BUILDING LEADERSHIP THROUGH SONSHIP

Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The

watchman keeps awake in vain.

SONS BUILD

• The building activity of God is best encapsulated in the term ‘SON’.

• Outside of the concept or reality of ‘SON’, God does not build anything.

• naturally implies fathering also, so the Father-son dynamic becomes the infrastructure – the new wineskin – the resource that God will use to build His purposes in the earth.

• The Lord desires to build through our labouring

• Builds = benah – derived from the root word, ‘ben’ which means son

• God builds through sonship and fathering

• It is so important to SEE the Father in the Son; we must see Divinity in Humanity, (Randolph)

LEADERSHIP CONCERNS RAISING SONS, NOT SIMPLY LEADING

PEOPLE.• It is imperative that leaders relate to the people they

are leading as sons, and not simply members • Implicit in this principle is the idea that leaders have

the ability by their leadership to facilitate and provide the context, resources and skills that essentially cause the sons to progress from one stage of development to another. David, before he died gathered much of the building materials and resources that Solomon needed to build the temple.

• Sons are heirs to all that their Father’s wealth and resources. Leaders must function with the goal of passing on all they have attained to the people they are leading.

• Deriving total benefit from those who lead you requires that you have an open heart toward them

• For maximum impact upon your life, there must be a reception of both the message and the messenger.

Principle – “Your Perception will determine your Reception and your Reception will determine your Reward” (Matthew 10:40,41)

BIBLICAL EXAMPLES OF FATHER SON RELATIONSHIPS

1. Father God and Jesus (Devine relationship)

2. Joseph and Jesus (Human relationship)

3. Paul and Timothy, Titus

4. Abraham and Isaac (Nations)

5. Elijah and Elisha (Double portion)

6. Naomi and Ruth

7. Esther and Mordecai

8. David and the 12 Tribes of Israel

FROM CHILDREN TO SONS

• God desires that we grow in maturity from the spiritual state of being children of God to sons of God

Fathers Perceive their Sons, Sons Represent their Fathers, to do the will of the Father, Families Are Born, (Malicah4: 5,6)

• In the Father is locked up a SEED, a seed to produce more Sons that carry the SEED of the Father Through a SEED (JESUS CHRIST) was everything created and fashioned for His Name Sake

Who carries this SEED? FATHER, through a Father, natural families are formed, the 1st biological SEED was ADAMS SEED & through that 1st SEED, many Family Nations were Born, right to this very point.

The Last SEED was not a biological (Natural) SEED, but totally a Spiritual one. That is why the New Wine Skin of Families is not primarily about the Natural but emphasising more the Spirit,

The 1st SEED was controlled by the Soul, whereas the last SEED, was & is controlled by the Spirit.

• Child = nepios = without full power of speech literally, “not-speaking”

( translated as ‘babe ; denotes “a little child,”)• Child = teknon = “a child”, youth, teenage • huios= “son” = stresses the dignity and character of

the relationship.• Pater = father, stressing the fathering spirit locked up

in the son

Children have limitations in the

following areas • Speech, (inability to articulate intentions or

communicate sensibly) • Understanding, (phroneo = to be minded)• Thought or reasoning• Carnality (of the flesh, governed by human nature)• Neglecting the application of truth reveled.• Being governed by external regulations

Eph 4:14,15that we should no longer be children, tossed to and

fro and carried about every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of

deceitful plotting, but speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head

—Christ.

SHAPERNED SONSDOUBLY FRUITFUL

Psalm 127:1-5

1  Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the

city, The watchman keeps awake in vain.

2      It is vain for you to rise up early, To retire late, To eat the bread of painful labors; For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.

3      Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward.

4      Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth.

5      How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; They will not be ashamed When they

speak with their enemies in the gate.

Isaiah 49:1-21      Listen to Me, O islands, And pay attention, you peoples from

afar. The Lord called Me from the womb; From the body of My mother He named Me.

2      He has made My mouth like a sharp sword, In the shadow of His hand He has concealed Me; And He has also made Me a select

arrow, He has hidden Me in His quiver.

Select arrow = Choice arrowPolished arrow (KJV)Pointed arrow (CEV)Sharpened arrow (GWV)

Select = bārûrto purify, select, to sharpen

Concealed/Hidden = satar to hide, conceal.

It has the sense of preventing someone to know or see something, to keep something from public notice or from certain persons

ISSUE OF Submission:Luke 2:41-52

41      Now His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover.

42      And when He became twelve, they went up there according to the custom of the Feast;

43      and as they were returning, after spending the full number of days, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. But His parents were unaware of it,

44      but supposed Him to be in the caravan, and went a day’s journey; and they began looking for Him among their relatives and acquaintances.

45      When they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem looking for Him.46      Then, after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of

the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions.47      And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His

answers.48      When they saw Him, they were astonished; and His mother said to Him,

“Son, why have You treated us this way? Behold, Your father and I have been anxiously looking for You.”

49      And He said to them, “Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?”

50      But they did not understand the statement which He had made to them.51      And He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and He continued in

subjection to them; and His mother treasured all these things in her heart.52      And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God

and men.

• Submission to this natural dimension of ‘fathering’ over him was a necessary prerequisite to him fully expressing his divine sonship to His Heavenly father.

• At 12 years old (12 representing the apostolic and governance), he already had an awareness of his heavenly origins and the assignment of His Heavenly Father. When Mary and Joseph found him his response was that they should have known that he would be in his Father’s house.

Luke 2:51 … and he continued in subjection to them

Subjection = huptasso hupo = under ; tasso = to place in order

To place under in an orderly fashion

Note they went to Nazareth

It was prophesied that he would be called the ‘Nazarene’.

Nazareth = ‘the guarded one’Hence a place of protection and incubation – a place of

watchfulness by your father over you – but which may seem as your being confined and imprisoned.

Nazareth was a place of disrepute.

‘Can any good thing come out of Nazareth’ (John 1:46). Submission to your father will cause you to become a man of

no reputation. Every bit of the flesh and of self will have to die within so that, like Jesus, you will become a man of no

reputation.

Nazareth = separated, crowned or sanctified In your purification and separation – you are crowned – being prepared for dominion and

rulership.

Nazareth = preservation

Submission to your father’s grace and instruction will preserve you.

Nazareth was in the province of Galilee

Galilee = circle or circuit

Luke 2:52And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom, and stature,

and in favour with God and man.

This verse says of Jesus that he kept increasing in four dimensions:- in wisdom - mentally functioning by the thinking of

God- in stature - physically - His body developing

externally- in favour with God - spiritually - in relationship with his

Father- in favour with man - socially - divine connections set up

Increase = propkopto= to strike a way forward= to cut a way forward= to drive forward (as if by beating)= to beat or drive forward as with repeated

strokes= to advance= to proceed, profit, wax, be far spent, etc.

Prior to the active submission to his parents the Scripture says of Jesus …

Luke 2:40 The Child continued to grow and become strong,

increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.

Increasing = pleroo = to be full of

Active submission to them caused Jesus toexperience increase in FOUR dimensions.

Luke 2:52And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom,

and stature, and in favour with God and man

Arrows were used for hunting and/or

military purposes.

Provision will be secured through sons.

Epaphroditus ministered to Paul’s needs.

Phil 2:25

But I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker

and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger and minister to my need

Measure of success is dependent on the measure of obedience to the Father’s voice.

2 Kings 13:15-1814 When Elisha became sick with the illness of which he was to

die, Joash the king of Israel came down to him and wept over him and said, “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!”

15      Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and arrows.” So he took a bow and arrows.

16      Then he said to the king of Israel, “Put your hand on the bow.” And he put his hand on it, then Elisha laid his hands on the

king’s hands.17      He said, “Open the window toward the east,” and he opened it.

Then Elisha said, “Shoot!” And he shot. And he said, “The Lord’s arrow of victory, even the arrow of victory over Aram; for you will defeat the Arameans at Aphek until you have destroyed them.”

18      Then he said, “Take the arrows,” and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground,” and he struck it three times and stopped.

19      So the man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck five or six times, then you would have struck Aram until you would have destroyed it. But now you shall strike

Aram only three times.”

Ps 127:5a     

How blessed is the man whose

quiver is full of them;

Blessed = eser

denotes a person’s state of bliss

(Oh the blissfulness of ….)

Ps 127:5bThey will not be ashamed

When they speak with their enemies in the gate.

Significant cities in biblical times were walled for protection. Entrance in to and exit our of these cities was only possible through fortified gates.

Gates in Scripture highlight the following:

1. Controlled Access : Regulating what elements gain access into an area

2. Governmental and Legal Determination : Elder sat at the gates and made governmental or judicial decisions, eg determination of policy governing the city and settling disputes. So gates represents ‘authority’ – the right to make decisions that affect a large community or congregation of people.

3. Strategic Business and Commercial Transactions: Key business contracts and deals were concluded in the gates of the city. These were made and witnessed in the gates of the city.

Zechariah 9:13For I will bend Judah as My bow, I will fill the bow with Ephraim.

And I will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece; And I will make you like a warrior’s sword.

Judah is described as the bow and Ephraim the arrow. Judah means ‘praised’, but the name has a far deeper than this, perhaps,

simplistic understanding.

In the Hebrew, … Judah = Jehuwdah = derived from Yadah

Completely, the meaning of Yadah is the following:~ to use the hand; to hold out the hand~ to physically throw a stone (cf. David) or to shoot an arrow~ to revere or to worship with extended hands ~ the ringing of the hand; to bemoan something~ to confess, shoot, thank

The Hebrew, Yadah, comes from the root word YAD = a physical hand; an opened hand indicating power, resourcefulness and direction. The hand in Scripture indicates power and authority to do or to act.

Ephraim = doubly fruitful

Psalm 78:72

So he shepherded them

according to the

integrity of his heart,

And guided them with

his skillful hands.

Ashamed = bos to act shamefully is equivalent to acting unwisely;

to be delayed or to be disappointedto be confounded

1. Unwise actions:Proverbs 10:1-5

1     The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son makes a father glad, But a foolish son is a grief to his mother.

2     Ill-gotten gains do not profit, But righteousness delivers from death.

3     The Lord will not allow the righteous to hunger, But He will reject the craving of the wicked.

4     Poor is he who works with a negligent hand, But the hand of the diligent makes rich.

5 He who gathers in summer is a son who acts wisely, But he who sleeps in harvest is a son who acts shamefully

To be ashamed is to experience distress, as farmers with no harvest. – an absence of provision

Jer. 14:4“Because the ground is cracked, For there has been no rain on the land;

The farmers have been put to shame, They have covered their heads.

Joel 1:11Be ashamed, O farmers, Wail, O vinedressers, For the wheat and the

barley; Because the harvest of the field is destroyed.

But the blessing of God means that one will never be put to shame

Joel 2:26, 2726 “You will have plenty to eat and be satisfied And praise the

name of the Lord your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; Then My people will never be put to shame.

27      “Thus you will know that I am in the midst of Israel, And that I am the Lord your God, And there is no other; And My people will

never be put to shame.

Ezekiel 37:15-1915      The word of the Lord came again to me saying,16      “And you, son of man, take for yourself one stick

and write on it, ‘For Judah and for the sons of Israel, his companions’; then take another stick and write on it,

‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions.’

17      “Then join them for yourself one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand.18      “When the sons of your people speak to you

saying, ‘Will you not declare to us what you mean by these?’

19      say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions;

and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.”

Jeremiah 31:15-20

15      Thus says the Lord, “A voice is heard in Ramah, Lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; She refuses to be comforted for her children, Because they are no more.”

16      Thus says the Lord, “Restrain your voice from weeping And your eyes from tears; For your work will be rewarded,” declares the Lord, “And they will return

from the land of the enemy.

17      “There is hope for your future,” declares the Lord, “And your children will return to their own territory.

18      “I have surely heard Ephraim grieving, ‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised, Like an untrained calf; Bring me back that I may be restored, For You are the Lord my God.

19      ‘For after I turned back, I repented; And after I was instructed, I smote on my thigh; I was ashamed and also humiliated Because I bore the reproach of my youth.’

20      “Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a delightfu lchild? Indeed, as often as I have spoken against him, I

certainly still remember him; Therefore My heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him,” declares the

Lord.

Hosea 10: 11-12

11      Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh, But I will come over her fair neck with a yoke; I will

harness Ephraim, Judah will plow, Jacob will harrow for himself.

12      Sow with a view to righteousness, Reap in accordance with kindness; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the Lord Until He comes to rain

righteousness on you.

(ASV) And Ephraim is a heifer that is taught, that loveth to tread out the grain; but I have passed over upon her fair neck: I will set a rider on Ephraim; Judah shall plow, Jacob shall break his clods.

 

(BBE) And Ephraim is a trained cow, taking pleasure in crushing the grain; but I have put a yoke on her fair neck; I will put a

horseman on the back of Ephraim; Judah will be working the plough, Jacob will be turning up the earth.

 

(CEV) Once you were obedient like a calf that loved to thresh grain. But I will put a harness on your powerful neck; you and Judah must

plow and cultivate the ground.

 

(ESV) Ephraim was a trained calf that loved to thresh, and I spared her fair neck; but I will put Ephraim to the yoke; Judah must plow;

Jacob must harrow for himself.

 

(GW) "Ephraim is like a trained calf that loves to thresh grain. I will put a yoke on its beautiful neck. I will harness Ephraim. Judah must

plow. Jacob must break up the ground.

  (MKJV) And Ephraim is like a trained heifer, trying to tread out. But I passed over on the goodness of her neck. I will make Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods.

 

Ezekiel 37:15-1915      The word of the Lord came again to me saying,16      “And you, son of man, take for yourself one stick

and write on it, ‘For Judah and for the sons of Israel, his companions’; then take another stick and write on it,

‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions.’

17      “Then join them for yourself one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand.18      “When the sons of your people speak to you

saying, ‘Will you not declare to us what you mean by these?’

19      say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions;

and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.”

Micah 2:13

“The breaker goes up before them;

They break out, pass through the gate and go out by it. So their king goes on before them,

And the Lord at their head.”

Breaker = parats

Break out, burst out, To be Opened