Jesus’ Four Requirements for

Growing Leaders who will Grow the Church

Incorporation, Information

1. INCORPORATION

The need to be brought into Jesus’ Kingdom

The conversion of the clergy

William Haslam 9 years after being ordained Priest

Martin Luther 12 years after being ordained Priest

John Wesley 13 years after being ordained Priest

Born again into the Kingdom of God

Jesus and Nicodemus“I tell you the truth, no-one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”

John 3:3 NET

“Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’”

John 3:6-7

Born again into the Kingdom of God

A fundamental necessity Not a type of experience but a spiritual reality Without this we are not able to embody the new reality

of God’s sovereign reign We need to be incorporated

The dangers when leaders are not born again

The leadership that cannot be given

“Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”

2 Corinthians 2:14, NRSV

Unable to lead using the capabilities that the Holy Spirit supplies

The dangers when leaders are not born again

The leadership that cannot be given

“Isn’t an unconverted minister like a man who would teach others to swim before he has learned it himself, and so is drowned in the act and dies like a fool?”

Gilbert Tennent ca.1740

Unable to bring others into the Kingdom

The dangers when leaders are not born again

The leadership that is given instead

The things of the Spirit – the supernatural expression of God’s reign and the spiritual nature of the Kingdom of God itself – become marginalized and lost

Congregations are inevitably shaped to reflect these leaders’ own “not-yet-born-again” nature …the nature of the congregation is fundamentally altered

The dangers when leaders are not born again

The leadership that is given instead

This is not a critical judgement of the dedication, compassion or intentions

But the fusion of human and divine is missing

2. INFORMATION

The need to know truth, and to know Him who is the Truth

Learning from the Teacher

Jesus’ apprentices received private tutoring to give them a right understanding of him and of his ways

Intellectual, academic knowledge of doctrine and practice

Personal, relational knowledge of Jesus himself

Intellectual knowledge – using our head

“They devoted themselves to the Apostles’ teaching.”Acts 2:42

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”

2 Timothy 2:15

Those who are tasked with building his Church are expected to know what they believe, as well as passing that knowledge on to others

Intellectual knowledge – using our head

It is not enough simply to stand at the foot of the cross and live, we must also sit at the feet of Christ and learn. Jesus’ first disciples did both.

Personal knowledge – relating to Jesus

Discipleship is an invitation to walk through life in the company of Jesus

“Come follow me”Mark 1:17

“When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”

Acts 4:13

Personal knowledge – relating to Jesus

Informed about the Living Word through the text of the written Word, quickened in the context of prayer.

Knowing the Author himself rather than knowing only his writing.

The fusion of Head and Heart knowledge

“This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the LORD. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

Jeremiah 31:33-34 Factual awareness of the teachings of God’s law Personal knowledge of the Lord Himself.

The fusion of Head and Heart knowledge

Without this fusion we face the dangerous imbalance of either…

Academic excellence devoid of personal experience, becoming dead orthodoxy or prideful skepticism

Great enthusiasm built on the flimsy foundations of thoughtless theology

TRANSFORMATION

The need for character and integrity that reflects our status as citizens of God’s Kingdom

and is molded by the Holy Spirit

Lifestyle for a New Covenant

Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount Treats the pinnacle of Old Testament morality as a

mere baseline from which to start

New Testament letters Fruit of the Spirit (Galatian s 5:22-23)

“since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”1 John 4:11

The character of leadership in the Pastoral letters

Those entrusted with leadership need to be markedly different from the surrounding society 1 Timothy 3:1-13 Titus 1:5-9

“The grace of God …teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.”

Titus 2:11-12

Not pharisaic endevor,but Holy Spirit heart-surgery

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”

Ezekiel 36:26-27

A new spiritual ‘DNA’ that renews our desire and gives us the ability to live in a manner that pleases our heavenly Father

Called to become holy, just as He who called us is holy

“whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the Day of Judgment, because in this world we are like him.”

1 John 4:16-17

Paul’s “pangs of childbirth until Christ is formed in you.”Galatians 4:19

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no-longer live, but Christ lives in me.”

Galatians 2:20

The scandal of unsanctified leadership

Sharp words, a critical spirit, moral inconsistency and a general lack of grace can undermine our credentials

Hypocrisy and a lack of integrity provide people with an excuse to ignore Jesus himself

Trust is destroyed and relationships undermined by unsanctified leadership

EMPOWERMENT

The need to be receiving the power of the Holy Spirit to be witnesses for Jesus

Jesus’ promise to his followers

On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptised with water, but in a few days you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit.”“…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Acts 1:4,5,8

Jesus and the Holy Spirit

The Spirit at work in Jesus’ own life… Conception – Luke 1:35 Childhood – Luke 2:47 Character – Hebrews 5:8

Jesus “learned obedience,” was “made perfect” and was “holy, blameless and pure.”

Hebrews 5:8,9; 7:26

Jesus and the Holy Spirit

Incarnation – relinquished the privileges of divinity Authentic human – Philippians 2:6-11

Baptism – received the empowering of the SpiritJohn the Baptist “saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him.”

John 1:32

Jesus and the Holy Spirit

“God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.”

Acts 10:38

Only after the Spirit came upon him did Jesus then heal, deliver and preach

A consistent pattern in the Old Testament

The Spirit came upon a person, who then engaged in some form of dynamic activity Samson, Othniel, Gideon, Saul, Jehaziel Prophets

“prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

2 Peter 1:21

The essential equipping – for Jesus and for us

…he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptised with water, but in a few days you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit.”“…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses...”

Acts 1:4,5,8

Baptized with the Holy Spirit

Sadly shrouded in controversy, but this is Jesus’ own vocabulary.

No one spiritual gift is ‘evidence’ of having been baptized with the Spirit.

The only Biblical evidence is that we become a more effective witness to Jesus.

R.A.Torrey’s story

I had been a minister for some years before I came to the place where I saw that I had no right to preach until I was definitely baptized with the Holy Ghost. I went to a business friend of mine and said to him in private, “I am never going to enter my pulpit again until I have been baptized with the Holy Spirit and know it, or until God in some way tells me to go.” Then just as far as I could, I shut myself up alone in my study and spent the time continually on my knees asking God to baptize me with the Holy Spirit….

It was a very quiet moment, one of the most quiet moments I ever knew; indeed, I think one reason I had to wait so long was because it took that long before my soul could get quiet before God. Then God simply said to me, not in any audible voice, but in my heart, ‘It’s yours. Now go and preach.’ I went and preached, and I have been a new minister from that day to this.”

R. A. Torrey, The Holy Spirit: Who He Is and What He Does 198-199.

Not a particular emotional experience Not any specific spiritual gift But a genuine change in spiritual reality which begins

a new era in his ministry A shift from human effort to divine energy

AN URGENT NEED

Can we give a clear ‘Yes’ to all four questions…?

Have I been born again?

Am I growing in both intellectual and personal knowledge God the Father Son and Holy Spirit?

Is Christ being formed in me?

Have I been baptized with the Holy Spirit?