And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:17-20
You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. 3 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. 5 An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 6 It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. 7 Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.
2 Timothy 2:1-7
The Kingdom of God is all about multiplication. I know it doesn’t get spoken of very much, but it is a major concept from Genesis to Revelation. The title of today’s writing refers to the Kingdom of God (KOG) and the emphasis on multiplication (MLM). By MLM, I don’t mean multi-level marketing. However, the concept of multi-level applies directly to the KOG, Multi-Level Ministry.
I want to track multiplication through the Scriptures.
Command
Adam: “And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’” Genesis 1:28
Noah: “And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.'” “And you, be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.” Genesis 9:1, 7
Promise
Abraham: “And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.” Genesis 12:2
“When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.’” “…your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.” Genesis 17:2, 5
“…I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” Genesis 22:17-18
Isaac: “I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” Genesis 22:17-18
Jacob: “Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” Genesis 28:14
“But you said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’” Genesis 32:12
“And God said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body.” Genesis 35:11
“Then he said, ‘I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation.‘” Genesis 46:3
Moses’ prayer: “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’” Exodus 32;13
Israel: “I will turn to you and make you fruitful and multiply you and will confirm my covenant with you.” Leviticus 26:9
“Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply.” Jeremiah 23:3
“Out of them shall come songs of thanksgiving,
and the voices of those who celebrate.
I will multiply them, and they shall not be few;
I will make them honored, and they shall not be small.” Jeremiah 30:19
“As the host of heaven cannot be numbered and the sands of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the offspring of David my servant, and the Levitical priests who minister to me.” Jeremiah 33:22
Teaching of Jesus: He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.” Matthew 13″31-33
The parable of mustard seed is how the smallest seed grows into the largest of the garden plants. In other words, it multiplies. Actually, a seed’s potential is not just a plant, but, in the case of trees, a forest.
Leaven in flour affects the entire lump of dough because the leaven multiplies. Jesus’ point is that the gospel of the Kingdom penetrates the whole earth through multiplication.
Of course, the Great Commission, Matthew 28:17-20 above, can only be seen to be accomplished through the multiplication of disciples making disciples who make disciples and naturally, churches planting churches that plant churches…multiplication of disciples and churches.
Paul’s example: “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” 2 Timothy 2:1-2
Do we intentionally pursue the multiplication of disciples and churches? In the West, generally, we do not. At best, evangelical churches pursue converts one by one or addition. We do not anticipate that multiple people will come to the Lord at once as happened in the Scriptures, nor do we disciple people; we convert them. We do not train them to be disciple-making disciples. We just hope they will keep coming to church and be a “good Christian.” We are not pursuing the Biblical model of the Kingdom of God that requires multiplication. In my opinion, most Western church leaders do not believe that multiplication is even possible. But what is the final picture?
“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” Revelation 7:9-12
God has commanded multiplication, promised multiplication, taught multiplication, modeled multiplication, and shows us the results of multiplication of disciples and churches from Genesis to Revelation. How could we have missed it? It is so clear.
Pray that the church will stop doing church the way we have and failing and change how we do church so we can multiply. Consider how you live your Christian life and ask yourself whether or not you are intentionally pursuing disciple-making. If not, ask God to help you to become a disciple-maker. A multiplying disciple-maker.
