Posts
by Samuel E. Ward
Part IIIa: Methods in the Mission
August 25, 2013
View the PowerPoint Presentation: http://www.slideshare.net/samward1/methods-in-the-mission-pt-iiia
The Mission:
Utilizing the training received by observing the attitudes, approach, and methods of Jesus Christ, each disciple will engage in bringing the gospel to their own areas of influence. This shall be done with loving attitudes, respect for those to whom the gospel is presented, and a variety methods designed to attract people to Christ. We shall seek to be persuasive without being deceptive or manipulative. –S. E. Ward
The Christian's effectiveness in fulfilling Christ's mission can be greatly affected by his methods. Lets observe…
I. Jesus Sought the Lost, Not Separate Himself from Them.
A. Jesus Was a Seeker of Lost Souls by Nature, Luke 15:3-7.
(Luke 15:1-7 NIV) Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear him. {2} But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." {3} Then Jesus told them this parable: {4} "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? {5} And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders {6} and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' {7} I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
1. Seeking the lost is the reasonable thing to do if your mission is saving the lost.
2. Rescuing the lost is worth celebrating when they are brought safely into the fold.
3. Rejoicing takes place in heaven more over the lost who are found than over those who never see the need to repent because they trust in their own righteousness.
B. Jesus Was a Seeker of Lost Souls by Compulsion, Luke 4:42-44. See also James 4:17.
(Luke 4:42-44 NIV) At daybreak Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them. {43} But he said, "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent." {44} And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.
Notice the urgency of Christ's mission to preach the gospel to as many as possible as indicated by the phrase "I must preach the good news . . ." The Greek word "dei" translated as "must" in Luke 4:33 carries with it elsewhere the idea also of "should" or "ought" and is translated such. It is a verb of obligation and duty, even a moral responsibility. For Christ to neglect to preach the gospel with this strong sense of purpose would be a sin.
(James 4:17 NIV) Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.
C. Jesus Was a Seeker of Lost Souls in Practice (the call of the disciples; Zacchaeus, Luke 19:1-10; the Samaritan woman, John 4:4, 7-10).
(Luke 19:1-10 NIV) Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. {2} A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. {3} He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. {4} So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. {5} When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." {6} So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. {7} All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.'" {8} But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount." {9} Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. {10} For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."
It is the same Greek word "die" that is used in Luke 19:5 that indicates the Jesus' encounter with Zacchaeus was not by chance. The purpose is seen in the results of the visit—Zacchaeus repents of neglecting the poor and cheating clients. He gives half of his possessions to the poor and repays by four times whatever he cheated others. Salvation came to Zaccchaeus' house and Jesus in keeping with His mission "to seek and to save what was lost."
II. Jesus Ate with the Lost.
A. Jesus Used Meals to Reach Out to Lost Souls.
1. The meal with "sinners" at Levi's home (Matthew), Luke 5:29-31
(Luke 5:27-32 NIV) After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. "Follow me," Jesus said to him, {28} and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. {29} Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. {30} But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" {31} Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. {32} I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
Very few doctors set up shop at a health club. They are in clinics, hospitals, and in earlier days, even in homes of the sick. Jesus visited the home of a sinner he called to be His disciple for the express purpose of being around spiritually terminally ill people to whom He could become the Great Physician.
Who criticizes a doctor for being in a hospital emergency room?
2. The meal at Zacchaeus' home, Luke 19:9-10.
We need only remind ourselves of . . .
(Luke 19:9-10 NIV) Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. {10} For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."
B. Jesus Used Meals to Share the Gospel by Showing Compassion to Lost Souls, (feeding the 5,000 and 4,000), Mat 14:15-21.
(Mat 14:15-21 NIV) As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a remote place, and it's already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food." {16} Jesus replied, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat." {17} "We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish," they answered. {18} "Bring them here to me," he said. {19} And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. {20} They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. {21} The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.
The needs of the lost can provide the opportunity to share the love of God.
III. Jesus Opened His Home to Reach Lost Souls.
A. Jesus Opened His Home to Seekers, John 1:35-39.
(John 1:35-39 NIV) The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. {36} When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!" {37} When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. {38} Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, "What do you want?" They said, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?" {39} "Come," he replied, "and you will see." So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour.
What do you supposed they talked about? The weather? Government scandals? The oppression of the Romans? What piqued their interest in wanting to know where He was staying? It was John the Baptist's designation of Jesus as the "Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"
B. Jesus' Home Was "Opened" by the Seekers, Mark 2:1-5
(Mark 2:1-5 NIV) A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. {2} So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. {3} Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. {4} Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. {5} When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."
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What inconvenience, and (in this case) damage to your home and property, are you willing to endure in order to share the gospel with seekers. Jesus was not "put out" by the damage, He was, rather, impressed by the faith of the paralytic and his friends who made such an effort to find Jesus. The paralytic received not only physical healing, but an even greater spiritual healing in the forgiveness of his sins."
IV. Jesus Invested Much Time in Training His Disciples to Seek Lost Souls.
A. Jesus' Purpose for Choosing His Disciples Was to Teach Them How to "Catch" Lost Souls, Mark 3:13-15.
(Luke 5:1-11 NIV) One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, {2} he saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. {3} He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. {4} When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." {5} Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets." {6} When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. {7} So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. {8} When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" {9} For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, {10} and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men." {11} So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
John Hamby, pastor of First Baptist Church of Vilonia, Arkansas, makes these comparisons between effective fishing for fish and "fishing" for men:
1. You have to go to where the fish are
Not too many fish are going to jump into your boat. You may have heard about a lady who went to see a psychiatrist. She said, "Doctor, my husband fishes every day in our bathtub!" The psychiatrist said, "Well, just tell him to stop." She replied, "I'd like to – but we really need the fish!" You can't catch fish in a bathtub or a swimming pool. You have to go to where the fish are. You will never catch fish until you are willing to leave your comfort zone and go to where the fish are.
2. You have to understand how a fish acts.
In order to be effective in personal evangelism, you have to know something about how people without Christ live. One of our biggest challenges in "fishing for men" is that the longer we are Christians, the less time we spend with non-believers. So what does that mean?? You must be willing to build a bridge of friendship with a person without Christ, but then you must walk across that bridge and tell them about the good news of Jesus. Give them a chance to trust Christ In our day, we need to build relationships of trust with them before we lead them for Jesus.
3. You must be willing to use different of strategies.
A good fisherman isn't afraid to try new approaches, they don't quit after one cast or even a dozen casts; they just try a different bait –a different strategy. That's a great lesson for us. No two people are alike so there is no single approach to personal evangelism that will work. Different people need different approaches.
4. You have to learn to wait – exercise patience.
George Mueller was a great man of faith who lived in England in the last Century. He had a friend with whom he shared Christ many times. His friend resisted and refused to turn from his sins to Christ. Mueller prayed for him and witnessed to him for 52 years! He never gave up. And on the day of George Mueller's funeral, his friend finally accepted Christ. That's patience!
B. Jesus' Used a Variety of Timely Circumstances to Teach His Disciples to Be Seekers of Lost Souls.
His instruction was at times one-on-one, in pairs, or threes, but mostly in the presence of the whole team. When reading the gospels we note that . . .
1. Jesus taught His disciples at meals.
2. Jesus taught His disciples while walking through cornfields.
3. Jesus taught His disciples while rowing across the sea.
4. Jesus taught His disciples after failures, Mark 9:17-29.
(Mark 9:17-29 NIV) A man in the crowd answered, "Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. {18} Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not." {19} "O unbelieving generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me." {20} So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. {21} Jesus asked the boy's father, "How long has he been like this?" "From childhood," he answered. {22} "It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us." {23} "'If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes." {24} Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" {25} When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. "You deaf and mute spirit," he said, "I command you, come out of him and never enter him again." {26} The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, "He's dead." {27} But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up. {28} After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, "Why couldn't we drive it out?" {29} He replied, "This kind can come out only by prayer."
Our attempts at ministering to unbelievers are not wasted. Jesus is with us even when we think we have failed. No one will go to hell because we "botched" it. Seekers will find Jesus and Jesus will find seekers. It is our honor and privilege to share Christ and with enough practice we will become like Paul and become eager to do so.
(Rom 1:15-16 NIV) I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome. {16} I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
