1. Thessalonians 5:12-13;
“And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you;
And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves.”
1. Timothy 5:17;
“Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine
Our mandate in SADOZ is bringing souls to Jesus Christ, Holy Ghost baptism, and discipleship.
This article focuses on one of our major mandates in SADOZ, which is “discipleship.”
I’ll be explaining disciple from two perspectives, namely:
1. Disciple as a personality.
2. Disciple as an act.
DISCIPLE AS A PERSONALITY.
During my research, I discovered that another word for “disciple” is “student.”
A student is a person who is undergoing a learning process of a particular subject.
A disciple from the perspective of Jesus Christ is someone who has subscribed to the teaching ministry of Jesus or someone who attached himself to Jesus’ discipleship college.
Acts 11:26 -” And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught many people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.”
When you look at the word “disciple,” it is different from a believer because all Christians are believers, but not all believers are Christians. “It is the disciples who are called Christians, not the believers.”
Those that are called Christians are those who have submitted themselves to the ministry of Jesus.
We have a lot of people who believed in Jesus as their personal Lord and saviour, but when you look at their lives, some things need to be tutored out of their lives.
It’s the disciples that are called Christians, not the believers, that’s why I said all Christians are believers, but not all believers are Christians.
Those who are called Christians are those who have submitted themselves to the teaching ministry of Jesus.
The word “Christians” means “Christ-like” because they behave just like Jesus.
You look like what you are looking unto.
The disciples were called Christians because whenever they want to speak, they speak like Jesus, whenever they want to pray, they pray like Jesus. Jesus has tutored them in a lot of things.
For example, if you say you’re a disciple of a particular man of God, it means you have surrendered yourself to the man of God, and he’s teaching you every concept from the word of God that you need to know.
A disciple as a personality means you’re a student who has submitted to someone to teach you.
DISCIPLE AS AN ACT.
Disciple as an act can be seen in the book of Matthew 28:19 – “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Ghost:”
NLT – “Therefore, go and make disciple of all nations.”
In this context, the disciple does not mean a student, but for you to understand, you have to go back to King James Version and relate it together. A disciple was substituted with another word which means “teach.”
Disciple as an act simply means to “teach.”
Every believer is having the mandate and potential of a teacher. It is mandated for you to teach the word because that is the last commandment of Jesus Christ to every believer.
So far you’re a believer, you’re attached to the command of “going” and the teaching also is being demanded from you by God.
That is why we called Matthew chapter 28:19 “the great commission.”
The word “Commission” is a combination of two words, which means “command and mission.” That is the command mission that the Lord has given to us. If you’re not into discipleship as a believer, you’re malfunctioning in the presence of the Lord. If you’re complacent in the ministry of discipleship, you’re not fulfilling your full potential as a son of God.
Below are some mandates that have been given in the bible as pertain to discipleship:
2. Timothy 2:2, Titus 2:1, 1. Peter 3:15.
Firstly, Jesus gave the command to all believers in Matthew 28:19.
In 2. Timothy 2:2, Paul gave the same command to Timothy, his son. Paul was telling Timothy that he has been taught the word of God, then he told Timothy to teach reliable and trustworthy people so that they will teach another generation as well. Paul was telling Timothy that the teachings he gave to him were a continuous process.
Paul was seen addressing Titus also in Titus 2:1 to promote the kind of teaching that promotes awesome teaching. That is, even in your acts, you’re teaching people about the kingdom of God.
Lastly, Peter was seen speaking to the new converts in 1. Peter 3:15 that if someone should ask about their Christian home, they must be ready to explain because when you’re explaining, you’re teaching.
Some People believe they have to grow to a particular stage spiritually before they can teach the word of God. What will make you grow more as a new convert is to go out and teach the word of God.
TEN FACTS ABOUT DISCIPLESHIP.
1. It’s a relationship between a Discipler and his Disciple:
Someone who plays football is known as a footballer, someone who cooks is known as a cook, and so on. So, someone who disciples is called a discipler.
A relationship that exists between a discipler and his disciple is called “discipleship.”
2. It is the greatest command:
You might want to argue that the greatest command according to 1. Corinthians 13:13 is “love.” We have the greatest command and we have the greatest commission. But the greatest command is equal to the greatest commission.
The greatest command is love, and for you to prove your love to God, you must go out for souls, (John 21: 15-17.)
What brought someone to the cross is “preaching,” but what makes them grow is “teaching.”
If you say you love the Lord, you must subscribe to the ministry of discipleship.
3. It’s accepting the Lordship of Jesus, (Matthew 11:29.)
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”
Discipleship is accepting the Lordship of Jesus, not the saviourship of Jesus. So many people believed that Jesus is Lord, that has automatically got them born again, but when it comes to the Lordship of Jesus, it connotes that “we are learning of Jesus and submitting to the Lordship of Jesus’
4. it is a system of bearing fruits in the kingdom, (John 15:16):
“Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you.”
If you’re not disciplining souls as a believer, you’re not bearing fruits, you are just like the fig tree which Jesus was expecting fruits from, but it doesn’t bring forth any fruit.
There are some believers today who are not into discipleship and they not submitting to the discipler over them. Those sets of believers are fruitless believers.
5. The ultimate goal of discipleship is to measure to the full stature of Christ,(Ephesians 4:11-13):
The race of every man and hope of our calling as a believer is to become like Jesus. The race everyone is running today is to attain the full stature of Christ of which you’re going to attain that at the stage of glorification. What will help you to build your stature is when you subscribe fully to discipleship.
6. Discipleship means you are saved, sanctified not to be satisfied; but saved, sanctified to serve in the ministry of reconciliation, (2. Corinthians 5:17):
Some people have been saved, sanctified by the blood of Jesus and they are satisfied, that is not discipleship. Discipleship is that you’re saved, sanctified, and serve in the ministry of reconciliation. You’re to reconcile the world and Jesus together. Jesus gave us the task of reconciling people to Him. Discipleship is all about reconciling the world back to Jesus.
7. The word of God is the instructional material in discipleship, (2. Timothy 3:16):
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”
8. Discipleship makes heaven rejoice, (Luke 15:27):
You may think that it’s at the point of confessing Jesus as their Lord and personal saviour that they repent, the point at which they repent is the point at which they stop that which they’re doing.
There were some things we used to do before giving our lives to Christ, and even after giving our lives to Jesus, we were still doing them, but when we came to a teaching class, we were exposed to the dangers that were there, and how to come out of the sinful habits. The moment you turn away from that sinful habits, that is the moment that you repented.
Repentance means turning away from that thing you used to do and then to another way of life entirely, and that’s achievable through discipleship, and when you’re into that, it’s a system of making heaven rejoice.
9. No mortal man is above discipleship, it is a continuous process:
No one will say he’s now the master discipler. That’s why you’ll see some patriarchs of faith still kneeling teaching us lessons that the spirit is teaching them.
So, no mortal man is above discipleship.
10. The Holy Spirit is the master Discipler, (John 14:26.)
“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”
He’s going to teach you everything you need to know. The Holy Spirit cannot be taken out of discipleship. When you read SADOZ’s vision, you’ll see it there that the Holy Spirit is our Discipler. The Holy Spirit is our Master Discipler.
APPROACHES TO DISCIPLESHIP, AND HOW SADOZ CARRY OUT THE DISCIPLESHIP ACTIVITIES.
SADOZ is all about “discipleship,” that’s our major mandate. These two (2) approaches are what we do:
1. Individualistic Approach: This means one on one approach. That is, having someone you’re teaching the word of God personally.
2. Group Approach: This is the group dimension of discipleship.
Jesus carried out the two (2) approaches to discipleship in His early ministry. We have different categories of people who followed Jesus:
a) The multitudes.
b) The crowd.
c) The 120.
d) The 70.
e) The 12.
f) The trio; Peter, James, and John.
g) The beloved.
After Jesus teaches the multitudes, the disciples will still come to Jesus one after the other and tell Jesus that they don’t understand what He has taught them. So, Jesus will explain it to them.
How does this pertain to SADOZITES?
We are expected to be a Koinonia leaders. A Koinonia leader is someone that is submitted to the discipleship of Pastor Ife Adetona and MotherTreasure.
When you’ve submitted to their teaching through various means, like KBI, weekly bible study, and fountain publication, and afterward, it is expected that you teach what you’ve been taught in your group.
Some people will say they have to grow to a particular stage spiritually before they can teach. For you to know the word of God more, be a Koinonia leader., if you desire to be a Koinonia leader type KOINONIA LEADER to wa.me/2348106522911