PERSONAL EVANGELISM

LECTURE 4

THE MASTER’S PLAN OF EVANGELISM

CONSECRATION

Matt 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

He required obedience

Jesus expected the men He was with to obey Him. They were not required to be smart, but they had to be loyal. This became the distinguishing mark by which they were known. They were called His “disciples” meaning that they were “learners” or “pupils” of the Master. It was not until much later that they started to be called “Christian”, although it was inevitable, for in time obedient followers invariably take on the character of their leader.
The simplicity of this approach is marvelous if not astounding. None of the disciples were asked at first to make a statement of faith or accept a well-defined creed, although they doubtless recognized Jesus to be the Messiah.[Initially] all they were asked to do was to follow Jesus.

The way of the cross

Following Jesus seemed easy enough at first, but that was because they had not followed Him very far. It soon became apparent that being a disciple of Christ involved far more than ajoyful acceptance of the Messianic promise:
it meant the surrender of one’s whole life to the Master in absolute submission to His sovereignty. There could be no compromise. “No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Luke 16:13). There had to be a complete forsaking of sin.

This was strong teaching. Not many of them could take it. [Later,] many of His disciples “went back, and walked no more with Him” (John 6:66). As they put it, “This is a hard saying: who can hear it?” (John 6:60). The surprising thing is that Jesus did not go running after them to try to get them to stay on His membership roll. He was training leaders for the Kingdom, and if they were going to be fit vessels of service, they were going to have to pay the price.

Must count the cost

Those who would not go all the way thus in time fell by the wayside. One simply could not follow Jesus through the course of His life without turning loose of the world.
Perhaps this is why Jesus spoke so severely to the scribe who came and said, “Master, I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest.” Jesus frankly told this apparent volunteer for service that it would not be easy. “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head” (Matt. 8: 19, 20; Luke 9:57, 58). Another disciple wanted to be excused from His immediate obligation of obedience in order that he might go and care for his aged father, but Jesus would allow no delay. “Follow Me,” He said, “and leave the dead to bury the dead. Go thou and publish abroad the Kingdom of God” (Matt. 8:21, 22; Luke 9:59, 60). Another man indicated that He would follow Jesus, but on his own terms. He wanted to first bid farewell to his family, perhaps anticipating a merry good time doing it. But Jesus put it to him straight. “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back is fit for the Kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62). Jesus did not have the time nor the desire to scatter Himself upon those who wanted to make their own terms of discipleship.
Few would pay the price

Actually when the opportunists left Him at Capemaum because He would not satisfy their popular expectations, Jesus had only a handful of followers left. Turning to the twelve he said, “Will ye also go away?” (John 6:67)This was a crucial question. If these few men quit following Him, what would remain of His ministry? But Simon Peter answered, “Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God” (John 6:68, 69). [The world is going to be reached with the gospel by just a handful of people (relatively). There will be relatively few churches trying to follow the Master’s plan of evangelism, and in those churches there will be few in numbers actuallly doing it!]

They had shortfallings

[Just because they chose to follow Jesus did not mean that they were ‘stellar’ disciples.] Their ability to grasp the deeper truths of the Lord’s vicarious ministry was encumbered with all the limitations of human frailty. When Jesus told the disciples after the great affirmation at Caesarea Philippi that He would be put to death by the religious leaders in Jerusalem,“Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee” (Matt. 16:22; Mark 8:32). [We know that the disciples bickered amongst themselves on who would be the greatest; they got angry at needy people who ‘bothered’ their Master; they even argued with their leader, Jesus Christ!]

Yet Jesus patiently endured these human failings of His chosen disciples because in spite of all their shortcomings, they were willing to follow Him. [It really gets down to being patient and perservering as a Pastor works with the handful of faithful followers he might have as they pursue being trained to fulfill the Great Commission!]

Training soldiers

From the standpoint of strategy, however, it was the only way that Jesus could mold their lives by His word. A father must teach his children to obey him if he expects his children to be like him.

It must be remembered, too, that Jesus was making men to lead His church to [reach the entire world with the gospel], and no one can ever be a leader until first he has learned to follow a leader. So He brought up His future commanders from the ranks, drilling in them along the way the necessity for discipline and respect for authority. [They had to be trained to follow ‘the’ orders; and then to train others to do the same; faithful soldiers.]

We are at war

There can be no dilly-dallying around with the commands of Christ. We are engaged in a warfare, the issues of which are life and death, and every day that we are indifferent to our responsibilities is a day lost to the cause of Christ. If we have learned even the most elemental truth of discipleship, we must know that we are called to be servant of our Lord and to obey His Word. It is not our duty to reason why He speaks as He does, but only to carry out His orders.

One must ask, why are so many professed Christians today stunted in their growth and ineffectual in their witness? Or to put the question in its larger context, why [are today’s churches] so frustrated in [their] witness to the world? Is it not because among the clergy and laity alike there is a general indifference to the commands of God, or at least, a kind of contented complacency with mediocrity? Where is the obedience of the cross? Indeed, it would appear that the teachings of Christ upon self-denial and dedication have been replaced by a sort of respectable “do-as- you-please” philosophy of expediency.

All unbracketed statements are from the book ‘The Master Plan of Evangelism’,

by Robert E. Coleman (Asbury Seminary’s Professor of Evangelism)

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