Tomorrow afternoon it is my privilege to be teaching the School of Worship students for their final class of the year. It will be my third time with them this year, and I have found them a pleasure to teach. They are hungry for the word, and ask me deep questions. It is a double privilege because of what I am teaching them - The Kingdom of God. It is the second year that Matthew has asked me to teach this subject, and I count it an honour to be able to impart such a vital subject.
I was also delighted this week when I had a couple of requests for copies of my notes. There are a number of ladies from Living Rock Church who are going out to Cuba later this year to do some teaching to the ladies out there. One of the subjects they are covering is The Kingdom of God, and two of the ladies who are going have asked for copies of my notes on this subject.
One of the greatest blessings pronounced in the natural is "May you live to see your children's children" (Pr 128:6). I believe it is the same in the Spirit. Certainly for me, the greatest reward I get from teaching the word is when I see others communicating the truths that I had a hand in imparting to them. In the thinking of the world, this might be considered as plagiarism, a teacher might be tempted to consider his revelation as his personal property to be kept that way. But that's not how I view it; everything God gives me is not mine to keep, but it belongs to the body. Seed is meant to be sown. It's great to reap a harvest from the seed you sow, but it's even better if you release that harvest to be sown again for an even bigger harvest. A teacher of the word is not just meant to communicate his revelation in the word, but also his ability to impart it. The whole purpose of ministry in the church is not to secure its own niche, but to reproduce itself. [See Numbers 11 - Part 2]
Jesus, who was frequently referred to a "Rabbi" - teacher, is our ultimate example. He taught the multitudes, but he also instructed the twelve so that they might continue his teaching, and reach many others that he alone could not reach. When he taught on the Kingdom Jesus said - "Every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom..." Go no further, those who have been instructed in the kingdom are addressed as teachers. What we have received, we are meant to pass on, and what we pass on should be sown without strings, so that that those who receive it can pass it on themselves. (The great thing for the teacher is, when you have released your revelation in this way - God gives you more! When you prove faithful with little, he entrusts you with much.)
So it is with great pleasure that I release my notes to go to Cuba, and when I am teaching the students tomorrow, I will not just be seeing the few faces in the room that my words will touch, but all the many others that I will never meet that they will touch themselves with the wonderful message of the Kingdom.
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