WITH A
By Herbert Lockyer, D.D.*
O N every hand we read and hear a great deal about plans. We have the Truman Plan, with its over all policy of curbing inflation, tax reduc tion and imposition of limited controls. There is the Marshall Plan, covering, as it does, immediate and continuous European relief. Recently, we were given the Benin Plan, in which the British labor leader stresses the necessity of uniting the nations of western Europe as a bulwark against Communism. Somehow, in all of these plans of men, we have lost sight of the fact that attention to the Christ Plan for world evangelization would greatly help to solve many of the national and interna tional problems which politically con ceived schemes seek to eliminate. Such a master plan is indicated in at least three' passages of Holy Writ. For example, there is the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20: “ Jesus . . . spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” Then just before His ascension, the Master reiterated this World Plan of His in these words: “ Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). From these key passages we discover three inescapable aspect^ of Christ’s commission of His own for world evan gelism, namely, The Plan, the Power and the Presence. *Formerly of London, England. Evan gelist, Bible teacher, Author. Recent speaker at the Torrey Memorial Confer ence, Bible Institute, Los Angeles-.
the fact of sin, and God’s peerless remedy for it. Alas, to our shame the universal plan of the Master, after 1900 years of Christian witness, has not been realized. Millions in all lands have never heard the gospel. The Plan is also constructive. The directions are explicit. We are to teach, preach, witness, make disciples, baptize, and this applies to all the world. Em phasis is upon the declaration of a posi tive, saving message. Primarily Christ sent His disciples into the world to win its lost inhabitants unto Himself. Edu cational, medical and social activities may follow the herald of the cross, but pre-eminent in Christ’s commission is the salvation of souls and their inclusion within the mystic fabric of His church. What then is the nature of the gospel we are to preach in all the world? The Scriptures reply: “ It behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and re mission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of
The Plan The Plan is four-fold in operation: Comprehensive, Constructive, Common, Commanded. It is comprehensive because it has all men in mind. Earth-born plans are limit ed in their scope and benefits, but in Christ’s Plan there are everwidening circles: Every creature, all the world, Jerusalem (home base), all Judaea, Samaria, uttermost parts of the earth. God so loved the world, and world evangelization was Christ’s objective as He commissioned His own. To God,Wendell Willkie’s “ OneWorld” is a reality, for He sees it as a world of sinners lost and ruined by the fall. We divide the world into heathen or Chris tian, Jews, Catholics or Protestants. But He who “made of one blood all na tions,” declares that all have sinned and therefore all/ need to hear of His Son, the Saviour of the world. Thus, today, God is saving the heathen, not as heathen, nor Jews as Jews, nor Catholics as Catholics, but all merely as sinners. Our responsibilty is to go wherever men are found, to proclaim
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