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His concern was not with programs to reach the multitudes, but with men whom the multitudes would follow.
Men were to be his method of winning the world to God.
For the most part they were common laboring men, probably having no professional training beyond the rudiments of knowledge necessary for their vocation.
these men selected by the Lord to be his assistants represented an average cross section of society in their day.
Yet Jesus saw in these simple men the potential of leadership for the Kingdom.
they were teachable.
their hearts were big.
What is perhaps most significant about them was their sincere yearn- ing for God and the realities of his life.
These men were looking for someone to lead them in the way of salvation. Such men, pliable in the hands of the Master, could be molded into a new image—Jesus can use anyone who wants to be used.
One cannot transform a world except as individuals in the world are transformed, and individuals
cannot be changed except as they are molded in the hands of the Master.
Jesus was not trying to impress the crowd, but to usher in a kingdom. This meant that he needed people who could lead the multitudes.
Hence, he concentrated on those who were to be the beginning of this leadership. Though he did what he could to help the multitudes, he had to devote himself primarily to a few men, rather than the masses, so that the masses could at last be saved. This was the genius of his strategy.
In an age when facilities for rapid communication of the gospel are available to the church as never before, there are actually more unevangelized people on the earth today than before the invention of the horseless carriage.
But if we can’t begin at the top, then let us begin where we are and train a few of the lowly to become the great.
one does not have to have the prestige of the world to be greatly used in the Kingdom of God.
We must decide where we want our ministry to count—in the momentary applause of popular recognition or in the reproduction of our lives in a few chosen people who will carry on our work after we have gone.
His disciples were distinguished, not by outward conformity to certain rituals, but by being with him, and thereby participating in his doctrine ( John 18:19).
Knowledge was gained by association before it was understood by explanation.
One
living sermon is worth a hundred explanations.
In his presence they could learn all that they needed to know.
Interestingly enough, every one of the ten postresurrection appearances of Christ was to his followers, particularly the chosen apostles.
They walked together along the lonely roads; they visited together in the crowded cities; they sailed and fished together on the Sea of Galilee; they prayed together in the deserts and in the mountains; and they worshiped together in the synagogues and in the Temple.
They were his spiritual children (Mark 10:24; John 13:33; 21:5), and the only way that a father can properly raise a family is to be with it.
He did all that he could, and this doubtless served to impress on his disciples the need for immediate personal care of new converts, but he had to devote himself primarily to the task of developing some leaders who in turn could give this kind of personal attention to others.
the group of believers became the body of Christ, and as such ministered to each other individually and collectively.
Building men and women is not that easy. It requires constant personal attention, much like a father gives to his children. This is something that no organization or class can ever do. Children are not raised by proxy. The example of Jesus would teach us that it can be done only by persons staying close to those whom they seek to lead.
This means that some system must be found whereby every convert is given a Christian friend to follow until such time as he or she can lead another.
There had to be a complete forsaking of sin. The old thought patterns, habits, and pleasures of the world had to be conformed to the new disciplines of the kingdom of God
“Follow me,” he said, “and leave the dead to bury the dead. Go thou and publish abroad the kingdom of God” (Matt. 8:21–22; Luke 9:59–60).
Jesus did not have the time nor the desire to scatter himself on those who wanted to make their own terms of discipleship.
Their ability to grasp the deeper truths of the Lord’s vicarious ministry was encumbered with all the limitations of human frailty.
They just had not come to realize his purpose for their lives in leadership, or perhaps it had not yet been told them.
He had not come to save himself. He came to save the world.
Just as Jesus found his blessedness in doing his Father’s will, even so his followers would find theirs. This is the sole duty of a servant.
A father must teach his children to obey him if he expects his children to be like him.
It must be remembered, too, that Jesus was making men to lead his church to conquest, and no one can ever be a leader until first he has learned to follow a leader.
There can be no dillydallying around with the commands of Christ.
Unless there is this dedication to all that we know he wants us to do now, however immature our understanding may be, it is doubtful if we will ever progress further in his life and mission.
Love is like that. It is always giving itself away. When it is self-contained, it is not love.
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” ( John 15:13).
Jesus gave himself to those about him so that they might come to know through his life a similar commitment to the mission for which he had come into the world.
Love—Calvary love—was the standard.
Love is the only way to win the free response of men, and this is possible only by the presence of Christ within the heart.
The corrupted human nature must be regenerated by the Spirit of God before it could be conformed to its true created purpose in the divine image.
After all, the power is in the Spirit of Christ. It is not who we are, but who he is that makes the difference.
Jesus purposely reserved for his few chosen disciples, and particularly the Twelve, his most revealing things (Luke 10:22; Matt. 11:27; see 16:17).
We must have his life in us by the Spirit if we are to do his work and practice his teaching.
The Spirit of God always insists on making Christ known.
