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According to the Pattern
A Manual for Church Planting by
Edwin Stube
CONTENTS
2 Scriptural Teaching on Evangelism“Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation” (Mark 16:15).
There are many methods of evangelism. But in this chapter we want to show the method used by Jesus and His followers. If we follow the example of Jesus and the early church, our evangelism will surely be fruitful.
Jesus' Method of Evangelism.
From the beginning of His ministry, Jesus walked through the towns and villages preaching the Kingdom of God (Mark 1:14,15). On the Sabbath Day He went into the synagogues where He taught and did miracles (Luke 4:15,31-37). After that Jesus went out into the streets looking for people that needed help. He said, “The Son of Man came to save what was lost” (Matthew 18:11). Jesus forgave sins, healed the sick, cast out demons, and performed other miracles, which showed the power of God. Many people saw these miracles, and the news spread quickly.To the crowds that gathered, the Lord Jesus spoke about the Kingdom of God, urging His hearers to repent and believe this Gospel.
He used very few words in bringing the Gospel to new people. Whenever someone received His help with an open heart, Jesus said, “Your faith has saved you”. When people opposed Him, Jesus rebuked them with very stern words. He taught the people who became His followers, giving them a deeper understanding of the Kingdom of God.
He called a little band to be with Him in the closest type of fellowship and to be prepared to continue His work (Mark 3:13, 14). These disciples were given very deep but very practical teaching in close fellowship with Him.
The Early Christians' Method of Evangelism.
We can see the early church's method of evangelism in the Book of Acts.When Paul and other apostles came into a district where there were not yet any Christians, they normally went first into the Jewish synagogue where they preached and performed miracles. Usually there were some people who believed, but others that opposed strongly, especially the Jewish leaders. The apostles were always driven out of the synagogue.
Then they began to preach the Gospel outside in the streets, the market places, and everywhere there were people to listen. The apostles' evangelism was always accompanied with healing and other miracles.
All the people who repented and received Jesus and believed in Him were baptized immediately with water, and as soon as possible with the Holy Spirit.
Then generally the apostles stayed on in the city for a few weeks or months to teach the new converts, encouraging them to meet together in their homes to pray and break bread together.
Often the apostles were persecuted by the opposition and driven out of the city. They would escape to another city and begin again there.
Content of the Early Christians' Evangelism.
The early evangelists stressed four major points:1. They proclaimed the joyful news about the Kingdom of God and the Name of Jesus Christ (Acts 8:12).
2. They proclaimed Jesus as the Christ, the Savior of mankind (Acts 17:3).
3. They told the most important facts about Jesus Christ—His life, His suffering, His death, His resurrection, His ascension, and His coming again (Acts 2:14-36).
4. They called people to believe in Jesus and receive Him for their salvation (Acts 16:31).
The apostles' evangelism was always positive and Christ-centered. They did not start with talk about sin or powers of darkness, but they fixed people's attention on Jesus, His glory, and His help.
Jesus' Instructions for Evangelists.
In Luke 10:1-11, we read the instructions Jesus gave His disciples when He sent them out:1. Don't take anything with you. These words of Jesus are very radical, because He forbade them to carry anything, even extra clothing. Certainly if we take this instruction seriously, we will attach less importance to expensive equipment such as tape recorders, pictures, projectors, tracts, automobiles, and the like. We must realize that the most important equipment for the evangelist is the Gospel written in his heart.
Through our experience in Indonesia, we have found that the best visual aids are the ones that God produces Himself. Shortly after we moved into our training center in East Java, we held an evangelistic campaign in front of our house in a big open field. Each day for several days, thousands of people from town and from surrounding villages came and stood for hours to hear the Gospel. Most of them had never even heard of Jesus before. Over nine hundred people were healed of blindness, deafness, and many other ailments. We collected a small mountain of crutches and canes from people who had been healed. People for miles around knew that the Christians have a living God. We did not need to show a film of something happening somewhere else, because it was happening right before their eyes.
2. Don't greet anybody on the way. When we go out to evangelize, we should not talk to other people about things other than the Lord. We must not mix worldly matters of any kind with the Lord's work. If we go out together as a team for ministry, it is best not to talk to each other on the way. Our whole attention is fixed on God and on our mission. We need to be able to hear the Lord's voice guiding us moment by moment.
One night in our fellowship, the Lord said: “Send a team to Bali immediately. They may not speak to anyone along the way, until I send someone to lead them.” They rode a bus to the eastern end of Java, took the ferry boat across to Bali, and got on another bus, still not talking and not knowing how far they should go. At a particular moment, all felt they should get off the bus. Immediately a man met them and took them to his village, A crowd gathered and the team began to tell them about Jesus. From there, the Lord led them from place to place, miraculously opening doors of ministry.
3. When you enter a house, give your peace there. This means we should always begin right away with prayer. We ask for God's peace and God's guidance in that household and on everything we say there. In this way, we avoid all useless talking. When we go, for instance, to minister to a sick person, we should not sit and chat with the family first, or drink tea with them. The sick person would not be healed. We must go in directly to minister to the sick person. Whatever mission the Lord gives us must be fulfilled first. Only after this is completed, can we observe the amenities.
One time, as we came into a village, we were met by a blind girl. We felt we should pray for her. But we were hot and tired from the journey and said, “Let's get a drink of tea first.” Afterwards we prayed for the girl several times with great intensity, but only succeeded in making the family bitter and antagonistic toward the Gospel. It was a bitter lesson.
4. When you are received in a house, stay there and eat and drink what is set before you. This constitutes a promise that the Lord will supply all the evangelist's needs through other people. The teams we send out for evangelism and ministry are usually given enough money to get where they are going. From there on, they trust the Lord to supply all their needs for food, shelter, and further transportation without asking anything from anyone. We also claim the promise of this verse when we are presented with strange foods. We eat whatever people give us without fearing sickness.
5. Tell them that the Kingdom of God is near. Remember that this was precisely the content of Jesus' message and the message of the early church evangelists. It is not enough to proclaim the help (salvation) that is available in Jesus. He is the coming King, and he is to be the Lord of our lives now. We must lead people to accept Him as their Lord, the Ruler of their lives, and not just a blessing machine.
6. Heal the sick in the city. Evangelism must not be by word only, but with healing and other miracles which confirm the Word.
In Javanese villages, everyone has experienced supernatural power, but not from the Lord. Increasingly this is true even in this country. If we come to them just with words, they will be polite and thank us for coming. But nothing will happen. They need to know that God is more powerful than the witch doctor, or the horoscope, or whatever involvement they may have. When we evangelize in a formerly unevangelized area, we ask the Lord to lead us to someone with a real need.
One day two of our young people went into a house where a man was dying of tuberculosis. He had been deserted by his family and was too weak to sit up. When they started to tell him about Jesus, he remembered that he had once been a Christian, but for many years had not followed Christ. Our young evangelists prayed for him and the Lord raised him up immediately. His friends and neighbors saw that he had been healed. They began to gather regularly to hear about Jesus.
In another village a woman's stomach was swelled so badly that she looked like a great big balloon. She was prayed for and her body returned to a normal shape. She and many of her neighbors turned to the Lord. The Lord likes to help people first. After that, there is plenty of time for them to get acquainted with Him and learn all about Him.
7. If you are not received, kick off the dust, reminding them that: The Kingdom of God is near. Those who accept the Gospel receive great blessings from the Lord. But those who refuse are to be given a stern warning, so that they understand what decision they have made. Kicking off the dust is also a reminder to us that we leave behind any feelings we may have of frustration, anger, and discouragement, and we start afresh in the next place.
Power for Preaching.
If we want to follow Jesus' and His disciples' example, we must realize that we cannot minister with our own ability, especially if we want to do miracles in Jesus' Name. We need power from on high. Remember that Jesus Himself said, “The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work’ (John 14:10). How much more we need this humility.In baptism we are given the right to all the power of the Name of Jesus. This is the real meaning of being baptized into (eis) the Name of Jesus.
The Name of Jesus is powerful. After Pentecost, the apostles performed miracles in the Name of Jesus. They did not pray for healing, but commanded it in His Name. One day, as we were studying healing in Acts, the principal of the junior high school came and asked us to pray for the little sister of a student. She had been paralyzed for several days, and was unable to move her leg. One of our team members said, “In Jesus' Name, raise your leg.” She did, and was completely healed. Her family believed, and, for days after, friends and neighbors came to the Lord as the result of that miracle.
When we receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit, we receive the same power that operated in the ministry of Jesus and the early Church. Jesus promised, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses . . . to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
The Holy Spirit is the power to do miracles in the Name of Jesus, and it is also the power that urges people from within to receive the salvation which is offered to them. “When He [that is, the Holy Spirit] comes, He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8). While we are explaining about the Kingdom of God and witnessing to someone about Jesus' help, the Holy Spirit is also speaking in the person's heart, convicting him of his condition and his need, and urging him to receive Jesus as his Savior. If he accepts, the Spirit will work a miracle in his heart and give him a beautiful new life.
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