sermon: The Identifying Sign of a True Disciple of Jesus

Clyde Finklea
Given 31-May-25; Sermon #1820A; 31 minutes

Description: (show)

I read a book several years ago. It was titled Lone Survivor. It is a story about four Navy SEALs that left their base in northern Afghanistan for the mountainous Pakistani border. Their mission was to capture or to kill a notorious al-Qaeda leader. Less than 24 hours later, only one of those SEALs remained alive. It is the story, told by fire team leader Marcus Luttrell (he was the only survivor), of the desperate battles in the mountains that led ultimately to the largest loss of life in Navy SEAL history. But it is also more than anything else what Navy SEAL training produced in these SEALs. It is the same thing that our training—our struggles, our sufferings—should produce in us.

I want to talk a little bit about the training. I am not going to get into a lot of detail of what they had to do, but rather just give you an overview of what they go through.

So many, he said, drop out of the program before they really get to the real physical/mental training called BUD/S training—Basic Underwater Demolition Seals is what it stands for. He said they go through indoctrination training, called INDOC, for a couple of weeks, and this is to prepare them for the seven months of fabled BUD/S course.

Now, many actually drop out during INDOC. He said when the class of 226 began, there were 164 candidates. At the beginning of BUD/S phase one, they started with 98. After four weeks, when they were to begin the fifth week (known as Hell Week), there was 54. After Hell Week ended, there were only 32 that made it through. Hell Week is said to be one of the most demanding six days of training in any fighting force in the world. Only Great Britain's legendary SAS has anything even comparable.

Just think about this, how it starts out (with the SEALs). It reminded me of what Christ said, “Many are called, but only a few are chosen.” It seems to be the same way with these SEALs. Many start, but only a few make it through.

Now when someone wanted to drop out, they would ring a bell at the commander's door and place their helmets in a line at the door. There were ten DORs (that means dropped out on request—that is what they call them), during the first nine hours of Hell Week. Sometimes they would try to talk themselves out of it, or some of their friends. But the instructors later told them that when someone makes up their mind to quit, and you talk them into staying, they will never make it through. They always end up quitting.

All the instructors know that if the thought of DOR enters a man's head, he is not a Navy SEAL.

Now Marcus Luttrell said that their training produced a bond between them that was closer than a brother. I watched the making of the movie, Lone Survivor, and the producer of the movie said that what he learned about the SEALs from working with them on the movie set was that SEALs are not afraid of getting shot; they are not even afraid of dying. He said their greatest fear is letting each other down. Perhaps that should be our greatest fear, too, in letting each other down. It was this loving bond like a brother that they had for each other that identified them as Navy SEALs.

Open your Bibles to Acts 2.

Acts 2:1-6 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.

Acts 2:12 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "Whatever could this mean?"

Now, what I want to point out here is that this event was not done privately. But the people from every nation under heaven witnessed this event. I think God did this so that the world would know that God is identifying Himself with the disciples of Jesus.

Let us just cast our thoughts back a little bit, back to when God brought Israel out of Egypt. It was done in a way that the world would see that God was identifying Himself with the people of Israel. And He said, “You only of all the families of the earth have I known.” He was identifying Himself with His people.

What about the account of our Lord's baptism by John the Baptist? You know, on one hand, Jesus identified Himself with John, his baptism and his message. After all, John was the prophet who designated Jesus as the promised Messiah. And then on the other hand, perhaps more importantly, God identified Himself with Jesus.

Now just flip over to Matthew 3.

Matthew 3:5-6 Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him [this is John Baptist, he was baptizing in the Jordan] and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.

Let us flip over to Luke's account on this in chapter 3, verse 21.

Luke 3:21-22 When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, "You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased."

Again, this was not done privately, but as a witness to the world in that area, to whom God is identifying Himself with.

How does God identify Himself with the disciples of Christ today? How does He do that? What is the sign of a true disciple of Jesus? Let us take a look and let us see. This is probably nothing new. You have heard these things before, but you need to hear them again.

John 13:34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”

Jesus said that the law could be summed up in two commandments. That is, to love God with all your heart, with all your life, with all your mind, and with all your strength. And the second was like unto it: to love your neighbor as yourself.

So, we may ask the question then, what then is so different about our Lord's command here that He can call it new? Well, first, we should note that it is a command given by the Lord to the church, to His disciples, and not a command given to Israel. This command is specifically directed toward the disciples, and their relationship with one another.

What makes it new is the standard—the criteria—that are placed in it. In John 13:34 above, we will finish that up, it says, “I give you a new commandment to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” So the most important new dimension to our Lord's command here is the standard which He sets for the love He requires—just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

Now it is one thing to love one another as we love and care for ourselves and we extend that brotherly love and affection toward one another. But it is a vastly greater love that gives up one's own life for another.

You see, going back to those Navy SEALs, there were four of them in those mountains. I am not going to go through the story; you can read it or go watch the movie yourself. But Michael Murphy was the leader of this mission. They were under heavy fire. There was over 100 Taliban coming after them, and there was only four of them; shooting just constantly. They were getting hit, some of them were wounded, and Michael Murphy was down. He had the radio, and he could not get a signal. So he made the decision. There was an opening on a ridge, and he made a decision to try to go up there and try to get a signal, knowing that he is going to expose himself to a lot of gunfire. But he did it anyway. So he went up there, and he basically was taking hits from bullets, but he got a signal, he got the message through. And then they finished him off. So he gave his life, he sacrificed his life to save those other men.

Did Jesus not tell us that there is no greater love than for someone to lay down their life for their friends? There is no greater love than that! So the newness then was not in the originality, but in its extent. It was the practice of this kind of love that would cause the world to recognize these men (and I am talking about Jesus' disciples again) as the disciples of Jesus Christ. That is the kind of love it is going to take for us.

He goes on to say,

John 13:35 “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Tertullian, who lived toward the end of the second century, was an author of early Christianity. He said that the heathens said of the believers, “Behold how these Christians love one another.” He goes on to say, “Felix records the comment of a heathen called Thecilius, “They love one another almost before they know one another.” It is this thing called love that is going to identify the true disciples of Christ. And it was also that bond—that relationship—that was the sign of a Navy SEAL.

There is no one in the Bible that actually gives us a better description of love than the apostle Paul. So we are going to look at this again in I Corinthians 13, verse 4. You do not have to turn there; I am just going to mention a couple of things here where he says, “Love is patient (the King James has ‘suffers long,’ which is probably a better translation), and love is kind.” That describes God. He is longsuffering and kind. He described like that all through the Old Testament.

Now notice that these are the only two characteristics that Paul says love is. He then advances to things that are not characteristics of love.

What I want to do is to take a look at these two character traits that are perhaps (in my mind) the very foundation of love. W. E. Vine, who wrote The Expositor's Dictionary, indicates that longsuffering is the most frequent meaning of the term in the Bible. He distinguishes longsuffering from patience in this way:

Longsuffering is that quality of self-restraint in the face of provocation, which does not hastily retaliate or promptly punish. It is the opposite of anger. It is associated with mercy. Patience is the quality that does not surrender to circumstances, nor should come under trial. It is the opposite of despondency, and it is associated with hope.

Leon Morris, who was an Australian theologian who was also a commentator, adds this comment: “First, love is longsuffering. The word Paul uses indicates having patience with people rather than circumstances. In fact, Paul's word is the opposite of short tempered, it means, if we can invent a word, long-tempered.”

Matthew Henry in his commentary on I Corinthians 13:4, says of the term longsuffering,

It can endure evil, injury, and provocation without being filled with resentment, indignation, or revenge. It makes the mind firm, gives it power over the angry passions, and furnishes it with the persevering patience that shall rather wait and wish for the reformation of a brother than fly out of resentment of his conduct. It will put up with many slights and neglects from the person it loves, and waits long to see the kindly effects of such patience on him.

And we should not be surprised to find that our God is a God described by the term longsuffering and loving kindness. Now for the Christian, we have to look at this and say, “Longsuffering is not an option. Longsuffering is one of the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22. We are commanded to be patient, or to manifest longsuffering toward others, because we are supposed to be producing the fruits of that Spirit. Kindness, gentleness, meekness, goodness, they are all a part of the fruit of God's love. And longsuffering is too.”

In Ephesians 4, let us look at some of the words of the apostle Paul.

Ephesians 4:1-3 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

People in our part of the world are not inclined to endure ill treatment basically from anyone. How often have you heard people say, “Well, I wouldn't put up with that for a minute!” I have heard a lot of people say that before. “I sure wouldn't put up with him!” I have heard a lot of wives say that. Putting up with ill treatment is what longsuffering is all about. We are to put up with one another. He demands it. It is part of God's Spirit. A person with God's Spirit is going to be practicing these things.

Colossians 3:12-13 (ESV) Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

You know, it is so simple that I think I could describe this to a 5th grader, and they would understand it, that, “Do you know that God says, ‘if you do not forgive others, that He won’t forgive you?’” What is it that people miss when they refuse to forgive other people? They do not want to be forgiven by God? I do not know! I do! I need a lot of it!

Colossians 3:14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.

This is the love that Christ was telling us about; the love that one would be willing to sacrifice himself for his brother or sister. And it is also the bond of perfection. We talk about going on to perfection. One of the things that we are working on, that we are practicing in our life; part of the conversion process is to reach that pinnacle of that type of love.

So if longsuffering or patience is the passive side of love, kindness would then be the active side. Kindness is a word suggesting goodness. The fruit of the Spirit could be kindness, gentleness, goodness, meekness, and so on. So kindness is a word that is suggesting goodness. Doing good to others, right? So it is the bond of perfection. Kindness is the opposite of having a chip on one’s shoulder. You have probably known people like this, right? There are people that always seem to have a chip on their shoulder. You cannot hardly say anything to them because the least little thing sets them off, because the chip on one’s shoulder predisposes him to hostile action with only the very slightest provocation.

But kindness in one's heart predisposes for action, which only requires the hint of a need before it actually takes action—sort of like having a heart of compassion. Compassion leads you to respond in mercy toward another. And it all fits together. So love manifests itself in kindness, a predisposition to do good to others. Kindness is characteristic of God and should thus characterize us as well. This is who we should be known as: caring, patient, longsuffering people; forbearing with one another.

Ephesians 4:32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

He said it again. He forgave you; you should forgive others.

We will begin to summarize this a little bit. They say the Christian is then commanded to be kind. But failing to show kindness is, in my way of thinking, being disobedient. So according to Paul, love is demonstrated by two general characteristics. That is, longsuffering in the face of adverse treatment by others and kindness toward those who even abuse us. Longsuffering endures ill treatment without responding in retaliation. There is no revenge. And kindness seeks to do good even to those who delight to cause us harm.

Is that not why Christ told us that we should love our enemies? Because if we are this kind of person, if we are like God, if we are like Christ in character, then our response on everything should be out of love. It is a character trait. It is who He is, and every decision He makes is based on who He is, and that is what He is. And that is what we are to become.

We have got a long way to go, I know. It is a lot easier said than done.

So then, loving one another is not [just] a recommendation by Jesus, nor is it [just] a good piece of advice. Love is a command.

If loving one another is a command, then our only choice is to obey or disobey our Lord in this matter. So we can either obey Him or we can disobey Him. The choice is ours.

Loving one another as Christ has loved us is the identifying sign that we are true disciples of Jesus.

I want to mention something here. I did not put it in my notes, but I just thought about it. When I was going over this again, and I was thinking about the warning to the churches in the book of Revelation, in chapter 2 there is a warning to the Ephesian church. Christ said He had something against them, and that it was that they were neglecting their first love. When they started out, they were on fire, remember? But by the time John had written this, there were already tares and false teachers creeping into the church, which we could see from III John. He talks about a guy that was putting people out of the church. And these were the true disciples they were putting out. But his warning to them was that “you have fallen,” in other words, you have fallen short. You are not loving each other the way you should. You need to repent and get back to that. So that tells me that we do, over time, have a tendency to start neglecting some things, neglecting our relationships, neglecting our love for one another the way that we should do it.

But here is the danger in all that. When I was thinking about that, what does He say to them? “Either repent and do the first works,” in other words, get back to loving each other and doing what you are supposed to do. Or what? “I will come and take your candlestick out of its place. I will remove your candlestick.” That is kind of like serious business, right? Is that why “many are called, but few are chosen”? I do not know. It is those chosen ones who have this type of bond and love for each other. That is the kind of love that we are supposed to have; a love that is willing to sacrifice ourselves for our brothers and sisters. We have got to get back to doing that.

I know we fall short sometimes. We are human. We are going to do it. But once the warning comes, then we need to respond.

So we see then (in closing), God identified Himself with the true church on Pentecost of AD 31. The only way we can be identified as the true disciples of Christ is if we obey His commandments and love one another with His standard and criteria of love.

Jesus said in John 13:34. I will read it again, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another in the same way that I have loved you.” That is how you are to love one another. “By this shall everyone know that you are My disciples”—you, if you love one another (and I might say) as He loved us by sacrificing Himself for us.