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Look at John 18 verse 15,
And Simon Peter followed Jesus,
and so did another disciple.
The disciple was known unto the high priest,
and went in with Jesus unto the palace of the high priest.
But Peter stood at the door without,
then went out that other disciple,
which was known unto the high priest,
and spake unto her that kept the door,
and brought in Peter.
So John had access into the high priest,
he had access into Jesus' inquisition basically,
and he was able to get Peter in.
So it even seems to me like within the three,
Peter, James, and John,
that Peter and John are even a more tightly knit group,
they're even closer.
Why? Because they're still following Jesus.
After the others have scattered,
after they've come and arrested Jesus,
and everyone else has just fled for their lives,
Peter and John are still following.
But even amongst Peter and John,
the innermost circle I believe,
the closest disciple there was, was John.
It means John that's letting Peter in.
Look at John chapter 19,
we're just going to,
we're in the homestretch through John.
Bear with me.
Verse 25,
Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother,
and his mother's sister Mary the wife of Cleophas,
and Mary Magdalene,
when Jesus therefore saw his mother,
and the disciple standing by whom he loved.
That's how the author is describing himself here.
The disciple whom he loved.
Obviously Jesus loved his disciples,
but you know there's something specific about John,
because that's who this is.
We'll see that later,
reveal at the end there.
That this disciple that he's always referring to
in third person is in fact the author.
There's something about John that just stands out.
You know I was kind of scratching my head
trying to figure out what,
I mean what made Peter and John,
like what made John a closer disciple than Peter?
And one thing I can't,
the only thing I can really think of is that
you don't really see John piping up much.
You don't really see John objecting.
You see Peter objecting
when Jesus says,
hey I'm going to be crucified.
I'm going to go,
I'm going to be given into the hands of sinners,
and they're going to crucify me.
And what does Peter say?
Not so Lord,
be it far from thee,
and took him aside,
and was rebuking Jesus.
And Jesus got to the place where he said,
get thee behind me Satan,
for thou desireth not the things
that be of God but of men.
You see John's just willing to go along with the program
all the way through.
No objections.
Whatever the Lord said,
whatever Jesus deemed to be so,
that's the way it's going to be.
And I believe that's what made him
a little bit closer to the Lord than Peter.
That's why he's known as the one whom Jesus loved.
He saith unto his mother,
woman behold thy son,
then saith thee to that disciple,
behold thy mother,
and from that hour the disciple took her
unto his own home.
Go to John chapter 20,
John chapter 20.
This one's kind of a humorous one.
In verse 3,
after they've learned about the resurrection
that Christ has been told them,
hey the grave is empty,
the tomb is empty,
I went to see him,
and he's not there,
the body's gone.
And then it says that they ran to,
Peter and John ran, right?
Peter therefore went forth
and that other disciple
and came to the sepulcher,
so they both ran together,
excuse me,
so they ran both together,
and the other disciple did outrun Peter,
but came first to the sepulcher.
Why you gotta be like that, John?
He's taking that subtle jab.
I outran him.
I don't know that's really what's going on there.
There's probably a deeper meaning.
But it's showing us that, you know,
maybe John was a little bit closer
because he's just a little bit more excited
about the things of God.
I don't know.
But he did outrun him.
Go to John chapter 21, verse 20.
John chapter 21.
And verse 20.
What are we seeing in the scripture?
We're seeing that there's people that
are always gonna be on the outside.
There's gonna be people that, you know,
are the mission.
They're the multitudes.
They need to get saved.
But then there's people
that need to be the laborers
that go out and win them.
Then there's, you know,
the people that need to be the disciples,
the people that need to be devoted.
And within that group of people,
the disciples who are actually willing to serve God,
there's gonna be different levels of discipleship.
There's gonna be different depths of discipleship.
Among the 12, among Peter, James, and John,
among Peter and John themselves.
John chapter 21.
This is, of course, after the resurrection.
He says in verse 20,
Then Peter, turning about,
seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved,
following.
So that's twice now.
That's how he's referred to.
Which also leaned on his breast at supper.
You know, there was only so much to go around.
That was a pretty privileged seat, wasn't it?
And it shows you the relationship that they had.
That there was something with Jesus and John,
where John was so comfortable
and John was so close to the Lord
that he could just rest upon him
and lean upon him.
He sees this.
That's how he describes it.
He said,
Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?
Peter, seeing him,
saith unto Jesus,
Lord, and what shall this man do?
Jesus saith unto him,
If he will tarry till I come,
what is that to thee?
Follow thou me.
You know, that's a good lesson
when it comes to this topic
of depths of discipleship.
The only person we should be concerned about
is ourselves and the Lord.
We shouldn't, you know, the Bible says
we're not wise
if we begin to compare ourselves among ourselves.
They that compare themselves among themselves
are not wise.
And people do that all the time.
That's something,
that's just part of human nature.
That's how we measure ourselves up.
Well, I'm better than so and so.
Well, I go to church more often.
I spend more time swimming.
I do this and that's how we,
but we're doing it for the wrong reasons.
We're comparing ourselves to other people.
The truth is,
if we just love the Lord,
if we just wanted to get close to him,
if we just wanted to be that disciple
whom Jesus loved,
if we just wanted to have
that immediate access,
if we just wanted to have
that working of God in our lives,
if we wanted to be able to just
lean on Jesus' breasts
and be able to just be comforted
at any time
and be known as someone
that is loved of God,
we wouldn't be worried about
what somebody else is doing.
We would just serve God
and we would pay any price.
And we'll just naturally
outrun everybody else.
Because we're looking unto Jesus.
We're not looking,
oh, am I ahead of that person?
Am I ahead of that person?
Who's ahead of me?
That's what Jesus is saying to Peter.
What do you care?
If he tarries till I come,
what is that to thee?
You've got your own walk
to worry about.
You've got your own
life to live.
Then verse 23, it says,
Then went the saying
abroad among the brethren
that the disciples should not die,
yet Jesus said not unto him,
he shall not die,
but if he will tarry that I come,
what is that to thee?
So these rumors start
going around about John.
And I know obviously
that's not some negative thing.
That's not some backhanded thing.
It wasn't some criticism.
It was just a misunderstanding
of what was actually said.
Verse 24, it says,
This is the disciple
which testifies of these things
and wrote these things
and we know that
his testimony is true.
So at the end, he's saying,
That guy I've been referring to
the third time
as that disciple the whole time?
It's me.
That's who it is.
That's how we know it's John.
You know, John describes,
you know, he lets us know
what it takes to be a disciple.
Why is it that John
got to be that innermost?
They had the deepest discipleship.
It's because I believe
John was just a doer,
someone who just did,
who just did what was asked of them,
was willing to pay any price.
And you know, and he wasn't
asked to die, was he?
Isn't that what Jesus said?
Now Peter, you know,
it was shown unto him,
what manner of death he should die.
He said, you know,
when you're older,
someone's going to take you
whither thou wouldest not go
and you're going to die.
You're going to be bound, Peter,
and you're going to die for me.
But yet, even despite that,
John appears to be the one
that's known as the disciple
whom Jesus loved.
He's the one that's
leaning on his breast.
He's the one that seems to have
that deepest discipleship
and yet it was said to him
he did not have to die.
He just had to be willing.
You know, that's what's
so discouraging is that,
you know, you tell people
there's a cost to discipleship
and they immediately think
that it's just going to
be required of them.
They just think,
oh, that just must be,
then I must end up having
to just forsake everything
and everything.
No, that might not come to that.
But you just have to be willing.
And people, you know,
they don't serve God
the way they ought to,
because they're afraid
of a shadow.
Preachers don't get up
and preach the Bible
the way they're supposed to
because they're afraid
of something that might happen.
I mean, I feel like,
at least I've tried,
I've endeavored to preach
the whole counsel of the
word of God.
I feel like I've preached
some things that are,
you know, are not popular,
to put it lightly,
with the world today.
And yet we're pretty much
been in relative safety now
and we've been in
pretty much been
in relative safety now
and we really haven't had
any major disruptions
in five years, have we?
No protesters.
I mean, some stuff on Facebook,
whatever.
Some emails.
You know, some people
calling me names
and a voicemail.
Oh, man.
Oh, oh, oh.
Hide me.
Save me.
But here's the thing.
If we were going to
go through all that,
if we were going to go
through the things
that other churches
have gone through,
if we were going to be
protested for like
four years nonstop
and have the police,
our local police,
just say we're not
going to do anything about it
and they're going to
disrupt your services
all they want
because they're
a bunch of cowards.
If we were going to
have to go through
something like that,
like other churches are
and have gone through
and similar things,
would we still be here?
Would we be willing
to pay that price?
And even that
is such a small price,
isn't it?
Having to walk through
a picket line.
But you know what?
For some people,
that's all it takes.
Done with that, church.
Nope, I'm out of there.
All we have to do
is be willing.
That doesn't necessarily mean
we're going to have to.
That's what I see in John.
John's the closest.
John's the beloved.
John is leaning on the breast.
John has got the deepest,
it seems to me,
discipleship there is.
And I'm sure there was
things asked of him,
but you know what?
It was Peter that was said.
It said of him,
you're going to have to
lay down your life.
Because disciples just do.
What makes a disciple?
Doing.
Just doing.
Look at John 13.
Did I have you go there?
John chapter 13, verse 12.
So after he had washed
their feet,
this is the time of Jesus.
The Last Supper.
After he had washed
their feet,
let that sink in.
I mean,
to be perfectly honest,
not that it's necessary
these days,
but even if it were,
it'd be hard for me
to get over having to wash
any one of your feet.
I mean, good night.
It's enough to get me
to lift the foot
and start scrubbing
in the shower
with my own feet,
let alone somebody else's foot.
Right?
Obviously back then,
as much more practical,
people needed to have
their feet washed
when you walked into
someone's house.
They were out there
walking in the dirt
and everything else.
But to Jesus,
that's what he did.
He set an example.
After he had washed
their feet and taken
his garments
and sat down again,
he said,
Know ye what I have
done to you.
Ye call me Master and Lord.
And ye say,
Well, for so I am.
He's saying,
you got it right.
I am your Lord.
If I then,
your Lord and Master,
have washed your feet,
ye also ought
to wash one another's feet.
The disciple is not
above his master
neither the servant
his Lord.
If Jesus is willing
to do that,
we should be willing
to do it as well.
If Jesus is willing
to humble himself
and serve other people
and even, you know,
what other people
might look at
and say that's humiliating,
you know,
there's no task
beneath us
as disciples.
Nothing.
Oh, you know,
I'll preach the sermons,
but don't ask me
to scrub a toilet
because I'm way above that.
You know,
I'll put my face
on YouTube
and I'll get all the
popularity and the glory
and I'll have all the praise
of people coming up
and saying,
Well done, good job
or whatever,
but don't ask me
to do something
that nobody's
that's not,
you know,
that's the wrong motives.
That's not a disciple.
That's someone
who's desiring
vain glory, okay?
There should be no task
beneath us
as disciples.
Nothing.
What's beneath us
this morning?
Just think of one thing.
What could you do better
as a disciple of Christ
that you're saying no to?
Why are you saying no to it?
Is it beneath you?
It's beneath me
to show up early.
It's beneath me
to practice.
It's beneath me
to go soul winning.
It's beneath me
to read my Bible.
It's beneath me
to show an interest
in somebody else,
to see how
somebody else is doing.
It's beneath me
to minister to this person.
It's beneath me
that you're not a disciple
and you might call him
Master and Lord,
but a disciple
does what's
bidden of him
and there's nothing
beneath him.
If Jesus can stoop down
and wash the feet
of other men
being God Almighty,
what's beneath us?
That's what he said
in verse 15.
For I have given you
an example that ye should do
as I have done to you.
Verily, verily,
I say unto you
the servant is not
greater than his Lord
neither is he that sent
greater than he that sent him.
If ye know these things
that's good enough.
All you need to do
is just know about this.
All you need to know
this morning is what
it takes to be a disciple.
That's good enough.
No.
If ye know these things
happy are ye if ye do them.
That's what makes disciples.
That's how you deepen
your discipleship.
That's how you add depth
to it through devotion,
through being willing
to do these things
and not just pay lip service.
Go to one last passage,
Matthew chapter number 8.
I'll close there.
Matthew chapter number 8.
Disciples are doers.
They don't just
pay lip service.
They get in the boat.
They have the access.
They have the comfort.
And even amongst those
that are in the boat,
you know, there's others
that can draw even closer.
And look, that's open
to anyone.
You know, I don't feel
like I'm in the boat.
You know, I don't think
that Peter, James, and John
were just selected at random.
I think there were things
about Peter, James, and John
that were, you know,
made them more devoted,
that Jesus knew things
about them,
that he selected them
because of their character,
something about them.
He said, you can come closer.
It was open to anybody.
It's just the other nine
didn't want to do it.
The other nine were lacking
or missing something.
They weren't willing
to go that far.
They were, you know,
they were willing to do a lot
more than a lot of other people.
They were willing
to get in the boat.
They were willing
to forsake all.
They did a lot of same things
Peter, James, and John did.
It's just that Peter, James,
and John were even
able to go even further.
And among them,
Peter and John, you know,
they were a little bit
better than James.
They weren't just
selected at random.
There was something
about their character.
There was something
about their makeup
that allowed that to happen.
They were devoted.
And even among
Peter and John,
it seemed like John
could just edge out
Peter a little bit more.
He just ran
a little bit faster.
He was just a little
bit more devoted.
He was just a little
bit closer to God
because of his character,
because of who he was,
because of the type of person,
because of the things
that he determined,
because of his devotion.
He says in chapter 8, verse 30,
as he spoke these words,
many believed on him.
Amen.
There's gonna be a lot
of people to believe.
There's gonna be a lot
of Christians out there.
And then said he to those
Jews which believed on him,
if ye continue in my word,
then are ye my disciples
indeed, and ye shall know
the truth, and the truth
shall make you free.
Many believed, and he's
saying, great, I'm glad
you believed, I'm glad
you got saved, but if you
continue in my word,
then you're my disciples.
What's gonna make you
a disciple, just believing?
No, continuing in his word.
Being devoted.
We're saved because
God loves us.
You know, many believe
because they believe
that God loved them.
That's how you get saved.
For God so loved the world
that he gave his only begotten son
that whosoever believeth him.
For God so loved the world.
Yeah, I believe that.
Great, you're saved,
you're a child of God.
That's what God's love
does for us.
But it's our love of God
that makes us disciples.
Look, God's love for us
makes us children.
Amen, many believed.
But it's our love for God
that's gonna make us disciples.
That's the difference.
That's really what
discipleship comes down to.
That's really why some people
are gonna have a deeper
discipleship than others
because they're devoted.
That's part of love
being devoted to somebody.
Let's make sure
we're devoted to God.
You know, that's what's
gonna determine what?
The depth of our discipleship.
The depth of our discipleship
is determined by our devotion.
Let's go ahead and
close in a word of prayer.
Dear Lord, again, thank you
for the great opportunity
we have in this life
to draw close to you,
to draw an eye to you,
to know your presence
in our lives,
to know the fellowship
of the Spirit,
to know the filling
of the Spirit,
to hear you speak to us
through the word of God,
and Lord, thank you
for the opportunity we have
to serve you in this life,
to minister to the multitudes,
and Lord, to do those things
which are pleasing to you.
I pray it help us
to be devoted to that,
and Lord, help us to draw
always closer to you,
we ask in Christ's name,
amen.
All right, we'll go ahead
and sing one more song
before we are dismissed.
Join in the song
we sing of God.
Join in the song
we sing of God.
And thus your song
now goes broke
with us
to round the room.
With all the trees
we shine on,
the beautiful,
beautiful sun.
And with all the trees
we shine on,
the beautiful,
beautiful sun.
And with all the trees
we shine on,
the beautiful,
beautiful sun.
And with all the trees
we shine on,
the beautiful,
beautiful sun.
And with all the trees
we shine on,
the beautiful,
beautiful,
beautiful sun.
And with all the trees
we shine on,
the beautiful,
beautiful sun.
And with all the trees
we shine on,
the beautiful,
beautiful sun.
And with all the trees
we shine on,
the beautiful,
beautiful sun.
And with all the trees
we shine on,
the beautiful,
beautiful sun.
And with all the trees
we shine on,
the beautiful,
beautiful sun.
And with all the trees
we shine on,
the beautiful,
beautiful,
beautiful sun.
And with all the trees
we shine on,
the beautiful,
beautiful sun.
And with all the trees
we shine on,
the beautiful,
beautiful sun.
And with all the trees
we shine on,
the beautiful,
beautiful sun.
And with all the trees
we shine on,
the beautiful,
beautiful sun.
And with all the trees
we shine on,
the beautiful,
beautiful sun.
And with all the trees
we shine on,
the beautiful,
beautiful sun.
And with all the trees
we shine on,
the beautiful,
beautiful sun.
And with all the trees
we shine on,
the beautiful,
beautiful sun.
And with all the trees
we shine on,
the beautiful,
beautiful sun.
And with all the trees
we shine on,
the beautiful,
beautiful sun.
And with all the trees
we shine on,
the beautiful,
beautiful sun.
And with all the trees
we shine on,
the beautiful,
beautiful sun.
And with all the trees
we shine on,
the beautiful,
beautiful sun.
And with all the trees
we shine on,
the beautiful,
beautiful,
beautiful sun.
And with all the trees
we shine on,
the beautiful,
beautiful sun.
And with all the trees
we shine on,
the beautiful,
beautiful sun.
And with all the trees
we shine on,
the beautiful,
beautiful sun.
And with all the trees
we shine on,
the beautiful,
beautiful sun.
And with all the trees
we shine on,
the beautiful,
beautiful sun.
And with all the trees
we shine on,
the beautiful,
beautiful sun.
And with all the trees
we shine on,
the beautiful,
beautiful,
beautiful sun.
And with all the trees
we shine on,
the beautiful,
beautiful sun.
Thank you.