The Path of Christ’s Disciples (John 13:21-36)

How can we follow the path of Christ’s disciples? God has poured out His love in our hearts by His Spirit. That love and grace must be demonstrated in us.

Let us bless one another, Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. We need to testify the name of Christ often in our lives. Instead of saying, “money, money, money,” we need to shout the name of Christ often, so that the curses of money will be broken down.

Today, I will share with you the Word of God that is entitled, “The Path of Jesus Christ’s Disciples.” Last week, God has led us with the Word He gave us, “The Kingdom of God Washes One Another’s Feet and Serves One Another.” The Word of God has power, and the Word of God has the power to change our deepest, inner, incorrect things. The deeper you go into God’s Word, the more you will receive grace and blessings.

1. The Path of the One Who Betrayed Jesus

In today’s passage, it was right before Jesus Christ died on the cross, and He was sharing His last supper with the disciples in Mark’s Upper Room. Among the disciples in the last supper, there was someone named Judas Iscariot.

1) Judas Iscariot

There are many Judas’s in the Bible, but this is Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. This Judas was in charge of all of Jesus’ finances, but John 12:6 says that this person was someone who stole that offering. In other words, it’s someone who would lose his mind when he saw money. Judas Iscariot was someone who was very sensitive to finances, and John 13:2 said that the devil had finally put the thought in Judas Iscariot’s mind to betray Jesus for money.

To whom does Satan attach himself to? Satan puts a thought in someone who has already been a slave to something their entire life. If I had a desire to make money in an honest way with integrity, then no matter what a conman or swindler says to me, I won’t get swept up by it. However, if I have the thought of trying to make a lot of money without working hard for it, then the conman would be able to take over me immediately. Judas Iscariot was always a slave to money, but when the time came, Satan put this thought in his head.

Jesus knew this and continuously gave His Word; He wanted Judas to turn around, however, no matter how much Jesus Christ gave him the word, Judas Iscariot did not have the heart to turn around. In John 13:21, Jesus was so troubled in spirit, He said, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.” When the disciples asked, “Who is this disciple?” Jesus replied, “The one to whom I give this bread will betray me,” so Jesus continuously gives us the Word of God to make us turn around, but Judas did not want to do that; he held onto the thoughts that Satan gave him.

In John 13:27, as soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. There is a difference between Satan putting his thoughts in our head and Satan coming into us. When Satan enters into us, he completely controls all our thoughts and our will. Judas does not turn around, so in John 13:30, it says, “As soon as Judas took the bread and went out, it was night,” it means he’s going into complete darkness. Instead of escaping with the Words of Jesus Christ which are light, he goes into complete darkness.

Ultimately, Judas sells Jesus Christ for 30 shekels, and even though he receives the money, he commits suicide. You can only commit suicide if you’re seized by the devil. Everybody wants to preserve their life; no one can kill themselves unless they are possessed by the devil.

2) Ahithophel

In the Old Testament, there was a counselor David completely trusted, Ahithophel, and he was very well educated and intelligent. In John 13:18, Jesus Christ was actually referencing something David said in Psalm 41:9. The fact that Judas Iscariot also turned his heel against Jesus Christ when he received bread from Jesus means that Judas had betrayed Jesus.

Just like that, Ahithophel betrayed David, his king, and David knew he would be betrayed. David’s counselor, Ahithophel, was someone who supported David’s son Absalom in his revolt against King David. Ultimately, Absalom does not receive Ahithophel’s support nor his ideas, and in the end, Ahithophel committed suicide.

3) Adam

Betrayal and treason are not the works of mankind; they are the works of the devil. In Genesis 3, Satan goes into the serpent and plants the thought of betraying God into Adam and Eve so they would betray God. Satan approached Adam and Eve in a state where they would be shaken, just like Judas was, and surprisingly enough, their physical eyes were opened as their spiritual eyes became dim.

Satan uses the temptation of their greed, telling them they can become like God, and that allows them to betray God, ultimately sinning against Him and becoming separated from God. Every human being has that inner ability, and even spouses have this between them, parents and children have this, and even in the business field, everybody has this nature of betrayal, so betrayal and treachery naturally occur, but the central focus of all this betrayal is our greed.

Everybody has the nature of betrayal, so betrayal and treachery naturally occur, but the central focus of all this betrayal is our greed. Greed is idolatry, and Satan attacks us using this point.

Greed is idolatry, and it is the point upon which Satan attacks. Why would two people stop being friends? When one person is no longer of benefit to them. When would spouses divorce? When divorce is a benefit to me. “If I keep staying with someone, it is suffering, so it is better for me to get a divorce.” It’s the same between sellers and consumers in the business field. If the consumer thinks, “This product is not worth my money,” they will turn around and take their business elsewhere, but when will consumers flock to the sellers? If they think the purchase benefits the consumer.

The method to everyone’s life is that everyone is able to betray, and today’s message is about, “How can you not betray?” How can you be a good businessperson? If you do not harm others. That’s a good businessperson. Bill Gates is providing a benefit to all mankind, that’s why he’s a good businessperson.

The opposite of betrayal is love. Love is the opposite of hatred and betrayal. If Adam and Eve had loved God more, then they would not have betrayed Him by listening to the devil’s words. The reason why there’s suffering in all mankind is that there is so much betrayal in the world. Humans have no other choice; no matter how well we are educated, betrayal is bound to arise. No matter sane or intelligent you are, you are bound to betray or be betrayed. You wouldn’t be betrayed by a stranger; the people closest to you are the ones who betray you; that was Adam.

When Jesus Christ knew that Judas was going to betray him, He said, “Now the Lord will be glorified,” God’s glory is talking about the fulfillment of God’s plan, which is the incident that will solve all mankind’s problems. Even though Jesus Christ tried to turn Judas away from his path, Judas just went his own path, and through that path, Jesus was crucified on the cross. Ultimately, God was glorified.

2. Jesus’ New Command

Jesus’ death on the cross was the greatest blessing to us. While we were sinners, Jesus died upon the cross for us and demonstrated God’s love for us. Today, we receive the Word of God regarding God’s love. When we betrayed God as sinners, God died on the cross to solve our sins, thereby demonstrating His love for us. Unless that love goes into a person, no human being can become a righteous person.

1) God’s Glory (John 13:31-32)

The more you learn, the more you will betray God. Does that mean that a foolish person will not betray God? Even they will; only when the love of God enters into someone will the betrayal disappear.

Jesus talks about the incident of His death on the cross and says, “You will not be able to come with Me.” The disciples keep saying they want to follow Jesus Christ because they think He will stay alive, but Jesus says, “You will not be able to come,” and that means Jesus is saying, “Only Jesus Christ can solve the problems of mankind.”

What is the beginning of the problems of mankind? All mankind’s problems begin from us betraying God. That is why human relationships are always met with hatred, betrayal, and conflict. Even when we’re trying to run a business, if we’re full of betrayal, hatred, and conflict, people will not stay with us. However, when we are filled with God’s love, people will stay with us. That is the number one principle of business. But if you’re trying to run your business holding onto something called betrayal, you will continue to have betrayal arise in your businesses.

What is the beginning of the problems of mankind? All mankind’s problems begin from us betraying God.

When I first came to America, there was a toothpaste salesman who came to my house and demonstrated two models of teeth that were coated in some silver, and when you scrubbed it with Korean toothpaste, the silver would come off, but when he rubbed the model with an American toothpaste, the silver would not come off. The salesman told me, “Brushing your teeth with the Korean toothpaste will erode your enamel, but using the American toothpaste will not erode your teeth.”

From that point on, I keep using the American toothpaste. Why do you think I keep using it? Because it is a benefit to me, and why do you think that product continues to be sold? Because it benefits me. Of course, that toothpaste is made by a company that follows another religion.

What do you think “Love” and “Betrayal” are? They appear in your businesses as well. If you love someone, then you will benefit that person, so consumers are bound to follow you. How can you give benefits to others? You must first receive the love from God. “I was a sinner, and unless I receive the grace and love from God first, I cannot have that love come out of me.” From my perspective, I think that all businesses and human relationships must share this same principle.

2) New Command (John 13:34)

In the Old Testament, God gave us the commandment of the Law, but now that Jesus Christ had come to this earth, He gave us a new command to love one another as Jesus loved us. Then, what will happen? In John 13:35, “By this, everyone will know that You are my disciples.” Who will know? Everyone will know that you are a disciple of Jesus Christ. Nonbelievers will know, and people from other religions will know.

3) Standard of a Disciple

Today, Jesus talks about disciples and love. The opposite of love contains words such as hatred, betrayal, and the inability to forgive. The Lord is telling us what the standard of His disciples is. In John 8:31, “If the words of Jesus Christ remain within you, you are Jesus’ disciples.” If the words and teaching of Jesus Christ are held within my heart, I am Jesus’ disciple.

Do you become a disciple by having a lot of knowledge of the world? If Jesus’ words are supposed to be in your heart, you must begin by denying yourself. If the Word of God is not within our heart, we will be filled with our own thoughts and emotions, and Satan will drag us around with the thoughts he plants in us.

But we’re under a misconception. People will think that, “I’m greater than everyone else in the world; I’m at a higher level than others. They think that if they have a different kind of ideology, philosophy, or greater knowledge than other people, but that’s still irrelevant to God. That’s still not the Word of God. That has come from the world. Therefore, only the one who remains within the Word of God is able to follow Jesus Christ.

John 15:8 says that the people who do this will bear much fruit. How can we bear fruit? The branch much be attached to the vine in order for the branch to bear much fruit. Our hearts must remain attached to Jesus Christ in order for us to bear fruit. Why do we not have fruit? Because my thoughts and hearts are attached to my thoughts, experience, sanity, intellect, or philosophy, I am not bearing fruit.

Did Socrates go to heaven? If he didn’t believe in Jesus Christ, he goes to hell. But we’re under a misconception, if someone is renowned in the world, we try to follow them, but that’s why we cannot remain within God’s Word. But we must always remain within God’s Word, but we get confused. When we face a problem, we need to remain within God’s Word, but instead, we face a problem and research different ways to solve the problem.

The disciple only confirms God’s Word and receives the answer through the Word, and they find God’s plan and answers through the Word in their problems. As we face the coronavirus pandemic, the people of the world may say this and that, but we find the answer through God’s Word, then even within the coronavirus pandemic, we will bear the fruit of Jesus Christ.

In Matthew 16:24, the disciples try to follow Jesus, but He says, “First, you must deny yourself and take up My cross and follow Me.” Denying yourself means that you need to deny everything in your past when you lived without the Word of God. When you face a problem, say it is not a problem and receive the Word of God. That’s someone who follows the Word of God. However, the people who faced a problem and fall into that problem are those who are separated from God’s Word.

When you face a crisis, go into the crisis with God because nothing can ever be a crisis to the Lord. That is a disciple. What does Luke say? The book of Luke is one of the four gospels, written for the Gentiles, the nonbelievers who converted to Christianity. Luke 14:26 says that, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his mother and father, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”

What’s the characteristic of a unbeliever? They think their family is everything and that their life is everything. So, the Lord talks to the believers who used to be unbelievers and says, “Unless you hate those things, you cannot be My disciple.” He’s not actually saying to hate your family. He tells you to love everyone, so when he tells you to hate someone, it means to love the Lord more than you love them.

The characteristic of a unbeliever is that they think their possessions and material wealth are everything, and in Luke 14:33, Jesus Christ says, “You must give up all those things in order to be My disciple.” Does that mean you have to sell all your possessions, shave your head, and live in the mountain? The characteristic of a believer is that their money is their God, but you have to love the Lord more than that.

You need money to do missions and temple construction, isn’t that right? If you throw away your money, how can you do all of that? The Lord is saying to love the Lord more than that. Jesus Christ tells us the standard of the disciples, then how can we follow the path of the disciples?

3. The Path of Jesus Christ’s Disciples

As we said earlier in Romans 5:8, “God demonstrated His love for us in this, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us,” and we need to confirm that. I betrayed the Lord but the Lord still died for me? That love and grace must be demonstrated in us. In Romans 5:5, it says God has poured out His love in our hearts by His Spirit.

We have never seen the cross; we have heard about the cross and believe by God’s grace, however, the Holy Spirit comes into us and continuously pours His grace and love upon us. If this doesn’t take place, then your human relationships won’t work out because you will only maintain human relationships that benefit you; you don’t want to be harmed by human relationships, and that relationship will eventually break. It means your life is on thin ice.

1) Jesus Christ

When we wake up in the morning, the state of our lives is already on the side of betraying God, and we live the rest of our day in that state. That is why as soon as you wake up in the morning, you have to confirm that Jesus Christ has died on the cross for your sins and you have to confirm the love and grace that God has given you, then the Holy Spirit of God will continuously pour more love and grace upon me. Only the one who received love can love others.

But what about the people who had not received love before? If you go into the prison cells and interview the inmates, you realize that all of them received words of hate, betrayal, and disdain from their parents. There was one researcher who looked into a pastor’s family and a unbeliever’s family. The difference is not whether they went to church or not, but it does show us the difference between the difference between the future generations of a family who received the love and grace from Christ and the family that has only received betrayal from the world.

Looking at the next generation of people who received the grace and love from Jesus Christ, then even their future generations have incredible businesses, but if you try to run a business without the heart of love, the consumer already knows. If you have a friendship without love in your heart, the friend already knows the extent to which your love will go, and they know themselves that they shouldn’t cross that threshold. With that kind of relationship, that friend will never know that I’m a disciple of Christ.

The one who continuously receives the pouring of God’s love and grace in their heart will be able to give that love and grace to others. In Leviticus 19:17 it says, “You should love your enemies,” and in verse 18, “You should love your enemies as you love yourself; do not resent or try to harm your enemies.” Is that possible? We don’t want to be at a disadvantage or harm, and if someone criticizes us, we can’t sit still. I can’t run my business by always being at a loss, but that’s how we are. That’s why it is only possible when the love and grace of Jesus Christ’s cross is poured upon us every single day.

The one who continuously receives the pouring of God’s love and grace in their heart will be able to give that love and grace to others.

1 John 5 says, “God is love,” and God Himself is love. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit become One, and that is love. There is no betrayal among them, and that’s how they are able to fulfill harmony perfectly. The ones who receive that grace and peace from the cross are able to go into any situation and make peace there, and that’s why people like them, because they’re not able to do that.

It’s not something you can do by learning a lot, and if anything, because of the things you learned, you’ll go opposite of God’s Word, and you’ll judge and criticize others with the Word of God that you learned. You’ll judge the words of the Spirit based on your own ideology, but the ones who are like this physically will be led to death.

What is a physical thought or high intellect or high sanity or high ideology, or high and great thoughts? We betray God’s Word and follow those things instead. That’s why when you go to bookstores, they are from renowned authors. David never once read the books of renowned authors; he was completely satisfied with the Word of God.

Daniel was a governor for four different kings, and he never went to a library to read the book of a renowned leader. He studied in the palace, that is true, but he was completely satisfied with only the Word of God. The Early Church was a gathering of people who were not very well educated in the world; how were they able to break down the high intellect of the Roman emperor? With nothing else. They only broke down the high intellect with the love of the cross of Jesus Christ. They were able to go into the highest level as the lowest slaves and completely changed everything.

The characteristic of unbelievers is that they are calculative, they have conditions, and they will throw something away when it is no longer of benefit to themselves. People who are a little more renowned than others are able to sacrifice a little bit more than others, however, when you look at a Christian, they are different. They will raise up children whether they are facing life or death in the name of Jesus Christ.

Even though this child might be in a slave situation, others will not be able to look down on them, and that’s why all the higher officials and masters believed in Jesus Christ. I told you this last week, but you cannot change the world with the great strength of the world. You think your child is very smart and has a lot of intellect; can they change the world? No, they’ll be enslaved by the world. If you have financial power, can you change the world? No, you will go deeper into the world. You need to be filled with the grace and love of Jesus Christ who has solved all problems on the cross, in order for you to make the proper decision.

Mental diseases in the world are accelerating greatly, and the beginning of mental illness is fear. Everything begins from fear. The moment Adam and Eve betrayed God, they were met with fear. This fear will never go away, even if you try to make your family as secure as possible. Even if the president of the United States does everything to protect their country from war, that fear does not disappear.

In 1 John 4:18 it says, “There is no fear in love, because we rely on a perfect love that drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears has not been made perfect in love.” Only Jesus Christ can cast out fear, and that is why there is no answer in the world. You cannot chase out fear with money; if anything, the more money you have, the more you are afraid. The intellect and ideologies and education of America cannot cast out fear. Only the love of God can drive out fear.

2) Those Who Follow the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit of God pours God’s love into our hearts, then how can we continue that? Romans 8:5 tells us this very well, “Those who live according to the sinful nature has their heart set on what their sinful nature desires,” but what does it mean to follow after the physical or to live for the spiritual? If you cannot discern between these two thoughts, you will continue to fall into death.

Eating, drinking, sleeping, learning, researching, elevating your intellect and level of knowledge, those are all physical, resulting in death. The person like this will have betrayal in their human relationships. However, the thoughts governed by the Spirit are life and peace. What is the thought of the spirit? It is going into the Word of God, that you communicate with the spirit of God with sensitivity. That is how you will have life and peace, but you’re under a misconception.

You think your education, experiences, and know-how will be able to save you, but that will only lead to death. That is not the thought of the Spirit. The mind controlled by the Spirit is only focused on the cross of Jesus Christ, constantly communicating with sensitivity with the spirit of God.

In Romans 8:7, it says that the mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God. The great level of academics and knowledge that it took to build the pyramids were actually enemies to God; they can never submit to God’s law, and today in America, it’s the same. They have a lot of intellect and philosophy; they have a lot of ideologies of democracy and scientific advances, but all of these are hostile to God, and that is why there is so much fear in America.

When people go out into the world, they should have genuine confidence, but they do not. There’s a difference between confidence and being cautious. When there’s a coronavirus pandemic, we must be cautious and careful, but we must also be confident and secure. Security means your fear is gone.

You think you’re going to have true confidence if you receive the training of a US marine? Is that training going to help you cast out demons? It’s because you don’t know demons. Demons even found Jesus Christ and worked upon him. That’s why US Marines go out and win wars but come back and commit suicide.

If you think you can take on American culture with the ideology you got from an Ivy League school, you’re going to die; all these things put fear into people, why? Because it’s not the work of God’s spirit. So the more you study and the higher you climb, the more you’ll be filled with fear.

3) Strength of Love that Saves the World

You believe in your intellect and experience, but it’s not taking place, so you have more fear. Only the love of Jesus Christ and the grace of God can finish everything, but you don’t know that, so you go deeper into drugs and alcohol, and that’s why gambling and addicts continue to arise in Las Vegas. There’s no way to cast out this fear; that’s why you’re always suspicious of people. “I’m always suspicious, I’m always afraid.”

We need to be careful of the coronavirus, but we’re always afraid. How is that possible? Only the perfect love of God can cast out fear. That’s the person who should become the president, that’s a person who does business, that person should become a professor; that person should become a soldier. That’s how the love of God can be relayed.

But we take actions to try to drive out fear ourselves. If you go to a prison, the weakest people are murderers. They can’t listen to the words of other people because they’re afraid; even before someone says something, they kill them. Who is the strongest person? The one who believes in Jesus Christ who overcame death, and the one who believes in the grace of God in everything can overcome anything.

I used to be someone who was very afraid. In order to try to hide my fear, I would speak very boldly and have a fierce facial expression to hide my fear. 100% of people like that are weak inside, and they are fearful. They are simply hiding their weakness, so they speak strongly to express their own strength. If you marry someone like that, it will be difficult.

But when the gospel came into me, I always receive the grace and Word of God; even if I want to go into my own benefit, God is leading me according to His grace, so how great is that? Every day, I’m trying to leave God, and I keep trying to live physically, that’s my nature. But God allows me to bow down before Him to ask for His grace and mercy, and that’s how God continues to pour His love on me.

But when the gospel came into me, I always receive the grace and Word of God; even if I want to go into my own benefit, God is leading m according to his grace, so how great is that?

So, the result that manifests is that my fear is driven out. This is real, that’s why I’m healthy from the inside. If I die, I die; that doesn’t mean I’m giving up on life, it means I don’t have fear. People study because they’re afraid, they run their business because they’re afraid, so how difficult is that?

Colossians 3:1 tells us how to receive the love that can overcome the world. Since then, you have been raised with Christ, set your heart on things above, not the things of the world, but on things above. Does that mean you have to look up? God is everywhere, but setting your hearts on things above means you set your heart on Jesus Christ. That is the mystery of mysteries. Depending on where you set your heart, fear will either come into your heart, or your fear will disappear.

Conclusion

1. Life through Christ
   If you set your heart upon the words of Jesus Christ on the cross, then your mind will be set on things above, not on earthly things. It’s best if you do this every single day, 24 hours a day, but this keeps getting stolen away. As you study and work, this will be stolen away. It is a battle of how you will preserve your heart from being stolen; that is what we call the spiritual battle.

The devil continuously uses our circumstances and thoughts so that we betray God with physical things instead of God’s Word. But once we set our hearts on Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit works upon us, and if a person like this runs a business, many people will be attached to them because only the ones who receive love can love others.

It seems like anyone can do missions and evangelism, but that’s not true. Only the one who continuously receives the love of Jesus Christ is able to love other people without condition. Think about it, whatever you do, are you going to do it from the love of Jesus Christ, or are you doing it to make money? If you’re doing a business to save other people’s lives, that means you come to life. You need to set your heart upon the cross of Christ, that’s what it means to seek the things above.

2. Law of the Holy Spirit – Guidance, Working
   Setting your heart on things above doesn’t mean just looking at the ceiling, but it means you have to set your heart on where Christ is, in other words, where His Words are, then the Holy Spirit of God will continuously pour out His love and grace upon us, then our business becomes one that saves lives and our studies will be used to save and love others. That is what the Lord has told us to do. Then, everyone will know that you are a disciple of Christ. We are the ones who have received that blessing.
   
3. Love that Saves People
   Even though our natural state is one of disobeying and betraying God, every single day, God pours out His love and grace upon us by the Holy Spirit. Love the sinner but hate the sin, but the world tells you to hate the sinner and the sin, but if a church becomes like that, that’s not a real church. No matter what happens in the church, we must always love the person and not judge the person, but instead, curse the sin. Only the gospel allows that to happen. Even in the world, only this devotion will allow you to become one with others. I hope that your business, studies, and families will be one that overflows with the love and grace from God.

Prayer

I believe that we need to hold onto the Word that God gave us this week throughout this week with our prayer. Let us pray together at this time holding onto the Word God gave us today.