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The Dynamics Of Discipleship

John 17:6-8

’’I manifested Thy name to the men whom Thou gavest Me out of the world; Thine they were, and Thou gavest them to Me, and they have kept Thy word. Now they have come to know that everything Thou hast given Me is from Thee; for the words which Thou gavest Me I have given to them; and they received them, and truly understood that I came forth from Thee, and they believed that Thou didst send Me."-John 17:6-8

Discipleship is a popular topic in the church these days. It seems like just about everybody is discipling somebody. The word that is translated "disciple" in our English New Testament is used 264 times, and it is found exclusively in the four Gospels and in Acts. Nowhere in the epistles are the believers called "disciples," although the verb "to disciple" is found in eighteen places in the epistles and the book of Revelation.

In New Testament days, a "disciple" was someone who bound himself to a teacher in order to learn both the theory and the practice of some subject or trade. Perhaps our closest modern equivalent would be "apprentice." A true disciple was not simply a student who learned from books. He was also a doer who watched his teacher, obeyed him, and learned from actual practice. Often the disciple lived with his teacher and shared his daily experiences. It was not enough merely to learn academic theory; he had to be able to put the theory into acceptable practice.

I recall the time we established a discipleship program in a church I was pastoring. Our leader carefully selected about fifteen men to meet with him once a week. At the first meeting, he explained the course, handed out the materials, and gave them their first assignment. A few of the men were shocked to discover that they would have to do something more than read their Bibles and fill in blanks in a book! The course involved memorizing Scripture, making visits in homes, witnessing to the lost, and sharing in the ministry of the church to the people of the city. Well, that was too much for them, so they quietly dropped out. But those men who stayed with it began to grow spiritually and develop effective personal ministries.

In the verses we are studying, our Lord outlined the stages in the experience of His disciples.

1. They belonged to the Father.

"Thine they were, and Thou gavest them to Me" (verse 6). We have already considered the profound truth that each believer is the Father’s "love gift" to the Son. Now we must consider what our Lord meant when He said, "Thine they were." In what sense did the first disciples belong to the Father?

It seems obvious that they belonged to the Father first of all by creation. Paul reminded the Greek philosophers that it is in God that "we live and move and exist" (Acts 17:28). Job uttered the same truth: "In whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind?" (Job 12:10). The answer, of course, is God. It was this same truth that Daniel used to warn wicked King Belshazzar that he had better repent: "But the God in whose hand are your life-breath and your ways, you have not glorified" (Daniel 5:23).

We need God because we are the creatures and He is the Creator. When man refused to acknowledge his creature dependence on God, he began to magnify himself as God. If you want to study the sad record of man’s devolution, read Romans 1:18-32. Mankind today worships and serves the creature, not the Creator; and this helps to explain why the world is in such a mess. Man is playing God, and he is not able to do the job.

The disciples belonged to the Father not only through creation, but also through their belonging to the Jewish nation. They were the sons of the covenant. They were born into that one nation on the face of the earth that God had chosen for Himself. Peter’s testimony on the housetop in Joppa makes it clear that he was still keeping a "kosher home": "By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy [common] and unclean" (Acts 10:14). Until the new Roman policy separated the church from Israel, the early Jewish believers frequented the Temple and even shared in some of the traditional Jewish feasts.

They belonged to the Father in a third way: they were a part of that eternal covenant that the Father made with the Son "before the world was." Unknown to these Jewish men, the Father had chosen them in Christ before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4), and they would be a part of His "love gift" to the Savior. Unknown to them, the Son would covenant to die for their sins on the cross. God would bypass "the wise and intelligent" and reveal His grace to "babes" (Matthew 11:25). The proud Pharisees with their proper religious system would never stoop low enough to see themselves as sinners; and, as a result, they would be condemned.

"Thine they were" is a phrase that deals with the preparation of these men for discipleship. The Father arranged for their birth and growth, for their personal development. Psalm 139:13-16 teaches us that the Father is in charge of a baby’s conception and growth in the womb. As startling as it may seem, this passage also teaches that the "days that were ordained" for us are already written in God’s book! Fatalism? Of course not! Determinism? Wrong again. This is simply the perfect plan of the loving Father who always knows what is best for us. Our genetic inheritance is not human accident; it is divine appointment. Even though we may find ourselves handicapped in some way, we can give what we are to God and know that He will use us for His glory in fulfilling His divine plan.

2. The Father gave the Word to the Son.

"For I did not speak on My own initiative," said Jesus, "but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me commandment, what to say, and what to speak" (John 12:49). He told the Jews, "My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me" (John 7:16). Our Lord would talk with His Father and listen for the Father’s words. "And the things which I heard from Him [the Father], these I speak to the world" (John 8:26). "I speak these things as the Father taught Me" (John 8:28). "I speak the things which I have seen with My Father" (John 8:38).

Statements like these help us to understand in but a small measure the intimate fellowship that existed between the Father and the Son when Jesus was ministering on earth. It explains why our Lord arose early in the morning for prayer, and why He sometimes withdrew from the crowds. The Prophet Isaiah gave a beautiful picture of this fellowship in one of his Messianic prophecies. "The Lord God has given Me the tongue of disciples, that I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple. The Lord God has opened My ear; and I was not disobedient, nor did I turn back" (Isaiah 50:4, 5).

The Father gave the words to the Son, just the words that the disciples (and the other people) needed to hear. What did the Son do with these words? We’ll take up that idea in the next study!

3. The Son gave the words to the disciples.

"For the words which Thou gavest Me I have given to them" (verse 8). It was through these words that the Son revealed the Father to them. "I manifested Thy name to the men whom Thou gavest Me out of the world" (verse 6). By "name" is meant God’s nature, God’s character. It is the Word of God that reveals the Person of God to us. While God does reveal Himself in nature and in the workings of divine providence in the world, He is more fully and clearly revealed in the Word which He has given us through His Son.

At this point, we should ask ourselves, "What does John 17 teach about the Word of God?" For one thing, it teaches that the Word of God is divine in its origin. When Jesus spoke on earth, it was the Word given to Him from heaven. When holy men of God wrote the Word, they were inspired by the Holy Spirit of God (2 Peter 1:20,21; 2 Timothy 3:13-17). The Old Testament prophets said, "Thus saith the Lord!"

When He was ministering on earth, our Lord set His seal of approval on the Bible. He quoted from the Old Testament Scriptures in such a way that He affirmed their truth and authority. He promised that the Holy Spirit would assist in the writing of the Gospels (John 14:26). That same Holy Spirit would guide believers into truth, which suggests the writing of the Epistles; and the Spirit would also reveal "things to come," which points to the book of Revelation (John 16:13).

The fact that Jesus called the Word of God "truth" is evidence of its divine origin. The Bible is not just true; it is truth, which is the essence of that which is true. This would indicate that we can trust the Word of God in whatever it declares. "Therefore I esteem right all Thy precepts concerning everything, I hate every false way" (Psalm 119:128). God’s Word is not only inspired; it is inerrant.

This Word is a gift from God. This is stated in verses 8 and 14. The Word is not man’s record of his attempt to find God; it is God’s record to man of all that God had done to seek and save the lost. The Word is a gift to us because God paid the price for us to have it. Never underestimate the cost of the Word of God. God paid a price, and the men whom the Spirit used also paid a price. When we cease to appreciate the Word of God as a precious gift, we will also cease to appreciate the Word of God as the nourishment of our souls and the guide for our lives.

The Word generates faith: "they believed that Thou didst send Me" (verse 8). "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ" (Romans 10:17). "I used to think I should close my Bible and pray for faith," said evangelist D. L. Moody, "but I came to see that it was in studying the Word that I was to get faith."

God’s Word is called "the word of faith" (Romans 10:8). It not only demands faith on our part, but it creates faith by its inherent power. "For no word of God shall be void of power" (Luke 1:37, ASV). This truth is often illustrated in the miracles that Jesus performed. The man with the withered hand was commanded to stretch out that hand, something he could not do; yet he did it. The palsied man who could not walk was commanded to walk, and he did it. God’s commandments are also God’s enablements. "For the word of God is living and active..." (Hebrews 4:12).

The Word also reveals Christ to us. "Now they have come to know that everything Thou hast given Me is from Thee" (verse 7). "They believed that Thou didst send Me" (verse 8). It is the Word of God that reveals the Son of God. Jesus said, "It is these [Scriptures] that bear witness of Me" (John 5:39). "And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures" (Luke 24:27).

The Scriptures reveal the Person of Jesus Christ, that He is the Savior sent by the Father; and they reveal the riches of Christ, all that the Father has given to the Son to share with us. "The Father had given all things into His [Christ’s] hands..." (John 13:3). It is our privilege to read and study the Word and to discover how rich we are in Jesus Christ.

Finally, it is the Word that gives us assurance. The disciples knew that Jesus was the Son of God. They understood that He had come from God to the world. This was their own testimony: "Now we know that You know all things . . . by this we believe that You came from God" (John 16:30). I have often counseled with people who lacked assurance of their salvation. In most instances, I have urged these troubled people to read the Word of God, especially John’s Gospel and the first epistle of John. In most cases, the doubts and fears disappeared as the assurance of the Word got ahold of their minds and hearts. Like the Samaritans in Sychar, they had a first-hand experience with Christ through his Word. "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe," they told the woman who witnessed to them, "for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world" (John 4:42).

We have seen three of the stages in the disciples’ spiritual experience: they belonged to the Father; the Father gave the Word to the Son; and the Son gave the Word to the disciples.

4. The disciples received the Word and believed.

The Word of God is like seed, and it must be received into the "soil" of the heart if it is to take root and produce fruit (Luke 8:4-15). God prepares the heart for the Word (Acts 16:14, 15), but we can harden our hearts against God’ s Word (Hebrews 3:7ff.). "Take care how you listen," Jesus warned His disciples (Luke 8:18). The way we treat the Bible is the way we treat Jesus Christ, for He is the Living Word (John 1:1, 14) and the Bible is the written Word. If a father paid no attention to his son’s words, he would be admitting that his son was not important to him. If we ignore or neglect God’s Word, or if we treat it carelessly, we are admitting to God that He is not important in our lives.

"And for this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received from us the word of God’s message, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe" (1 Thessalonians 2:13). The disciples made mistakes, to be sure, and they often did not grasp what Jesus was saying; but in spite of their failings, they respected and received the Word of God which He taught. Often the meaning and dynamic of that Word did not come to them until later, but none of that Word was wasted. (See John 2:17, 22; and 12:16). This Word is not wasted because the Holy Spirit of God can remind us of it when we need it (John 14:26).

When I was a child in Sunday school, and then a teenager in confirmation class, I did not always understand the Scriptures that we studied and sometimes had to memorize. But the seed was planted in my heart. When I became a Christian at the age of sixteen, the Spirit of God began to teach me the truths contained in those Scriptures. None of that Word was wasted. In my ministry today, I am amazed at what the Spirit brings to my mind as I preach, write, and witness. He is able to bring out of the treasury of our hearts "things new and old" (Matthew 13:52).

Effective discipleship depends on close attention to the Word of God. The Spirit of God teaches us from the Word, and then He directs our lives into circumstances that force us to trust the Word and act upon it. It has well been said that life is a school in which you learn what the lessons were after you take the test. Jesus taught His disciples and then sent them out to serve. They would come back, report on their ministry, and then learn again the lessons they had forgotten. It was only after they had proved what they had learned that Jesus would impart new truths to them.

Just as Jesus shared the Word with His disciples when He was on earth, so He shares it with us by His Spirit (John 16:12-15). The Spirit does not give new revelations, for the divine revelation is settled once and for all in the Scriptures. But He does give divine illumination as He shows us new truths and new applications of old truths. The Christian who studies his Bible is not searching for truth, but searching into Truth.

5. The disciples kept the Word.

"They have kept Thy word" (verse 6). The word kept means obeyed. They received the Word, believed it, and acted upon it. It is not enough to appreciate the Word and hold it in high esteem; we must also apply it. "Never think that Jesus commanded a trifle," said D. L. Moody, "nor dare to trifle with anything He has commanded." A true disciple is much more than a learner; he is one who lives what he learns. It is not in the studying of the Bible that we grow spiritually, but in the doing of what God has taught us. "But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves" (James 1:22).

But the word kept also carries the idea of guarded. The disciples guarded the Word. It was a valuable treasure to them. "The law of Thy mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces" (Psalm 119:72). "Therefore I love Thy commandments above gold, yes, above fine gold" (Psalm 119:127). "I rejoice at Thy word, as one who finds great spoil" (Psalm 119:162).

I sometimes get the impression that some zealous Christians today are so concerned about guarding the Word that they forget to obey it. They think they are serving God by their "holy crusades" of accusation and attack, crusades that are not always based on truth or motivated by love. I recall with a sad heart a young man who used to stand at the steps of our church building and pass out literature that condemned certain schools and preachers. I asked him why he didn’t pass out gospel tracts to lost sinners. When we asked him to go away from the church building, or else to come in to worship, he shouted: "I’m a fighting Fundamentalist and I don’t care who knows it! You people are not preaching the truth!" I appreciate any believer who wants to defend the faith, but his belligerent attitude made a mockery of the faith. The best way to defend the Bible is to practice it.

The disciples kept the Word because they loved Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep my word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words..." (John 14:23, 24). Obedience and faithfulness that are motivated by love will glorify God and build up His church. There is a deep and satisfying communion among the obedient Christian and the Father and the Savior. "The one who says, ’I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected..." (1 John 2:4, 5).

Obedience that is not motivated by love cannot produce the spiritual fruit that God wants from His children. If we obey because of fear ("God may punish me!") or because of greed ("If I obey, God must bless me!"), then we cannot expect that close communion with the Father that Jesus promised to those who keep the Word . "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments" (John 14:15).

6. They shared the Word with others.

The Lord Jesus sent them into the world (John 17:18) that they might win others through their witness of the Word (John 17:20). There is a church in the world today because believers have been faithful to share the Word down through the centuries. "And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also" (2 Timothy 2:2). We will have more to say about this exciting ministry of witnessing when we get to the study of that section of the prayer.

Suffice it to say now that a true disciple is not a reservoir but a gushing fountain, an artesian well of spiritual blessing. He does not live to get; he lives to give. What he receives from the Lord, he shares with others; and in sharing, he receives even more. He is careful to guard the precious spiritual investment God has put into his life, but he also invests that treasure in the lives of others. Money put into the bank is both protected and invested, and it helps to produce more wealth. The spiritual truth of the Word that we share with others helps to produce "spiritual dividends" that will last eternally.

Each of us needs to examine his or her own heart to see if what we profess is true discipleship. Do we receive the Word daily from the Lord? Do we guard it and obey it because we love Him? Do we share it with others? Do we have faith and assurance because of the Word and the Word only?

"If you abide in My word," said Jesus, "then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:31, 32).