Robert Coleman analyzes Jesus' teachings on discipleship in the Gospels. He summarizes that Jesus required absolute obedience from his disciples, even if they did not fully understand at first. They had to be willing to surrender their lives completely and follow his commands to learn from him. While many followers left due to the challenge, Jesus kept teaching and molding the lives of the few who remained through their obedience. Coleman argues Christians today often lack dedication to fully obeying and following Jesus' example of self-denial, hindering their growth and witness.

1. The Master Plan of
Evangelism
Robert E
Coleman

2. The Master Plan of
Evangelism
Robert E
Coleman

3. Consecration
Matt 11:28-30 “Come to me, all you who are weary
and burdened, and I will give you rest.
yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle
and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your
souls.

4. HE REQUIRED OBEDIENCE
Jesus expected the men He was
with to obey Him
They were not required to be
smart, but they had to be loyal
Disciples means that they were
learners
It was not until much later that
they started to be called "Christian"
Acts 11: 26 - inevitable as surely
time obedient followers invariably
take on the character of their
leader

5. None of the disciples were asked at
first to make a statement of faith or
accept a well-defined creed though they did
to be the Messiah
All they were asked to do was to
follow Jesus - this was a call to
faith in the person of Christ and
obedience to
No one will follow a person in
whom he has no trust, nor will he
sincerely take the step of faith
unless he is willing to obey what
his leader says

6. Following Jesus seemed enough at first
-but they had not followed very fa
“It soon became apparent that being a
disciple of Christ involved the surrender
of one's whole life to the Master in
absolute submission to His sovereignty.
There could be no compromise.
“No one can serve two masters. Either you
will hate the one and love the other, or you
will be devoted to the one and despise the
other. You cannot serve both God and
money.”
They had to leave sin and be
conformed to the new disciplines of the
KOG

7. Love
the life of a disciple and their
conduct - this was to show itself
in obedience to Christ, John
14:21, 23 and is
devotion to those whom He died
to save Matt. 25:31-36
There was a cross is part of
consecration
of self for others, Mark 8:34-38;
10:32-45
This was strong teaching - and
not many of them could take it,
John 6:25-59

8. Jn 6:60, 66
On hearing it, many of his disciples
said, “This is a hard teaching. Who
can accept it?”
From this time many of his disciples
turned back and no longer followed
him.
Jesus did not go running after
them to try to get them to stay he was training leaders for the
Kingdom, and if they were going
to be fit vessels of service, they
were going to have to pay the
price

9. Count the cost
Those who would not go all the way
in time fell away.
They separated themselves from the
chosen company by reason of their
own selfishness. Judas
the end but only due to the plan of
God
To follow Jesus meant to lose the
world
Read Lk 9:57-62

10. Count the cost
Jesus told them that it would not
be easy
Jesus did not allow anyone
make their own terms of
discipleship.
A would-be disciple was made to
count the cost.
To sum it up bluntly, Jesus said:
Luke 14:33
you who do not give up everything you
have cannot be my disciples.

11. Luke 14:25-30
Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to
them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate
father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters
—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my
disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and
follow me cannot be my disciple.
28
first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough
money to complete it?
are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule
you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t
able to finish.’

12. After a while Jesus had only a handful of true
followers left
Jn 6:67-69
“You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You
have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to
know that you are the Holy One of God.”
Immediately after Jesus began to talk with His
disciples more about His suffering and death, and with
greater frankness
by their answer and knew he could tell them more

13. After a while Jesus had only a handful of true
followers left
Jn 6:67-69
“You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You
have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to
know that you are the Holy One of God.”
Immediately after Jesus began to talk with His
disciples more about His suffering and death, and with
greater frankness
by their answer and knew he could tell them more

14. To obey is to learn
However the disciples did not
quickly understood everything the
Lord said
Consider Jesus and Peter at
Caesarea Philippi - Matt 16:21,22,23
Again and again Jesus spoke
His death, and its meaning to them,
but it was not really comprehended
until the day He was betrayed into
the hands of His enemies.
Not comprehending clearly the
message of the Cross they also at
first did not
place in the Kingdom

15. To obey is to learn
- It was hard for them to accept the
teaching of being a servant, Luke
22:24-30; John 13:1-20
- They argued about who would be
greatest in the Kingdom Mark 9: 33,
37, 10:35-37; Matt. 20:20
- They were harsh in their judgment
upon others who did not agree with
them Luke 9:51-54
They rebuked parents who wanted
Jesus to bless their children Mark
10:13
The outworking of what it meant to
follow Christ was not fully

16. Jesus patiently endured these
human failings of his disciples
“He was willing to put up with a
lot of those things which issued
from their spiritual immaturity.
He knew that they could master
these defects as they grew in grace
and knowledge. Their capacity to
receive Revelation would grow
provided they continued to
practice what truth they
understood.

17. Obedience to Christ was the
way the disciples learned more
truth. He did not ask them to
follow what they did not know
to be true
Jesus did not urge His disciples
to commit their lives to a
doctrine, but to a person - he
was the doctrine, and only as
they continued in His Word
could they know the truth,
8:31, 32

18. Supreme obedience was
interpreted to be the expression
of love
This was shown in Upper Room
just before his death, Jesus said:
“If you love me, keep my commands…
Whoever has my commands and keeps
them is the one who loves me. The one
who loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I too will love them and show myself
to them… “Anyone who loves me will
obey my teaching. My Father will love
them, and we will come to them and
make our home with them

19. Anyone who does not love me will not
obey my teaching. These words you hear
are not my own; they belong to the
Father who sent me…If you keep my
commands, you will remain in my love,
just as I have kept my Father’s
commands and remain in his love. 11 I
have told you this so that my joy may be
in you and that your joy may be
complete. 12 My command is this: Love
each other as I have loved you.
John 14: 15, 21, 23, 24; 15:10, 12).

20. This was demonstrated by Jesus
Absolute obedience to the will of
God, of course, was the controlling
principle of Jesus’ life
- He continually gave his life to the
will of his Father which made it
possible for God to use His life fully
according to its intended purpose
My food, is to do the will of him who
sent me and to finish his work.
4:34
By myself I can do nothing; I judge
only as I hear, and my judgment is
just,
but him who sent me.

21. This was demonstrated by Jesus
If you keep my commands, you will
remain in my love,
kept my Father’s commands and
remain in his love
“Father, if you are willing, take this
cup from me;
yours be done.
The cross was but the crowning
climax of Jesus' commitment to do
the will of God. It forever showed
that obedience could not be
compromised-it was always a
commitment unto death.

22. The worldly-minded religious leaders stated the truth when
they said in mocking Jesus, Mark 15:31
"He saved others; He cannot save himself"
Of course, He could not save Himself. He had not come to
save Himself. He came to save the world.He came to offer
himself as a sacrifice to God for the sins of all men.
came to die.
could be satisfied.

23. Moving towards the cross made each
step that Christ took on the earth a
conscious acceptance of God's eternal
purpose for His life. When Jesus
spoke about obedience the disciples
could already see it in human form.
Jesus
I have set you an example that you should
do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell
you, no servant is greater than his master,
nor is a messenger greater than the one who
sent him.
This is the duty of a servant. It was
true of Christ, and nothing less can
ever be accepted as worthy of his
disciple

24. This was the way that Jesus
would mould their lives - by His
word.
children to obey him if he
expects his children to be like
him.
In the church no one can ever be
a leader until first he has learned
to follow a leader and Jesus
taught bringing to their lives
discipline and respect for
authority

25. Jesus knew that the Satanic
forces against them were well
organized and equipped to make
ineffectual any half-hearted
effort of evangelism. They could
not possibly defeat the devilish
powers of this world unless they
gave strict adherence to Him
and his strategy for victory.
This required absolute
obedience to the Master's will,
even as it meant complete
abandonment of their own.

26. THE PRINCIPLE APPLIED TODAY
We must learn this lesson again
today - we are engaged in life and
death warfare
Basic to being a disciple is to know
that we are called to be servants of
our Lord and to obey His Word.
It is not our duty to reason why He
speaks as He does, but only to
carry out His orders. Unless there
is this dedication it is doubtful if
we will ever progress further in
Kingdom

27. “
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28. Why are so many professed
Christians today stunted in their
growth and ineffectual in their
witness?
Often there is a general
indifference to the commands of
God, or at least, a kind of
contented complacency with
mediocrity
It would appear that the
teachings of Christ upon selfdenial and dedication have been
replaced by a sort of respectable
"do-as- you-please" philosophy
of expediency.

29. Why are so many professed
Christians today stunted in their
growth and ineffectual in their
witness?
Often there is a general
indifference to the commands of
God, or at least, a kind of
contented complacency with
mediocrity
It would appear that the
teachings of Christ upon selfdenial and dedication have been
replaced by a sort of respectable
"do-as- you-please" philosophy
of expediency.

30. Coleman concludes by saying,
“The great tragedy is that little is being done to correct
the situation, even by those who realize what is
happening…the need of the hour is not for despair, but
for action. It is high time that the requirements for
membership in the church be interpreted and enforced in
terms of true Christian discipleship…Followers must
have leaders, and this means that before much can be
done with the church membership something will have to
be done with the church officials. If this task seems to be
too great, then we will have to start like Jesus did by
getting with a few chosen ones and instilling into them
the meaning of obedience.