Jesus promised: “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). The church is not a defensive outpost but is a unified army with a clear mission – to “make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:18-20).
This Sunday (4/26/20), Pastor Mike Maggard will preach on Ephesians 3:10 – “so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.” Notice the key phrase: “through the church.”
- How is God revealing the mystery of the gospel? Through the church.
- How is God proving the supremacy of Christ in all things? Through the church.
- How is God demonstrating His wisdom and glory to the entire cosmos? Through the church!
We are God’s Plan A to make disciples of all nations; and there is no Plan B. The church – all believers on planet earth right now – is God’s only appointed means to glorify Him by proclaiming the good news in all creation.
Robert Coleman (my Evangelism professor in seminary) wrote the classic Master Plan of Evangelism. Here are some relevant excerpts.
“His concern was not with programs to reach the multitudes but with men whom the multitudes would follow… He literally staked his whole ministry on them.” p. 27, 31
“Jesus was making men to lead his church to conquest, and no one can ever be a leader until he first 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.” p. 58
“It is only the Spirit of God who enables one to carry on the redemptive mission of evangelism… Evangelism was not interpreted as a human undertaking, but as a divine project which had been going on from the beginning and would continue until God’s purpose was fulfilled. It was altogether the Spirit’s work. All the disciples were asked to do was to let the Spirit have complete charge of their lives.” p. 65
“His way was contrary to the accepted pattern of worldly wisdom. Therefore they would be hated of all men… Jesus never let his followers underestimate the strength of the enemy, nor the natural resistance of self-serving people to his redeeming gospel… They were going forth with a revolutionary gospel, and when it was obeyed, it effected a revolutionary change in people and their society.” p. 83, 85
“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 which gives meaning to all else that is undertaken in the name of Christ.” p. 88
“When will be learn the lesson of Christ not to be satisfied merely with the first-fruits of those who are sent out to witness? Disciples must be brought to maturity. There can be no substitute for total victory, and our field is the world. We have not been called to hold the fort, but to storm the heights.” p. 95
“Jesus intended for the disciples to produce his likeness in and through the church being gathered out of the world. Thus his ministry in the Spirit would be duplicated manyfold by his ministry in the lives of his disciples. Through them and others like them it would continue to expand in an ever-enlarging circumference until the multitudes might know in a similar way the opportunity which they had known with the Master. By this strategy the conquest of the world was only a matter of time and their faithfulness to his plan.” p. 97
“His whole evangelistic strategy – indeed, the fulfillment of his very purpose in coming into the world, dying on the cross, and rising from the grave – depended on the faithfulness of his chosen disciples to this task. It didn’t matter how small the group was to start with so long as they reproduced and taught their disciples to reproduce. This was the way his church was to win… As simple as it may seem, this was the way the gospel would conquer. He had no other plan.” p. 99
For the Christian, it is not a question of what we are called to do but of whether we will be faithful to the clear commission of Christ. We are sent ones. Our Lord gave us a definite mission to make disciples who would make disciples and through this process of reproduction and multiplication the whole world would be reached with the life-changing gospel message.
Check out this International evangelism challenge – Go 2020:
May 2020 is not what any of us expected. But it is exactly the setting God planned for His gospel to be proclaimed to hundreds of millions of people. Let’s pray for and take hold of opportunities to share with those around us the reason for the hope that we have.
Jesus is building His church. Nothing can stop the advance of the gospel. The only question is to what extent we will contribute to this grand finale of history as the Great Commission is finally accomplished.
“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21