33 "My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.

34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

36 Simon Peter asked him, "Lord, where are you going?"

Jesus replied, "Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later."

37 Peter asked, "Lord, why can't I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you."

38 Then Jesus answered, "Will you really lay down your life for me? I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!

CH 14: 1 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going."

5 Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"

6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."

8 Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us."

9 Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, `Show us the Father'? 10 Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. 12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

15 "If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever -- 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." (NIV)

 

1. WHAT IS A DISCIPLE?

1. What is the first thing you think of when you hear the term "DISCIPLE"?
1. 12 disciples
2. What is a Disciple?
1. Ideas
2. Definition:
1. Greek akolouthein
1. common Greek word meaning "to follow" 1
2. came to also mean, an intellectual, moral and religious following 2
3. Usage in the NT; (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament)

The term is reserved for being a disciple of Christ... External following is still involved (cf. Mt. 8:19; Mk. 10:28) but with a total commitment and in an exclusive relation to one who is recognised as not just a teacher but the Messiah. This discipleship brings participation in salvation, (Mk. 10:17; Lk. 9:61-62; Jn. 8:12; Rev. 14:4), but also in suffering (Mt.18:19-20; Mk. 8:34; Jn. 12:25-26). 3

It is commonly used of a slave following or attending his master. ...It is commonly used for following or obeying someone else's advice or opinion. ...It is commonly used of obeying the laws. To follow the laws of a city is to accept them as the standard of life and behaviour.  4

3. WHAT IS DISCIPLESHIP?
1. Discipleship is the act of following Jesus as our Lord and Saviour
1. of doing as the original disciples did, of being called from our old lives and focuses, to a new life of following Jesus

 



2. "I AM THE WAY"  - THE HEART OF DISCIPLESHIP

1. DISCIPLES ARE Followers, learners, students
1. Followers of who?
1. What is the goal, the destination we are being led to?
2. What is the source of our learning, what are we to be learning?
3. Who is our teacher, our leader, our guide, our companion?
1. Bush walking, mountain guides etc. Want to know the safest and best track. Best views, best camp sites, how to read the weather, provisions, companionship, help carrying gear etc.
1. We want to know the way, the truth -- accurate and reliable information about where to go and how to go about it, and help on the trip itself, to stay safe and alive and enjoy the experience
2. How do we become disciples or followers?
3. What does being a disciple consist of?
2. These questions are answered BOLDLY and simply in John 14:6
1. Just before his crucifixion, during the Last Supper, Jesus told the disciples that he was going away to prepare a place for them;

John 14:1-5

1 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going."

5 Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" (NIV)

2. Where was Jesus going?
1. To the Father
3. Where was the place that he was preparing for his disciples?
1. A place in God's eternal presence
4. How do we get to this place?

John 14:6 6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

5. Who do we follow as disciples and in order to get to in this special place in the presence of God forever?
1. v 6 "I am the way"
3. v 6 "I AM THE WAY"
1. One of the fundamental questions we asked earlier about being disciples was, WHO do we follow
1. and we have clearly seen the answer
2. Jesus is the way to the Father, the one who leads us, who open the doors, who is the road, the access to eternal life with God in his kingdom
1. "No one comes to the Father except through me"
3. The goal and purpose of being followers of Jesus is to be brought to the Father
1. To be part of the Kingdom of God, to saved and to have a relationship with the Father, we must be followers of Jesus, who is the only way there is
2. We cannot become God's people, or obtain eternal life with the father through our own will or efforts
4. Let's take a quick look at how the disciples came to be followers of Jesus

Mark 1:16-20

16 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." 18 At once they left their nets and followed him.

1. We see this command made often to the various disciples; Jesus asked them to follow him, to leave their old lives and concerns and follow him

19 When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. 20 Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him. (NIV)

5. Did any of the disciples come up to Jesus and volunteer to follow him?
1. How did they become disciples?
2. To be a disciple, one who is led in the way to the Father and membership in his kingdom, a disciple must first be called, be chosen

Mark 3:13-14

13 Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve -- designating them apostles -- that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach (NIV)

4. Jesus chooses AND CALLS those he wants
1. We note that he then leads and uses them to carry out his work of calling and leading more disciples, of preaching the only WAY to the Father, and teaching them his new way of life
1. The disciples were called to be fishers of men

John 6:44 44 "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. (NIV)

2. No one can come and be a disciple of Jesus unless they are called by the Father
3. We don't choose God and Jesus, they choose us, and we respond and become disciples of Jesus, who is the only WAY to the Father
5. HOW IS JESUS the WAY TO THE FATHER?
1. How did he bridge the gap between sinful men, and God who is perfect and holy?
1. Death on the cross
2. The cross, the blood of Jesus is the way to the Father, to his Kingdom and eternal life
6. SUMMARY: Some things we can note about being a disciple:
1. To be a disciple we must be called to Jesus by the father
2. A disciple is one who trusts entirely in Jesus as the way to God, not in the self, and not in anyone else
7. APPLICATION:
1. Have we been called to Jesus?
2. Have we heeded the call to fully come and follow him?
1. Or have we treated our calling lightly, accepted the ideas, perhaps made some outward changes, but not really heeded the call to trust in Jesus entirely as ONLY WAY to the Father
2. Have we, or are we, depending on other things as well, in order to be accepted by the Father?
1. Are we Christians more than just outwardly?
2. Are we truly, intimately and personally accepting Jesus as our friend, and the only way to the Father and relying on him being our Saviour totally, and not our outward beliefs and practices?
3. Back to John 14:6

 



3.   I AM "THE TRUTH"

1. We have seen then that we are to be followers, disciples of Jesus
1. Disciples are also learners
1. What is the source of our learning, what are we to be learning?
2. Who is our teacher, our leader, our guide, our companion?

Matthew 23:9-10 8 "But you are not to be called `Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. 9 And do not call anyone on earth `father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called `teacher,' for you have one Teacher, the Christ.

2. Not only is Jesus our only real teacher, he is the subject of what is taught

John 14:6

6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (NIV)

1. Jesus stated that he is the truth
1. Not only is he the teacher, the revealer of truth
2. He IS the TRUTH
1. He is the sum total of that which is right and true
2. If we want to know God, and the truth about God, we learn about him through Jesus
1. Because Jesus was God in the flesh

John 14:7-9

7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."

8 Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us."

9 Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, `Show us the Father'? (NIV)

3. An essential part of being a disciple is learning more of Jesus and his teachings
1. If we want to know what righteousness is -- we learn it from Jesus, because he is righteousness
2. If we want to know the truth about God and his salvation for mankind, we go to Jesus because he is God, and he is our salvation
4. HOLY SPIRIT sent to help us learn the truth that is Jesus
1. We read more about this and the importance of not only knowing the truth and teaching of Jesus but obeying it, a bit later in this same chapter;

John 14:24-26

24 He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

25 "All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. (NIV)

3. APPLICATION'
1. We are disciples, followers, learners
1. Jesus is THE TRUTH
2. How much are we relying on him as our guide in what we believe about God, salvation, and our life?
1. Are hungering and thirsting for his words and teachings?
1. How much time and effort are we putting into learning the things he wants to teach us?
2. And are we hearers of the word only, or are we responding to the truth with loving, devoted obedience to our Teacher and Saviour, God in the flesh, the ultimate TRUTH, Jesus Christ.

 



4.   I AM THE LIFE

John 14:6

6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (NIV)

1. To have life, life with God, life in the Kingdom we must be jesus' disciples
1. To live a new life, a kingdom life, a Christian life, we must live in Jesus, and him in us
1. He is our life, and we must live by him, and through him
2. PASSOVER
1. John 6; "I am the bread of life"

John 6:47-51 47 I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." (NIV)

1. Jews ate of physical bread of life (manna) and died
2. DISCIPLES LIVE IN CHRIST, because of Christ LIVING IN US

Galatians 2:19-21

19 For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!" (NIV)

3. Jesus LIVES IN US AND leads us in his way of living:

John 15:14-16 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit -- fruit that will last.

1. Jesus walks with us as his friends, he is to be part of every part of our lives
1. In that loving life together Jesus teaches us the life we are to live
2. He lives in us and sends us to bear fruit, fruit of that relationship, of that new teaching and new life we have with him and in him, and through the help of the Holy Spirit

John 14:15-19

15 "If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever -- 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. (NIV)

2. Jesus has not left us alone, we are helped and led by the Holy Spirit, the Comforter and Counsellor
1. Jesus is not seen by the world anymore, but we see him, and because he lives, we also live
3. Continue this passage (read before sermon)

John 14:19-22

19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." (NIV)

4. SUMMARY:
1. Through following Jesus, being his disciples, we are led to love Jesus and be loved by the Father.
1. As we saw in verse 6, Jesus is THE WAY to the Father
2. Our new life consists of learning of Jesus who is THE TRUTH
3. As disciples we are those who follow and obey Jesus, and do the things he teaches us, and live the life he lives, because JESUS IS THE LIFE!
4. APPLICATION:
1. Are we depending on the sacrifice of his life to buy back our life and be our way to the Father?
2. Are we surrendering our lives totally to Jesus to lead us in the TRUTH and the LIFE that is his?
1. Is he our closest friend and companion, our teacher, our guide, and OUR LIFE?
2. Are we listening to him, talking to him, learning of him, and following him?
3. Are we obeying what he says?
3. George Eldon Ladd on discipleship; (quoted in Aub Warren's Worldwide News article)

The Rabbis bound their disciples not to themselves but to the Torah; Jesus bound his disciples to himself. The rabbis offered something outside of themselves; Jesus bound his disciples to himself. The rabbis offered something outside of themselves; Jesus offered himself alone. Jesus required his disciples to surrender without reservation to his authority... Discipleship to Jesus involved far more than following his retinue [just going along with the crowd that followed him around]; it meant nothing less than complete personal commitment to him and his message. The reason for this is the presence of the Kingdom of God in Jesus' person and message. In him, people were confronted by God himself. 5

1. Are we casual followers, just going along with the crowd where it suits us?
2. Or are we letting him lead, empower and direct us in every aspect of our life?
3. Are we keeping him out of some areas of our lives?
1. Which areas?
2. When are we going to surrender those areas to him?
4. If we are depending on Jesus as THE LIFE, our life; we will bear fruit (as we read in John 15:16) we won't be just drifting along.
5. OUR BEING INTIMATE, DEPENDENT, FAITHFUL FOLLOWERS OF JESUS IS VITAL FOR THE TIME AHEAD
1. We all need to be strong in Jesus, looking to him as the Way, the Truth, and the Life
1. We have come beyond the point of being able to just drift, and rely on others to do our thinking for us, and to direct our paths
1. We need to be united together in our common individual dependence on Jesus
2. He is our identity, he is the WAY to God, he is God
3. He is the one who is the TRUTH we need to be unified in
4. He is our LIFE, today and forever
2. With him we have everything we need, and lack nothing
1. It is vital that we are all following Jesus, focusing on him as the most important part of our lives and not allowing other side issues, personalities or different ways of doing things to get our minds off being one eyed, and totally committed DISCIPLES OF JESUS
3. We can and will grow and go forward if we are all in Christ, and he is in all of us
2. This is what we believe and teach as a church, and what we are called to believe and live as individual members

CONCLUSION:

6. APPLICATION:
1. Let's rejoice and be united in the truth, that Jesus is THE WAY
1. That through Him,and him alone, we are called out of our old way of sin, to be made Holy and to have a relationship with the Father
2. 2ndly; Let us be grateful that we are not dependent on our wisdom or knowledge to know God, because Jesus is our teacher, he is God, and he IS THE TRUTH and we can look to and rely on him to lead us in that truth
3. 3rdly: And let us be grateful that as disciples we are not depending on our strength or good living to gain eternal life, but that through drinking in the blood, the life of Jesus and eating of his body, is being, we have THE LIFE, the eternal life of God, within us
7. These are the blessings, the privileges of being Disciples of Jesus
1. Conclude with an old quote from a man named Thomas á Kempis, in which he talks of Jesus' call upon us to discipleship;

Follow thou me. I am the way and the truth and the life. Without the way there is no going; without the truth there in no knowing; without the life there is no living. I am the way which thou must follow; the truth which thou must believe; the life for which thou must hope. I am the inviolable way; the infallible truth; the never-ending life. I am the straightest way; the sovereign truth; life, true, life blessed, life uncreated. If thou remain in my way thou shalt know the truth, and the truth shall make thee free, and thou shalt lay hold on eternal life.   6

End Notes:

1  New Testament Words, article, akolouthein

2  Gerhard Kittel and Gerhard Friedrich editors, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, article akaloutheo, 1985, abridged in one volume by Geoffrey Bromiley, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, Mich., p.33

3  Bromiley, p.33

4  New Testament Words, p.42-43

5   George Eldon Ladd, A Theology of the New Testament,

6  Thomas A Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, 56:1

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