14th Lesson: Discipleship According to God's Own Heart

Leadership belongs to God, and the discipleship was given to us.

John 6:44 (NKJV) “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Introduction.

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you "(Matthew 28: 19-20).  

The Leadership is the Lords and the discipleship Jesus Christ gave to His followers. When Jesus started His ministry He recruited those whom He chose to make His disciples. He called them and said: “Follow me”. What does it actually mean ‘follow me’? 

Objectives of this subject:

1. Understand the difference between who the leader is and who the follower is.

2. Christ’s ministry here on earth and his heavenly ministry after his ascension. 

3. The command that He gave to the disciples. 

4. Ministry Jesus gave to the disciples at Pentecost. 

As disciples we ought to teach to observe all things whatsoever Jesus commanded the Church to do.

Reflecting on these verses: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you "(Matthew 28: 19-20). 

We can analyze carefully, exegetically; and we will realize that this text of Matthew 28 is differential within Sacred Scriptures because it has singularities that no other passage contains as it talks about the discipleship. From a small passage spoken to us within few lines we can extract powerful revelations that ware given to us by our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Exegetical  means: exegesis. a critical interpretation or explication, especially of biblical and other religious texts. — exegetic, exegetical, adj. 

First, we will study this text in order to understand it in relation to the practical teachings that it offers us in relation to discipleship as a human ministry and leadership as Divine ministry. 

The text in Matthew 28 where Jesus gives the command: "Go"; makes a link, a connection. The bond that connects two specific historical moments, involving the people of God. It is the link, meaning the connection, which connects the end of human ministry to the beginning of the spiritual ministry of Jesus Christ. 

 The link that connects the completion of Christ's atoning work with the onset of discipleship. 

 The bond that makes the disciples into apostles. 

 The link that connects the conclusion of the Gospels and the beginning of the apostolic acts. 

 The link that begins the history of the Church. 

 The link that puts into practice all the precepts received and absorbed by the twelve throughout the three years in which the human ministry of Jesus developed.

Jesus was in Galilee, with his disciples, about to close the human stage of his discipleship ministry: he won, he consolidated lives; performed miracles and wonders as Mathew describes it:

- He healed a leper, the servant of a centurion, the mother-in-law of Peter; and He quenched a storm and drove out demons (Matthew 8);

- He healed a paralytic, a woman with a stream of blood, two blind and one mute (Matthew 9); He healed a man who had one withered hand (Matthew 12); He walked on the sea (Matthew 14);

- He multiplied bread and fish (Matthew 15);

- He was transfigured with the disciples (Matthew 17); He healed a lunatic (Matthew 18);

All these wonders were counted only in the Gospel of Matthew, not to mention other miracles that Jesus accomplished without them being recorded in the Gospels. The Apostle John states it this way: John 21:25: “And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.”

But the human ministry of Jesus is not only of miracles. The Lord Jesus, as a born leader, was also concerned with building the Body of Christ, which is the Church; with a solid Doctrine based on the Father’s Word (which should be a concern of every disciple). He cared about making wholehearted disciples, he cared to consolidate and train them, and he also trained them as successors who would put His teachings into practice generating new disciples afterwards.

Throughout the three years of His human ministry, Jesus Christ formed these disciples; which I call the First Christian Theological Faculty of history, where he himself was the ecclesiastical and the teacher who brought an innovative teaching and unlike anything people had seen at that time. A practical teaching that broke with all traditionalism and put in check the religious system of the time.

He practiced everything He taught. He left an example that never had been seen before. The teaching was basically simple, but very profound and many times too hard to achieve by many that heard Him. In its essence broke with all the superficiality present in the teachings of the scribes and the Pharisees, setting a pattern of eternal and immutable values that should guide the lives of all who desire to follow Him. 

Through these teachings, Jesus signs the spiritual principles of the Kingdom of God, the Celestial Constitution. It is for this reason that every time the Pharisees tried to accuse Jesus according to Jewish traditions, Jesus was a step ahead demonstrating that all complexity of the Law was insufficient and superficial in regards of the ethical and moral standard of God’s Kingdom. These teachings were offered free of charge in common places like mountains and beaches; throughout the villages where He passed by. They were received through teachings, prophetic sermons, and parables.

Returning now to the text of Matthew 28, after suffering the terrible vicarious death on the Cross, bringing redemption to mankind, Jesus was resurrected and reunited with his disciples, who in a few minutes would become the first Apostles of the Church. Jesus' concern now was to transfer the human ministry to his disciples; to transmit to them the last instructions before ascending to Heaven so they could begin their spiritual ministry.

The "go and make disciples of all nations" puts an end to the human ministry of Jesus. It transfers to the new apostles the responsibility of maintaining the exact legacy that Jesus structured, based on the same principles, same laws, and the same values. The apostles take on the work of discipleship that gave birth to the Church; and the Lord Jesus, takes the lead. Jesus instructs the disciples to remain in Jerusalem:

"Stay therefore in Jerusalem, until ye be clothed with power from on high" (Luke 24:49). This order was basically simple: They needed Baptism with the Holy Spirit, since it is the Spirit, the agent of all and any work. We can consider that the power of the Holy Spirit through the Church is the strongest feature of the book of Acts of the Apostles (where Jesus' prophecy was fulfilled). 

For this reason, I began the chapter affirming that the "go" is the link that connects the conclusion of the Gospels to apostolic acts, for if we analyze the book of Acts itself, we will conclude that it is a continuity of the Gospels in order to be connected to them through the "go".

The Holy Spirit is able to change lives. It is the power of the Spirit in the life of Jesus that authorized him to preach the Kingdom of God and to execute signs. The same power of the Spirit (Acts 2) transferred the same authority to the disciples. Therefore, Jesus is the greatest stereotype of a full life, filled with the Spirit and empowered by the Spirit. The presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of a Christian directs his actions, his thoughts, his words and his choices; or at least they should drive. For this reason, leadership belongs to the Lord.

The Lord Jesus, now in the heavens, assumes his spiritual ministry: to intercede for us at the right hand of the Father (according to Rom 8:34) and to rule through a reign which is equally spiritual for an hour, but which, in the future, prophecies, will be a physical reign, which will extend to all peoples, languages, races, tribes and nations.

"And he shall reign forever in the house of Jacob, and his kingdom shall have no end" (Luke 1:33)

A spiritual government to overcome the limitations of human leadership.

As it is written in the title of this chapter, discipleship (human ministry) has been given to us, but leadership belongs only to the Lord. In the next lesson we will explain why…

Until then, may the Lord Jesus be with you.  

Blessings on to you all. 

Antonina Penner.

A. PENNER PUBLISHING.

 Discipleship according the heart of God

ISBN NUMBER:  978-0-9881063-2-1

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13th Lesson: Discipleship According to God's Own Heart

Now Than, Let Us Compare It With What The Bible Says.

It is summed up above these definitions by uniting those with Collins and Strong that Biblical Leadership is: "function and ability to lead; Spirit of leadership, form of government based on personal prestige and accepted by others; Go about, lead, protect, sustain, care, feed, impel, lead gently, advise, deliberate, solve, consult, determine, guide, propose, guide, carry, guide the house, drive, guide, show the way through teaching , To command with official authority, to have the government on "= equal to => discipleship.

Then a leader according to the dictionaries is the following: All these words bring in themselves the concept and the basis for someone who goes ahead showing the way, the way of proceeding or living. It is not possible to describe "discipleship" and / or "leadership" or "leader" in one word or even in one sentence. The theme is so rich and broad that we need to conceptualize it in a much more extensive way than dictionaries do. 

So let's get the meaning of these dictionaries and compare them with what the Bible says. When I read about David's life, and the life of all the prophets in the Old Testament, and about the life of the apostles, I come to the conclusion that God implanted in their hearts the character traits of a person who is after the heart of God.
Leadership = sf (leader + ana) Leader role.
What is a principle? Search the dictionary, the definition of principle. Principles are standards that we follow. 
Principle = sm (lat principiu) = 13 Standard of conduct. 14 Way of seeing; Opinion: Always faithful to its principles. Rules or code of (good) conduct by which someone rules your life and your actions. Fundamental doctrines or prevailing opinions: Political principles.
Defining Biblical Leadership. If we go back to the verses we stated in the beginning of this lesson we can see that God commanded Joshua exactly like this.  

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

You see God gave Moses and Joshua the Principle of the standard in their conduct.  Guiding them on His own opinion. God taught His people always to be faithful to HIS principles. God gave His people rules of good conduct by which every leader instilled by God ruled over His people conducting their lives and actions. God gave kings the Fundamental doctrines and prevailing opinions: 
God’s Political principles.

Observing leaders in the past we can point out in their lives that God has approved the characteristics we have outlined in summarizing what dictionaries say: "to go about, to lead, to protect, to sustain, to nurture, to feed, to impel, to lead kindly, to counsel, to deliberate , to resolve, to consult, to determine, to guide, to propose, to carry out, to direct, to show the way through teaching, to command with official authority, to have the government over. 

And Jesus gave us the government over, for the fact that he said, "As the Father has sent me, I send you."

This is certainly the most exact description of a shepherd; the function of it. Leading people means driving, protecting, sustaining, caring, feeding, gently leading, and counseling. I know it is a lot to take in, in one lesson all that is taught here. But Jesus gave the authority here on earth to the church, His disciples. 

John 20:21 says: “So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

Further in another lesson we will learn that the Leadership belongs to God, and the discipleship was given to us. Eventhough Jesus gave the authority to us, His disciples; the final word still belongs to God alone. 
In this lesson I would like you to make the question… And next lesson we will talk about them. 

Journal nº1: But I would like you to write about a journal what you have learned in this lesson. What difference does it make to look at it God’s way compared with your way?


Homework = Scripture memory: 

Be sure to commit this passage to memory before moving on to the next lesson. Then, practice reciting it repeatedly throughout this course. Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Personal goal:  How do you want to make a difference in this world??  Who do you want to reflect?

Until then, may the Lord Jesus be with you.  

Blessings on to you all. 

Antonina Penner.

A. PENNER PUBLISHING.

 Discipleship according the heart of God

ISBN NUMBER:  978-0-9881063-2-1

12th Lesson Discipleship According to God's Own Heart

Concept of Leadership by Dictionaries.

This word disciple comes from Latin and actually describes exactly what a leader does. A leader goes ahead and teaches who follows him and the person who is discipling someone also goes ahead and shows what a person should do. This is exactly what Jesus did. Jesus fulfilled his mission and at the same time was teaching and training his disciples. We see the technical description by the Collins Dictionary of the English Language that defines "leadership" as: “You refer to people who are in control of a group or organization as the leadership. Someone's leadership is their position or state of being in control of a group of people.  
"Certainly there are people in the Bible who are leaders, that is, capable of leading. All the leaders who were imposed by God discipled their followers according to the order given by Him. We find biblical principles that help us understand the biblical leadership that describes exactly how Jesus taught those who followed him. Many of the men whom God anointed as prophets and kings had a leading spirit. They had the ability to lead. David, Moses, Joshua, Joseph and many others had the form of government based on the personal prestige accepted primarily by God and also by His people. 
The Strong’s Dictionary gives us some additional help to establish our biblical basis for leadership, as it defines leadership from the original biblical words. According to this dictionary, the word "guide" is used in the New Testament to replace the word "leader." Leading, therefore, is guiding; and this word (and its relative) appears, at least, in most versions of the Bible in English. Thus, when we study the Hebrew and Greek words translated as "guide" and their relative, we form our biblical basis on leaders and leadership.  Jesus gave the leadership in His church hear on earth to His disciples. Jesus delegated them to do the work according to His command.
In Hebrew, therefore, we have the words:
• Darak, which means "to go on".
• Nahal, meaning "to lead, to protect, to sustain, to take care of, to feed, to impel, to lead kindly".
• Ya'ats - "advise, deliberate, resolve, consult, determine, guide, propose".
• Nachah - "guide, transport, place"

In Greek we find the words:
• Oikodespoteo - "to guide the house".
• Kateuthuno - "lead".
• Hodegeo - "guide, show the way through teaching".
• Hegeomai - "command with official authority, have government over".

Have you ever consulted the Dictionary to see how it is described: "disciple"? 
Let's check: 
disciple1 - dis.cí.pu.lo1 sm (lat discipulu) 
1. One who receives instruction from someone; The one who learns; student. 
2. Sectarian professing the doctrines taught or propagated by another. 
3. Fond, devout: A disciple of the truth. 
4. Beloved: St. John the Evangelist. Disciples of the Gospel: those who preached and propagated the evangelical doctrine. "

Leader, Representative type of a group. Head of a political party. 
"If we take the time to compare these two descriptions are in fact basically synonymous. He who receives instruction from another, he who learns; student. Leader is a guide, he also teaches how to do everything, so he is leading to be able to make sure that the leaders follow according to his teaching.
It is summed up above these definitions by uniting those with Collins and Strong that Biblical Leadership is: "function and ability to lead; Spirit of leadership, form of government based on personal prestige and accepted by others; Go about, lead, protect, sustain, care, feed, impel, lead gently, advise, deliberate, solve, consult, determine, guide, propose, guide, carry, guide the house, drive, guide, show the way through teaching , To command with official authority, to have the government on "= equal to => discipleship.
Then a leader according to the dictionaries is the following: All these words bring in themselves the concept and the basis for someone who goes ahead showing the way, the way of proceeding or living. It is not possible to conceptualize "discipleship" and / or "leadership" or "leader" in one word or even in one sentence. The theme is so rich and broad that we need to conceptualize it in a much more extensive way than dictionaries do. In the next lesson we will compare this to what the Bible says about this. 

Until then, may the Lord Jesus be with you.  

Blessings on to you all. 

Antonina Penner.

A. PENNER PUBLISHING.

 Discipleship according the heart of God

ISBN NUMBER:  978-0-9881063-2-1

11th Lesson Discipleship According to God's Own Heart

WHOLEHEARTED DISCIPLESHIP ACCORDING TO SCRIPTURES.







Joshua 1:8-9 (NKJV) “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Objectives: By the end of this section You should have a clear concept of what is discipleship according to Scripture.

Introduction: Wholehearted Discipleship According To Scriptures.
Does the Bible give us a clear concept about discipleship? Would you be able to quote some Bible text that clearly tells us how a disciple should work in God’s kingdom? How can I know if I am leading biblically a Bible class, Sunday school; or in any other department of the church? How should we do the street evangelism according to what the Scripture tells us? Based on the verses we quoted in the beginning of this lesson we know that God teaches us just the same way as He taught Moses, Joshua and all the other leaders in the Old and New Testament.  Jesus always referred to Scriptures when HE taught His disciples.
I believe God says the same to you and to me as he said to Joshua. Scriptures shall not depart from our mouth, but we must meditate on it day and night, so that we can live according to it. God commands us to be strong and courageous as well. I think there is only one way that we can be strong and courageous as followers and disciples of Jesus; and that is following Him as He commanded us to do. Jesus gave us the command in Mathew 28:19-21 and also in Mark chapter 16. Mathew and Mark describe it to us how the Lord sent them, and Jesus is sending you and me as well. All who believe and receive Him as it says in John 1:12 are children of God and we are told to go and preach the good news in all the world.  Do you know how many people were gathered there when Jesus said it? It were not only His disciples, there were

First of all let us take a look at the Biblical Concept of Discipleship. But we need to understand what the Dictionary tells us about the meaning of "Concept"; and after this, we will research in the Bible this conceptualization on wholehearted discipleship according to the heart of God.
Meaning of Concepcion Compose, idealize, develop and/or expose a concept about (something); to define. Assign judgment of value or note to: conceptualize the performance of employees. Develop and express an opinion or point of view about; Evaluate.
If I understood correctly, what the dictionary says, conceptualizing would be to form a concept: ‘it is the way of expressing and developing an opinion about something or someone.’ Moreover, to conceptualize is the form in which we evaluate the supposed situation, circumstance, or theory. It is our opinion on the subject.
Jesus expressed very clearly what His Father told Him to do and how to convey that message to us. Making disciples is for those who are already in Christ, and maturation as a follower of Christ begins on the first day of the Christian life, and it is a process of constant learning. So, on a daily bases we need to guard in our hearts what God told Joshua.
God made His opinion clear as He sent Moses, Joshua and all the other leaders, He instilled as leaders for His people. And He did the same for the Church that He started with the twelve apostles. We have some good points in the verses stated above and we will address them here.

Five specific things I want to point out on this passage.
a) This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, = I believe the Lord gives us the same command, do not let Scriptures depart from your mouth; and we should not replace it with the modern teaching and ways of thinking as the world does.

b) But you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. = We are called to a personal devotional with our God and His word on a daily bases. It is about our devotion, that commitment in studying it. Learning how to make our daily decisions based on the same.

c) For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. = If a child of God obeys this command, I believe it will make it’s way prosperous; there is no doubt on it.

d) Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, = Compare this with the New Testament teaching of the Lord, does He not teach us the same thing? Definitely.  Eph. 6:10 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” 2 Cor. 12:9-10 “9 And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”  = We all must take this thought line as our logo. “Be strong in Christ Jesus.”

e) For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. = This promise He also gave to His church. I will never leave you nor forsake you. Hebrews 13:5b.


Evangelism is fishing souls, calling others to follow Jesus. Once the person received Jesus as their Savior, they need to be trained in the Word of God, which is discipleship through felloship with other believers. We must all learn to be fisher of men from the first day on; but teaching them on the way requires knowledge of the Word of God. During these three years they were instructed to go and do the work in pairs; under the leadership of Jesus.

After receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, they were instituted by God as the leaders who would found the Church. We should apply the biblical principles of Christian leadership as exemplified and taught by Jesus, and train leaders as Jesus trained; that answers the question.

We must work under someone who already has knowledge in the Word of God; to teach us where and how we can do the work of God. But, it is biblical that we should always do this work under the leadership in the Church of Christ; remembering that we are all members of one body.

Some people claim that because the word "leadership" or "leader" does not appear in certain versions of the Bible or appears only in Old Testament. That there is not enough basis to teach about leadership or even to call someone else a "leader"; Or "Leaders according to the heart of God." The Word of God specifies how leadership should be. God teaches his leaders how to proceed before his people. Let's then look at how the dictionaries describe leadership so we can learn to apply it within the Church.

Blessings on to you all. 

Antonina Penner.

A. PENNER PUBLISHING.

 Discipleship according the heart of God

ISBN NUMBER:  978-0-9881063-2-1