The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.

Everybody is seeking something, but not everyone is seeking what is good for them.

I believe people primarily seek three things primarily:

Acceptance / Love

Peace

Spirituality

All three of these can be found in Christ. Christ is the only one who can truly satisfy these three and at that he satisfy’s them beyond measure.

Often we seek acceptance / love in one of two places either in sexual sin or acting out in bad behavior. We do these things seeking attention. We all want attention and want to feel accepted. But being sexually loose will leave you empty and steadily chasing. It will give you an allusion of fulfillment, but that fulfillment will fleet in a snap and leave you chasing for another high. Sex does not equal love. Love is something much deeper and complex than sex. Sex is meant to be a blessing to married people, if you have sex outside of marriage you are contorting something God made good and making it to something that will curse you. It will steal good things from you. Secondly do not think you have to misbehave to gain attention from people. Acting out and getting in trouble is going to leave you more broken and miserable.

Apart from Christ people do not have peace, but spend their lives searching., mostly in the wrong places.

People often seek numbness rather than peace, but confuse it as peace.

How do people numb themselves: alcohol, drugs, and sexual sin. Anything that can numb their mind or distract their mind. Anything that can distract them from their issues and their mortality. But the crazy thing is the things they do to numb themselves just cause them more issues driving them back to it for more, more often so they can ignore the bad.

People seek spirituality in either false religions or work.

False religions are based in work based salvation because it goes contrary to the will of God.

The devil wants to keep people distracted from truth by having them spending time to fix their own issues. How often do you see people get their life's straight apart from Christ?

So let me ask you, what are you seeking? How is it working for you? Are you left still searching? You are because none of these created things can fill the God shaped whole in your heart, only God can. the disciples realized this because what are they seeking what do they realize? They said, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” What does Rabbi mean? teacher. They realized Jesus could answer the hearts of the question. Could teach them what love looks like. Could teach them to walk in peace. he could teach them what true spirituality / religion looks like. They follow this acknowledgement up with a question that may seem a little out of place at first. “Where are you staying?” What was they key to learning these things? What is the key to learning from a teacher? Abiding in their presence. They were saying hey Jesus where are you at? That is where we want to be. So that brings us to our next point...

Abide

John 1:39-42 says:

John 1:39–42 ESV

He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).

It says they came and stayed with Jesus. They did not just ask something and flee. they didn’t get a 30 second answer and get on their way. They were not in a rush to get back from where they came from.

They were in Jesus presence because they were more concerned about where they are going rather than where they came from.

Remember your past doesn’t define you. You are not your mistakes. Where you came from, what you done yesterday does not define how God can use you. He has called and will equip.

To learn Jesus you got to spend time with Him. They realized Jesus was more than 30 minutes on a Wednesday and 3 or so hours on Sunday. How would my relationship look with my wife if that is how much time i spent with her. To get more accurate how would it look if i spent that much time spent with her but talked through someone else. Strong relationships require commitment. Strong relationships require sacrifice. Strong relationships require prioritizing.

Are you committed to Christ even when the emotions are not high? What have you sacrificed for Christ? Is Jesus number one priority in your life? Or is there other things prioritize above him?

As you abide in Christ longer the deeper you will know him. If you truly know Him as the Messiah your life will be characterized by abiding in Christ. If you do not abide in His presence you are setting yourself up for failure.

Messiah means anointed one.

They realized Jesus had a special presence about Him. They realized he was holy. If we want to live an anointed life we must dwell in the anointed’s presence. As we realize how holy and good God is it should stir up a desire to follow after Christ and to spread the good news. When we realize the blessedness of abiding in Christ it makes us have a longing for Christ and want to pursue him with everything we got.

Follow

John 1:43-50 says:

John 1:43–50 ESV

The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”

When you chose to abide in Christ it becomes a dedication to follow. Is Christ going to let you stay stationary? is He going to let you stay in the shade and comfort of your fig tree? No, you are going to have to get up and follow and get uncomfortable.

To abide in Christ you must follow where Hie presence leads.

As Christ has called you to action he will use you to call others to action. In verse 46 Phillip says almost the same thing as Jesus in verse 39. Both of their responses were given to questions asked about the character of Jesus. They did not give a Sunday school answer,it was hey come walk with me and I will show you the answer to the question. You truly want answers to questions it is not just a 30 second conversation. But if you have not been abiding in Christ, a 30 second answer is all you can give, if that. And if you don’t know your Maker better than that, do you believe it is gonna inspire others to want to follow Christ? If you seek and abide in Christ, you will have a desire to faithfully follow, and will be blessed which brings us to our last verse for the night.

Blessed

John 1:51 says:

John 1:51 ESV

And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

You want to be amazed and in wonder of God?You seek Christ, abide in Him,and follow Him he will lead you in a blessed life and you will see Him move in ways like never before. You will be more sensitive to spiritual warfare, to people’s needs, but more importantly your life will reflect Matthew 5:3-12:

Matthew 5:3–12 ESV

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Let this be your life. Let us close with time in prayer reflecting on these words.

Play the More I Seek You by Kari Jobe