by Kingdom Discipleship | Jun 23, 2022 | DISCIPLESHIP
God’s Plan is MULTIPLICATION!
It’s the same way He populated the world, starting from one man and one woman. As they had children and their children had children, etc., world population multiplied.
As Christians, our job is to multiply the number of Christians in the world by winning others to Christ. We do that when every one of God’s people commits to win one soul to Christ per year and bring them to church.
And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
2 Timothy 2:2
Why We Need to Evangelize Our City and Beyond
- God loves everybody (John 3:16)
- Jesus died for everybody (1 John 2:2)
- He wants everybody saved (Ezekiel 18:23, 32; 1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9)
- He gave us the responibility to reach everybody with the Gospel (Matt. 28:18-19; Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8; 2 Cor. 5:18-20)
It’s clear from Scripture that God’s plan is to multiply His people. We have lost sight of God’s plan. We’re just too busy doing other things in church.
Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. (Act 6:1)
Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith. (Act 6:7)
Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied. (Act 9:31)
But the word of God grew and multiplied. (Act 12:24)
Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiplythe seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, (2Co 9:10)
The problem is that it’s much easier for people to procreate physically than it is to procreate spiritually.
The Power of Doubling Every Year
How to Win 1,000,000 People to Christ
If you win one soul to Christ this year, and you help that person get into church and grow in the Christian lfe, there will be 2 of you.
If both of you do the same thing next year, there will be 4 of you. If the 4 of you do it the 3rd year there will be 8 of you. It’s a slow start.
If you keep doing it for 10 years, there will be 1,024 of you. Now it’s getting interesting.
If all of you continue doing it for 20 years, you will have won a total of1,048,576 people to Christ!
Let’s look at the Multiplication Effect for evangelism.
In 2 Timothy 2:2, Paul gave Timothy instructions for multiplying the results of his ministry.
And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
Paul worked with and trained leaders… Timothy, Titus, Barnabas, Silas, etc. They worked with and trained others, who in turn trained others.
Let’s say that Paul trained 10 leaders in the period of a few years, and that each of these 6 leaders trained 10. Let’s see how that would work out:
| Paul |
1 |
| Timothy, Titus and others |
10 |
| They train 10 |
100 |
| They train 10 |
1,000 |
| They train 10 |
10,000 |
| They train 10 |
100,000 |
| They train 10 |
1,000,000 |
We know from Scripture that every believer has the privilege and responsibility of reaching others for Christ. There’s no reason that almost every Christian in the U.S. and in many other parts of the world – except for the very young, the very old and the very sick – can win at least one person to Christ every year.
If every Christian obeyed God and brought one person to Christ every year, we would have an explosion in the Christian population within a few years. Our numbers would double every year until we saturated the world with the Gospel. That is God’s Plan – THE Scriptural plan for the church. We are to be a multiplying people.
What can a church of 100 members do?
If each believer in the church wins one soul every year, the number of Christians in the church will double every year. A church of 100 would have 200 after one year, 400 after two years, etc. Look at the chart below to see what could happen in 15 years of doubling every year.
Now what if just 25 churches across the country did that?
In 15 years, there would be
327,678,000 new Christians
in the U.S. – most of the projected future U.S. population.
The impact we would have on reaching the world for Christ would be enormous. The extra money, manpower and evangelistic fervor for world missions would send out 1,000’s of new missionaries and make make a major impact for Christ around the world.
Could that many people get saved in the U.S. in 15 years?
A number of years ago, I had the privilige of interviewing an elderly man of God named Rev. Willis. This man had gotten saved as a young during the Welch Revival in the early 20th Century. I asked him when the the people in his town stopped getting saved. He answered, “It didn’t stop until the last person in town became a Christian.” Everybody in his town got saved!
And don’t forget – we serve an omnipotent loving God. Jesus died for everybody, and He certainly has the power to save everybody who comes to Him.
by Kingdom Discipleship | Jun 23, 2022 | KINGDOM OF GOD
Having the right understanding about the Kingdom of God will transform every area of your life. When Jesus started His public ministry, the only theme He preached about was on the Kingdom of God. When His disciples continued His ministry that was the same theme they were preaching and teaching about.
It is not natural for us to have Kingdom mindset. In Democracy, the people have power. The people are the ones who put their elected leader in place/ position of power. The people are the ones who determine the rules and regulations and the elected leader will implement the rules. Rules can be changed according to the will of the people. The power lies with the people, so much so if they are not satisfied with the leader anymore they have the right to impeach them.
It is not so with the Kingdom of God. A kingdom is governed by a king. It is a theocracy system. The definition of Kingdom is a King who has authority over a dominion. One king has the absolute power over all the territory in the kingdom. When the wrong person is In power, the people will suffer. You have what we call a dictator, just like Hitler. However, when the righteous and the right King is in power, there’s peace, joy, and prosperity for the people in the Kingdom.
In His Kingdom, He owns everything, including the subject of the Kingdom.
That’s why in John 15:16, Jesus said, “you did not choose Me, but I chose you and I appointed you to go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain.”
There are 3 important lessons I would like to share regarding the Kingdom of God.
When you understand these 3 lessons, it will liberate you, it will transform your life completely beyond your wildest imagination. When you understand these 3 points, your life will be filled with passion, power and purpose. He wants you to understand about them. That is why He talked and taught so much about the matter of the Kingdom.
- The Kingdom of God is not about Rules and regulations but it is about relationship.
The Kingdom of God is all about a true relationship with God and with others. It is not so much about observing a set of rules and regulations.
In Exo 19:10-11, the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments and be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.
But in Exo 20:18-21, the people’s response was heart breaking.
“Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.”
Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.
For the Israelites, as long as they get to enjoy the blessings and the miracles, they couldn’t care less about God who gave them the miracles.
Exo 33:1-3
The Lord said to Moses, “Depart; go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob… I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.”
But we can see the difference between religion and relationship here. People of Israel had religion. Moses had a relationship with the Master.
Exo 33:15-17
And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?”
And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.”
Moses knew God. Like what Abraham once said, “God is his exceedingly great reward”.
Has our heart been drawn toward the modern day idols of this world?
In your time of sadness/difficulty/ anxiety/ happiness/ loneliness/ boredom, who or what do you turn to?
Online shopping? Comfort food? Celebrity, even Celebrity pastors? Entertainment? Gadgets? Friends? Family? Work? Financial Success? Achievements?
Any of these things can become a modern day idol in our life. We don’t have to physically bow down to them… if in our heart, we are drawn toward them again and again, we want to have more them, want to become more of them. That is the definition of an idol. Our heart is an idol factory. Be careful what you’ve turned into an idol in your life.
In 1 John 2:15-17, Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
Brothers and sisters, do you have a personal relationship with Him? It’s not about going through some rituals or conformity to a set of rules. I had been a Christian for as long as I could remember, since the age of 12. However, for the majority of it, I was just a cultural Christian. I was going through all the religious activities but He was a God that is distant from me. I didn’t have a personal relationship with Him. When I started my business here in Malaysia, it was doing so well that without me realizing it, my business and career had become an idol to me. I was chasing after the rat race to become richer and richer. My heart had grown cold toward the things of God.
God taught me through allowing certain business failures that reminded me how easy for all these hard-earned money to be taken away just like that. Your career / money / success are not very good centres in your life, they can be taken away just like that. And when that happens, what will be left of you?
Today God wants to have a relationship with you. In the Kingdom, He is the master, He is your Lord. He is the centre of your life. Your life should be centred upon Him and His kingdom.
- Kingdom of God is not about Behavior Modification, but it is about Heart Transformation.
In Luke 18, we read an interesting parable that Jesus told about the difference between the two.
The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18)
9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
The Pharisee was concerned about how others look at them and that they have the appearance of being righteous and hence they looked down on everyone else. He was comparing himself to everyone else who did evil and all the worst sinners, thinking that by doing that, God will be impressed and justified his good behaviours.
But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’
And the Lord ended the parable by saying the tax collector went home being justified by God, not the self-righteous Pharisee.
One approached God through religion, the other one through repentance. One is concerned about how others view or look at him, while the other, the tax collector was only concerned about what God think about him.
Have you had an encounter with Jesus? One encounter with Him will completely change your life from the inside out.
Religion says do this and do that, don’t do this and don’t do that…. It is burdensome and tiring to follow all the rules. However, true transformation will produce fruits of good works that come out from the heart.
Zacchaeus was a transformed person after He had an encounter with Jesus. He gave up half of his wealth and promised to give back 4x as much as the amount he had cheated others. This was true repentance. It is always followed by an act of faith. He gave out of joy instead of sorrow.
The Samaritan woman in John 4 had a heart transformation after her encounter with Jesus. Sharing the Gospel was not a chore or a burden for her. Because she has had an encounter with the Messiah. She didn’t do it out of a sense of obligation. It wasn’t a must or have to. They want to do it. It came out a an overflow of joy of the grace they have received. You simply cannot give what you do not receive first.
Have you had this encounter with the Lord?
Last October, a friend of mine who grew up in a family of missionaries came to us and asked us if it’s possible for us to have her for a couple of days. In the end, it turned out to be a two-month stay. When she first stayed with us, she was very much involved with New Age thinking, meditation…. She was dealing with depression, suicidal thoughts and bitterness in her heart. This was despite of her missionary upbringing.
You might be asking, how could this be possible. Well, knowing about God is very different from knowing God Himself. She had memorized scriptures but didn’t really read the Word for herself. It was always what she was told by the leaders. Because of a certain hypocrisy she witnessed in the organization, she grew bitter toward them and the Word of God.
In the 2 months while she was staying with us, we had bible study with her, hours and hours of discussion and ministering to her and praying for her…. That was when the breakthrough started to happen. She started to read the Word for herself, and to pray to God…. She realized she had been deceived by the new age teachings and she came back to the faith. Now she loves her quiet time with the Lord and told us that her daily devotional was a very precious time to her. She became a completely different person now.
And She is now even reaching out to others who were just as lost as she was in the past.
True Christianity is about heart transformation, not about behaviour modification. Have you experienced this encounter with Jesus? If not, you need to have an encounter with Him today…
First of all, you’ll need to come before Him with a repentant Heart.
When you’ve experienced that encounter, you’ll never be the same again. Your changes will happen inside out. Religion is like taping fruits to a barren tree. It may look good for a while but not for long. True transformation will only happen when you’re connected to the vine. We’re the branches, He’s the vine. Only when we’re rooted in Him will we start to bear fruit for Him.
- Kingdom of God is not about Outward Appearance but of Power and Love
When you read the New Testament, you’ll see one common recurring theme. The one group of people who couldn’t get along with Jesus and who continually had problems with Jesus time and time again was the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. They were so blinded to the point that they even rebuked Jesus for healing the sick on Sabbath day. They continually challenged Jesus’ authority to carry out miracles of healing and deliverance. They even accused Jesus of operating under the power of Satan out of their jealousy!
The same theme continued on when the disciples of Jesus, such as Peter and John and Paul were carrying out miracles of healing and preaching the Gospel after Jesus’ resurrection.
In Acts 4, it was recorded that the priests, captain of the Temple guard and some of the Sadducees were very disturbed that Peter and John were teaching the people that through Jesus there is a resurrection of the dead. They arrested them and put them in jail. In subsequent chapters, we even read that they were beaten up and tortured because of the message they were preaching.
They were boiling with rage, jealousy and anger when they learned that the number of men who believed now totalled about 5000 people! Such blindness when a crippled man who had been lame for 40 years had just been set free and totally healed. Instead of rejoicing, they were mad.
Here’s another point worth-noting…. In Acts 4:13, it was said that The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus.
Can the same be said about us? That we are just ordinary men with no special training but they recognize that we have been with Jesus?
When you study the book of Acts, you will see that the early church operates in this supernatural love and power of God. They influence and impact the lives of many…. And God added daily unto them the numbers of those who were being saved. In 1 Cor 4:20, it is written that the Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. God can use ordinary people in extraordinary way.
The 2 things that will convince the world of our message are these: power and love!
Don’t try to impress people with your outward appearance, that you have it all together. We often have the notion that as long as we can show that we Have it all….finding success in your career, raising a child, maintaining solid relationships, and still finding time to take care of yourself and look and feel your best—a lot to balance even with all of the modern-day technologies designed to help us multitask our way through life. Then we have been a role model believer.
Don’t try to impress people, try to impact people with the real supernatural power and love of the Kingdom.
You may be able to impress people from afar…. Having appearance of godliness and success. However, real transformation only happen when you impact people from up close.
Brothers and sisters, the Bible says in 1 John 2:17 that the world is passing away, along with its desires, but whosoever does the will of God remains forever.
When you understand about the Kingdom, your heart will be gripped by its transformational power. You’ll not do business or life like usual anymore.
The Kingdom of God will become your obsession and your top life priority. You’ll be urgently pressing on to be a witness of the cross and the resurrection power available through Christ.
The anointing/ power and the Great Commission go together. It is a conditional promise that goes with obedience. Don’t argue, SHINE! You cannot conquer darkness by arguing with it. Just switch the light on. The gospel of Christ is the power of God for those who believe… Romans 1:16.
God wants to use you to be His light-bearer wherever you go.
Before the pandemic, I had been going to India several times for mission trips. I’ve experienced the power of God’s kingdom moving powerfully there in the midst of the darkness in the land. Many people saw vision, miracles of healing, creative miracles, even out of body experience, baptism of the Holy Spirit and salvation. These signs and wonders confirm he message of the gospel we brought to them. He has come to break the power of darkness and to free people from the bondages of sin, oppression and depression. It is His will to heal the sick and to set free those oppressed by demons. These two things will convince the world that our message is the truth. People are looking for the real thing. They’re not seeking religion. Unfortunately, the modern day churches have relied more and more on worldly and contemporary methods to draw crowd instead of relying on the power of the Holy Spirit.
Instead of relying on a few professional and gifted ministers to do all the work, the same Holy Spirit that performed signs and wonders through the apostles and the early church believers is still operating in and through us today! The same power that resurrected Jesus from the dead lives in us today.
Have you found yourself drifting away from the Lord and more and more drawn by the world and what it has to offer? Let us come before Him and cast all our idols before Him at the foot of the cross. He wants to have a personal relationship with you.
He wants to transform your heart. Have you had a personal encounter with Him? When you repent from you way of life and turn to Him, He will totally change the direction of your life. When the Kingdom invades your life, your life will never be the same again.
You will want to serve Him and shine for Him! He wants to use you as a vessel for the Kingdom. You are His light bearer in this dark world. He wants to give you His Holy Spirit to equip you for the work He has asked you to do. You are like a stone that He will drop into the ocean of humanity so that the ripple effect it creates will reverberate into eternity.
by Kingdom Discipleship | Jun 23, 2022 | KINGDOM OF GOD
Following the Beatitudes in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says to those who are willing to be persecuted “for my sake” that you “are the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13-14).
What does it mean, and how does it happen, that people look like light and taste like salt?
First, it is helpful to observe — as Dietrich Boenhoffer pointed out in The Cost of Discipleship — that Jesus is not here exhorting his disciples to be light or salt. Jesus is saying that his disciples are the light and salt of the earth. If Christians do not stand up for, and speak well of, Jesus Christ in public sphere certainly no one else will! There is no other light or salt to be found or to rely on as a backup plan.
So our goal is not to be the light and salt of the world — Jesus already made us that when he transformed our hearts and centered our lives in Him. Rather our goal is to be the brightest light and the most savory salt we can be as Christians.
With that in mind, then, consider these necessary steps toward being an effective Christian witness:
1) Make Contact
There is no substitute for this. Salt cannot savor unless it comes into contact with an object, and light must shine into darkness in order to illuminate it.
It may be that today God will bring people into your path that are in need of gospel light and salt. They may be people you know (like Cornelius inviting his family and friends to hear Peter preach) or they may be strangers (like Paul addressing the philosophers at Mars Hill). But if God is concerned that Jesus Christ be glorified in the earth, and if we are open to the Lord’s leading… should it be surprising for Him to lead us to talk with someone about Jesus Christ on a fairly frequent basis?
2) Preach Jesus
The common usage of the phrase “salt of the earth” is almost always in direct opposition to the way Jesus meant it.
We often, in fact, might say that our neighbor — while not a Christian — is “the salt of the earth” because he or she is a good person and an upstanding citizen. But Jesus in context describes, in the third person, those who are poor in spirit, pure in heart, etc. and then specifically is addressing “you” who are persecuted “for my sake.” And it is the same “you” who are standing up “for my sake” that Jesus then says are the light of the world and the salt of the earth.
We are only light and salt to the extent that we are speaking and laboring for the glory of Jesus Christ.
We have not shared the gospel if we have not explained Jesus (who he is, what he did, and how that relates to us as sinners).
3) Keep the Right Motivation
Our first motivation, like God’s, must be the glory of God; this makes every effort a success, as long as his glory was proclaimed, no matter what results or response we see. We are light as long as we shine, whether people run to it or away from it. We are salt as long as we have the savor of Christ about us, whether people like the taste of Him or not.
Don’t forget this goal, even in the throws of personal disagreement or even public opposition. Our desire is not to win arguments but to win people. Yet, ultimately, if we speak well of Christ — and represent Christ well with our lives — we have succeeded no matter how others respond.
4) Use the Gifts God Has Given You
Never be deceived into thinking that your savoriness, as a Christian, comes from your likeable personality or forceful reasoning or effective salesmanship. The one thing that separates you from unbelievers, and gives your life meaning and hope and wisdom, is Jesus Christ.
What makes your witness shine, your testimony tasty, is simply this: the beauty of Jesus Christ displayed and declared in your life.
But that also means you can be an effective witness for Christ regardless of your personality or particular set of gifts. Don’t try to be what you aren’t, but do what you can — to the best of your ability and in the context in which God has placed you — to proclaim Christ.
by Kingdom Discipleship | Jun 23, 2022 | KINGDOM OF GOD
Before we get to this question, let’s ask ourselves this question….What is the church? A quick google search will show you the following results…
In the new testament, the Greek word Ekklesia has been used to describe the church, it means the assembly of the whole body of Christians scattered throughout the earth.
Notice what it says the church is not… the church is not a building… not a country club membership… not a place for man-made tradition… certainly not denomination… as what many of us are led to believe…
In Col 1:18 & Eph 1:22-23, the church is described as the body of Christ!
[Col 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church.
Eph 1:22-23 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.]
The church has been clearly described as His Body,… as His people….
Eph 5:30 & Acts 20:28 actually says that we are members of His Body that He purchased with His own blood
[Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. ]
The Bible says that we are God’s temple and His Spirit dwells in us… that He does not dwell in houses made by hands…
(1 Cor 3:16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
Acts 7:48 48 Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says,
2 Cor 6:16 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
and I will be their God,and they shall be my people.”)
Although as the people of God, we do often meet in buildings but the buildings themselves are not the church…
So what is it that’s wrong with the church today?
Apart from not getting the definition right, many of us often didn’t get the purpose of the church right as well…
Rather than proclaiming the true gospel… many flock to what is not gospel at all…
Today we are easily impressed by great numbers and the success of the so-called church has often been measured by 2 things:
- the total size or number of the congregation … and
- the amount of offering that the organization receives… this often manifests itself in the form of how lavish and luxurious the church interior or the décor of the building is… and also how good the facilities provided by the so-called “church”…
Instead of being motivated because of the great and comfortable facilities offered and feel-good messages offered… …
What we should have been proclaiming instead…. Is the TRUE GOSPEL…
You see… true gospel has nothing to do with what I’ve just mentioned above… the true gospel is all about repentance… which sadly… is not much preached about in the modern churches today anymore…
Rather than Worshipping God in Spirit and in truth ….
(John 3:23 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.)
WORSHIP has often become the presentation that please the people… It is often more about the good experience that the congregation feel and get… rather than about the Object of Worship….God Himself…!
Mat 15:8 “‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;”
Rather than loving & Caring for one another from a pure heart…. We have often gathered around instead for feel-good events… self-seeking entertainment and programs…
But… Do we seek to please God?… or man..? do we seek to please Him who save us (Gal 1:10 10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.)
Now… to paint a more accurate picture of what a biblical church should look like… here’s an idea… What if…. The true church actually looks more like the first original one… all the way back from the description of the early church…
As The Fellowship of the Believers …
In Acts 2:42-47, it says that
42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
And awe[a] came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
(1 Cor 1:27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;)
in the true church of Jesus Christ… there is such a hunger for the truth. It is the inner deep desire to seek God and not the external outward form of godliness that man often cares so much about…
God is looking everywhere for godly man, those with repentant hearts, and people who will take His commandment to love Him, love others and to make disciples seriously….
No doubt that Jesus will one day come back again and establish His righteous Kingdom here on earth and set everything right again, but till then… He has handed down a very important task for us to accomplish… the Great Commission
Mat 28:18-20
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
The early church did their part and that’s why we’re here today… the question is… have we taken Jesus command as seriously today? Have we made His last command our first priority?
It is time to make the world to be more like Christ instead of the other way round… we as the church becoming more like the world…
John 13:35 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Can you imagine that? The Bible says that people will actually recognize us as the followers and disciples of Christ not for any other thing but for the simple reason that we actually love one another…. That we are actually like Christ…
So… the next time you gather again around other believers, remember to stir up another up to love and good works and to encourage and to keep on exhorting one another, as long as it’s called “today” that none of us may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin… [end]
(Hebrew 10:24-25
24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Heb 3:13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.)
(Eph 5:25-27
….as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.)
With all that is wrong with the church today… let’s make things right again by truly becoming the salt and the light of the world, living right before God that He might present the church to Himself in splendor… without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy…. And without blemish…
by Kingdom Discipleship | Jun 23, 2022 | LEADERSHIP
Despite this parable of God’s grace and generosity, despite hearing Jesus remark twice that the first shall be last and the last first, Jesus’ disciples are still missing the point. The mother of James and John asks Jesus to grant her two sons the most prominent places in his coming kingdom. The two men are standing there and Jesus turns to them and asks, “Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They respond, “We are able.” When the other ten disciples hear about this, they are angry. Jesus takes this opportunity to challenge their notions about prominence.
You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many. (Matt. 20:25-28)
True leadership is found in serving others.
True Greatness
And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers. But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
The way up is down…Yet it shall not be so among you is a stinging rebuke to the manner in which the modern church looks to the world for both its substance and style. Plainly, the church isn’t to operate the way the world does.
Whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant: In the Kingdom community, status, money, popularity should never be the prerequisites for leadership. Humble service is the great prerequisite, as shown by Jesus’ own ministry.
Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve: Real ministry is done for the benefit of those ministered to, not for the benefit of the minister. Many people are in the ministry for what they can receive (either materially or emotionally) from their people instead of for what they can give.
- “He received nothing from others; his was a life of giving, and the giving of a life…No service is greater than to redeem sinners by his own death, no ministry is lowlier than to die in the stead of sinners.” (Spurgeon)
- “He does not come to be served, but to serve. Does not this suit you, poor sinner — you who never did serve him, you who could not, as you are, minister to him? Well, he did not come to get your service; he came to give you his services; not that you might first do him honor, but that he might show you mercy.” (Spurgeon)
And to give His life a ransom for many: The death of Jesus – the giving of His life – purchased the freedom of His people. The idea is that His people were in bondage as slaves, and He paid their price.
Ransom “was most commonly used as the purchase price for freeing slaves.” (Carson) “Lytron (‘ransom’) and the preposition anti (‘for’, literally ‘instead of’) point clearly to the idea of his ‘taking our place’.” (France)
“A ransom is something paid or given to liberate a man from a situation from which it is impossible to free himself.”
,“Why should I be a servant? What is so good about serving? I don’t have time for it, and it’s not really my cup of tea. Let those who enjoy serving and who have the time for it get involved in it.”Well, this response does not come from following Christ. It comes from following the world.
We live in a world where people strive diligently for high positions of power and leadership, and for fame and recognition. We live in a world where few people want to be servants. And if there are people who do serve, they serve only because of the prospect of personal gain – in terms of money, honour, power or recognition. That is the way things are done in the world. It is considered demeaning to serve others, and it is considered foolish to serve for nothing. But Christ requires us to take a very different view of service, and this can be seen in Matthew 20:20-28.
The passage begins with a personal request made by the mother of James and John, who were two of the twelve disciples of Jesus. She came to ask Jesus to let her sons have the best positions in His kingdom – second only to Jesus Himself: One son to be His ‘right hand man,’ and the other son to be His ‘left hand man.’ I think we can all understand why she made such a bold request from Jesus: Doesn’t every loving mother want only the best for her precious sons? However the parallel passage in Mark 10:35-37 reveals that it was her sons who had engineered this request! James and John were the ones vying to get the top positions for themselves.
Perhaps what Jesus said to the disciples a little earlier had stirred up their ambitions –“Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Matthew 19:28) Their minds were so captivated with this coming glory that they hardly paid any attention to what Jesus said in the two verses just before our passage: “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him….”
All this talk about humiliation somehow did not register at all in their minds, as they were so preoccupied with the glory they wished for. So what James and John did was to get their mother to help them so that it might look more like her request than theirs. She gladly followed their script closely, bowing down to Jesus and saying, “Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.” (v.21) I want you to note the important phrase, ‘in Thy kingdom’ at the end of this verse. Whose kingdom is this? Christ’s kingdom. These disciples mistakenly thought that the mark of greatness in Christ’s kingdom was to be in the highest positions of honour. If that were true, then Christ’s kingdom would be no different from the world’s kingdoms where prestige and power matter most.
This provides the background for what Christ said in vv.25-27, “Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister.And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant.” Jesus shows the disciples how radically different it is to be great in His kingdom. It is to be a servant. This gives us the first reason why we ought to be servants:
- Being a Servant Is the Distinguishing Mark of Greatness in Christ’s Kingdom (vv.25-27)
Since we who are saved are now in Christ’s kingdom, our thinking about greatness has to change radically. We are not to be conformed to the world in our thinking anymore, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind (Romans 12:2). What the world esteems most like riches, fame and power are of no value to us. They do not make us great at all. What would make us great in Christ’s kingdom are the things that the world despises most, like humility, weakness, giving, submission and selfless service: These are the things that matter most of all in Christ’s kingdom. The world rewards those who put themselves at the top. But the kingdom of Christ rewards those who put themselves at the bottom.
In the ancient world, kings and princes were at the top-most rung of society while slaveswere at the very bottom-most rung of society. Christ tells us where we should be in v.27, “…whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant.” The word ‘servant’ that Christ used here is translated from the Greek word doulos which literally means ‘slave.’ Now, I don’t think anyone here would like to be called a slave, because of its negative connotations of forced servitude and loss of personal rights. But that is how Christ wants us to see ourselves – we are no better than others, because we are nothing more than lowly slaves! We have to get used to thinking of ourselves this way, and make it a point to begin each day reminding ourselves that we are not kings but slaves!
Having this mind-set will change the way we relate to others. It will make us more approachable and accommodating. We will be more willing to see things from their point of view and not insist that everything must be done our way. We will want to serve rather than to be served. We will even go the extra mile to serve others. When we see ourselves as nothing more than servants or slaves it becomes a lot easier for us to submit to others willingly.
Whenever we write formal letters, we use certain conventional endings before signing off, e.g. ‘yours sincerely,’ and ‘yours truly.’ But do you know that these endings actually originated from much longer ones? In letters that were written way back in the 1800s, the standard ending that was used was: “I beg to remain your most humble and truly obedient servant.” Over time this has become shortened to: “yours truly.” And so the next time you write ‘yours truly,’ please remember how Christ wants you to regard yourself.
One reason why nobody wants to be a slave is that slaves do not own anything. They and everything they have belong to their master. In the same way, the servant mind-set requires us to regard ourselves and everything we have as God’s property, which are to be used in His service. In Luke 12:48 God’s Word says, “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.” God has every right to expect much from us, because He has invested so much in our lives. What has God invested in us? He has invested Time, Talents, Treasures, and Opportunities in our lives. God has entrusted these to us to be used for His glory.
In the parable of the Talents in Matt 25:14-30 the Lord spoke about three servants who were entrusted with their master’s assets. The first two servants doubled their talents by working hard, and so they were commended when the master returned. But the third servant received a stern condemnation because he merely buried his talent and returned it intact to the master.
This parable teaches us to be good stewards of all that Christ has entrusted to us. One day we will have to give an account to Him of how we used them. Will you be like the servant who buried his talent in the ground? Do you spend a lot of your time and money in your own leisure and activities, and things that are unnecessary? How should you spend your time, talents and treasures now, if you know that you will have to give an account for them? Will you put them to good use so that Jesus will say to you, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord”?
One passage that reveals what will happen at the Judgment Seat of Christ is 1 Corinthians 3:12-14 – “Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.”
Dearly beloved, do you look forward to receiving a blessed reward from the Lord Jesus Christ? You must. All your efforts in serving Him now will be amply compensated when you receive your reward from Christ. With this reward in view, let us be faithful in serving Him well. We have just seen that being a servant is the distinguishing mark of greatness in Christ’s kingdom. Let us return now to our passage to see another reason why we ought to be servants. This is found in verses 27,28 which says, “And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto but to minister…” Please take note of the words ‘even as.’ They tell us why we must be servants. And it is plainly this – Our Lord Jesus Himself was a servant. Thus, the second reason why we ought to be servants is:
- It Is the Disciples’ Means to Follow Christ’s Example (v.27-28a)
Christ became a servant in His ministry on earth. Philippians 2:6,7 tells us that Jesus, “…being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.”
One passage that displays Christ as a servant is John 13:1-13. This happened when the disciples had the Last Supper with Christ the day before His crucifixion. In those days it was customary for the host to assign his lowest slave to wash the feet of his guests when they came into his house for a meal. After walking in sandals on the streets their feet would be caked with mud and manure and would need a good washing. But no one had done this. The basin, water and towel were all there, but none of the disciples was willing to get up and use them.
Then something quite unexpected happened. Jesus rose up, laid aside His garments; took a towel and girded Himself and then proceeded to wash their feet. This must have taken them all by surprise. Perhaps they thought that Jesus would appoint one of them to do the work. But now they were stunned as they saw Him doing it! How can their Master be washing their filthy feet? They should be the ones washing His feet! But now with His outer garments laid aside, His body stooping down and His hands washing and wiping their feet, Jesus practically became their servant.
Then He said to them in vv.14,15 – “Ye call Me Master and Lord: and ye say well: for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.” Since Christ has given us such an example, how can we follow Him without being a servant? Dearly beloved, being a servant is our means to follow Christ’s example. It makes us more like Him.
Here is a story about two wash basins. One was a plain copper basin that Jesus used to wash His disciples’ feet, while the other was a beautiful gold basin that Pontius Pilate used to wash his own hands. Christ used one basin to carry out a responsibility that not His. Pilate used the other basin to deny a responsibility that was his. One basin shows us that Christ sought to serve, while the other basin revealed that Pilate ought to serve, but refused. Whose wash-basin will you choose? Christ’s or Pilate’s? If you want to follow Christ, then choose His wash basin and be a servant. This is a very compelling reason why we ought to be servants. But there is an even more compelling reason. It is found at the end of v.28 – “…and to give His life a ransom for many.” This teaches us that being a servant…
- It Is the Divine Mode for Edifying Christ’s People (v.28b)
Christ gave His life on the cross as a ransom for many, and the many here refers to us, the people He has saved from sin and eternal death. But His ministry to us did not stop there. Christ is still giving Himself for us through His unceasing intercession in Heaven, and through the work of the Holy Spirit on earth. And the Holy Spirit bestows spiritual gifts on us so that we can build up the body of Christ by using them well. Our service to God’s people is the mode by which He accomplishes this work. Every one of us has a role to play in this work of building the Body of Christ. But how well have we been fulfilling our role?
During the time of the prophets Zechariah and Haggai the Israelites were spending too much time and effort building their own houses while the house of God was laid waste. Some problems had come up during the Temple building project and the work was stopped for 15 years. But people conveniently used this as an excuse to leave God’s work undone. So God sent His prophets to rebuke them, and also withheld many blessings from them.
In our present time, the situation is still the same. Many Christians spend much time and effort pursuing their own ambitions, while God’s work is left undone, or is left in the hands of a few who are struggling to do it all alone. Out of a thousand in our church membership, there are only about 200-300 who are actively serving. Why is it that the rest of us are not serving in Life Church? Maybe it’s because we always think that Somebody Else will do it. Here is a poem that I found about this:
“There’s a clever young fellow named Somebody Else. There is nothing this fellow can’t do. He’s busy from morning till very late, just substituting for you. You’re asked to do this, or asked to do that. And what is your ready reply? “Get Somebody Else. He’ll do it much better than I.” So much to do in this weary old world; so much and the workers are few. And Somebody Else is weary and worn just substituting for you. Next time you’re asked to do something worthwhile, just give this ready reply; If Somebody Else can give time and support, well then, so can I.”
Perhaps too many of us have been content to let Somebody Else do the work. The problem with this is that there aren’t that many Somebody Elses out there. And those there are, have grown weary and tired, and may even suffer from burnout soon. Putting more money into the offering bags will not help. The way to resolve this is for every Lifer to assume his or her role of service and be used by Christ to edify His people. (I thank God for last week’s VBS – Many took time to serve on the 3 mornings, but there are many more areas of service besides this one.)
In today’s church weekly there is an article entitled, “Where Can You Serve?” Read it and you will see that there are many great needs that can only be met if we are willing to give priority to serving the Lord and His people. The article provides a list of ministries in Life Church, their needs and the person to contact to find out more about them. Please ask the Lord to lead you to an area of service.
If you feel any reluctance, please remember the 3 reasons why you should be a servant according to our passage of Scripture: Being a Servant (1) Is the distinguishing mark of greatness in Christ’s kingdom; (2) It is the disciples’ means to follow Christ’s example, and (3) It is the divine mode for edifying Christ’s people.
And after you decide to start serving, there are some guidelines you need on how to serve: Firstly, check your motives for serving. Our passage shows how easy it is to have the wrong motives. James and John were interested in glory, position and rank. They wanted to be higher than anyone else. And though their mother came to Jesus in worship, her real motive was to seek out the best places for her two sons.
Love for Christ should always be our sole motivation for everything we do for Him. Some serve the Lord to win the praises of men. They like to be at the forefront where others can see how busy they are for the Lord. When asked to pray, they will pray the longest and most impressive prayers. Like Jehu in the Old Testament, they would say, “Come with me, and see my zeal for God.” (2 Kings 10:16) And they love to talk about what they have done for the Lord. But once they no longer feel appreciated, they may go elsewhere to have their egos uplifted again. Dearly beloved, let us be careful not to be like that. Every time we serve the Lord, we should ask ourselves, “Who am I doing this for? For the Lord or for myself?”
There are many in Life church who work quietly behind-the-scenes. They are unsung heroes – serving the Lord faithfully and diligently in their own areas of service. I think of the ladies who prepare the elements for Lord’s Supper. I think of our PA crew who come very early every Sunday to set up the PA system. I think of our church pianists and organists who avail themselves not only for our worship services but even for prayer meeting, weddings, vigil and funeral services.
You know, for the amount of time, effort, expertise and service that they put in, they would probably be paid quite well if they were doing it in the secular world. But here they do it for nothing, in fact oftentimes, they would put in their own funds for any expenses incurred in their service and would not make any claims from the church. I thank God for all the sacrifices they have made, and trust that they will be encouraged to continue to serve the Lord well. So let us serve because we want to please no one else but God. Let us serve because we love Him.
The second guideline you need to observe about serving is to put others before self. Serving the Lord is always done together with others. The biblical pattern for service is teamwork. In 1 Corinthians 12 the apostle Paul describes believers as being parts of a body, and each of us has a different role to play. God has graciously bestowed specific gifts on each of us. But none of us can function without the rest, and we need one another’s gifts to serve the Lord together.
But there are potential problems in working closely together with others, especially when self gets in the way. Some feel offended when their ideas are not used or when things are not done in their preferred way. In our passage we notice that when the other ten disciples of Jesus saw what James and John were trying to do, they reacted, as v.24 says, “…they were moved with indignation against the two brethren.” The spiritual attitude of these ten disciples was not any better than that of James and John. In order to preserve good working relationships, we must always be humble, considerate, forbearing and forgiving towards our co-labourers. We will find much greater joy in our service to God if we learn to put others before self in our service.
Another guideline that you need to observe is to be ready to serve whenever and wherever you can. If it is something that you have never done before, be willing to learn how to do it. If you are approached to serve in some area do not be so quick to say, ‘No thanks, but I can’t commit myself to it.’ If you count it a great honour to serve Christ, rearrange your other commitments to make way for it. Servants must be available whenever the master calls for them. Please make sure that you are available. Remember this: Availability is the greatest ability! A good servant is also alert to the needs of others. In Psalm 123:2, the psalmist said, “Behold as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until that He have mercy upon us.” When the master moves his finger in command, the servant simply obeys. A good servant is one who has learned to subdue the defiant autonomy of self and to subject his will to the wishes of another. Whatever God says goes. When God says, “Jump,” we should say, “How high, Lord?”
However, there is a vast difference between doing what God wants you to do and doing all that you or others want you to do. Don’t try to do everything, or else you will end up being too busy, doing things that God never intended you to do. Sometimes you have to say ‘No,’ and encourage others who are doing nothing to help share the load.
And now we come to the last guideline for service: Be willing to do whatever it takes to do what is needed. Serving the Lord will not always be easy. There will be times when you may have to endure hardship and suffering. Some of the tasks that need to be done are tasks that nobody wants to do at all because they are unpleasant, tedious or boring. You may have to direct traffic outside under the hot sun, or clean the toilets after VBS or camp, or spend hours typing lyrics and music scores for a new song book.
Our Lord Jesus has set the example. He had to give His own life to be a ransom for many. He had to die a cruel death on the cross. Are you willing to do the same? Perhaps our Lord would ask you the same question that He asked James and John in v.22 – “Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” Well both of them did suffer for their service as Christ’s apostles. James became the first apostle to be martyred, and John had to endure the longest time of persecution because he lived until the time of the cruel Emperor Domitian. Only God knows what you will have to endure in your service to Him. Please make it a point therefore to seek God’s grace to endure any difficulties, so that you may be able to glorify Him through your service.
May the Lord speak to all of us and help us to be faithful servants.
