Show the Word

In this message from John 17:6-12, David Platt encourages us to point others to Christ by showing the Word in the way we live. 

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
You are listening to David Platt Messages, a weekly
podcast with sermons andmessages from pastor, author,
and teacher David Platt.

SPEAKER_01 (00:08):
Just out of curiosity, question, how many of
you had someone lead you tofaith in Christ?
Anyone have someone lead you tofaith in Christ?
Okay, that's a lot of us, if notmost of us, who are believers.
The question we need to askourselves is how are people
outside this building going tocome to know faith in Christ
then?
If not through us.

(00:28):
Through us sharing the word withthem.
And so we talked about how thatis a non-negotiable facet of
disciple making.
What I want us to do thismorning is to dive into a second
component of disciple making,which is not only to share the
word, but to show the word.
Now, let me just on a tangenthere, let me say that these are
not necessarily chronologicalsteps that you take.

(00:50):
You do number one, then numbertwo, number three, number four,
now you're making disciples.
That's not the picture here.
The picture is these are allfacets that we see in Jesus'
life as he poured his life intohis disciples.
And as he set the example for usto do the same thing in others'
lives.
So sharing the word, showing theword, and the others that we're
going to see over the next twoweeks, they all come together.
And if you remember a couple ofweeks ago, we had those cards

(01:12):
that people, many of you came tothe forward and got that say,
follow me on the front, and I'llmake you fishers of men.
On the back, they had differentblanks.
Share the word, show the word.
And you have the opportunity towrite that in on those cards on
the back.
So don't forget to do that.
But I want us to look at Johnchapter 17 and see what it meant
for Jesus to show the word.
Remember, the word is at thecenter of disciple making.

(01:33):
The word made flesh.
Christ making his life knownthrough us.
We show the word.
Look at John chapter 17, verse6.
This is Jesus praying for thisfor his disciples, and he says,
I revealed you to those whom yougave me out of the world.
They were yours.
You gave them to me, and theyhave obeyed your word.

(01:54):
Now they know that everythingyou have given me comes from
you.
For I gave them the words yougave me, and they accepted them.
They knew with certainty that Icame from you, and they believed
that you sent me.
I pray for them.
I am not praying for the world,but for those who have given me,
for they are yours.
All I have is yours, and all youhave is mine, and glory has come

(02:16):
to me through them.
I will remain in the world nolonger, but they are still in
the world, and I am coming toyou.
Holy Father, protect them by thepower of your name, the name you
have gave you gave me, so thatthey may be one as we are one.
While I was with them, Iprotected them and kept them
safe by that name you gave me.
None has been lost except theone tombed to destruction, so

(02:39):
that Scripture would befulfilled.
Now, disciple making.

(03:12):
First of all, I think it meansthat we display his character to
them.
I want you to see how thisunfolds in this prayer that
Jesus is praying.
From the very beginning in verse6, you go back up there and it
says, I have revealed you tothose whom you gave me.
I revealed you to those whom yougave me.
Now, some of you in yourtranslations, it might have, I
revealed your name to those whoyou gave me.

(03:34):
And even in the NIV, which iswhat I'm reading out of, you go
down to the bottom and you'llsee a note that says in the
original language of the NewTestament, that's actually what
is written here.
It literally says your name.
Why does NIV translate it you?
Well, basically, it's becausethey go together all throughout
Scripture, and especially in thebook of John, what we're seeing
is that the name of God refersto the character of God, his

(03:57):
person, who he is.
And so for Jesus to say, Irevealed your name to these
disciples, what he's saying is,I revealed your character to
them.
I revealed who you are to them.
In the old economy, God revealedhimself to his people by
dwelling among them in thetemple or the tabernacle.
Then you get to Jesus, and Godreveals himself up close and

(04:18):
personal, face to face in theperson of Christ.
And he says, I've revealed youup close and personal.
Even remember, remember back tothe Old Testament?
God's name, Moses says, Who willuntell them sent me?
And God says, Tell them I am,sent me.
That was his name.
Think about how that is up closeand personal in the book of
John.
John chapter 6, verse 35.

(04:40):
Jesus says, I am the bread andlife to those who are bread of
life, to those who are hungry.
To the blind in John chapter 8,verse 12, he says, I am the
light of the world.
To those who were hurting inJohn chapter 10, he said, I am
the good shepherd who cares forhis people.
In John chapter 11, verse 25, hesays to Lazarus, I am the

(05:02):
resurrection and the life.
John chapter 14, he says to thedisciples, wondering, are we
going to get lost in theshuffle?
And he says, I am the way, thetruth, and the life.
Jesus was God, up close andpersonal to these guys.
You want to see a picture of thegoodness, the grace, the mercy
of God, you see it in the faceof Jesus.
And he didn't reveal it in someglowing, uh, just one moment,

(05:25):
here's my splendor.
What he did is over a process ofthree years with these guys, he
continually, on a day-by-daybasis, revealed God and his
character up close and personalto them.
Now here's the problem.
You get down to verse 11, and itsays, Jesus says, I will remain
in the world no longer.
But these guys are still in theworld, and I am coming to you.

(05:47):
So if God, up close andpersonal, is about to check out
of the world, then how is theworld going to see God up close
and personal anymore?
And that's where you and I comein.
I want you to see two truthsunfold.
First of all, as disciples ofJesus Christ, we are all his
representatives in the world.

(06:08):
We are all his representatives.
This is not just for the superChristians in the room this
morning.
For every single one of us, wehave, catch this, we have the
responsibility from God to showhis character to the world.
This is not a responsibilitythat the church as an

(06:28):
institution has.
This is a responsibility thatthe church as individuals all
across this room has.
We are God, up close andpersonal, so to speak.
His goodness, his mercy, hisgrace seen in us in the world.
That is the responsibility thatGod has entrusted to us.
And it's a huge responsibility.

(06:50):
How are the people in your homeor in your workplace or in your
schools?
How are the people in yourneighborhood, in this community,
how are they going to see thecharacter of God?
How are they going to see hisunending love?
His perfect patience in themiddle of suffering and trial?

(07:11):
How are they going to see hisoverwhelming compassion for
those that nobody else caresabout?
How are they going to see hispatience and his kindness and
his goodness in the face ofevil?
How are they going to see hiscourage in the face of trial?
How are they going to see thosethings if not in you and me?

(07:32):
God has given us people in ourlives, just like he gave these
disciples to Jesus and said, Youreveal my character to them, I'm
convinced that God has giveneach of us across this room
people in our lives that he hassaid, reveal my character to
them, demonstrate me to them.
And if those people in your lifeand in my life don't see the

(07:55):
character of God in us, whereare they going to see it?
In their DVDs?
On television?
On the internet, in politics, incorporate America?
If they don't see the characterof God in us as his

(08:18):
representatives, where are theygoing to see it?
This is huge.
This is where we begin to riseup and realize that we can no
longer shirk or evade ourresponsibility to show the
character of God to the worldaround us and the people that
God has given to us.
Now, some of you are thinking,well, that's a tall order.
I'm supposed to show thecharacter of God, the love and

(08:40):
the mercy and the grace of God,the patience of God, the
kindness of God.
I'm supposed to do that?
I can't do that.
I'm not that far along in myChristian life yet.
On the contrary, we are all hisrepresentatives.
Second truth, we have all of hisresources.
We have all of his resources.
Don't miss this.
Everything Jesus revealed to hisdisciples, the Father had given

(09:02):
to him.
Look in verse 10.
Jesus said, All I have is yours,and all you have is mine.
So the Father had giveneverything to him.
Then look down at verse 11 as heprays in the middle of that

verse (09:14):
Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, your
character.
Same phrase we saw up in verse6.
The name that you gave me.
You gave me your character.
You gave me your person.
Verse 12, while I was with them,I protected them and kept them
safe by that name that you gaveme.
Everything that Jesus had, theFather had given to him.
Now at this point we'rethinking, well, that was Jesus.

(09:36):
He's a little different than us.
You know, he was God, and we arenot.
So, so how does that apply tous?
How can you say that we have allhis resources?

Here's the good news (09:45):
everything that Jesus had from the Father,
he promised to give to you andto me.
Look at this.
It continues throughout the restof this chapter.
Look at what Jesus says in verse14.
He's talking about hisdisciples, and he says, I have
given them your word.
Same word you gave me, I gavethem your word.
Look over in verse 22.

(10:05):
Jesus says, I have given themthe glory that you gave me.
We have the glory of Christgiven to us.
Verse 23, I and them, and youand me.
Don't miss it here.
The Father's in Jesus.
Jesus is in us.
That means all the Father has isin us.
Look down in verse 26.
The very end.
It says, I've made you known tothem and will continue to make

(10:28):
you known in order that the loveyou have for me may be in who?
In them, and that I myself maybe in them.
Jesus' whole ministry, thiswhole process of disciple making
was him imparting his life, himgiving away what the Father had
given to him into the lives ofthese guys.
This prayer comes at theconclusion of a long

(10:49):
conversation Jesus had with hisdisciples as he prepared to go
to the cross.
If you turn back a couplechapters, go back to chapter 15.
Let me just show you a coupleplaces where you can underline
some things that Jesus said.
I am giving these things to you.
Look at the resources he givesto his disciples.
Look at John chapter 15, verse11.
He's about to start talkingabout the difficulties they're

(11:11):
going to go through, and hesays, This, I have told you
this, so that my joy may be inyou and that your joy may be
complete.
We have the joy of Christ givento us.
Look in chapter 16, verse 33.
Look at chapter 16, verse 33.
He's just finished talking aboutthe trouble they're going to go
through.

(11:31):
And he says, I have told youthese things, so that in me you
may have peace.
I give you my peace, which wejust sang about.
We have the peace of Christgiven to us, which comes from
the Father.
In this world you'll havetrouble, but take heart.
I have overcome the world.
We have his peace, we have hisword, we have his glory, we have
his joy.
Look back in chapter 14.

(11:53):
Listen to what he gives usthere.
Chapter 14, verse 16.
He's preparing to go to theFather, and he says, I will ask
the Father, and he will give youanother counselor to be with you
forever.
The Spirit of truth.
That's what I give you.
The world cannot accept himbecause it neither sees him nor
knows him.
But you know him, for he liveswith you and will be in you.

(12:16):
I will not leave you as orphans.
I will come to you.
Before the lawn the world willnot see me anymore, but you will
see me, because I live, you alsowill live.
On that day, you will realizethat I am in my Father and you
are in me, therefore I am inyou.
This is the picture.
Jesus is giving us everything hehas.
All that he had, he poured outon the disciples.

(12:38):
All that he has, he pours outonto us, even through his very
spirit, his presence livinginside of us.
And this is huge.
It's exactly why Jesus said tohis disciples, look back up,
same chapter, verse 12.
Look at this verse.
I tell you the truth.
14, 12, anyone who has faith inme, who trusts in me, will do

(12:58):
what I've been doing.
He will actually do even greaterthings than these, because I am
going to the Father.
And I will do whatever you askin my name, so the Son may bring
glory to the Father.
You may ask me for anything inmy name, and I will do it.
If there is anything I'velearned over the last five
years, this journey that I thatGod has been taking me on, it is

(13:20):
that God has promised to blesshis word.
He has promised by his verycharacter to bless his plan.
He has promised to give everyresource we need to see his plan
accomplished.
There's no way else you candescribe what happened in the
disciples' life, what happens inmy life, what happens in our

(13:43):
lives.
When we give ourselves to theplan, he has designed it so that
he provides the resources sothat it is accomplished.
And that's why I can say to youwith complete boldness and
complete confidence this morningthat when we give ourselves to
the plan of God, we will see theresult of God.
When we give ourselves to makingdisciples, guaranteed we will
impact nations for his glory.

(14:04):
We will impact Birmingham forhis glory.
When we give ourselves to hisplan, he's promised, he's given
his full sponsorship behind it.
Matthew chapter 28, verse 18,before we get into the Great
Commission, he says, Allauthority in heaven and earth
has been given to me.
And the good news is thatauthority now lives in you.
So we cannot sit here thismorning and say, I can't be his

(14:25):
representative because I'm notable to do it.
You are more than able to do it.
That is a lie from theadversary.
You have every single thing youneed to represent the character
of God to the world around you.
The question is, are we going tostep up and take responsibility
to display that character tothem?
And this is where we realize itmakes complete sense now.

(14:48):
We know our culture.
We know that thousands ofchurches in Birmingham alone.
And we know that this world islonging to see a demonstration
of Christ that accompanies ourexplanation of Christ.

(15:10):
Especially here in what we callthe Bible Belt in the
southeastern United States.
They have had their fill ofchurchgoers who espouse all

(15:33):
their conservative views on thisor that issue.
No matter how true they mightbe, or no matter how aligned
with Scripture they might be,they have heard enough
explanations of those issues.
What they long to see is ademonstration of the liberal,
generous grace and mercy ofAlmighty God.
Their hearts long to see that.

(15:53):
It was Jesus' whole method.
What we see in the disciples andthe gospels is not Jesus sitting
down with his disciples andsaying, Some of you have
wondered what God is like.
Pull out your pen and paper, andI'm going to give you a list of
his attributes.
First of all, he is JehovahJireh.
That means he provides.
Instead, he showed them theprovision of God, up close and

(16:16):
personal.
Now we hear, we see that God islove.
No, he showed them the love ofGod up close and personal.
And what we'll find is that whenwe begin to demonstrate the word
to people around us, it willenhance our credibility when we
share the word.
What happens when our livesbecome the gospel track?
What happens when it's not apamphlet we give out, but it's

(16:38):
our lives that we show.
Here is a picture of thecharacter of Christ.
You've heard me talk about theFrench Quarter ministry there.
Listen to this letter.

(17:00):
The guy writes, he says, I doubtif you remember me.
But a month ago I came to yourFrench Quarter breakfast only
once, and then to your churchfor the Sunday morning service.
I came to the breakfast on blindfaith.
One of your regulars, Duane, whoI met on the street the night
before, convinced me to come inhopes that I could find help
getting home to my family.

(17:21):
I was very reluctant to go tothe quarter as I thought I would
only find more misery in theform of alcohol and drugs.
I really didn't think anyonewould help an unknown alcoholic
or addict on the street.
The message at your church thatmorning was members sharing
their mission experiences, for Iwas so impressed with the way
your church welcomed me intoyour company, a complete
stranger straight off thestreet.

(17:43):
I was even more impressed themembers of your church were more
concerned with helping those whocouldn't help themselves than
they are with owning thegrandest church building or
wearing the finest clothes.
You and all the members of thechurch offered me many valuable

assets (17:56):
food, clothing, temporary refuge, and even money
to get me home.
You allowed me into your churchin the company of your families.
What really impressed me wasthat you shared with me the
greatest part of your life, yourmost valuable asset, your faith.
The work your church members dorequires taking risks and acting
on faith to do the right thing.

(18:16):
I am grateful you are willing totake that risk and give people
like me hope.
And I just wanted your crew toknow that the seed you planted
with me has sprouted.
I am three weeks free of alcoholand drugs.
May not sound like much, but itis an accomplishment for someone
addicted for 30 years.
I am leaving in the morning togo to a Bible-based treatment
program in West Texas for ayear.

(18:37):
Thank you for bringing me tothis turning point.
I look forward to becoming aproductive citizen again.
What happens when they seeChrist in us?

(19:00):
What the Father, the God of theuniverse, has entrusted to you.
May our lives be a demonstrationto accompany our explanation.
And our evangelism, our sharingthe word will take on a whole
new shape because people will bedrawn to Christ as they see him
in us.
Don't you believe that?
He is irresistible, he is good,he is gracious.

(19:23):
If we would let the originaldisciple maker that lives in
each of us out, then he willdraw people to himself.
The question is, are we going totake responsibility for showing
the word?
Display his character to them.
Second.
Not only do we display hischaracter to them, but second,
we live for his glory throughthem.
We live for his glory throughthem.

(19:44):
Now here's where I want you tosee.
Chapter 17, come back with me toJohn, chapter 17, verse 9 and
10.
This, these two verses here,they almost seem like, well,
what's he really saying there?
We can almost skip over them.
But they are loaded withmeaning.
Look at verse 9.
Jesus says, I pray for them,talking about the disciples.

(20:04):
I am not praying for the world,but for those you have given me,
for they are yours.
All I have is yours, and all youhave is mine.
And glory has come to me throughthem.
So there's the book ends onthese two verses.
I pray for them, glory comes tome through them.
What is he trying to show ushere about disciple making?
Well, I think a few differentthings.

(20:25):
As we think about Jesus and theway he poured himself into these
guys, I think he's showing us,first of all, when it comes to
the people that God has given tous by his grace, put in our
lives and our spheres ofinfluence.
First of all, we set our focuson them.
Jesus said, I pray for thesetwelve guys.
That's who I'm praying for.

(20:46):
Now, he says, he even goes sofar as to say he's not even
praying for the world.
And we'll get to that in asecond, but he sets it all of
his focus on them.
I pray for them.
Here we are at the end of Jesus'ministry.
It's almost a little surprisingthat if you look at his life and
his ministry that he spent withthese guys, he actually spent
more time with them as timeprogressed than less time with

(21:07):
them.
You'd think they'd have startedto get it and he could tail off
some time with them.
Not the case.
He had to have more time withthem.
If he's only got a week left,I'm spending all the time with
these guys.
Jesus spent more time with theseguys than everybody else in the
world put together.
His focus was completely onthem.

(21:28):
Now why would that be?
Maybe it's because buildingdisciples, multiplying the
gospel, it takes constantpersonal attention and focus
from our lives.
Maybe this is a process.
We really need to hear this.
Maybe this is a process thatdoesn't happen overnight.

(21:52):
Maybe you can't make disciplesin the newest or latest FAD or
program.
Maybe this is a slow, tediousprocess that has ups and downs
the whole way through.
It's a picture we have in thegospels.
Take a guy from the Frenchquarter, undoubtedly gonna be
that way.

(22:12):
Doing this thing requires timeand personal attention from each
of our lives.
Us focusing on showing Christand building the character of
Christ in others.
Now, fast forward 2,000 yearsago, 2,000 years today, and what
you see is discipleship is mostoften referred to as a program

(22:35):
in the church that involves anhour class a week.
And whether you call it Biblestudy or Sunday school or RBF or
whatever, we limit discipleshipto what happens in that one hour
and this one particularclassroom.
Ladies and gentlemen, the worldwas Jesus' classroom, and he was
modeling this to them day in andday out, week in and week out,

(22:58):
and all the things that heexperienced in his life.
If we think we can can that andput it in an hour, then we are
deeply mistaken.
And you think about it, the waywe, even when somebody comes to
Christ, a new Christian, what weoften do is we put them in that
class.
We think, well, now they'regonna grow because they're in
the class.
But all of a sudden the newChristian now finds themselves

(23:20):
learning in the class a bunch oflegalistic properties they're
supposed to follow.
But what they're missing out onis a living relationship where
they see those truths modeledday in and day out, and all of a
sudden they're left on their ownto wander through the troubles
and trials and struggles that anew Christian has because they
don't have that livingrelationship, somebody pouring
their life into them at thatpoint.
How are they gonna make it?

(23:43):
It's no wonder, and the evidenceis there.
About half the people who cometo faith in Christ and join a
church end up falling away.
And even many of us who've beenin the church, maybe all of our
lives, still lack deep knowledgeof how to study the word and how
to pray and how to share ourfaith.
Why is that?
Because we have tried to do onan assembly line basis what it

(24:07):
took Jesus to do three yearswith these 12 guys, and even one
of them was lost.
You can't just churn this out.
You can't come up with a new fadto make this happen.
This is your life being set,focused on pouring into others.
And it takes time.

(24:28):
It doesn't happen overnight.
And what we've got to decide iswhether or not we're gonna live
for the momentary applause ofpopular recognition with a new
fad, or if we're gonna live forthe reproduction of our lives
for the generation after us, andthe generation after us and the
generation after us.
That's where the multiplicationand disciple making starts to
come in.
So we set our focus on them, letthem see our lives.

(24:51):
I remember just practically inmy own life, down when I moved
down to New Orleans, I went downthere to study under a guy named
Dr.
Jim Shaddocks.
He was professor in preaching.
And I would take every class Icould with Dr.
Shaddocks, and I'd sit there andtake copious notes the whole
time.
And that was good, that wasvaluable.
But what I learned real quickwas it was good to be in the

(25:13):
classroom, but what I couldlearn from this guy outside the
classroom was even far morevaluable.
And he started inviting me to meand Heather to come over and eat
at their home and see theminteract with their family with
his family, to see him as hetraveled and he preached on the
road, and I would go along withhim and listen to him.
I know he was a big runner.
He's one of those guys, some ofyou are like that, that think

(25:35):
running is just fun just to doit for no reason, but just to
run.
I'm gonna go run one day.
I'm just not that kind of guy.
I you gotta have some sense ofcompetition to get me going.
I just don't find the fun in therunning.
But but Jim Shaddox was arunner.
And so one day I come home fromclasses and I'm there in our

(25:56):
little seminary apartment.
I'm changing into shorts and at-shirt, and Heather says, you
know, what are you doing?
I said, I'm going to run.
She said, You're running?
I said, Yeah.
She said, Dr.
Shaddocks is running, isn't he?
It's like, yeah.
She said, Whatever Dr.
Shaddocks does, David does.
And so he goes off.

(26:18):
I start running.
Well, that only lasted aboutthree weeks, but the point is,
this guy began to pour his lifeinto mine.
He began to invest in me.
I was preaching at thisconference this weekend here at
the church.
There's a guy of the youth groupthat comes here.

(26:40):
He comes up to me afterwards.
I'd met him once before.
I don't hardly know him.
He says, You studied under JimShattocks, didn't you?
I said, Yeah, I even ran withhim.
He said, I could hear JimShattocks all over you
preaching.

(27:00):
And it was one of thoserealizations, as I thought about
these truths, that my pro mylife is a product of somebody
else investing their life in me.
Now, what happens when a wholefaith family gets a hold of
this?
And we start doing that inothers' lives.
Do you see how the gospel startsto multiply?

(27:23):
Maybe Jesus knew what he wastalking about.
So set your focus on them.
And not just set your focus, butthen second, see the world
through them.
See the world through them.
He looks at them.
He says, I pray for them, I'mnot praying for the world.
Now, how do you reconcile that?
John 3.16, God so loved thewhat?
The world.
Jesus, God in the flesh, I don'tknow praying for the world.

(27:46):
Why not?
You love the world.
Why would Jesus say, I'm notpraying for the world?
Why would he go out of his wayto tell us I'm not praying for
the world?
He does it because.
Not because he doesn't careabout the world, doesn't want
the world to come know hisfather's love.
But what he's doing is he'spraying for these guys because
they're going to be the means bywhich the world is reached.

(28:06):
He's seeing the world throughthem.
He knows he's about to go to theFather, and it's their lives
that are going to have an impacton the world from this point on.
So he prays for them.
Because he's, because everythingis dependent on them taking that
gospel, taking the word andshowing it and sharing it.
That's why he prays for them.
And this is this is so good, andit's encouraging, this is

(28:28):
comforting for us.
You know, I use that FrenchQuarter illustration.
I remember when we moved down toNew Orleans, I started going
down to the French Quarter, andI'd come back and I'd say,
Heather, I'm just from such adifferent background than all
these homeless men and women andtarot card readers, from such a
different background than theyare.
I don't know how to reach themwith the gospel.

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And I started wrestling withthat, and I'd come home and be
like, maybe I need to get sometattoos.
It'll enable me to be moreeffective.
In one of those moments whereI'm so zealous for the gospel,
my wife just kind of brings meback down to earth and says,
Let's pray about this one, Dave.
How could I reach all thesehomeless guys with the gospel?

(29:12):
But then I began to realize it'snot about me getting tattoos.
Thank you, Lord.
It's not about me gettingtattoos and making the gospel
known among these hundreds ofpeople in the French quarter.
Myself, it's about me pouring mylife into a couple of guys who

(29:32):
are home and seeing them beginto take the gospel and make it
real and meaningful in theircontext.
And so all of a sudden I beginto see the homeless community
through the eyes of these guys,a couple of them that I'm
pouring my life into.
And that's good news.
We start to see the gospelmultiplied as you pour your life

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into this person who has thatsphere of influence, and this
person who's that that sphere ofinfluence.
That's what Jesus is doing righthere.
And not just here, but aroundthe world.
I've told you some of mystruggles with trying to learn
the Mandarin language.
But then it hits me.
As I'm trying to learn Mandarinlanguage, I realize I can speak
fluent Mandarin.

(30:14):
And I'm not just doing wishfulthinking here.
I can speak fluent Mandarin.
Here's how.
Because there are house churchesin East Asia this week who are
downloading these sermons andwho are preaching them in house
church networks all over thatarea.
Mandarin being spoken there.
That was easy.

(30:36):
Same thing with the Urdulanguage in India as I email
back and forth with Zamir, thisMuslim background believer, who
emailed me over the last coupleof weeks.
And as the Lord brings it toyour mind, I would encourage you
to pray for him.
One of his friends was killedrecently for proclaiming the
gospel by militant Muslims, andit's really hurt the growth and
expansion of the gospel there.

(30:58):
But I have the opportunity toproclaim the gospel in Urdu
through Zimir.
See the world through them.
Now you see, are you catchingit?
Local, global, bring themtogether.
Now what we do here on a dailybasis has the opportunity to
impact the world for the gloryof Christ.
Man, this is a good plan.
Set your focus on them, see theworld through them, and third,

(31:20):
stake your life on them.
Man, this is where it getsreally, really good.
Stake your life on them.
Jesus has said, glory has cometo me through them.
They are my glory.
I've lived for them.
He has staked everything onthese guys.
Some would not say that was awise decision, but he did.
He staked everything on them.

(31:40):
So what does this look like inour lives?
Well, let's take a bridge herefrom Jesus and let's go to a guy
named Paul.
I think Paul shows us this.
Turn to the right with me to 1Corinthians chapter 10.
You gotta see this.
There's some verses that I'mguessing some of you are very
familiar with, but you gottaunderline them or put a little
note beside them because you'regonna see maybe a familiar

(32:02):
verse, but you're gonna seedisciple making the center of
it, maybe for the first time.
Look at 1 Corinthians chapter10, verse 31.
It's a very, very common verse.
1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse31.
Paul, the guy who's writingthis, says, Whatever whether you
eat or drink, or whatever youdo, do it all for the what?

(32:24):
Glory of God.
So we do everything.
We drink orange juice to theglory of God.
We do everything to the glory ofGod.
Now, what does that look like?
Well, that's what he says next.
Do not cause anyone to stumble,whether Jews, Greeks, or the
church of God.
Even as I try to pleaseeverybody in every way, listen
to what he says.
This is the heart of a disciplemaker, for I am not seeking my

(32:47):
own good, but the good of many,so that they may be saved.
He's living for the sake of theglory of Christ and others.
Now listen to what he says in 1Corinthians 11, 1.
Follow my example as I followthe example of Christ.
What a bold statement.
For Paul to come on the sceneand say, you guys, follow me,

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and you will be followingChrist.
Some of your translations say,imitate me and you will be
imitating Christ.
Is that a bold statement orwhat?
For you to say to the people inyour sphere of influence, follow
me and you will be followingChrist.
Are we supposed to say that?
Isn't that a little bold?
No, that's exactly what we'resupposed to say.

(33:31):
That's the essence of what thiswhole thing is about.
And it's not just a moment wherePaul was feeling pretty
confident.
Go over to Philippians chapter3.
Look at Philippians chapter 3.
He says the same thing again.
Look at Philippians chapter 3,verse 17.
Underline these verses.
Make a note.
This is a picture.
What it means to stake your lifein showing others Christ.

(33:56):
He says, Philippians 3, 17, joinwith others in following my
example, brothers, and take noteof those who live according to
the pattern we gave you.
Follow my example.
He comes down to the end of thischapter.
He says, in verse 20, we eagerlywait a Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ, who listened to this bythe power that enables him to

(34:17):
bring everything under hiscontrol will transform our holy
bodies.
He's going to transform us sothey'll be like his glorious
body.
Therefore, my brothers, you whomlisten to this, you whom I love
and I long for, my joy and mycrown, that is how you should
stand firm in the Lord.
Paul looked at the believers whoare in front of him in this

(34:38):
letter and he said, I love you,I long for you.
You are my crown, you are myjoy, you are my life.
Then you get down to verse 9 inPhilippians 4.
He says, Whatever you havelearned or received or heard
from me or seen in me, put itinto practice, and the God of
peace will be with you.
He says, Follow me.

(35:01):
Follow me, and you'll befollowing Christ.
That's a bold statement.
Some of you are thinking, well,I'm not supposed to be able to
say that.
That's too arrogant.
It's not arrogant.
It's arrogant to sit back on thesidelines and to shirk our
responsibility to show the wayto Christ and leave the world on

(35:22):
its own to see his character.
That is arrogance.
That is self-centeredness.
It is humility.
It is deep humility to say, I'mgoing to lay down my life so
that you see Christ in me, sothat you can imitate and follow
me, and you'll be followingChrist.
And that is a whole new level ofChristianity that God calls all
of us to.

(35:45):
Turn over to one more, 1Thessalonians.
You've got to see this one.
Look at 1 Thessalonians chapter2.
1 Thessalonians chapter 2, verse19, 20.
Listen to this.
I referenced it last week.
I want you to read it, maybeunderline it there.
1 Thessalonians 2, 19 to 20.
Paul speaking again.
He says, What is our hope?

(36:08):
Our joy?
Or the crown on which we willglory in the presence of our
Lord Jesus when he comes?
Is it not you?
Indeed, you are our glory andour joy.
Did you catch that?
Paul says, when the Lord Jesuscomes back, and I'm held
accountable for what I've donewith the gospel he has entrusted
to me and the mission he'sentrusted to me, my joy will be

(36:29):
you.
Your lives, living for the gloryof Christ.
He says later in chapter 3,verse 8, and this is the
summation of the whole thing.
Chapter 3, verse 8, he says, nowwe really live since you are
standing firm in the Lord, theemphasis being on you.
Did you catch that?
I live, Paul said, because youare standing firm in the Lord.

(36:52):
My life is staked on youstanding firm in the Lord.
If you don't stand firm in theLord, then I miss out.
So we live for the sake ofothers to see the glory of
Christ, to show the glory ofChrist.
We set our focus on people.
We see the world through them.
And we stake our life on them.

(37:16):
I know those of you who areparents in here know what that's
like with a child.
To live for them.
I know in my own life, my mom,my dad, the biggest smile on my
dad's face was when I was doingwhat Christ had called me to do.

(37:37):
What happens when we love likethat in this world?
What happens when we live foreach other?
Now we're getting to the heartof New Testament Christianity.
And it's not this routine we gothrough on Sundays to come to a

(37:59):
place.
It's the people that we areliving for.
Live for his glory through them.
We display his character tothem, we live for his glory
through them.
And third, we nurture hisholiness in them.
Come back to John 17.
And you come to verse 11, andyou see Jesus offer a petition,

(38:23):
an individual petition, prayerfor these guys.
And he starts it off in verse11.
He said, I remain in the worldno longer, they are still in the
world, and I'm coming to you.
And so he says, Holy Father.
It's the only time in thegospels where we see Jesus refer
to the Father with that term.
Not that he hasn't always beenholy, but he emphasizes his

(38:44):
holiness.
Why?
Because he goes on to pray,protect them by the power of
your name, so that they may beone as we are one.
While I was with them, Iprotected them and kept them
safe by that name you gave me.
He prays to protect and keepthem.
Now these words, if we had time,we'd dive into John and see.

(39:05):
But most often this wholekeeping, protecting idea is not
as much intended to talk aboutphysical protection.
It is the spiritual protectionthat's tied to all we've seen
here.
Protect them in your name iswhat he's saying.
Keep them showing yourcharacter.
He said, I have continuallyshowed your character to them.
I have kept your characterconstantly in front of them.

(39:26):
And so as he prays for them, heprays that these guys would
continually display hischaracter.
He has lived to nurture hisholiness in them.
And now he prays that God wouldkeep them solid in that.
And what we're seeing is acontrast between the disciples
and the world.
It's a contrast we see allthroughout John 17.
We'll dive into it more twoweeks from now.

(39:47):
But the contrast is there.
And what we're seeing allthroughout this chapter, when it
comes to this idea of holiness,and I pray over the next two
weeks that God would transformour views of holiness and what
that word means.
We're only going to get to thetip of the iceberg today.
We'll see it more in the nexttwo weeks.
But when it comes to holiness,you've got the disciples in the
world.
And what Jesus is saying here iswe've got to avoid two extremes.

(40:10):
Two extremes.
Number one, extreme, is totalseparation from the world.
Now, by separation, I meanmainly physical right here.
Because yes, holiness in aspiritual sense is separation.
We come out and we're separate.
But what Jesus is not sayinghere is that his plan involves
rescue planes coming in to getthe disciples and taking them
out of the world.

(40:31):
Michael and Michelangelo,Gabriel, get the planes ready.
We've got to get these guys outbecause it's a tough place to
live.
That's not what he prays for.
And he doesn't pray that theFather would keep them in a
safety deposit box so they arecompletely preserved from evil
and suffering in the world.
It's not what he prays.
And so we avoid separation fromthe world.

(40:51):
We are in the world.
We do not watch Fox News atnight, turn it off, and turn a
deaf ear to the needs in theworld and say the world is
really struggling in a lot oftrouble right now.
We are in this thing, and Godhas put us in this thing for a
reason.
So we don't separate from theworld.
We're not out of here.

(41:13):
At the same time, we avoid theother extreme.
The other extreme is totalsaturation in the world.
To the point where you got theworld and the church, and you
can't tell the difference.
These guys were going to be inthe world, but they were not of
the world, it says in chapter13, verse 13 and 14.
So they were there, a part ofthe world.

(41:34):
But the most effective way tomake disciples in our culture is
not to make ourselvesindistinguishable from the
culture, which is what somepeople think.
If we're going to be affected,then we become like the world.
Not like the world, we're withthe world, but not like the
world.
And we're not different just forthe sake of being different,
just to be kind of these weirdpeople.
But we are in the world showingthe character of God, including

(41:58):
his holiness.
And we've gotta we've gotta becareful here.
If you know much about thechurch in England, you know that
it was just over a century agothat a guy named Charles
Spurgeon was preaching to packedhouses, people coming to know
Christ and coming to the gospeland droves.

(42:21):
About a century later, now,today, in England, the church is
struggling.
Those churches that may havebeen full a century ago, many of
them empty.
How does that happen in onecentury?
Is that a humbling thought orwhat?
As we sit here in a crowded roomto know that a century now from

(42:44):
now, this building's a warehousefor something else.
How does that happen?
Well, I don't want tooversimplify it, but there's one
historian, and I was reading ina biography, he said this.
In England, the churchaccommodated the drives for
money, status, and power in thenew order.

(43:05):
Secularism had infiltrated thechurch on a grand scale, at
first as a sincere way toattract worldly people, but
gradually secularism becamedominant and transformed the
church.
The church began to look likethe world.

(43:30):
When they look at our lives withChrist in them, then when they
look at lives without Christ inthem, then we have undercut the
mission of the gospel from thestart.
That's why holiness is apriority.
That's why we live for holinessin each other.

(43:55):
The two extremes are totalseparation and total saturation.
The example Jesus has given ushere is total sacrifice for the
world.
What Jesus is saying here isthat these guys are going to be
in the middle of a world of eviland suffering.
And I'm praying, Father, thatyou would keep their character

(44:20):
in you strong, that they wouldsacrifice the comforts of this
world and the sinful desires ofthis world to show your
character.
I think it really comes down to,well, really two main facets.
When it comes to comes to theworld, you've got sin and
suffering.

(44:40):
Think about it in two ways.
When it comes to sin, ladies andgentlemen, we want to live holy
lives.
We want to be pure.
We want to reflect the characterof God so that we will show this
world that there is a God who issuperior over sin, that there is
a Savior who has conquered sin.

(45:02):
The tragedy is, if we live liveswhere we're doing the same
things when it comes to ourlanguage and the way we do
business and pornography and ourmarriages, if we're living just
like the rest of the world is,then the world looks at us and
the glory of Christ iscompromised because they don't
see a people that are showingthat Jesus is superior over sin,

(45:22):
that he conquer sin, thatliving, they see the lives of
people who are living just asenslaved to sin as everybody
else.
And so, students, whether you'rehere at Brook Hills or you're
visiting here this morning, whenit comes to purity and the
temptations you face to beimpure in your life as a
teenager, I want to urge you,based on God's word, to be pure,

(45:45):
not just for your sake, but forthe sake of other students who
need to see the purity ofChrist, who are longing to see a
picture of purity and holiness,and to see that there is someone
who makes a difference in mylife.
And we live in our lives,husbands and wives, we
sacrifice, husbands, men, wesacrificed our lives for our
wives.
We outserve them.

(46:05):
Why?
So that the world sees a pictureof Christ and his church.
So the world sees the love thatChrist has for his bride.
That's why we do that.
Our struggles with sin take on awhole new shape when we realize
we're a part of making disciplesand we are living for the sake
of others.
And not just in sin, but insuffering.

(46:29):
John chapter 15.
You go back and you read thelast half of it, the beginning
of John 16.
Jesus tells his disciples, youguys are gonna go through
difficult times.
He said, The world hates me andthey're gonna hate you.
And they persecuted me, they'regonna persecute you also.
He comes to John 16, verse 2 and3, somewhere in there.

(46:51):
He says, He says, There's gonnabe a day where religious people
think they are honoring God bytaking your life.
He knew that they were gonna gothrough difficulty.
And it's true, out of those 11guys, ten of them died martyrs'

(47:11):
deaths.
What he prayed for was that inthe middle of that, they would
hold fast to the character ofGod and they would trust in him.
Because when they did, theywould show the word most clearly
to the world.
And it makes sense.
How did Jesus show the characterof the Father most clearly to us

(47:34):
on a cross in the middle ofsuffering?
And this is a sobering thought,and I'll be honest with you, as
your pastor, I don't realize allthe ramifications of it, but I
believe it's what scriptureteaches.
If we're gonna give ourselves tomaking disciples of all nations

(47:55):
as a church, if we're gonna showthe character of Christ, then
it's gonna involve suffering.
How can we ever show thispicture of Christ to the world
if everything always goes rightfor us?

(48:18):
And that's tough for us torealize in a culture of
affluence and where we get whatwe want.
But if we're gonna show Christto the world, it's gonna involve
showing his character in themiddle of suffering and don't
miss it.
Jesus has prayed for us and heprays for us, he intercedes for

(48:40):
us.
Father, protect them with thesame protection you gave your
people when you spit split theRed Sea in half, with the same
protection you gave your peoplewhen I walk to the cross, the
same protection he wants to giveto us.
But what that means is we inthis process of disciple making
sacrifice ourselves for theworld.

(49:02):
That leads us to a few questionsthat I want to ask you.
First question I want to askeach of you in this room is who
has God given you to show theword to?
I want you to think about thefact that the people in your
life and your spirit ofinfluence are not accidentally

(49:24):
there, that maybe, just maybe,God does have this thing rigged
and he has put you in the placewhere you are for a reason.
Who can you show the word to?
In your home, but not just inyour home, yes, in your home,
but in your neighborhood, inyour community, in your
workplace.
Who can you show the word to?

(49:45):
Second question is how can youshow them the word?
Not accidentally, hopefullythey'll see Christ in me.
How can you intentionally showthem the character of God and to
plan intentionally how thatlooks?
And then third question, what doyou need to sacrifice in order

(50:08):
to show them the word?
Say, what do you mean?
What do I need to sacrifice?
Well, if there are some sinsthat you have been captive to
for a while now, some thingsthat you're holding on to, the
desires of this world, then Iwant to urge you this morning to
sacrifice them so that the gloryof Christ and his character and

(50:29):
his holiness might be made knownthrough you.
For others of us, what does itmean we need to sacrifice?
For a lot of us, it's our pride.
It's our pride of saying, I'vegot the plan for my life.
We need to lay it down and startto give ourselves to the plan
Jesus has.
For many of us, it's ourpossessions.

(50:52):
What do you need to give inorder to show the character of
God in this community and theworld?
For a lot of us, it's ourcomfort.
We sing, we cling so tightly toour comforts and our comfort
zone.
What do we need to sacrifice inorder to display the character
of God?

(51:12):
And I'm guessing for almost allof us, one thing we need to
sacrifice is our fear.
There's a lot of fear that comeswith standing up and saying to
the people around you, if youlook at me, you're gonna see
Christ.
If you follow me, you'll followChrist.
But I want to remind you thatGod has not given us a spirit of

(51:34):
fear.
He has given us a spirit ofpower and of love and of self
discipline.
He has put his spirit inside ofus.
So let's let's give ourselves towhat he's called us to do.

SPEAKER_00 (51:45):
We hope you've enjoyed this week's episode of
David Platt Messages.
For more resources from DavidPlatt, we invite you to visit
radical.net.