How does the Lord Jesus, the Master, build a spiritual nation – in His case a Spiritual Kingdom? That is the central question brother Theodore answered in his massage at the 9th night of the Fasting Praise and Prayer Crusade. The Master builds the Kingdom by the making of disciples and by the making of those who will make disciples, that is, by multiplying those who, like Him, will make disciples, brother Theodore answered clearly.
Using an analogy, he presented Jesus as the builder who produces bricks from the mold, that is Himself, so that they can have a place in the building. He then calls the bricks produced to become molds that will produce other bricks.
How then did the Master proceed to make disciples and multiply those who will make disciples?
Brother Theodore disclosed Jesus used a three-step approach which is clearly and comprehensively presented in the Gospels
- First, through the Gospel, He called, recruited people, and initiated them to the Kingdom of God
- Secondly, He trained them by giving Himself to them, by asking them to follow Him, to do like Him; and
- Thirdly, He gave them a mission to do as they Had seen Him doing: making the Kingdom of God to grow.
Expounding on the mission the Master gave to His disciples in Matthew 28v19-20, brother Theodore clarified that, When Jesus says “go and make disciples of all the nations”, the mission is not to go and make disciples in all the nations, but Jesus wants that we should bring whole nations into His Kingdom. Jesus is asking us Disciple-nations. Nations conquered by the Gospel, nations taught, nations baptised.
Expatiating further on the Master’s approach, the leader explained that, while the Lord Jesus was on earth, His ministry was big. He exercised apostleship in all Israel. He paid a price for the salvation of the whole world. But He built disciples. He, notably built
- A leader
- He built three witnesses who represent the essence of His mission: Peter (the opener of doors, for the Gospel); James (the one who poured the blood that was to water the seed; representing the price that needs to be paid), and John (the interpreter of the Master’s life, representing the teaching that will build men).
- He built the 12
- He built the 72
- The 10 outstanding women, for resources
- The 120 to start the kingdom through the visible church
- His family and brought her into His Kingdom. James, and Jude for example became disciples and became part of the apostles.
- He taught the 500 for 40 days
- He went from village to village and from town to town.
A broad ministry in Israel, a price paid for the whole world, and a work of building men for the building of His Kingdom. That is what the Lord Jesus did and that is what ZTF exemplified, brother Theodore underscored.
We are to send books all over the world, fill the world with tracts, send hundreds of thousands of missionaries, build mega churches, teach crowds. We are to pay the price for world salvation, pay the price for global revival (through fasting, death to self, sacrificial and bleeding giving.) That is the vision. But to build the Kingdom, it takes intentional commitment, and investment of yourself into others who are recruited to perpetuate the Kingdom.
- In whose chain are you?
- Whose disciple are you?
- What are you being discipled to do?
From these three questions Brother Theodore called each one to stop claiming to want to be disciples without having carried out all the circumcisions.
The disciples of Jesus were not people who had obtained something from Him, they were instead those to whom He had cost all, further commented brother Theodore.
It takes great sacrifices, great renunciations to have great spiritual careers, added the leader.
So does the Master builds the Kingdom, and He can, by no means be edited, therefore, so are we to proceed to build the spiritual nation, brother Theodore declared.
DAILY PROCEEDINGS:
RECOMMENDED READING
- Disciples of the Jesus-Christ to make disciples for Jesus-Christ
- Personal Spiritual Revival
- The Ministry of Fasting
- Life-Changing Thoughts on Fasting (Vol 1)
- Practical Helps in Fasting Long Fasts
- Building a Spiritual Nation