Exodus 19:6 "And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation..."
As priests, each person in Israel was to be a witness of the one true God to unbelievers. The establishing of an official priesthood did not change God's plan for Israel. The priesthood was like the "clergy" of today with special leadership roles, but the entire nation was still to serve as ministers of the message of God to heathen nations.
In the New Testament, believers are given a similar calling. They are to be priests or ministers of the Gospel:
1 Peter 2: 9 "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praise of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light."
The calling of believers is to bear witness of God who has brought them out of spiritual darkness into the "light" of Jesus Christ. Believers are told to "walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called" in Ephesians 4:1. There is one calling and that is to bear witness to the Gospel message. It is the vocation of all believers. Each person is accountable for their response to this call.
The call is not based on education or natural ability. God uses ordinary laymen in order that He alone may receive the glory:
1 Corinthians 1:26-29 "For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are. That no flesh should glory in His presence."
In the Bible, God reveals a special plan to enable believers to fulfill their calling. Multiplication is a basic principle of all growth in the natural world. Growth does not take place by adding just one unit to another. Living cells multiply. Each new cell produced has the ability to reproduce.
God's plan of multiplication is similar in the spiritual world. Paul summarized this plan when he wrote these words to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:2:
"And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also."
Paul told Timothy to select faithful men and commit to them the things he had been taught by Paul. These faithful men were to have the ability to teach others. Through this organized plan of reproduction, the Gospel would spread throughout the world.
We often use the period of a year as the average time necessary to convert someone to the Gospel and train him to be a reproductive Christian. In reality, the process could take more or less time, depending on the person involved, so it is not possible to set a firm time limit. Yet, if a believer would reach just one person and disciple them each year and have them pledge to disciple one person each year, the world could easily be reached with the Gospel message.
Paul heard the Macedonian call-Is God calling you to reproduce in His kingdom?
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