Sermon Tone Analysis

*WHAT IS A DISCIPLE? *

Matthew 10:16-27; Luke 6:35-42; John 13:1-17

August 27, 2006

 

*Introduction*

 The term "disciple" is used consistently in the four Gospels to describe the relationship between Christ and His followers.

Jesus used it in speaking of them, and they employed it when referring to one another.

The term did not pass out of use in the days following Pentecost; on the contrary, the word runs throughout the Acts of the Apostles We see it five times between Acts 9:1, 26 and Acts 21:16 – we won’t read those verses now but please read them later on your own.

In fact, the members of the early church were known as disciples before they were first called "Christians" at Antioch in Acts 11:26 (the dictionary defines a disciple as a believer in the thought and teaching of a leader).

The word signifies "a taught or trained one."

Jesus is the Teacher and we are the learners.

He has all knowledge of the ultimate purposes of God, and we are the seekers of the truth.

As a Teacher, the Lord Jesus is not merely a Lecturer, from whose dissertations we may learn certain lessons; nor, indeed, is He only a Prophet who delivers his burden of truth and then leaves us to wrestle with the issues.

Rather, He is the Teacher who bends over His pupils with the set purpose of training them step by step, until they become identified with the Teacher Himself.

A disciple is an imitator of his teacher.

Our teacher is Jesus.

Do you imitate Jesus?

That is our goal, isn’t it?

As the old hymn states it: “Oh to be like thee! Blessed Redeemer.

This is my constant longing and prayer;”

Jesus wants us trained up in the way we should go so when we are old we won’t depart from Him. Let’s read the first of our Scripture passages for today.

If you have your Bible with you please turn to Matthew 10 and we’ll read verses 16 through 27.

I am reading from the English Standard version: /"Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

\\ Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, \\ and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles.

\\ When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour.

\\ For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

\\ Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, \\ and you will be hated by all for my name's sake.

But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

\\ When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

\\ "A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.

\\ It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master.

If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.

\\ "So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.

\\ What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.

/

Keep your finger on this page because I’m going to refer back to specific verses from this passage, verses which talk about the characteristics of a disciple:

 *First, The Disciple Is One Who Is Identified With the Master's Suffering.

*Go back to the place you marked with your finger and look at verse 24 again: /"A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master"/  The previous verses show that the Lord Jesus had been misunderstood and misinterpreted, and He warns His disciples that they would be as sheep among wolves.

They would suffer in a similar manner since the disciple is not above his Master, nor the servant above his Lord.

Jesus Christ /"…learned obedience by the things which He suffered"/ (Hebrews 5:8); and in this regard we must follow in His steps.

The greatest privilege you and I can have is to be identified with the Master in His suffering.

Such suffering will be either persecution or opposition.

Please look again at chapter 10, verse 22: /"… you will be hated by all for My name's sake…" /That sounds harsh doesn’t it?

No one can be a genuine disciple without encountering some form of persecution.

Jesus promised this: /"…If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you…"/ (John 15:20).

In the face of such persecution, however, the Lord Jesus promises two things: the power of utterance and the power to endure: /"…do not worry about how or what you should speak.

For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak"/ (Matthew 10:19).

Under the fires of persecution, one of the greatest disciplines is that of controlling our thoughts, tempers, and tongues.

Left to our own resources, we will fail miserably and bring dishonor to the name of our Lord.

This is where the Master promises the power of the Holy Spirit to control thoughts, tempers, and tongues.

How wonderfully this was illustrated in the Master's life-particularly when He suffered under Pontius Pilate.

What discipline of speech and silence He exercised on that momentous occasion!

Could you hold your tongue and not rise to your own defense when facing a false accusation and imminent punishment?

But that is what Christ did.

No wonder the apostle Paul uses this event in the experience of our Lord as the basis of his call to a life of discipline and control.

Note His words to Timothy: /"I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ's appearing" /(1 Tim.

6:13-14).

Under the pressure of persecution, the Lord Jesus not only will give us His words to speak but also promises the power of endurance.

Now, let’s look at verse 22 again.

/"…he who endures to the end will be saved"/ .

The patience and long-suffering required at times like this are only possible when the believer knows in his own life the suffering of the Master.

It was said of the Savior that "…for the joy that was set before Him [He] endured the cross (Hebrews 12:2) He endured suffering for us.

We endure suffering for Him!

Our suffering may not be a cross of shame, but it may cause us loss or hardship.

Adoniram Judson, the renowned missionary to Burma, endured untold hardships trying to reach the lost for Christ.

For seven heartbreaking years he suffered hunger and privation.

During this time he was thrown into Ava Prison, and for seventeen months was subjected to almost incredible mistreatment.

As a result, for the rest of his life he carried the ugly marks made by the chains and iron shackles which had cruelly bound him.

Undaunted, upon his release, he asked for permission to enter another province where he might resume preaching the gospel.

The godless ruler indignantly denied his request, saying, "My people are not fools enough to listen to anything a missionary might say, but I fear they might be impressed by your scars and turn to your religion!"

Pretty powerful stuff, when the godless recognize suffering for our faith and are impressed by our endurance.

*So our may take the form of persecution or secondly it may take the form of opposition.

*Let’s* *look at Matthew chapter 10, verse 25* */-"… If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household!"/).

Spiritual opposition is man’s deliberate failure to rightly understand and interpret the Word of God.

(in other words, he twists the use of Scripture to suit his own purposes) Such opposition often tends to distress and depress the disciple, but Jesus reassures His own by telling them: /"…do not fear them.

For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known"/ (Matthew 10:26).

The Savior says that however unjustly we may be treated by misunderstanding and misinterpretation of Scripture, there is going to be a day of disclosure and vindication.

Our business is to press on regardless os spiritual opposition, speaking in the light what God has taught us in the darkness of persecution and opposition; preaching from the housetops what He has whispered to us in the time of suffering.

We must learn that if we are to rise to the measure of true discipleship we must count it all joy to suffer for Christ.

It is recorded of those early disciples that after persecution and opposition /"…they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name"/ (Acts 5:41).

God give us the grace to be willing to suffer likewise.

Only thus shall we have a true identification with the Master's suffering.

A young woman who had left home because of her drunken father later became a Christian.

Thereafter she announced her intention of returning and doing what she could to reclaim him.

"But what will you do when he finds fault with all your efforts to please him?"

someone asked.

"Try a little harder," she answered with a light in her eyes.

"Yes, but when he is unreasonable and unkind you will be tempted to lose your temper, and answer him angrily.

What will you do then?"

"Pray a little harder," came the answer.

The discourager had one more arrow: "Suppose he should strike you as he did before.

What could you do but leave him again?"

"Love him a little harder," said the young Christian steadily.

Her splendid perseverance conquered.

Through love, prayer, and patient effort, her father was not only reclaimed from his besetting sin, but proved Christ' power to save.

To what extent are we identified with this characteristic in our devotedness?

*So, the first identifying mark of a disciple is suffering like it or not.

Let’s go on to the second characteristic of a disciple: The Disciple Is One Who Is Identified With the Master's Discernment*

* *

Let’s look at our next Scripture passage, Luke 6:35-42:” /But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.

\\ Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

\\ "Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; \\ give, and it will be given to you.

Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap.

For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you." \\ He also told them a parable: "Can a blind man lead a blind man?