22 Feb 2007
The Master Plan of Evangelism
Lesson 8 Notes
Reproduction
Hoby Youngblood
He Expected Them To Reproduce
When an individual gets a revelation of Jesus, believes in his heart and confesses with his mouth that Jesus is the Christ God’s son, power is released that established a spiritual foundation called a stone within that individual, upon which the church is built. This foundation is so strong the gates of hell can not prevail against it. This phenomenon is called fruit. And is God’s plan for Evangelism. John 15:16
- John 15:16 (NKJV)
16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.
What do you expect from your children?
Jesus intended for he disciples to produce his likeness [not in our own] in and through the church being gathered out of the world.
Some Reasons many give for not trying to reproduce themselves.
I’m just a kid,
No one will listen to me,
I’m so young in the Lord,
I’m so insignificant, or
What if someone asks me a question what do I say?
Fear of failure
Answer: it is not about you it’s about God’s word implementing God’s Plan
The kingdom of God, Christ’s church and each individual though they start small they grow in strength. Matthew 13:31-32
- Matthew 13:31-32 (NKJV)
31 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, 32 which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches."
Confidence in God’s ability instead of our own is the answer.
It doesn’t matter how small the group is as long as they began to reproduce
The mustard seed is one of the smallest seeds known; yet, given time and good ground, it expands and produces a plant in which birds can land.
The result that occur is really not because you speak the word but because of the work that Christ completed. Matthew 16:18
The person that pushes the button that ignites the dynamite that brings down a giant building is an example of what you are doing when you confess the Word of God.
- Matthew 16:18 (AMP)
18 And I tell you, you are Peter [Greek, Petros—a large piece of rock], and on this rock [Greek, petra—a huge rock like Gibraltar] 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].
The church will be built on a foundation that revelation of who Jesus is, or knowledge must come from God, it can’t come from man.
Nothing can prevail against the church in the end we will win. This is a spiritual foundation Jesus called a rock, placed within the spirit of man.
This foundation is solid enough that the church [called living stones; with Jesus the corner stone] can be built, the gates of hell can’t cause it to fall. The mystery is, a man can and must facilitate its production by God’s word that is spoken with the mouth, which causes faith in the heart to activate and a foundation is produced.
Peter’s witness began a chain of events that extend down to you and I and this day!
There Is Victory Through Witnessing Matthew 16:16-18
- Matthew 16:16-18 (NKJV)
16 Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
17 Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
Peter’s answer to the Lord question was witnessing, or bearing witness and these dynamics together equals victory over the world;
When you put into motion one the other occurs automatically - you can’t have one without the other.
Here truth is indestructible, and it was on this foundation that Jesus envisioned how this victory will be won. This foundation was on the inside; placed there by the Holy Spirit and the gates of hell will not prevail against whatever is built on that foundation.
This revelation was not the result of “flesh and blood” but also notice that this foundation though located within flesh and blood is call a “rock” 1 Peter 2:4-8; Ephesians 2:20-22
- 1 Peter 2:4-8 (NKJV)
4 Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious,
5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, "Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame." 7 Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, "The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone," 8 and "A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense." They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.
Ephesians 2:20-22 (NKJV)
20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone, 21 in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
The Principle of Witnessing Observed John 17:20-23
Look at the importance of our witnessing/speaking his word. Look at what happens when we speak the word.
- John 17:20-23 (NKJV)
20 "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;
21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:
23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
First they must believe in their heart and speak words that were spoken by other believers to them. [“who will believe in Me through their word”] V.20
They will become one with Jesus, the Father and other believers; also so the world will know that the Father sent Me (Jesus). V 21
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This is the way the church was to win, through the dedicated lives of those who knew the Saviour that his methods constrained them to tell others.
As simple as it seems, this was the way the gospel would conquer. God has no other plan.
The Test of His Ministry is to see if His followers make disciples.
Would his disciples carry on the work Jesus started after he had gone?
Could or would they carry on without Jesus there to personally supervise their work.
Until that point was reached we never know if our efforts in disciplining will pay off. This must be the reason that Jesus impressed on these the necessity and inevitability of life reproducing its kind. John 15:1-17 the vine
- John 15:1-17 (NKJV)
1 "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
9 "As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.
10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.
11 These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.
12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.
14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.
15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.
16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.
17 These things I command you, that you love one another.
A barren Christian is a contradiction. A tree is known by its’ fruit. This principle is emphasized repeatedly throughout his ministry.
Making disciples in the image of Jesus is His reward for his sacrifice for the world;
- John 12:24 (NKJV)
24 Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.
John 17:19 (NKJV)
19 And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.
It is interpreted as the wages given to his disciples for their work in the harvest.
- John 4:36-38 (NKJV)
36 And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 37 For in this the saying is true: 'One sows and another reaps.' 38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors."
There is great joy and rejoicing when a begins to reap this joy is denied those who “let the cares of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust o other things choke out the Word of God planted in their hearts. Mark 4:18-20
- Mark 4:18-20 (NKJV)
18 Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word,
19 and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
20 But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirty fold, some sixty, and some a hundred."
This testimony that Jesus is the Christ was lacking in the lives of the Sadducees and Pharisees which made them so writhed in his sight. Matthew 3:7-8; Matthew 12:33-34
- Matthew 3:7-8 (NKJV)
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance,
Matthew 12:33-34 (NKJV)
33 "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.
34 Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
The Great Commission Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:15
- Matthew 28:19 (NKJV)
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
- Mark 16:15 (NKJV)
15 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
The great commission I summed up in the command “go and make disciples of every creature. It is not go to ends of the earth and preach and get people saved but they were to baptize and teach and cause them to be reproducers.
Baptize – dye cloth make gravy
Pray For Harvesters is a prayer for more producers Matthew 9:37-38; Luke 10:3
- Matthew 9:37-38 (NKJV)
37 Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
38 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."
Luke 10:3 (NKJV)
3 Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.
Leadership is emphases. Jesus in almost a voice of desperation call on us to pray for harvesters,
A leader has the Capacity or ability to lead: and give Guidance; direction
The woman at the well
and Mary Magdalene
There is a great need for workers to who care for the souls of man. There is no use just to pray just for the world – the need is for workers.
Applying The Principle To Our Lives
Here finally is where we must all evaluate. Is our life and witness making the supreme purpose of him who is the Savior of the world?
Are those who follow us now leading others to Him and teaching them to make disciple ourselves?
The test of any evangelism effort is answering the question,
- Does the fruit look like Jesus?
- does any fruit remain; and if so,
- are they reproducing themselves?
The requirement of this method of evangelism is Proved by the Church
- What if the first disciples had not been witnesses?
- And what would have happened if only the Lord only added daily to the church?
- But that was not all that happened, the Apostles,
- Like their Master developed new believers into mature believers that reproduced others what spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
The book of acts is only the life of a group of people who were witnesses and reproducers.
Shortcuts Have Failed
Has the simple ways of Christ’s teaching been forced into a new mold?
Are we trying to mass-produce in the same way that the industrial revolution has change America?
We must use the new methods that are developing for evangelism but the one on one method must not be over shadowed or replaced the simple master plan of Evangelism.
The Issue Today to much man made organizations, ceremonies, programs etc.
This is our problem today, ceremonies, programs, organizations, commissions, and crusaded of human ingenuity are trying valiantly to do a job that can only be done by people in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Evangelism is not performed by something mechanical, but by SOMEONE who will express of God’s love and God in person.
God wants people who are willing to be nothing so that he may be everything.
Unfortunately there are some movements that only want to serve God for their own purposes, what they can get personally.
Then finally the gates of hell cannot prevail against the evangelization of the World.
Hoby Youngblood
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