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January 6, 2008AM

Isaiah 50:4-9

The Anatomy Of A Disciple

 

Pastors are a weird bunch.

 I’ll be the first to admit it.

  Some people have a theory that ministers are aliens – totally unnatural.

   And if we didn’t come from outer space then we are a third gender.

    Not male, not female, but ministeriale.

     It becomes abundantly clear when I am in a group of people who don’t know me.

      Eventually the conversation focuses on our occupations.

       My turn comes to share and I say, “I’m a minister”.

        There could be three or four other conversations going on around me.

         But suddenly they all stop and every eye turns to me.

          There is no discrete way to say the word minister.

           The sound of that word transcends all other words.

           Suddenly people don’t know what to say.

            That unexpected word creates this awkward silence.

             I think they are scanning their memory banks.

              Maybe wondering the last time they actually saw a minister in flesh.

               Maybe scanning their vocabulary for unsavory words spoken.

                Wondering when they last confessed their sins.

                 It’s like God suddenly popped into the room.

But in truth, before I am a minister, this unnatural being, I am disciple.

 We are all disciples.

  Someone is discipling you, the question is, “Who?”

   Who or what are you following?

    From where are you developing your values and to what are you giving yourself?

     Furthermore, before I am a minister, I am also a discipler.

      So are you.

       Someone is following you.

        Someone is watching you and modeling your life and adopting your values.

         They are sensing your attitudes.

          You are making an impact on the lives of others.

           Parents, you are disciple makers.

           Young people you are disciple makers.

             I am both a disciple and a discipler.

              You are a disciple and a discipler as well.

               There are no exceptions here today.

Before I can be a minister of the Gospel I must first be a disciple of Jesus.

 Jesus was the best disciple ever.

  No one in all of history was more discipled than Jesus.

   He did not just call people to follow Him.

    Jesus Himself was a Disciple.

     If I am to be a Christ-like disciple I must follow Jesus’ pattern.

      Isaiah 50 shows us Jesus’ pattern.

       They show us the Anatomy of a Disciple.

        Look at verse 6.

 

I   In verse 6 we see THE BACK OF A DISCIPLE.

     This passage shows us Jesus’ back.

      Jesus gave His back to the smiters.

       He allowed others to strike His back.

        We know what Jesus endured all through life.

         There were people riding His back all through His ministry.

          The religious leaders were always trying to trap Him or trick Him.

           They hounded Him relentlessly.

           And eventually they beat Him with whips.

            A beating so intense that many others died from the beating.

The back of Jesus shows us something about Him.

 It shows us strength.

  We see the source of that strength in verse 7.

   “For the Lord God helps me, therefore I have not been confounded.”

    Jesus was not confused, perplexed, mystified, baffled, puzzled, or bewildered.

       He relied on the strength of God to accomplish His ministry.

        If I am to be a Christ-like disciple I need a strong back.

         I need to totally rely on God’s strength.

          I need to be able to stand up in adversity.

           I need to be able to face hostility.

           I need to be able to move through rejection.

            Only God provides strength to endure and not cave in.

 

II  In verse 7 we see another part of the anatomy of a Disciple.

     We see THE FACE OF A DISCIPLE.

      “Therefore I have set my face like a flint.”

       Jesus was resolute.

        We talk about New Year’s Resolutions.

         How long do our’s endure?

          Jesus was like a rock in His resolutions.

           His mind was made up.

           He never looked to the right or the left.

            How did He do that?

             There were so many distractions.

              There were so many easy routes offered to Him.

               After he miraculously fed the multitudes the crowds praised Him.

                They were ready to claim Him as their King.

                 They would follow Him into battle against Rome.

                  He could lead His people into freedom.

                   He could bypass the cross, sacrifice, even death.

                    But He would not be distracted by the plans of the crowd.

                     He sent them away and withdrew to a quiet place.

                      His face was set like flint because God was near.

                       “He who vindicates me is near.”

A Christ-like disciple does not live for convenience.

 I learn from Jesus’ face – a face that He set toward Jerusalem.

  His disciples said let’s go and die with Him.

   Even when the world called Him a criminal He kept going.

    The God who knew Him fully was with Him.

     So we see THE BACK OF A DISCIPLE.

      We secondly see THE FACE OF A DISCIPLE.

 

III Thirdly we see THE EARS OF A DISCIPLE (vs. 5).

     “The Lord has opened my ear.”

      Jesus was always listening.

       And what He heard He obeyed.

        Verse 5 tells us He was not rebellious.

         He never disobeyed.

          He never turned back.

           And because He did not turn back He could die without sin.

Jesus entered the Garden of Gethsemane before His arrest.

 In the Garden we see Jesus in a very vulnerable place.

  That is why He prayed.

   He needed to hear the words of His Father as desperately as we do.

    He had no supernatural advantages that we don’t have.

     But He emerged from the Garden with the words, “Let us go!”

      Jesus had a discipling conversation with the Father.

       “Morning by morning he wakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.”

        There is not a day that goes by without God’s voice.

         Every morning Jesus listens.

          Jesus comes to no conclusion on His own.

           That is being One, that is being holy.

           We need Jesus’ ears.

            We need to hear the Father’s voice.

             Morning by morning – no exceptions.

 

IV  There is one more part of Jesus’ anatomy that Isaiah gives us.

     We see THE TONGUE OF THE DISCIPLE in verse 4.

      “The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught.”

       A tongue is only as good as the ears, the face, and the back.

        Konrad Adenauer said, “All parts of the human body get tired eventually – except the tongue.”

         The Apostle James calls the tongue a raging fire that can destroy.

          The tongue can stain the whole body.

           It is set on fire by hell.

           No human being can tame the tongue.

            But God can.

             When we hear His voice we speak His words.

              When we are a Christ-like disciple we speak life and truth.

               We “sustain with a word him that is weary.”

There are Gethsemane times in my life.

 I encounter times of weariness.

  My attitudes, my values, my priorities get pulled and tugged in many directions.

   I need to have the back and face of Jesus, the ears and tongue of Jesus.

    If Jesus needed to be discipled what makes me think I can make it on my own?

     He hung onto His Father with all that He had.

      Everything was empowered by the Father.

       We are to be the Body of Christ, to have His back, face, ears and tongue.

        Whose anatomy do you have?

         It begins with Jesus in the heart.

          We must yield our members to God as Paul says in Romans 6:19.

“Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy.”

           That is how we make Christ-like disciples.

           By being a Christ-like disciple.

            Who is discipling you.

             And who are you discipling to be Christ-like?