The Master Plan of Evangelism

Jesus did not urge his disciples to commit their lives to a doctrine, but to a person who was the doctrine, and only as they continued in his Word could they know the truth ( John 8:31–32).

It is good to tell people what we mean, but it is infinitely better to show them. People are looking for a demonstration, not an explanation.

One living sermon is worth a hundred explanations.

People are looking for a demonstration, not an explanation.

A few people so dedicated in time will shake the world for God. Victory is never won by the multitudes.

Knowledge was gained by association before it was understood by explanation.

He was “the Saviour of the world” (John 4:42). God wanted all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. To that end Jesus gave himself to provide a salvation from all sin for all men. In that he died for one, he died for all. Contrary to our superficial thinking, there never was a distinction in his mind between home and foreign missions. To Jesus it was all world evangelism.

Having called his men, Jesus made a practice of being with them. This was the essence of his training program—just letting his disciples follow him.

Preaching to the masses, although necessary, will never suffice in the work of preparing leaders for evangelism. Nor can occasional prayer meetings and training classes for Christian workers do this job. Building men and women is not that easy. It requires constant personal attention, much like a father gives to his children. This is something that no organization or class can ever do. Children are not raised by proxy. The example of Jesus would teach us that it can be done only by persons staying close to those whom they seek to lead.

Through their word” he expected others to believe in him ( John 17:20), and these in turn to pass the word along to others, until in time the world might know who he was and what he came to do ( John 17:21, 23).

We have not been called to hold the fort, but to storm the heights.

Evangelism is not an optional accessory to our life. It is the heartbeat of all that we are called to be and do. It is the commission of the church that gives meaning to all else that is undertaken in the name of Christ.

Followers must have leaders, and this means that before much can be done with the church membership something will have to be done with the church officials.

Christian disciples are sent men and women—sent out in the same work of world evangelism to which the Lord was sent, and for which he gave his life. Evangelism is not an optional accessory to our life. It is the heartbeat of all that we are called to be and do. It is the commission of the church that gives meaning to all else that is undertaken in the name of Christ. With this purpose clearly in focus, everything that is done and said has glorious fulfillment of God’s redemptive purpose—educational institutions, social programs, hospitals, church meetings of any kind—everything done in the name of Christ has its justification in fulfilling this mission.

We must decide where we want our ministry to count—in the momentary applause of popular recognition or in the reproduction of our lives in a few chosen people who will carry on our work after we have gone.

We must learn this lesson again today. There can be no dillydallying around with the commands of Christ. We are engaged in 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.

Jesus did not have the time nor the desire to scatter himself on those who wanted to make their own terms of discipleship.

Love is the only way to win the free response of men, and this is possible only by the presence of Christ within the heart.

if we do not make the journey from theories and ideals to concrete situations, then the concrete situations will be lost under a smog of words.

His nature, being personal, is only expressed through personality, first revealed fully in Christ, and now expressed through his Spirit in the lives of those yielded to him.

His concern was not with programs to reach the multitudes, but with men whom the multitudes would follow.

Reflective man produces new philosophies; it is only regenerate man who holds the clue to a society that is really new.

And let us remember, too, that one does not have to have the prestige of the world to be greatly used in the Kingdom of God.

We must have his life in us by the Spirit if we are to do his work and practice his teaching.

There is no place in the Kingdom for a slacker, for such an attitude not only precludes any growth in grace and knowledge but also destroys any usefulness on the world battlefield of evangelism.

Jesus said: “If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments. . . . He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me; and he shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself unto him. . . . If a man love me, he will keep my word; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my words; and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me. . . . If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love. . . . This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you. Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I have told you” ( John 14:15, 21, 23, 24; 15:10, 12).

Only this morning I heard a radio speaker make the observation that, in most matters, we move in either of two directions: from words to things, or from things to words. That is to say, if we do not make the journey from theories and ideals to concrete situations, then the concrete situations will be lost under a smog of words.

All the disciples had to teach them was a teacher who practiced with them what he expected them to learn. Evangelism was lived before them in spirit and in technique. Watching him, they learned what it was all about. He led them to recognize the need inherent in all classes of people, and the best methods of approaching them. They observed how he drew people to himself; how he won their confidence and inspired their faith; how he opened to them the way of salvation and called them to a decision. In all types of situations and among all kinds of people, rich and poor, healthy and sick, friend and foe alike, the disciples watched the master soul winner at work. It wasn’t outlined on the blackboard of a stuffy classroom nor written up in a “do it yourself” manual. His method was so real and practical that it just came naturally.

Victory is never won by the multitudes.

They saw how their Master denied himself many of the comforts and pleasures of the world and became a servant among them. They saw how the things they cherished—physical satisfaction, popular acclaim, prestige—he refused; while the things which they sought to escape—poverty, humiliation, sorrow, and even death—he accepted willingly for their sake.