Sermon Tone Analysis

*/The Marks of the Committed Christian/*

by

 John MacArthur

 

*Table Talks With Jesus 3 \\ \\ \\ *

 

*INTRODUCTION*

 

Without question, some of the most poignant, powerful teaching in all of Jesus' earthly ministry took place on the last evening He spent with His disciples before He was crucified.

The occasion was the Passover meal, and it has come to be known as the Last Supper.

Table Talks with Jesus is a series examining Jesus' teaching on those awesome hours the night He was betrayed.

Before the meal was over, Jesus would institute the Lord's Supper.

From that point on, believers would commemorate the Lamb of God slain on the cross once and forever.

It was a great transition‑‑the New Testament age was beginning.

No longer would men remember Passover lambs in Egypt, they would remember that slain Lamb, Jesus Christ, and not just once a year but all the time.

During that meal, Jesus explained the legacy He would leave behind when He departed from this world to go to the Father.

His words are intimate, personal, full of love for those He called His own.

And the message has meaning across the ages for us.

The promises He made, the legacy He left, are ours to claim.

I advise you to devour it.

Consume it.

Savor every word of it.

It is Jesus reiterating to you how much He loves you.

My prayer in offering this series is that those who know Jesus Christ will grow in their understanding of the riches that are ours because of His love for us, and that those who do not know Him will be convicted of their need to surrender completely to Him as Lord and Savior.

As we study these chapters together, may the Spirit of God impress on all our hearts the importance of giving our all to Him who freely gave His all for us.

*The Marks of the Committed Christian*

 

Historically, Christians have displayed a number of different kinds of symbols to mark their identity as believers.

Lapel pins and neck chains with gold crosses are nothing new.

They have been used almost since the beginning of Christianity as marks of identification for believers.

In recent years, bumper stickers, posters, tee shirts, decorated Bibles, and jackets with embroidered insignia all have been used by people trying to identify themselves as Christians.

I don't have any argument with such symbols, except that they are totally superficial‑‑only as deep as the surface they are attached to.

As a Christian, whether you wear a button, display a bumper sticker, or use any other kind of visible symbol is no real consequence.

(In fact, the way some Christians drive, they would be well advised to take off their bumper stickers.)

More important, and infinitely more definitive than all the pins and stickers and buttons, are the internal, spiritual signs of a true believer.

In John 13:31‑38, Jesus gives three distinguishing marks of a committed Christian.

Remember, Jesus' earthly ministry was coming to an end.

It was the night before His death.

And He was spending those last hours with His disciples to prepare them for His leaving.

He had just dismissed Judas to leave His presence eternally.

With Judas gone, Jesus turned to the eleven remaining disciples and gave them a valedictory address, a farewell speech.

When therefore He had gone out, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him; if God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself and will glorify Him immediately.

Little children, I am with you a little while longer.

You shall seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, I now say to you also, "Where I am going, you cannot come.'

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, where are You going?"

Jesus answered, "Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you shall follow later."

Peter said to Him, "Lord, why can I not follow You right now?

I will lay down my life for you."

Jesus answered, "Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a cock shall not crow, until you deny Me three times."

That passage introduces Jesus' last commission to His disciples before He went to the cross.

His farewell message, which continues through John 16, contains every ingredient we need to know about discipleship.

In fact, the basics of Paul's teaching on the subject of discipleship come right out of this portion of John.

Thus these concluding words of our Lord on His last evening with His disciples are strategic to our understanding of what Christ expects of us as believers.

Here Jesus gives three distinguishing marks of a committed Christian.

These ingredients should be evident in the life of every disciple.

*An Unending Preoccupation with the Glory of God *

 

First, the committed Christian is preoccupied and absorbed with his Lord's glory.

The very purpose for which we exist is to give glory to God, so it is right that this is the first mark of a committed Christian.

He is concerned only with living to give glory to God.

He's not concerned about himself.

He's not preoccupied with his own glory.

He's not worried about what brings honor to him.

He's not on a popularity binge.

He's not trying to climb the ladder, to get something bigger and better for himself.

His greatest concern is His Lord's glory.

He lives so that whatever he does brings glory to his Lord.

He realizes that it doesn't matter what people think of him, but only that they glorify God.

His motive, his theme, his goal, his reason, his purpose is to give the Lord glory in everything he does.

His life reflects the attributes of God, and God is praised by the way he lives.

Jesus taught His disciples that perspective both by example and by precept:

 

        When therefore [Judas] had gone out, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him; if God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself and will glorify Him immediately.

Little children, I am with you a little longer.

You shall seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, I now say to you also, 'Where I am going, you cannot come.'

Reading that first phrase, we can almost sense a sigh of relief from our Lord.

Now that Judas was gone, He could speak freely to His disciples.

God incarnate, Jesus Christ, had come to earth in humility.

He had restricted the full manifestation of His glory and subjected Himself to human frailty, though He never sinned.

For thirty‑three years His glory had been shrouded in human flesh.

By tomorrow He would be in His glory again.

All the attributes of God would be on display in Him.

With His coming glory in mind, Jesus makes three distinct statements.

Each is unique and important.

*"Now is the Son of Man glorified."*

The first is in verse 31, a great statement of anticipation: "Now is the Son of Man glorified."

Judas had already begun to set everything in motion.

He had already initiated and been paid for the betrayal, and he was out moving about, getting everything set.

In just a few hours, Jesus and the disciples would go into the Garden of Gethsemane, where Christ would continue His teaching.

There Judas would march in with the soldiers and set in motion the events that would lead to Jesus' death.

It was right around the corner, and Jesus was ready to die‑‑to be glorified.

Even though the cross looked like shame, disgrace, and disaster, it was glory.

At first it may seem difficult to understand how death can be glory, especially death by crucifixion.

In His death our Lord experienced the deepest kind of shame, humiliation, accusation, insults, infamy, mockery, spitting, and all that men could throw at Him.

He died hanging between thieves, receiving the agony of sin and separation from God.

Yet knowing He was facing all of that, Jesus could say, "Now is the Son of Man glorified."

How was there glory in the cross?

There Jesus performed the greatest work in the history of the universe.

In His death He brought to pass the salvation of damned sinners, destroyed sin, and defeated Satan.

He paid the price of God's justice and purchased for Himself all the elect of God.

In dying for sin, He rendered His life a sweet‑smelling savor to God, a sacrifice more pure and blessed than any sacrifice ever offered.

And when the offended justice of God and the broken law were fully satisfied, Jesus concluded His work by saying, "It is finished."

He had accomplished the redemption of the human race, satisfied the justice of God, repaired the broken law, and set men free.

In all heaven and earth, no act is so worthy of praise and honor and full glory.