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.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Father God and Jesus (Devine relationship)
Joseph and Jesus (Human relationship)
Paul and Timothy, Titus
Abraham and Isaac (Nations)
Elijah and Elisha (Double portion)
Naomi and Ruth
Esther and Mordecai
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 4:14,15
that 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 SONS
DOUBLY FRUITFUL
1
2
3
4
5
Psalm 127:1-5
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.
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.
Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, The fruit
of the womb is a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the
children of one’s youth.
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.
1
2
Isaiah 49:1-2
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.
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 arrow
Polished arrow (KJV)
Pointed arrow (CEV)
Sharpened arrow (GWV)
Select = bārûr
to 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
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
ISSUE OF Submission:
Luke 2:41-52
Now His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the
Passover.
And when He became twelve, they went up there according to the custom
of the Feast;
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,
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.
When they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem looking for Him.
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.
And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His
answers.
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.”
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?”
But they did not understand the statement which He had made to them.
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.
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 2:52
And 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 to
experience increase in FOUR dimensions.
Luke 2:52
And 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 13:15-18
14
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 127:5b
They 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 9:13
For 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 disappointed
to be confounded
1. Unwise actions:
1
2
3
4
5
Proverbs 10:1-5
The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son makes a father
glad, But a foolish son is a grief to his mother.
Ill-gotten gains do not profit, But righteousness delivers
from death.
The Lord will not allow the righteous to hunger, But He
will reject the craving of the wicked.
Poor is he who works with a negligent hand, But the
hand of the diligent makes rich.
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 1:11
Be 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
26
27
Joel 2:26, 27
“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.
“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.
15
16
17
18
19
Ezekiel 37:15-19
The word of the Lord came again to me saying,
“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.’
“Then join them for yourself one to another into
one stick, that they may become one in your hand.
“When the sons of your people speak to you
saying, ‘Will you not declare to us what you mean by
these?’
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.”
15
16
17
Jeremiah 31:15-20
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.”
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.
“There is hope for your future,” declares the Lord,
“And your children will return to their own territory.
18
19
20
“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.
‘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.’
“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.
11
12
(ASV)
Hosea 10: 11-12
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.
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.
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.
15
16
17
18
19
Ezekiel 37:15-19
The word of the Lord came again to me saying,
“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.’
“Then join them for yourself one to another into
one stick, that they may become one in your hand.
“When the sons of your people speak to you
saying, ‘Will you not declare to us what you mean by
these?’
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