Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Discipleship

Reminder of the definition of discipleship.

The Greek word

μαθητεύω (mathēteuō) - verb

to cause one to be a pupil, teach

Those who are disciples are learners, the expectation is that we are open to learning.

In the case of a Christian we are to learn all that Jesus taught to His Apostles and has been handed down through centuries through the Word of God.

That is what we are about and that is who every believer should be.

I found this tweet from Thabiti Anyabwile and I think it shows the importance of discipleship in the Church, so if you wonder why DPCC thinks discipleship is important check this out.

"Until we humbly and earnestly recognize that a church is more than a preaching point … but a covenant community of disciples-making-disciples according to the word of God … we will continue risking spiritual disappointment in the church and hunger for deep communion."

Church is intended to be full of disciples who make disciples according to the Word of God.

A place for believers to learn about God, about Jesus, about how we walk in this world, how to love, how to forgive, how to stand for Christ.

We learn that in the Church, we learn as disciples.

The Series - Disciples ‘R’ Us

Pastor Barry Preached on the ‘Blueprint for Making Disciples’ from Matthew 28:18-20.

He looked at the imperative that Jesus gave following His resurrection.

The command was not to Go, or Baptize.

The command was to make Disciples as you are Going, by baptizing and teaching.

This is the blueprint, this is where we start.

Then Pastor Ron preached ‘Real Disciples Follow Jesus’ from John 12:20-26.

Pastor Ron looked at the example that Jesus provided for disciples.

To Glorify the Father and Sacrifice for the Gospel, sacrifice to bear fruit.

Today we are going to talk about the ‘Path of a Disciple’.

from Luke 9:57-62.

The Book of Luke

We are coming from the Biography of Jesus written by Dr. Luke.

Luke wrote this biography of Jesus to Theophilus, to provide an orderly account of the life and works of Jesus so that Theophilus may have certainty concerning the things that he was taught.

Luke is also the author of Acts and accompanied Paul, so the Apostolic authority for this book of the Bible is Paul.

When we pick up in chapter 9 of Luke, Jesus has selected his Apostles, He has sent out His Apostles to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick and after feeding the 5000 has set His face to Jerusalem, where He will carry out His passion.

So we pick up in chapter 9 as Jesus is on the Road to Jerusalem, where He has three short dialogues with some men on the way to Jerusalem.

Perseverance

Going Along the Road

Jesus and His disciples were travelling to Jerusalem and on the way there Jesus encounters three persons that are prospective disciples.

To Follow = Be a Disciple

During that time a disciple would follow their teacher around and learn from them.

want to ‘Follow’, so when the man says to Jesus ‘I will Follow You’, he is basically saying I want to be an apostle.

We see this in Scripture with Jesus several times:

We see this with Philip in the Gospel of John

Philip, heard this and followed and was called out as an Apostle, selected as one of the 12.

We see this with Simon, or Peter, and his brother Andrew, where they were fishing and Jesus said to them ‘Follow Me.

Again like Philip they followed and were selected to be Apostles.

We also see this with Levi, or Matthew, who left his tax booth to follow Jesus, once he was called.

Matthew was also later selected to be an Apostle by Jesus.

So this was not simply a request to let Jesus lead the way, or to simply follow Him wherever He was going, not sure if the man knew.

This man like the other men was asking to be a disciple.

This man was asking to be discipled, to be a learner.

Son of Man

Jesus provides a response that is interesting.

Jesus uses a title for Himself that Pastor Ron talked about in his message ‘Real Disciples Follow Jesus’.

The Son of Man, I want to look at that a bit.

Son of Man, which comes from the book of Daniel, Daniel 7:13-14, where one like the son of man came to the Ancient of Days.

Here Jesus is using this term to talk about himself distinctly.

Almost to say that of all people I have no where to lay my head.

You see Jesus would flex on ‘em when he needed to, he did to the Pharisees and Sadducees and Scribes through His ministry.

We see that in a couple of verses.

The Authority to forgive only what God could forgive.

I can’’t forgive a wrong done to Sister Talley.

Where do I fit in this picture.

If all sin is ultimately against God, and this Son of Man has the authority to forgive sins, then this ain’t no natural man.

Same for the Sabbath.

The Lord God put the Sabbath in place at creation, and on the 7th day He rested.

Here comes Jesus, noting that as the Son of Man He is Lord of the Sabbath.

That is not something to be taken likely.

Again this ain’t no ordinary man.

One last example, when Jesus says that as the Son of Man he will coming in His glory and the glory of the Father with the holy angels.

This ain’t no ordinary man.

This is the Messiah, this was not Elijah as some were saying or a prophet or John the Baptist.

This is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, who is Lord and Savior.

Why is this interesting, because this Son of Man, who forgive sins, who is Lord of the Sabbath, who is coming in future glory does not have what the foxes and birds of the air have, homes, places to lay their head.

The Son of Man faces rejection in the place that He created.

So while this man is thinking that he will follow Jesus where ever He goes.

Jesus is saying hold up, make sure you know what you are getting into.

Application

You sure … (Count the Cost Luke 14:25-33) - Reminds me of the 5 Heartbeat movie line ‘Yall sure you want to hang with old Eddie Kane’.

Not that Jesus had issues with drugs or women, but the background being.

This is not all that it is cracked up to be.

This is not all roses and rainbows.

I think that we need to remember that as Disciples.

Too many people want to flee at the earliest sign of trouble, like being a disciple removes that from you.

No, it doesn’t if the Son of Man has trouble in this world, has no place to rest, lay his head, that is his own, then what should we as his disciples expect.

The Road is not going to easy.

All you need to do is read through Luke 9.

It starts with Jesus sending out the 12 with authority the heal and cast out demons, as they go and proclaim the Kingdom of God, then they can’t even cast the demon out of a child.

They get to see the miracle of Jesus feeding 5000 and some get to see Him on the Mt of Transfiguration, but Jesus is rejected by the Samaritans, there are people who do not even know who Jesus is, then Jesus is telling them that He is going to be killed, going to die.

In just this one chapter you run the gamut of emotions and activities.

This is not a cake walk.

All this to say that we as disciples are not owed anything.

We have received more than enough through grace, in the forgiveness of our sin through the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Priority

Follow Me

We see the formula that Jesus used previously on another man on the road.

Jesus calls to the man ‘Follow Me’.

Jesus gives this as a command and the man responds interestingly.

The man gives an indication of something that he has to do first.

Let me First Go Bury My Father

This is not an out of the box request.

This could be looked at as this man honoring his father and taking care of this last thing for him.

There are some that say the man would have to wait for his father to die, which could take a minute, there are others that say it could have taken a year because of the ritual of moving the bones of the one buried to an ossuary.

I am not convinced of either of these, do not know if his father was ill even.