Selection Men Were His Method

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SelectionMen Were His Method

• Luke 613
• He chose, from them twelve

2
The Master Plan of Evangelismby Robert Coleman

• 1. Selection
• 2. Association
• 3. Consecration
• 4. Impartation
• 5. Demonstration
• 6. Delegation
• 7. Supervision
• 8. Reproduction

3
Men Were His Method

• Jesus called 12 men to follow him
• Began to gather them before He ever preached a
  sermon in public!
• This revealed the direction His strategy to reach
  the world would take
• Not concerned with programs to reach the
  multitudes
• Enlist men who could
• Bear witness to His life
• Carry on his work after He returned to the Father

4
The Initial Objective

• From the beginning
• John and Andrew - John 135-40
• Andrew brought his brother Peter - John 141,42
• The next day - Philip on his way to Galilee, then
  Philip found Nathaniel - John 143-51
• No evidence of haste
• James, brother of John, not mentioned until the 4
  fishermen several months later by the Sea of
  Galilee - Mark 119 Matt. 421
• Matthew called as Jesus passed through Capernaum
  - Mark 213,14
• The call of the other disciples is not recorded
  in the Gospels

5
Soul Winning

• No immediate effect on the religious life of His
  day
• His ultimate purpose Reach the world
• These few were to become leaders of His church
• They would go with the gospel to the whole world
• The significance of their lives would be felt
  throughout eternity

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The Kind of Men Jesus Chose

• These men at first do not impress as being key
  men
• Not prominent in the synagogue, No Levitical
  priests
• Not wealthy, No academic degrees
• For the most part - common laboring men
• Their formal education likely only of the
  synagogue schools
• Most from Galilee poorest part of Israel
• The only one from Judea was Judas Iscariot!
• Impulsive, temperamental, easily offended, and
  prejudiced
• How Jesus could ever use them?

7
The Kind of Men Jesus Chose

• They were willing to learn!
• They were "unlearned and ignorant" (Acts 413),
  but they were teachable
• They were honest willing to confess their need
• They had a sincere yearning for God
• They hoped for the Messiah - John 141, 45, 49
  669
• They were fed up with hypocrisy
• They were looking for someone to lead them in the
  way of salvation
• Jesus can use anyone who wants to be used!

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Concentrate on a Few

• The wisdom of His method
• Do not miss the practical truth of how Jesus did
  it!
• The fundamental principle of focus and
  concentration on those he intended to use
• You cannot transform a world except by
  transforming individuals in the world
• Individuals can only be changed in the hands of
  the Master
• The group has to be small enough to be able to
  work effectively with them as individuals
• As the number of followers increased, Jesus
  narrowed it to 12

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Concentrate on a Few

• This does not mean others were excluded from
  following him!
• The seventy - Luke 101
• Nevertheless, there was a rapidly diminishing
  priority given to those outside the Twelve
• Within the Twelve was select group - Peter,
  James, and John
• Jairus' daughter - Mark 537 Luke 851
• The Mount of Transfiguration - Mark 92 Matt.
  171 Luke 928
• Gethsemane while the Lord prayed - Mark 1433
  Matt. 2637
• No record of the other disciples complaining
• Preference is shown in the right spirit and for
  the right reason offense need not arise

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The Principle

• Jesus was deliberate in way He focused His life
  on those He wanted to train
• The more concentrated the size of the group being
  taught, the greater the opportunity for effective
  instructions
• Jesus devoted most of His remaining life on earth
  to these few disciples
• He literally staked His whole ministry on them
• The world could be indifferent toward Him and
  still not defeat His strategy
• No great concern when the followers on the
  fringes gave up - John 666
• Therefore He prayed "not for the world," but for
  the few God gave him "out of the world" - John
  176, 9
• Everything depended on their faithfulness - John
  1720

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Not Neglecting the Masses

• Jesus did not neglect the masses!
• Identified Himself with the revival movement of
  John the Baptist
• He preached to the crowds that followed for His
  miracles
• He taught them and fed them when they were hungry
• He healed the sick and cast out demons among them
• He blessed their children
• Sometimes the whole day would be spent
  ministering to the extent that he had "no leisure
  so much as to eat" - Mark 631

12
Not Neglecting the Masses

• Jesus was genuinely concerned for the masses
• He came to save them
• He loved them
• He wept over them
• He died to save them from their sin

13
The Multitudes

• The multitudes created a serious problem
• They wanted "to take him by force, to make him
  King" - John 615
• The followers of John the Baptist said "all men"
  were seeking Him - John 326
• Even the Pharisees admitted that the world had
  gone after him - John 1219
• The fear of the multitudes prompted Jesus
  accusers to capture him in the absence of the
  people - Mark 1212 Matt. 2126 Luke 2019
• Temporal appetites and curiosity attracted the
  Multitudes
• Same temptations presented by Satan in the
  wilderness

14
The Multitudes

• Jesus would not play to the multitudes!
• Repeatedly He took special pains to stop the
  superficial popular support
• He even asked those who were healed to say
  nothing about it
• His transfiguration on the Mount "He charged them
  that they should tell no man what things they had
  seen" until after his resurrection - Mark 99
  Matt. 179
• When applauded by the crowd, Jesus would slip
  away with his disciples
• Sometimes this annoyed His followers
• Even his own brothers and sisters urged him make
  an open show of himself to the world - John 72-9

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Few Seemed to Understand

• Many of the multitudes believed that His divine
  ministry was acceptable
• At the end of His earthly ministry were little
  more than 500 followers - 1 Corinthians 156
• Only 120 tarried in Jerusalem to receive the
  baptism of the Holy Spirit - Acts 115
• Jesus never measured the effectiveness of His
  ministry by numbers

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His Deliberate Strategy

• Why did Jesus deliberately concentrate His life
  on so few people?
• He came to save the world!
• He could have had an immediate following of
  thousands if He wanted them
• Why not enlist a mighty army of believers to take
  the world by storm?
• The answer focuses on the real purpose of His
  plan for evangelism

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His Deliberate Strategy

• Jesus was ushering in a kingdom
• He needed people who could lead
• The crowd was easy prey to false gods
• The masses are like helpless sheep without a
  shepherd - Mark 634 Matt. 9361414
• Jesus' disciples had to be competent men of God
  to lead them and protect them in the truth
• Jesus was a realist
• People had to be raised up who could lead others
  in the things of God

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The Principle Applied Today

• Jesus Strategy Rarely comprehended practiced
  today
• Most of the evangelistic efforts of the church
  begin with the multitudes
• The result
• Emphasis on numbers of converts, candidates for
  baptism, and more members for the church
• It looks like progress, but it falls desperately
  short of Jesus standard
• No preservation and continuation of the work

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Church Leaderships Primary Duty

• Apply Jesus pattern today!
• Lay a foundation for an effective and continuing
  evangelistic ministry to the multitudes
• Concentrate time and talents on fewer people in
  the church while not neglecting the world
• Raising up fully trained disciplers "for the work
  of the ministry - Ephesians 412
• Reach the world for God through those we disciple
• Understand that victory is never won by the
  multitudes

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The Principle Today

• Some might object to this principle as favoritism
  toward a select group in the church
• It is the way that Jesus focused his life
• It is necessary if lasting leadership is to be
  trained
• It must be practiced out of a genuine love for
  the church and its mission of reaching the world
• The ultimate goal must be clear - the salvation
  of the world!

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Selectivity and Focus/Concentration

• This principle is engraved in the universe
• It will bring results no matter who practices it,
  whether or not the church believes it
• Successful leadership training in business,
  industry, government, or the military
• The multitudes can be won easily if they are just
  given leaders to follow

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Time for Action

• Our days are running out
• Evangelism in the church has bogged down on
  nearly every front in the Western world
• The church is not even keeping up with the
  exploding population
• Satanic forces are becoming more relentless and
  brazen in their attack
• The age of communication
• Yet there are more unevangelized people on the
  earth today than before the invention of the
  horseless carriage!

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Time for Action

• The real problem is not with the masses
• Not what they believe
• Not how they are governed
• Not whether they have good food or not
• The real problem is that we are not using the
  strategy that Jesus modeled for us!

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How Do We Begin?

• With a priority on winning and training those
  already in positions of leadership
• But if we can't begin at the top, then begin
  where we are and train a few of the lowly to
  become the great
• You do not have to have the prestige of the world
  to be greatly used in the Kingdom of God
• Anyone who is willing to follow Christ can become
  a mighty influence on the world

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How Do We Begin?

• Begin just like Jesus
• Slow, sometimes tedious, and usually unnoticed by
  people at first
• But the end result will be glorious
• Where do we want our ministry to count?
• In popular recognition or
• In the reproduction of our lives in a few chosen
  people who will carry on after we have gone
• Which generation we are living for?