How To Know Whether You're Down or Out
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Greg Waybright
- John 15:1-17
- Knocked Down But Not Out
- 38 mins 56 secs
- Views: 1271
Pastor's Note
Do you ever wonder if you're a genuine follower of Jesus? How do you know? We sometimes say, "Did you believe?" Jesus says, "Do you believe? Do you abide in me?" This week we'll look at whether we are bearing fruit or just pretending to. He gives us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. This is the mark of a true believer.
Study Notes
How To Know Whether You're Down Or Out - Week 8 - Study Notes
How to Know whether you're down or out
John 15:1-17
I will never forget the first hospital visit I made as a pastor. I was the youth pastor at a church in Wisconsin and one of our most active church members was quite ill and was not expected to live. The Sr. Pastor asked me to go over and visit him and told me, “This probably will be an easier visit than you might think, Greg. ‘Bill’ is a faithful Christian and I think you will find he will encourage you.”
But, after I had read some Scripture to him that day, Bill said to me, “Pastor Greg, could I talk to you about something that is a heavy burden for me? I don’t know who else to talk to about it. As much as church has been at the center of my life, I’m not sure I’m ready to meet God.” He went on to tell me that he had prayed the prescribed prayer for salvation his Sunday school teacher had led him in when he was a young boy. He had gone forward after a sermon at a camp when he was in high school too -- and prayed to receive Jesus again just to make sure he was saved. But, I remember Bill telling me that the two things that plagued him were 1) that there was hidden sin in his life that he could never overcome, and 2) he had often experienced doubt, mostly because he not had any clear and undeniable personal encounters with God –not the kind that he had heard others speak about. I’ll tell you this: Bill’s heart was troubled. He was afraid.
Now that I have been a pastor for so long, I must tell you honestly that I have had a number of conversations with people like the one I had with Bill that day. On the other side, I also have had many very different meetings in hospitals, like the one I had with my father just before Christmas. My father was sure of his relationship to God. He walked and talked with God every day and was ready to meet the Lord. The last words my Dad said to me came through his doctor. She said, “Your Dad said to tell Greg that I know the Lord -- and he is calling me home.” Is it possible actually to have that kind of certainty?
In the Gospel of John, it’s very clear to me that Jesus intended for us to have the kind of confidence in our relationship to God that my Father had. John tells us that this is why he wrote the book in John 20:31: These things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. Then John built on that in his first letter: I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life (1 John 5:13).
Today, I want to ask this question: How do we know that we are eternally alive to God? This is a part of what Jesus takes up in John 15:1-17. And you’ll notice that Jesus didn’t talk about this in the way we often do in evangelical churches. He didn’t say, “You can know you are spiritually alive if you prayed a certain prayer back sometime in your past.” That would be like someone saying you are physically alive if you have a birth certificate. No, Jesus talked in different terms of how we know we belong to God. Make note of this up front: Jesus is not speaking in these verses about how we are saved – but how we know we are saved.
Back to the vineyard to get the setting: (I’ll show here a Judean vineyard.)
On this last day of his life, Jesus probably stopped alongside a vineyard to talk with his disciples about important matters they needed to know when he was gone. To grasp the significance of this, you should know that a vine and vineyard had special significance in the Hebrew Scriptures. The vineyard was the way God had repeatedly described Israel as his people in the OT. In other words, to say you are a part of God’s vineyard is like us saying we’re a part of God’s family. Those in the vineyard viewed themselves as being there by virtue of their bloodline, i.e., through a biological relationship to Abraham. Jesus is saying that the people of Israel were the specially chosen people of God through whom the savior of the world was to come. But, as we saw in John 14:6, now that the Messiah, i.e., Jesus, has come, people come into “God’s vineyard”, through Jesus. There is no other way, Jesus insisted. “No one comes to the Father except through me.”
So, here, Jesus is declaring, “I am the vine connecting you to the Father.” By that, he meant that all who believe in him enter in to the eternal family of God. But -- already one man who had seemed to be intimately connected to Jesus by faith had gone out to betray him. And Jesus had said that Judas Iscariot, perhaps the disciples most trusted by the other disciples, was not clean – Judas was not even saved. Judas was a person considered by everyone to be a Christian but he was not. Judas was not organically connected to Jesus so he was fit only to be “thrown into the fire and burned (15:6).” The 11 remaining disciples must have thought, “What about us? Maybe we aren’t real Christians either!” Jesus told them in 13:10 and again in 15:3, “No, you are clean. You are connected to the Father through me.”
But real-life difficulties would soon hit these believers. Peter would deny Jesus and fail. Thomas would doubt. Were they still Christians? How could people ever know that they truly are right with God in this world when they (and we) have to live by faith and no longer have Jesus by sight? Jesus points us to several evidences of genuine spiritual life, evidences that should be growing in all of us. What are they?
Evidence #1: Faith in the present tense: True believers abide in Jesus by faith.
Abide in me… (15:4). The evidence of true faith is not so much, “Did you once believe years ago?” as it is, “Are you a believer in Jesus?” And, I imagine you know that “belief” in the Bible is not merely intellectual assent. No, in the Bible, what we believe is demonstrated by how we live. Judas showed what he believed by leaving Jesus. People thought that Judas was a believer but he went away and “into the dark” (13:30). In 1 John 2:19, there was a group of people once in the church but who had left the faith. John said, “They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.”
Mark it down: A true believer believes in Jesus. People alive to God remain in the faith. You can tell the real McCoy because he sticks. This does not mean that believers never fail and that we never have doubts. Peter failed – but he returned. Thomas doubted but returned. John would declare in 1 John 1:8-9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Jesus says in John 15, “The person organically connected to me abides – he remains.”
Let me plunge briefly but directly into the question in this that has divided Christians for centuries: Can a person who, at one point, is truly alive to God through faith in Jesus lose eternal life? One impressive list of those who have gone before us – like Augustine, Calvin, John Knox and John Piper – would insist, “No! Salvation is God’s work and he will bring his work to completion.” Another impressive group of believers including Arminius, Wesley, Asbury and E. Stanley Jones – would insist, “Yes. A person can, as Hebrews says, ‘Taste of the goodness of the Word of God and then fall away…’”
I cannot solve that problem to anyone’s satisfaction in the moments we have here today – and our LAC Statement of Faith is crafted in such a way that we welcome believers in Jesus who are in both lists. But I will say this: No matter what your theological persuasion may be about this question, all Christians say that true believers believe in Jesus. If you do not believe now (in the present tense), you are not a believer. You are not abiding. You are not alive to God through an organic relationship with Jesus. The only practical part of the theological disagreement is whether you ever believed. And we can have good debates about that.
So, my question to you today is this: Are you a believer? Are you a follower of Jesus? True believers believe – in the present tense. We abide in Jesus and allow his presence to further his transforming work.
Evidence #2: Transforming Lives: True believers begin to look and act like Jesus.
Whoever abides in me and I in him bears much fruit (15:5).
We see here that, according to Jesus’ own words, when we follow him we do not simply commit ourselves to a set of religious beliefs. We invite Jesus to come in and absolutely transform the entirety of our lives. The Christian faith is a radical redirecting of every thought, attitude and action from self-direction and self-serving to self-surrender to the Lordship of Jesus. Jesus said it is like the relationship of a branch to the vine – all the nutrients and direction come from Jesus. Our lives begin to bear fruit that look like the way that Jesus’ life bore fruit – because Jesus is at work in and through us.
What is that fruit? I spoke about that at some length last week but, in brief: The fruit Jesus produces in us is anything that specifically results from Jesus’ work in and through us. Jesus says in v. 8 that the fruit is what glorifies God, i.e., people will see us and will begin to see that the words we speak, the attitudes we have, and the actions we engage in are different because we’re no longer living for ourselves but for him who died for us and rose again.
Let me tell you this: One of the surest evidences that Jesus is present and at work in your life is that you will begin to long to keep Jesus’ commands. I know this makes no sense to our world but it is true. The world thinks that freedom is being liberated from commands. Jesus says we will long to know his commands and to keep his commands just as Jesus kept the Father’s commands. “As I keep my Father’s commands and abide in his love, keep my commands and abide in my live (15:10).”
To illustrate this, let me remind you of a story of when I was in college. There was a young man on our floor I’ll call “Mike” who apparently had never embraced the value of good hygiene: He never showered -- rarely shaved -- never seemed to change clothes. We told him forcefully to clean up. We sometimes took him and threw him – clothes and all – into the shower. We mocked him about his messiness hoping that shame or guilt would get him to clean up. One time, we put our money together and sent him a box of soap, shampoo, deodorant, clean underwear, etc. On the evening after the package had arrived, we had a floor meeting and in comes Mike excited about his package. But, he said, “Guys, I got this great box of stuff. But I never use it and I know you do!” And he began handing all the things out to us! We finally gave up hope.
Then, one evening we were in the student center and the elevator door opened. Out came a guy who looked like Mike. But, he was shaved. His hair had been cut. He had on clean clothes. He smelled good!! Amazingly, when he spoke, we discovered: It was Mike! What had happened? What changed his life?
In a few moments, the elevator door opened again and then we understood. Out walked Amy. We learned that Mike had fallen in love with Amy – and apparently Amy with Mike. But, she had told him – had commanded him – “If you want to go out with me, you have to clean up.” And he did so. Gladly!!
We discovered that day that love transforms things in ways that guilt and shame never can. When we love, we want to please the one we love. And that is infinitely true in our relationship with Jesus. When we know him and love him, we know it because we want to keep his commands. And, because he and we know that we cannot do this on our own, he comes into us and gives us the power to do so. You can know you are a true believer when you have a growing longing to live in ways that please Jesus and you find yourself beginning to have strength to obey him.
If you think you’re a Christian but don’t love Him and you’re life is filled with sin rather than obedience to Him, you dare not think yourself safe and continue to sin. You won’t want to displease him by sinning. You’ll study his Word to discover how to live. You’ll ask for his help to live for him. And, like Mike did, you – and others -- will begin to see change. Whereas once you got your thrills by experiencing impure things, you will want to be pure. You will see that he wants you to give witness to him and whereas once you would not – because it might mean people rejecting you – you find great joy anytime you find the courage to speak of him. Whereas you once only thought about how other got ahead in business, now the first hope you have is that people will see how the way you do business is directed by Jesus.
I could go on and on about this – but I hope you get the point. You’ll know you are a true believer when you begin to see Jesus changing your life. Oh, you will sometimes fail as did Peter and Thomas – but you will come back to Jesus and he will receive you. You will long to please the One you love by keeping his commands. Which brings us to the final evidence – pointing us to Jesus’ greatest command.
Evidence #3: Deeping Love (the surest sign) – True believers grow in loving, as Jesus loved.
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you (15:12).
Have you ever noticed that the love of the same things often draws us together? If you’re a sports fan, you are drawn to other sports fans. If you love cars, you’re drawn to other car-lovers. But when you love the One who loves you so much he gave his life for you, you will know it because you will love to be with those who also love him. Jesus had said a few hours earlier in John 13 that the world will see it. They will know we are his followers by our love for one another. And in his first letter, John would say this even more forcefully: Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And Jesus has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister (1 John 4:19-20).
I know that we who are part of your eternal family are sometimes very difficult to love. But it’s also clear to me that we were all quite unlovable in the eyes of Jesus because of our sin – and while we were sinners he loved us so much that he died for us (Rom. 5:8). Jesus put it beautifully here: Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends and you are my friends… (John 15:13-14a).
One of the surest signs that your relationship with Jesus is real is that you will love those who love Jesus. You will want to worship with us – and will even give up some of your personal likes and dislikes to do so – just because you love us. You will want to serve us and to serve with us. You will want others to become a part of God’s unexpected and eternal family through faith in the one we love.
Let me close by telling you how I sought to counsel “Bill” when I was a 20-something year old pastor so long ago. I said to him, “Bill, Jesus tells us that a sure sign that you belong to him is that you love your brothers and sisters in Christ. All of us at our church have experienced your love for us.” And he said, “I do love my church.”
And, I said, even today, I see how deeply you long to please him. You are troubled in your conscience and convicted by God’s Spirit about the sins that you know displease him. You have confessed those sins and told me how much you long for his cleansing and transformation.” He said, “I have. I know that his death is enough to forgive me. I want to live for him.”
“Then,” I said, “I have but one question: Do you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Is Jesus your savior and Lord?" And he said, “I do. I do believe.” And I reminded him, “God loves you so much Bill that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him – believes in him – shall not perish but have eternal life. And Jesus said, ‘He who lives and believes in me, though he may die, will never die!’”
We now go to communion to remember the one who loves us so much that he laid down his life for us…
To His glory,
Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor
Greg Waybright • Copyright 2015, Lake Avenue Church
Chinese Translation
How To Know Whether You're Down Or Out - Week 8 - Study Notes - Chinese Translation
破碎但不丟棄----你如何知道自己是被神破碎，還是被丟棄
約翰福音15：1—17（二）
我永遠不會忘記我做牧師以後第一次去醫院的探訪。那時候，我是威斯康辛州一間教會的青年堂牧師。我們教會一個非常熱心的會友病得厲害，很可能將不久於世了。主任牧師讓我去探訪他，並且告訴我，“這次探訪可能會比你想象的要簡單。比爾是一個敬虔的基督徒。我想你會看到他反過來安慰你的。”
然而那天，當我為比爾讀完經文之後，他說，“格裏牧師，我能不能和你分享我心中一個很沈重的負擔？我不知道還能和誰說這些。我盡量讓教會成為我生命的中心，但是我不知道我有沒有準備好去見神”。他告訴我，從他很小的時候起，他就聽從主日學老師的帶領，每天按規定的禱告詞，為自己的救恩禱告。他也按照在一個高中福音營所聽到的信息中所說的做了---- 他接受了耶穌，以確保自己能得救。但是我記得，比爾當時告訴我，有兩件事最折磨他：第一，在他的生命中，有沒有隱藏的罪，是他所不能勝過的；第二，他常常會有懷疑，因為他從來沒有清楚地經歷過一些不可否認的遇見神的特別經歷，就是別人經常會提到的那種經歷。我可以告訴你：當時比爾的心很憂慮，也很害怕。
現在，我做牧師很久了。說實話，有許多次，我和會友之間的對話，和與比爾那天的對話很相似。同時，我也有許多去醫院探訪的不同經歷，比如在聖誕節前去醫院看望我的父親。我的父親很確定他和神的關系。他每天與神同行，向神禱告，已經準備好去見主的面了。他臨走前，讓醫生轉達了他要對我說的最後的話。醫生告訴我，“你父親說，告訴格裏，我知道我的主，祂現在要召我回家了”。一個人有沒有可能這麽確定自己的得救呢？
在約翰福音裏，很清楚，耶穌想要讓我們確信自己與神的關系，就像我的父親一樣。約翰告訴我們，這就是他寫下約翰福音20:31的原因：“但記這些事，要叫你們信耶穌是基督，是神的兒子。並且叫你們信了祂，就可以因祂的命得生命。”然後，約翰在他的第一封書信中繼續說：“我將這些話寫給你們信奉神兒子之名的人，要叫你們知道自己有永生。”（约翰一书5:13）
今天，我想問大家這個問題：“我們如何確定自己在神裏面有永生？這是耶穌在約翰福音15:1-17中所說的一部分內容。你會註意到，耶穌在談到這件事的時候，並不像我們在福音教會中通常所說的一樣，祂沒有說：“如果你過去曾經按照某種規格去禱告，你就會知道，自己在屬靈上能夠得救。這就好像在說，如果你有出生證明，你的身體就是活的。不是的，耶穌是以完全不同的理念告訴我們，我們要如何知道自己是屬神的。請特別留意下面這句話：在這些經文中，耶穌並不是說，我們如何得救，而是說，我們如何知道自己得救。
回到葡萄園的比喻中來了解經文的背景：（我會在這裏講講猶太人的葡萄園）
在耶穌生命的最後一天，祂可能停在了一個葡萄園裏，與祂的門徒談話，告訴他們一些祂離世之後門徒們需要了解的事情。你首先應該了解，葡萄藤和葡萄園在希伯來經文中的特殊意義。在舊約聖經中，神反復用葡萄園的比喻，將以色列人描述為祂的子民。換句話說，如果說你是神的葡萄園中的一部分，就意味著你是神家裏的一份子。那些在葡萄園中的人，將自己看做是與亞伯拉罕有生命連接的、有血緣關系的人。耶穌的意思是，以色列人是神特別的選民，世界的救主將從他們之中誕生。然而，約翰福音14:6中提到，彌賽亞，也就是主耶穌來到世間，人們藉著耶穌，才得以進入到神的葡萄園之中。耶穌說，“若不藉著我，沒有人能到父那裏去”。
因此，在這裏，耶穌宣告說，“我是葡萄樹，將你們與父神連接”。祂的意思是，所有相信祂的人，都會進入到神永恒的家中。然而，已經有一個人，似乎與耶穌有著親密的屬靈關系，卻背叛了祂。耶穌說，加略人猶大不潔凈。他很可能是最被其他門徒所信任的人。猶大沒有得到救恩。所有的人都認為猶大是基督徒，但是他不是。猶大與耶穌沒有生命的連接，所以他只能被“扔到火裏燒了”（15:6）。其余的十一個門徒一定在想，那麽我們呢？也許我們也不是真正的基督徒。耶穌在13：10和15:3中告訴他們，“不，你們是潔凈的。你們藉著我，和父神連接了。”
然而現實的困難很快就會打擊這些信徒。彼得否認耶穌，並且跌倒了。多馬懷疑祂。他們還算基督徒嗎？人們怎能知道，當他們看不到耶穌的時候，他們是不是真的靠著信心生活，並且與神同在？耶穌向我們指出下面幾個真實的屬靈生命的確據，這幾個確據，是我們所有人都應該擁有的：
確據之一：信心的現在進行時：真正的信徒靠著信心遵從耶穌
常在我裏面……（15:4）。真正的信心確據不僅如此，“你很多年前是不是曾經相信過？”那麽，“你相信耶穌嗎？”我想，你應該知道，聖經裏所說的“相信”並不僅僅是理智上同意。在聖經中，我們的信仰是靠著我們如何生活而顯明出來的。猶大藉著離開耶穌，而表明了他所信仰的。人們認為猶大是一個信徒，然而他離開了耶穌，進入黑暗之中（13:30）。在約翰一書2：19，提到一群人，曾經在教會中，後來離開了所信的。約翰說，“他們從我們中間出去，卻不是屬我們的。若是屬我們的，就比仍舊與我們同在。他們出去，顯明都不是屬我們的。”
記住，一個真正的信徒是信靠耶穌的人。凡向神活著的人，就會活在信仰之中。你可能會認為，凡是貨真價實的就不會是假冒的。但這並不意味著信徒永遠不會跌倒，或者我們永遠不會懷疑。彼得跌倒了，他卻又回轉了。多馬懷疑了，他卻回轉了。約翰在約翰一書1:8-9中宣告說，“我們若說自己無罪，便是自欺，真理不在我們心裏了。我們若認自己的罪，神是信實的，是公義的，必要赦免我們的罪，洗凈我們一切的不義。”耶穌在約翰福音第十五章中說，“你們若常在我裏面，我的話也常在你們裏面。”
讓我簡明扼要地提出這個困擾基督徒幾個世紀之久的問題：一個曾經在一段時間之內，藉著信心真實地活在神裏面的人，會不會失去永生？在我們之前曾經有很多人回答過這個問題，我這裏有一個的顯赫的名單 – 有奧古斯丁，加爾文，約翰•諾克斯，和約翰•派博，他們回答說：“不會！救恩是神的工作，祂會完成祂自己的工作”。另一群顯赫的信徒包括阿米紐，衛斯理，阿斯布雷和斯坦利•瓊斯，他們則堅持說：“是的，正像希伯來人所說的，一個人可以‘嘗到神話語的美好之後，卻又失落了…..’”
今天，我對這個疑問的解答，無法讓每個人都滿意，我們教會的信仰宣言接受這兩方所有相信耶穌的信徒。但是我要說，無論你對這個問題的神學觀點如何，所有的基督徒都認為，真正的信徒，是相信耶穌的。如果你現在還沒有相信祂（現在時），你就不是信徒。你沒有遵從耶穌。你沒有藉著與耶穌生命的連接，而活在神裏面。不論神學上有何種不同觀點，唯一重要的，就是你是否相信。你是不是跟隨耶穌？真正的信徒相信祂，而且是現在的狀態。我們遵從耶穌，與祂同在，並參與祂的改變生命的事工。
確據之二：改變生命：真正的信徒，在外貌和行為上都越來越像耶穌
我是葡萄樹，你們是枝子。常在我裏面的，我也常在他裏面，這人就多結果子。
從耶穌的話語中，我們看到，當我們跟隨祂的時候，我們並不是委身於一系列的宗教信條。我們邀請耶穌進到我們心中，祂就會完全改變我們整個的生命。基督信仰會完全地改變我們的每一個想法、態度和行為，使我們從自我中心、服事自我變為向主甘心順服。耶穌說，這就像枝子和葡萄樹之間的關系 – 所有的營養和目標都來自耶穌。我們的生命開始結果，正如耶穌的生命結果子一樣，因為耶穌在我們裏面，也藉著我們工作。
什麽是果子？我上周花了一些篇幅講了這個主題，簡單來說，耶穌在我們裏面所結的果子，就是耶穌住在我們的生命中，並藉著我們所做的工而得到的所有果效。在第八節，耶穌說，我們的果子就是神的榮耀，人們看到我們的行為，進而會看到，我們所說的話，我們的態度和我們的行為都不同了，因為我們不是為自己活，而是為了那為我們死而復活的主而活著。
讓我告訴你，一個有耶穌的同在、並且有祂的手在你生命中工作的最確鑿的證據，就是你會渴望遵守耶穌的命令。我知道，這對世界來說毫無意義，但這卻是真實的。世人認為，自由就是從命令中得到解放。耶穌說，正像祂要遵守父神的命令一樣，我們也會渴望遵從祂的命令。“你們若遵守我的命令，就常在我的愛裏。正如我遵守了我父的命令，常在祂的愛裏。”（15:10）
我要講一件我在大學裏發生的事情，來解釋這節經文。在我們宿舍的樓層裏，有一個年輕人，叫麥克，很明顯，他沒有很高的衛生標準。他從不洗澡，很少刮胡子，好像從來不換衣服。我們曾強迫他做清潔。有時候我們把他連帶他所有的臟衣服都扔進洗澡間。我們嘲笑他的臟亂，為要讓他知道羞恥和內疚，從而變得愛清潔。有一次，我們集資送了他一箱肥皂、洗發液、除臭劑和新的內衣褲。那天晚上，當那一箱東西到了之後，我們開了一個樓層會議，麥克走進來，興奮地看著他的箱子。他說：“我收到了一箱特別好的東西，但是我從來不用，我知道，你們都用的著！”然後他就開始把所有的東西都拿出來給我們。我們終於放棄了希望。
接下來，有一天晚上，我們正在學生中心，電梯門開了。走出來一個人很像麥克。但是他胡子刮得很幹凈，頭發剪過了，穿著幹凈的衣服，他身上的味道很好聞！當他說話的時候，我們都驚奇地發現，他正是麥克！怎麽回事？是什麽讓他改變了？
過了一會兒，電梯門又開了，我們明白了，艾米走了出來。我們知道了，麥克愛上了艾米，很顯然，艾米也愛上了麥克！但是她告訴他，命令他 – “如果你要跟我約會，就必須要收拾幹凈。”他就這樣做了，而且是高高興興地做了！
那一天，我們發現，愛改變事物的方式與羞愧和內疚完全不同。當我們愛的時候，我們想要我們所愛的人高興。在我們與耶穌的關系中，也同樣是如此的。當我們認識祂，愛祂的時候，我們想要遵從祂的旨意。因為祂和我們自己都知道，我們不能靠自己的辦法做到這點，祂就進入我們心中，賜給我們力量能如此行。你可以知道，當你越來越渴望以耶穌喜悅的方式來生活的時候，你就是一個真正的信徒，你也會發現自己開始有力量去順服祂了。
如果你認為自己是一個基督徒，但是卻不愛祂，也不順服祂，而且你的生命中也充滿了罪，那麽，你就不能一邊犯罪一邊還認為自己是安全的。你不會想要犯罪而讓祂不喜悅。你會學習祂的話語，學習如何生活。你會祈求祂的幫助，讓你可以為祂而活。正像麥克，你和其他人都會看到他的改變。以前，你曾經以不潔凈之事為榮，現在你會想要被神潔凈。你會看到，祂想要你為祂做見證。然而以前，你可能害怕人們拒絕你而沒有勇氣，現在，每當你有勇氣宣揚祂的時候，你都會找到極大的喜樂。以前，你可能只會想到其他人生意成功的原因，而現在，你最希望的是，人們能看到你做生意的方式，有著耶穌的帶領。
還有很多例子，我可以一直說下去，我希望你懂得我的重點。當你開始看到耶穌改變你生命的時候，你就知道自己是真正的信徒了。有些時候，你還是會像彼得和多馬一樣跌倒，但是你會重新回到耶穌面前，祂也會接受你。你會遵從你所愛的那一位的旨意，從而討祂的喜悅。這會帶給我們最終的確據 – 帶領我們走向耶穌的大使命。
確據之三：深刻的愛（最確鑿的標記）-- 真正的信徒會在愛心上不斷成長，正如耶穌愛世人
“你們要彼此相愛，像我愛你們一樣。”（15:12）
你發現了嗎？愛同一個東西，會將人們帶到一起。如果你熱衷於運動，你就會和其他愛好運動的人在一起。如果你喜歡車，你也會和其他喜歡車的人在一起。如果你愛那一位愛你，甚至為你舍命的人，你就會喜歡和那些同樣愛祂的人在一起。在約翰福音第十三章，耶穌上十字架的前幾個小時，祂曾經說，世人將會看到。他們會從我們彼此的相愛上，認出我們是祂的門徒。在約翰的第一封信中，他有力地表明了這點：“我們愛，因為神先愛我們。人若說，我愛神，卻恨他的弟兄，就是說謊話的。不愛他所看見的弟兄，就不能愛沒有看見的神。（約一4:19-20）。
我知道，在你永恒的屬靈的家中，我們有些人是很難去愛的。然而，我也清楚地知道，因著我們的罪，我們在耶穌的眼裏，也同樣是不可愛的，但當我們還是罪人的時候，祂卻如此地愛我們，甚至為我們舍命（羅5:8）。耶穌說了一句很美的話：“人為朋友舍命，人的愛心沒有比這個大的。你們……就是我的朋友了”（約翰福音15:13-14a）。
關於你與耶穌的關系的真實性，其中一個最確鑿的依據，就是你會愛那些愛耶穌的人。你會想要和我們一起崇拜 –-- 甚至你會放棄一些你自己的喜好，就因為你愛我們。你會想要服事我們，也願意和我們一起服事。你會想要其他人也藉著信靠我們所愛的那一位，而成為神永恒家裏的一份子。
在結束的時候，讓我告訴你，多年前，當我還是一個二十幾歲的牧師的時候，我是怎樣安慰比爾的。我對他說，“比爾，耶穌告訴我們，你屬於祂的一個確據，就是你愛那些在基督裏的弟兄姐妹。我們教會所有的人都經歷了你對我們的愛”。他說，“我真的很愛我的教會”。
然後我說，“即使在今天，我還看到你是這樣的渴望討祂喜悅。你受良心的困擾，為那些不討祂喜悅的罪而受定罪。你已經為那些罪悔改了，你告訴我說，你渴望祂的潔凈與改變”。他說：“是的，我知道，因著祂的受死，我已經得到了赦免，我想要為祂而活。”
然後我說：“我有一個問題，你相信耶穌基督嗎？耶穌是你的救主嗎？”他說：“是的，我相信。”我提醒他說：“神愛你，比爾，甚至將祂的獨生子賜給凡相信祂的人----凡相信祂的人----使他們不至滅亡，反得永生。耶穌還說，‘凡活著信我的人，必永遠不死！”
現在，我們用聖餐來紀念這位愛我們，甚至為我們舍命的主。
榮耀歸給神，
Greg Waybright 博士
主任牧師
Greg Waybright • Copyright 2015, Lake Avenue Church