Teaching at LTCi Siliguri - based upon Robert Coleman's book, The Master Plan of Evangelism

1. The Master Plan of
Evangelism
Robert E
Coleman

2. The Master Plan of
Evangelism
Robert E
Coleman

3. 8. Reproduction
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed
you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last
John15:16

4. 8. Reproduction
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed
you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last
John15:16

5. Jesus expected them to reproduce
Jesus intended the disciples to
produce his likeness in and
through the Church
When did you last:
Visit a church that made you
love Jesus more, or meet a
person who seemed full of
Jesus and his Spirit?!
(What would these look like?)

6. Jesus’ ministry should be duplicated
through the lives of his disciples - in
this was it would continue to expand
and multiply
If they were faithful to this plan the
world would be won
Jesus built into the disciples a
structure that started small like a grain
of mustard seed that would grow in
size and strength until it became a tree
Matt. 13:32ff
Jesus did not expect that everyone
would be saved - but he did foresee
the day when the Gospel would be
proclaimed to every creature.
It would not be easy:

7. - many would suffer persecution and
martyrdom
- his people would pass through trials
- the ultimate victory was certain. His
Church would win in the end. Matt.
16:1 8, Amplified,
And I tell you, you are Peter, and
on this rock I will build My church,
and the gates of Hades (the powers
of the infernal region) shall not
overpower it or be strong to its
detriment or hold out against it.

8. This confidence was based upon
Jesus’ knowledge that the disciples
had learned at least the essence of
His glory.
Peter summed it up in Matt. 16:16
Simon Peter answered, “You are
the Messiah, the Son of the living
God.”!
This is an indestructible truth, and
was the foundation that Jesus
envisioned for victory to be won,
Matt. 16:18,
…on this rock I will build my
church, and the gates of Hades
will not overcome it.

9. These words indicate the
significance of human action in
bringing it to pass
Our interpretation might differ but
we should agree that Jesus' words
were addressed to a person who
personally had made an
affirmation of faith in his Lord something Peter had made up
himself, Matt. 16:17
The apostles' faith in the living
Christ was so imbedded in his life
that it had solidified into a rock

10. - a rock which Peter declared, "the
Chief Cornerstone," upon which all
believers were "living stones" in the
construction of the church 1 Peter
2:4-8; Eph. 2:20-22
We must see the direct relation
between bearing witness of Christ
and the ultimate victory over the
world: One cannot come without
the other. Bringing these two
dynamic facts together by the
power of the Holy Spirit is the
climatic genius of Jesus'
strategy of evangelism.

11. The Principle Observed
It all comes back to His disciples.
They were the vanguard of His
enveloping movement.
Jesus expected people to believe
through them…I pray also for those
who will believe in me through
their message, John 17:20
They would then pass the word
along to others, until the world
knew who he was and what He
came to do John 17:21, 23

12. The Principle Observed
It all comes back to His disciples.
They were the vanguard of His
enveloping movement.
Jesus expected people to believe
through them…I pray also for those
who will believe in me through
their message, John 17:20
They would then pass the word
along to others, until the world
knew who he was and what He
came to do John 17:21, 23
vanguard!
a group of
people leading
the way in new
developments
or ideas

13. The Principle Observed
It all comes back to His disciples.
They were the vanguard of His
enveloping movement.
Jesus expected people to believe
through them…I pray also for those
who will believe in me through
their message, John 17:20
They would then pass the word
along to others, until the world
knew who he was and what He
came to do John 17:21, 23

14. The Principle Observed
His whole evangelistic strategydepended upon the faithfulness of
His chosen disciples to this task
Their size did not matter - as long
as they reproduced and taught
reproduction.
“As simple as it may seem,
this was the way the Gospel
would conquer. He had no
other plan.”

15. The Test…
The test: Would His disciples carry on
His work after He had gone?
Could they do as good a job without
him present?
Does that sound like asking too much?
Until this point of maturity was reached,
on a human level Jesus could never be
sure that his investment in their lives
would pay off for the Kingdom.
If they failed to impart his Spirit and
method to others who would keep this
work going, then His ministry with them
all these years would come to nothing.

16. Jesus made sure the disciples
understood how necessary and
inevitable reproduction is.
E.g. John 15: 1 -I 7
- The purpose of the vine (Himself)
and the branches was to bear fruit.
Any branch that did not yield fruit was
cut off - it was worthless.
Fruit bearing branches were pruned
that they might give more fruit, 15:2
The life-sustaining power of the vine
was not to be bestowed endlessly
upon lifeless branches. Any branch
that lived on the vine had to produce
to survive for that was its intended
nature.

17. !
Jesus then applied this - his disciples
would bear fruit, fruit that would
remain John 15:5, 8, 16
A barren Christian is a
contradiction: A tree is known
by its fruit.!
Note: It is interesting that in this whole
passage, every time fruit bearing is
mentioned, the Word is in the present
tense, which means in the Greek text
that it is a continuing thing, something
that just keeps on reproducing.

18. This principle was emphasized again
and again - it was inevitable John
12:24; 17:19.
It was the distinguishing work of those
who . did the will of His Father in
heaven, Matt. 7: 16- 23
It was (interpreted as) the wages given
to His disciples for their work in the
harvest (John 4:36-38)
It was that which was denied those who
"let the cares of the world, the
deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of
other things" choke out the Word of
God planted in their hearts Mark
4:18-20

19. It was the thing lacking in the lives of
the Sadducees and Pharisees Matt.
3:7, 8; 12:33, 34; Luke 13: 6-9
In various ways Jesus called men to
evaluate the product of their lives - this
was what they were
Where fruit bearing is seen as
reproducing the life of Christ in human
personality, practically everything which
the Master said and did pointed to this
principle.

20. The Great Commission
The great commission is summed up in
the command to "make disciples" Matt.
28: 19
- go out into the world and win others
who would come to be what they
themselves were-disciples of Christ
Coleman states,
“Emphasis is given in Greek where we
see that the words "go," "baptize," and
"teach" are all participles which derive
their force from the one controlling verb
"make disciples."

21. The Great Commission
“…This means that the great
commission is not merely to go to the
ends of the earth preaching the Gospel
(Mark 16:15), nor to baptize a lot of
converts…, nor to teach them…, but to
"make disciples" - to build men like
themselves who were so constrained
by the commission of Christ that they
not only followed, but led others to
follow His way. Only as disciples were
made could the other activities of the
commission fulfill their purpose.”

22. Pray for Harvesters
Leadership was the required!
The masses were ready for the
harvest, but without spiritual
shepherds to lead them, how could
they ever be won?
Matt. 9:37, 38
“The harvest is plentiful but the
workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord
of the harvest, therefore, to send
out workers into his harvest field.”!
There is almost a note of desperation
in these words - the world desperately
needs workers who cared for their
souls.

23. Pray for Harvesters
There is no use to pray for the
world. What good would it do?
God already loves them and has
given His Son to save them.!
The only hope for the world is for men
to go to them with the Gospel of
Salvation, and having won them to the
Savior, not to leave them, but to work
with them faithfully, patiently,
painstakingly, until they become fruitful
Christians savoring the world about
them with the Redeemer's love.

24. The principle applied to us
We must all evaluate the
contribution that our life and
witness is making to the supreme
purpose of the Savior of the world
Are those who have followed us to
Christ now leading others to Him
and teaching them to make
disciples like ourselves?
It is not enough to rescue the
perishing, though this is
imperative

25. The principle applied to us
It is not enough to build up new
born babes in the faith of Christ,
although this is necessary if the
first fruit is to endure
It is not enough just to get them out
winning souls
What really counts in the ultimate
perpetuation of our work is the
faithfulness with which our converts
go out and make leaders out of their
converts, not simply more followers.

26. The test of any work of evangelism
is seen in the effectiveness with
which the work continues in the
next generation.!
A Church should measure its
success by how many Christians are
actively winning souls and training
them to win others
Ultimately this is only be measured in
eternity
Is it not time that we all looked again
at our lives and ministries from this
perspective? As Dawson Trotman
would say, "Where are our men?"
What are they doing for God?

27. And in the Church
The first disciples gave the Gospel to
the multitudes whilst at the same time
building up the fellowship of those who
believed - the Lord added daily to the
Church whilst the apostles were
developing men to reproduce their
ministry to the ends of the earth
Acts is the unfolding in the life of the
church the principles of evangelism that
have already been outlined in the life of
Christ.

28. And in the Church
The early Church proved that Jesus’
plan worked
By the end of the century the society of
the day had been shaken to its
foundations and growing churches had
been established in most centres of
population.
Had the momentum continued within
a few centuries the multitudes of the
world would have known of Jesus

29. Times changed, and the simple way of
Jesus' evangelism was forced into a new
mould.
Adaptations of principle are necessary in
the light of changing circumstances, but
somehow the principles got confused in the
desire to give the gospel a new look
The costly principles of leadership
development and reproduction were
submerged beneath the easier strategy of
mass recruitment
Popular recognition took precedence over
reaching the world, and the methods of
evangelism employed by the Church
reflected this

30. Occasionally the principles of Jesus'
method have come to the fore - in
times of revival, but have been short
lived and have never captured the
imagination of the vast majority of
churchmen. “Jesus' plan has not
been disavowed; it has just been
ignored. It has been something to
remember in venerating the past, but
not to be taken seriously as a rule
for conduct in the present.”

31. The issue today
Today our problem is methodology.
We have ceremonies, programs,
organizations, commissions and
crusades trying to do a job that only can
be done by men in the power of the Holy
Spirit.
This is not to put down these efforts, for
without them the church could not
function as she does
Unless the personal mission of the
Master is vitally incorporated into the
policy and fabric of all these plans, the
church can not function as she should.

32. “When will we realize that evangelism
is not done by something, but by
someone. It is an expression of God's
love, and God is a Person. 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.
Committees may help to organize
and direct it, and to that end they
certainly are needed, but the work
itself is done by men reaching other
men for Christ.”

33. “This is the evangelism we need - not better
methods, but better men - men who know their
Redeemer - men who see His vision and feel His
passion for the world - men who are willing to be
nothing in order that He might be everything - men
who want only for Christ to produce His life in and
through them according to His own good pleasure.
This finally is the way the Master planned for His
objective to be realized on the earth, and where it
is carried through by His strategy, the gates of Hell
can not prevail against the evangelization of the
world.”

34. E. M. Bounds said that, “Men
are God's method. The
church is looking for better
methods; God is looking
for better men.”
Until we have men endued
with His Spirit and committed
to His plan, none of our
methods will work.