I have been very much burdened with Kingdom prophetic evangelism and discipleship, the one-on-one thing. An evangelist can get a lot of people to receive Jesus as their Savior, and then boast, “Look, I’ve got converts.” These big evangelists can have a lot of babies, but then they toss them off to the side of the road because they don’t want to bother to feed them and help them grow.
We take the opposite view: When we get hold of someone, we labor to present him mature and perfect in Christ as much as we can (Colossians 1:28). And in the long run, I’ll guarantee that we’ll have more real people standing in the remnant than will all these great mass movements.
The groundwork had to be laid with great difficulty in my life to come into a walk with God. So that I can bring others into the level I attained, to produce sons and daughters.
Psalm 144:11 Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of foreign sons, Whose mouth speaks deceit, And their right hand is a right hand of falsehood: 12 That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; That our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace:
I had to get free from sin and all the false teaching I was taught in church.
We’re going to reach these little children in the Lord and we’re going to train them. They’re going to receive a Living word and receive impartation.
It is the spirit of Elijah that turns the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers (Malachi 4:5–6)—that’s what it’s all about.
In the Kingdom, there is no problem as great as the fact that each successive generation doesn’t know how to relate to the previous one. It’s been the big problem. And that of course is where the breakthrough is coming.
I’m not just trying to push for a little bit of unity. I want more than that; I want the combination that’s going to bring greater works in the earth.
What we are really getting at is the way to put the Spirit into the disciples so that what they do, they will do in Spirit and in truth (John 4:23). We’re looking for the simplicity of it.
Invariably, people start leaving out the grace of God and the miracle power of God as they go along. But this walk with God is not like that. We’re getting more of God in it every day we walk.
The issue that repeats itself continually is the necessity of an apostolic company to confirm or correct each commission in its execution of the Word of God over each one.
A commission without authoritative confirmation always creates confusion.
DISCIPLING PEOPLE
The first area of training would be spiritual perception.
The second would be the Kingdom Principles and the functioning in them and the divine order of them.
The third would be the teaching and imparting, and teaching them how to impart to others.
The fourth area of training would be the shepherd-dedication, both in themselves and in those whom they train.
The fifth area of training I would call “Beyond the Cross,” or “How to Wear the Crown.” Devastation is one thing; but to come out of it, to move in absolute authority in Christ, is another.
The sixth area of training would be how to flow in a spiritual ministry and still be able to delegate to others responsibility and oversee it with this supervision that is necessary. All of this requires a great deal of teaching on the balance and the emphasis in which each ministry must be trained.
The seventh area of training would be the basic principles of the Kingdom—in fact, in faith, in function, in fulfillment. And these are all distinct aspects.
Now the question is how to fulfill all of this. For instance, what would we teach if we took only seven men? What can we teach just as efficiently to many more at one time? What must be done with only one at a time?
You can see that the goal is not, “What can I learn myself?” but “What do I learn by teaching others?” And this can be one of the greatest factors of all in bringing forth an apostolic company.
The development of the Body of Christ must always be in direct relationship or ratio to the deliverance of the Body. In every instance where we try to train another, the positive goals are unattainable without eliminating negative factors that hinder those positive things from coming forth in them.
You can’t take Jericho until your faith has made you walk through the Jordan. You can’t conquer Canaan until you’ve been circumcised.
The beginning of all creation is the overcoming of personal chaos.
Nehemiah couldn’t rebuild the walls until he removed the rubbish.
To reproduce myself in you, we must first eliminate both of ourselves.
The submission of a bondservant is a climate in which the qualities of the master are reproduced in that submissive servant.
Pride and ambition isolate the minister from that creative flow that will create him into the perfect will of God.
Submission is perfected in the one, and only in the one, who is no longer insecure and fearful.
The climate of timidity and fearfulness is hostile to what God wants to do in you. Just get rid of it—have faith in what God has done.
Our trust in the Lord and in the teacher, He appoints for us is a key that opens the door to receiving what is imparted and taught.
This trust is difficult to obtain because everyone goes through life looking for a spiritual father; they go searching for a teacher. And they come to a certain place where they have been burned so many times that when the true teacher comes along to teach them, they are shy of getting in and receiving it.
But how long is it going to take? Do you want to spend five years learning how to develop confidence? Or can you look to the Lord and say, “I may see a lot of faults or problems that that teacher has, but You show me, Lord. If that’s to be my teacher, then I’ll get only the good things, because I’ll be submissive to him as unto You; and You’ll be careful to filter out anything that’s wrong so that I’ll get the true thing that is to come.”
I’m giving my life to reproduce this. And I know that I can’t reproduce it unless you have my spirit, and you’re not going to have my spirit until you’re submissive to it. So, you’re going to have to be submissive to the Lord and submissive to the spirit that’s going to teach you.
You start to dwell in it when you begin to intercede for it. But you’ll have to take a big, giant step forward when you become totally submissive to that teaching that is going to transform you. I’m not talking about head knowledge; I’m talking of being able to live and move in another realm completely.
Each generation is finding themselves born with a little freer spirit. No matter what their personal problems are, the climate is good to take care of those problems and to impart to them unbelievable things. I just see that God has brought the hour I’ve been waiting for so much. And everything is moving toward it because the whole climate of the church is, “Impart.”
The greatest curse that could happen is that we would be judged for the light that we received but didn’t walk in because we screwed ourselves up in a conflict. So, God is turning our hearts to one another, so that the earth will receive a blessing. The Gospel of the Kingdom will go into all the world if we can just get it together here among ourselves.
We’ve hit a new level, and the big issue is this: How do we relate to each other on this level? How do we communicate? Our hearts must be turned to each other.
Every mother who says she loves her children falls short of her love in the fact that she is also afraid of them. She’s intimidated. She feels inadequate: “Am I a good mother?” And she over-compensates for that many times.
I tell you, children thrive on a certain amount of neglect that makes them more self-reliant. But they also thrive when you know that you are the authority and you move in to direct and counsel them and guide them and steer them, so that they become self-sufficient. But they do not become self-sufficient as rebels who are going to destroy themselves.
The apostle John used to say, “Little children, love one another” (I John 3:11). Jude says, “Keep yourselves in the love of God” (Jude 21). If you come up and say, “I’ve got all kinds of problems; bless me with my ministry,” the first thing I will do is pray for you to have more love, because you don’t hit a new level without the realization that—as much love as you may have had on the former level—it’s not enough this time.
You must have more love. Just say, “God, give me Your love.” Nine-tenths of the problems would be eliminated if we had more love.
The problems in communication, the conflict, the disturbances all come because you’re not loving enough. That’s the bottom line.
What was your commission? What were the prophecies? How do you serve? If somebody took away everything from me as far as ministry is concerned, what would I do?