Doctrines of Grace and Methods in Evangelism — Ernest C. Reisinger

A preacher is supposed to have a text, I think, and so I do have a text that I'm not going to get to just yet, but I hope to get to it before the hour passes. If you have your Bibles, would you turn them to the text?

Paul's Ministry to the Ephesian Elders

Acts chapter 20, it's really a beautiful picture of Paul's relationship to the elders of Ephesus and where he recounts his ministry among them. Certainly he was a man who teaches us the truth of grace.

He was a man of grace, a preacher of grace. But in these verses we have something about his methods. Acts chapter 20, and I'm not going to read his old parting words to the elders. However, I do want to read verses 19, 20, and 21.

This is his own testimony about his own ministry. Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, with many tears and temptations which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews, how I kept back nothing that was profitable for you, but I have showed you and have taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

Defining Evangelism and the Gospel Message

My subject is evangelism, the doctrines of grace, evangelism. And I think I'm going to start out by giving some words about evangelism itself, so you, when I use the word, you'll understand what I mean.

When somebody used to ask me, am I a Calvinist, I would, my eyes would twinkle and I'd say, yes. And then I made a great discovery that I was saying yes to their definition. And that sometimes was bad.

So anymore, when they say, are you a Calvinist? I say, you tell me what that is and I'll answer your question. And when they're finished, I say, no, I'm not that. I went to preach two weeks ago in West Palm Beach, and I'm not, they had a little book table in this church, and I went up to the table and the first thing the lady said to me, are, do you believe in limited atonement?

I said, well, tell me what that is and then I'll answer you. And after she was finished, I said, no, not quite like that. And I went on. So I thought today we ought to get our definition straight so you know that what I'm talking about, at least, about evangelism.

Evangelism is the communication of this divinely inspired message that we call the gospel. A message that is definable in words, but must be communicated in power, as we've heard in the last session and last night.

It's definable in words, but must be communicated both in word and power. Paul said, for our gospel came not to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance. And in that sense, it's a message and its communication is different than any other kind of a message.

Evangelism is a message. It begins with information. It includes not only information, but it includes explanation of that information. It includes application of that information and also invitation.

The information is how God, our creator and judge, in mercy made his son a perfect, able, willing savior of sinners, of all who come to God by him. Now the definition. And this is not my definition, it's Dr. Packer's.

But I think it's the best and I couldn't improve on it and I've adopted it long years since when I first saw it in his little book. And this is the definition. To present Jesus Christ to sinful men, in order that, through the power of the Holy Spirit, they may come to put their trust in God through him, to receive him as their savior, serve him as their king, in the fellowship of his church.

That's a very complete definition, I think, of evangelism. The message of evangelism, therefore, cannot be separated from the message. And our message comes from our theology. And I don't think there's any place where a preacher's understanding of biblical theology will appear so much as after you hear him preach a few times or observe his methods.

You will soon learn whether he is articulate in the understanding of the doctrines of grace. And so our message is tightly bound to the message and the message to our theology. I want to give you two quotes.

Charles Finney and the Theological Roots of Evangelistic Methods

Suppose I started off my given subject today. Suppose I started off with these words. And this is a quote and I'll tell you in a minute who quoted it. Suppose I were to start my message on this given subject and say, When I read the Westminster Confession of Faith and saw that the passages there quoted to sustain these peculiar positions, I was absolutely ashamed of it.

Or, another quote. Suppose I started off by saying, I'm going to address you on this subject, but I want to make a few statements first. And I said to you this. I could not feel any respect for a document that he was talking about, the Westminster Confession of Faith.

I could not feel any respect for a document that undertakes to impose on mankind such dogmas as those sustained, for the most part, by the passages of Scripture that are totally irrelevant and not a single instance sustained by passages which in a court of law would be considered at all conclusive.

I suspect if you wouldn't want to hear much I had to say after that. I hope so. But I want to tell you something. That that statement is by the man who has been responsible for the great extent of our evangelistic methods in America today.

Charles Finney. That's a quote from his autobiography, not what somebody else said. That's his own statement. And if you want to know why our methods of evangelism are kind of fouled up, it comes from his theology.

What we believe about God, what we believe about man, what we believe about the person and work of Christ, what we believe about the Spirit's work and conversion, what we believe about the nature of saving faith, all this is what will frame our methods in evangelism.

There is a God-centered method and it's born out of the doctrines of grace. And there is a man-centered method born out of an Arminian system of theology. Now they both systems believe in the great major doctrines of the Bible.

Both believe that God is a trinity. They both believe in the person and work of Christ. They both believe in the atonement. They both believe in the work of the Spirit. They both believe in the necessity of conversion.

The difference lies in what men believe and understand about these things and their relationship to each other and their application. That's where the difference lies. And therefore it's an erroneous and an oversimplification for somebody to say to me, well, don't they believe in Christ?

Don't they believe in conversion? Don't they believe in atonement? Fine. That's it. That's enough. Leave it alone. No. The question is, what do they believe about these things? They both believe in regeneration.

But do you believe that a man believes in order to be regenerate? Or that he believes because he's regenerate? That's the difference between night and day. And it will come out in your methods. How you handle sinners.

They both believe in limited atonement. The difference lies in who limits it. Unless they're universalists. The difference lies in who limits it. They both believe in the Trinity. The Arminian has a frustrated Trinity.

He has a father replanting redemption for all, every individual. He has a son purchasing redemption for every individual. But then he has a spirit that only applies it to some. That's a frustrated Trinity.

God-centered evangelism believes in the Trinity also. But they believe what the Father plans in eternity. The Son purchased on Calvary and the Spirit savingly applies in the world. And there's unity in that Trinity.

Man-centered evangelism, they both believe in grace, believe it or not. Man-centered evangelism believes that man's will is more powerful than grace. Man's will is more powerful than the power of grace.

God-centered evangelism believes that grace is irresistible. Believes that grace will reign, Romans 5, 20 and 21. More powerful than sin. More powerful than death. More powerful than man's will. So they both believe the same in these things.

Irresistible Grace and the Sovereignty of Salvation

I like that word to the confession in this respect. I hope I'll get to methods in a minute, but this is very important. Because as we talk about the doctrines of grace, we see that they undergird all of our methods.

Privately, publicly, or whenever. I like the way it's expressed, that idea of irresistible grace in these words. And I believe if some of those who oppose it so vehemently would think these words through and biblically, they wouldn't be so opposed.

Listen to this. Those whom God hath predestinated unto life, he is pleased in his appointed and accepted time affectionately to call by his word and spirit out of a state of sin and death in which they are by nature to the grace and salvation by Jesus Christ, enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God, taking away their heart of stone, giving them a heart of flesh, renewing their wills, and by his almighty power determining them to that which is good and affectionately draw them to Jesus Christ, yet so most freely being made willing by his grace.

That's what we mean by irresistible grace. That's not hard to take, is it? Now, when I say this, let us not suppose that God's decision to save a man by a decree leaves him passive or inert. The very opposite takes place.

The covenant of grace doesn't kill man. It doesn't regard him as a tin can or a piece of wood or a robot. But it takes possession of the man. It lays hold upon his whole being with all his faculties of power, soul, and body for time and eternity.

It does not annihilate his powers. It renews his powerlessness. It does not destroy his will. It frees it from sin. It doesn't stifle or obliterate his conscience. It sets him free from darkness. It regenerates, recreates man in his entirety and in renewing him by grace causes him to love and consecrate himself to God freely.

God-Centered Evangelism Versus Human Cooperation

Charles Finney believed in cooperation. Man-centered evangelism believes in cooperation. But if we believe that it's divine grace, it's a work of divine grace, if we believe that evangelism is a work of divine power, if we believe that evangelism is a work of divine sovereignty and that salvation is the Lord, we can't believe in all this cooperation that we see flowing out from man-centered evangelism.

Don't talk to me about cooperating with God and getting sinners to cooperate with God. Only God can affect, and he does that at his own pleasure. The Bible says the wind blows where it lifteth, or where it will.

The Bible said it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but God which showeth mercy. Mercy. So don't talk to me about cooperating, sinners cooperating with God and their salvation. Paul of Tarsus was cooperating all right.

He was persecuting Christians, putting them in jail and killing Christians. That harlot woman in John 4 was cooperating all right. She had five husbands and living with the sixth without the benefit of the clergy.

She was cooperating all right. Old Zacchaeus was cooperating all right. He was feeling everything was loose at both ends. That old extortioner. Listen, if anybody gets Paul's favor, it has to be God. If anybody gets that harlot woman's favor, it will have to be God.

If anybody saves that old thief Zacchaeus, it will have to be God. Some of my friends are afraid of the doctrines of grace and evangelism. They are afraid of the doctrines of grace and evangelism. I suppose no preacher or evangelist ever since the day of the Apostle Paul stressed in his preaching the sovereignty of God, as did Jonathan Edwards.

And it may come to a surprise to our many friends and evangelists of this day to discover that preaching was evangelistically very fruitful. And I give you a quote from him. Revival had swept through his church under his ministry.

And I quote what he thought about as some of the means of that. He says, I think I have found that no discourses have been more remarkably blessed than those in which the doctrines of God's absolute sovereignty with regard to the salvation of sinners.

Men are afraid. They get wiser than God to proclaim these great doctrines of grace in evangelism. You see, God's standard of evangelism does not flatter men by telling them to do this or do that or do the other thing and then God will save you.

That's what most evangelism is today. You see, when we say do this and do that and do the other thing and God will save you, that flatters men. That flatters men and it makes God obligated. It doesn't let man think that he's so free.

It lets him think that salvation is the end of an accepted proposition and we're begging him to participate in that proposition. No, no, God's standard of evangelism doesn't teach men that eternal life or salvation is at the end of an accepted proposition.

Salvation in the Hands of the Sovereign Christ

God's standard of evangelism teaches us, as it does in John 17 too, that salvation is in the hands of the sovereign Christ. He gave him power to give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. That's not at the end of an accepted proposition.

That's at the hands of the sovereign Christ. You see, when we do that, we put men to grit their teeth against God or become beggars and when they become beggars, they're not far from the kingdom of God.

God's standard of evangelism is not some quick sales technique or a preacher or personal worker is not a salesman. He's a communicator of God's eternal truth which has been so emphasized thus far in this conference.

He's a communicator of God's eternal truth, not a politician drumming up votes for Jesus. God must make his word effective and your message and your methods and behavior are all governed by what we believe in this respect.

You see, man's standard of evangelism says men are dead in trespasses and sins. They say he's in death row. But then they tell him he's got the key in his own pocket. All he has to do is earn the key to get out of death row.

Well, who minds being in prison if you've got the key in your pocket? God's standard of evangelism comes along when I say yes, men are dead in trespasses and sins. They're on death row. But they don't have the key in their pocket.

If anybody's going to get you out of prison, it'll have to be God. What does that do? Well, that drives men and boxes them up to the mercy of God. I believe that one of the strong points of evangelistic preaching ought to be to box men up to the mercy of God, not by flattering them and telling them you do this and you do that and other things, God will save you.

God's standard of evangelism is lifting up Christ before men as the one who has power to unstop deaf ears. Lifting up a Christ who has power to open blinded eyes. Lifting up a Christ who has power to raise the dead.

Christ Exalted and the Call to Do God's Will

Let me tell you something else, and I find some important people are not too straight on this point. We, in our time, are not preaching Christ in the days of his humiliation. That will never be again.

There was the days of his humiliation that men decided on him and they decided to crucify him. We are not preaching Christ in the days of his humiliation. Christ has been exalted to a throne and we preach him as one on a throne.

They'll never decide on him again. No sinner will ever decide on him again. You see, there's only one safe place for a subject before his sovereign and that's on his face. That's where sinners must come.

You see, God's standard of evangelism is more concerned with God than it is with peace and comfort and happiness of the man. Oh, that's involved. For this first wants to bring glory to God by a God-honoring message of judgment and mercy.

Now, I'm talking about the center reference. I'm talking about the mainstream. I'm talking about we as evangelists being able to say we're coming to do God's will and that is proclaim his message. Success or no success, regardless of the result.

I'm appealing to us to be able to say I have glorified God on the earth. Success or no success, that's what our Savior said. And frankly, to human eyes when he walked among men he didn't appear to be very successful.

All you have to do is read John chapter 6 and you'll see his success. His crowd got slim. It got so slim that he said, well, you also go away. And so they had a meeting and they said, boys, we got to change our methods.

Had a little meeting, you know. Then they had an evangelistic conference. They said, we have to change our methods. And I believe it would be well if we changed the message a little bit because, Lord, you've been saying some hard sayings.

That's what it says in John 6. They went away because of the hard sayings. I think we ought to water this down a little. Now, success or no success, Jesus said, I'm coming to do thy will. So I'm trying to say that sound doctrine, sound doctrine, sound belief, the message cannot be separated from the method.

Doctrinal Strength and Evangelistic Passion

And thus you understand why I'm so keen upon that union between doctrinal strength and evangelistic passion. It's not either or. And I believe if I have one burden above others, if it is a burden, I believe this is it.

To see that union of doctrinal strength and evangelistic fervor. And I'm sorry to say that I have found very little of it. I find, by and large, this is one of the dangers of Calvinists, those who have gone to seed on doctrine.

And they make it an end in itself. And doctrine is not an end in itself. That's the platform we stand on to preach Christ. Where do you find you're supposed to preach election? Now, of course, you speak of election when it comes up in an expository manner in the scriptures.

But where do you find you're supposed to preach election? You're supposed to preach Christ. But it's on that foundation. Some of you have heard me say it lots of times. I found some people who were straight as a gun barrel on doctrine and just as empty.

I found those people who were fast on doctrine. They were fast asleep. They're always working on the foundation. They never put any windows in the house. They never put the roof on. They never put up the walls.

They're laying the foundation all the time. And that's where they stay. And I visit them. I visit their churches and you can tell that they've been on the foundation all the time because there's nothing there.

And then there's others who are in feverish activity. Feverish activity. And they're putting in the windows and nailing on the shingles and building the walls. And they go, phew! No foundation. I say my burden is to see a union.

Doctrinal strength and evangelistic passion. Our approach, our method, our program is born out of our theological concept or the lack of it. The need of the salary to spend time and stress on the message of evangelism.

Where do you see advertised an evangelistic conference or a symposium or whatever you want to call it? Where do you see advertised we're going to come to examine our message? Why, some of my Baptist friends would be shocked to think that they don't have the message.

They've got methods, but no message. That's the need of the hour. The message is paramount. The message is the preeminent thing. Would not we agree that the Bible is principally a message, not a manual of methods?

Because we get our methods from our message. Or I should say our methods will be determined by our message. Message determines. The method is evident. It's evident in our concept of our order salutis, the order of things.

Predestination, calling, regeneration, faith and repentance, justification, sanctification and glorification. That order salutis in itself would dictate the methods. But there is a divine method. All we might ask is, is there a divine method?

Acts as the Divine Manual for Evangelism

Well, this is what I'm coming to, methods now. I believe we have a manual of evangelism in the book of Acts. A manual for evangelism. I really do believe that the method of evangelism Acts is the manual for evangelism.

Their messages are recorded. And they were at the stream when it was pure. They're the ones that heard from the lips of the Savior that you shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you and you shall be witnesses unto me.

And what is the book of Acts? It's nothing more than how they went about Acts 1 -8. And that's the history of the Christian church. The whole history of the Christian church can focus back to Acts 1 -8.

How they went about, what they did, what they said, the methods they used. Everything all goes back to 1 -8. Our presence here today goes back to that. We're doing what the Lord told us to do. I say their messages are recorded and their methods are recorded.

And that's the history of the church. So would it be wise to go to the manual for evangelism to find it? We see it in the pure efforts in evangelism. When we see it in its purest. When we see evangelism in its purest.

When there is that dynamic union of the doctrines of grace with warm, and I emphasize warm, compassionate heavenly zeal. That's at its purest. When theology, theology, when it takes as its guiding text the parting words of our Lord go in all the world and preach the gospel.

We see it at its purest. Well, we're looking at this divine manual. Is there a method? Well, Paul's our pattern. We learn from Timothy 1 -16 that he's our pattern to all that believe. And if that's true, then he more especially, he's our pattern as preachers.

I read in the text something about his method. He says, I have kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but I have showed you. Notice that's first. That's his own life. And I have taught you. Now, get this.

Here's our method. What was his method? I have taught you publicly and from house to house. Taught you where? Two places. Publicly and house to house. When I think of these few insignificant people and really what they did was take Jesus seriously.

They took him seriously. Worship him with no money, no church politics, no political influence, no influential people, no institutions, no facilities. They had the command of the Lord. They had the word of the Lord and the spirit of the Lord.

It was good for me. It was kind of warming me up for today when I hear this emphasis last night. The word of the Lord and the spirit of the Lord. You know what I did one time? Sometimes I'll be reading these old men in my study and I just get up off of my chair.

This happened to me more than once. Oh, God, send George Whitfield back to America. And it seems like a voice comes out. I didn't hear a voice. Don't misunderstand me. Something happens down here that says, well, if anybody's going to serve this generation, it'll have to be a little penis like you and the rest of those guys out there.

Prayer, Preaching, and Teaching Without Gimmicks

But I'll tell you what I did once. I stood up. And the question came to me. I hope it's come to you. What did they have that we didn't have, basically? And I stood up lest I get drowsy. And I stood at a window.

And I stand up, stood up, and read the whole book of Acts with this thought in my mind. What did they have? And you know what I wound up? What I wound up? With three little things. It's so simple. And we're looking for the complicated.

You know what they had? I saw that they started with a prayer meeting. Acts 114. Prayer, preaching, and teaching, and no gimmicks. Prayer, preaching, and teaching, and no gimmicks. I believe the Bible has called everyone into the...

It has come into the benefits of the gospel and the fellowship of the gospel. I believe He's called us to the defense and the proclamation of the gospel. And let me say what I don't mean. And by that I do not mean that everyone is called into an active verbal confrontation with sinners in defense and proclamation of the gospel.

I think some of those old women can't do that. I've got some men in my church that can't do that. Just the same as everyone is not called to be a preacher. Everyone is not called to be a missionary. But what I do mean is that as a part of a Church in Church they are called into the defense and proclamation of the gospel and to that every church member has some part in some way.

Paul thanked God for the Philippians. He says, For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day unto now. And so as a church, it's the job of the church to proclaim the gospel. In that sense, I believe everyone who's called into the benefits and fellowship of the gospel is also called into the defense and proclamation of the gospel.

Worship, Scripture, and House-to-House Witness

Well, I said we have in the book of Acts there are sermons. Peter's sermons, Paul's sermons, Stephen's sermons. What about their methods? Well, we have 10 ,000 methods now. But they had a method. They had some methods.

Don't be too afraid. Just because the Arminians do some things wrong, that don't mean they do everything wrong. You ought to learn that. You know, I went to the Great Commission some while back and I know we always start at Matthew chapter 28, verse 19 and 20.

We don't go back far enough. Verse 17, before he sent them out, before he sent them as witnesses, it said they worshipped him. They worshipped him. And we don't have the much emphasis on the worshipping him.

But I do believe if that's true, the others come spontaneously. Well, what was their method? Well, they prayed. And then they had confidence in the Scriptures, what we heard. Peter's first sermon, why, he quotes two long portions of Scriptures.

One from Joel, one from the Psalms, a couple from the Psalms, and one little sermon. They had great confidence in the Scripture. So we can say, prayer, which included worship, preaching and praise, Acts 2.

You get it all right there in Acts 2. But don't miss their methods. Don't miss their methods. You know, if we're sent out to witnesses, we have somebody to witness to. Some of these preachers without a church, I say, if God's called you to preach, he's called you to preach to somebody.

Either just wait a while or you're not hearing right. One of the two. Either wait a little while. Because if God's called you to preach, he's called you to preach to somebody. And so if he's called us to witness, he's called us to witness to somebody.

And where are they? Did they have a method? Well, I think they did. I looked in Acts 2, verse 46. It says house to house. That's what Paul said he did, house to house. So you see the Armenians going house to house, and you say, oh, that's not good.

I'm just going to put up a sign and say we'll reform those churches. And they'll come in. Really? God saved me. I had a construction job. He had to go out there. That was his mission field. That was his house.

That was his door. If I'd asked the testimonies of all these preachers here, you'll find that I would be willing to wager if I was a gambler, and I am at heart. I just don't do it anymore. That's all.

I'd be wagering that 80 of these men here, other than those who came from godly Christian homes, 80 of the men would testify that somebody talked to me out there somewhere behind the door, out there where their house was.

House to house. Go and contact, we've got to contact the unconverted. Let's look at some of the results. I mean in the book of Acts. I'm standing right there. This is our manual of evangelism. I think it's our divine manual.

I really do. It'd be great if somebody just read it once in a while. Wouldn't it be wonderful if somebody reads the Bible and believes it? Okay, I'm going to give you a panoramic view. Acts 2 -4 says, well, first of all, it was 120.

That's how many they started with, Acts 1 -15. Acts 2 -4 -1, they added 3 ,000. Acts 2 -47, it says the Lord added more than that. Now, how did they know there were 3 ,000? Well, they counted them. You know, some people are, some people are, you know, they're so pious that they're afraid of statistics.

Well, we don't want to talk about numbers. We don't want to talk about numbers. Well, the Bible talks about numbers. And then there's others, they're drunk with statistics. And they think that's all it is.

Numbers, numbers, numbers. They're in the number racket. No, no, there was 3 ,000. I say if they counted, if they put 3 ,000 in the Bible, somebody had to count them. And then I go to Acts 4 -4, and I say there were 5 ,000.

That was the latest count. 5 ,000, that means they got, they got 3 ,120 more than they had before. Or, I mean, they had 1 ,860 more than they had before. And you know what? They're still in town. They're still in Jerusalem.

Haven't even gotten out of Jerusalem yet. Acts 4 -32, we have this. Now they have multitudes. Now they have a multitude. Maybe they could count. Acts 5 -14, they have multitudes. The word multitudes, plural is there.

Acts chapter 6, verse 1, it says multiplied. Don't you like that? I like added, but boy, I like multiplied better. Multiplied. Acts chapter 6, verse 7, multiplied greatly. Greatly. And they're still in town.

Still in Jerusalem. Now you see, I have a hard field where I work. I'm a poor preacher. My area is predominantly Roman Catholic, and it's very difficult. You know where they were? They were in Jerusalem.

That's right. And I want to tell you, everybody's aunt and uncle and cousin and grandmother had religion too. They were straight. They were Jews. But they needed to be converted. Because the Bible says, neither is there salvation in any other.

For there is none other name given among men whereby one must be saved. Acts records it. They filled Jerusalem with their teaching. They were teaching. See, they were not decisionists. Most of our evangelism is decisionism.

They were not decisionists. They were teaching. That's what it says in Acts 5 -28. So their method, and I want to emphasize this, it goes right in with Mr. Martin's message last night. Of course, it's from the Bible.

That's why it ties together. It ought to. And I want you to look at it. First of all, our text said Paul taught. That's what he did. He taught. I have taught you publicly and from house to house. Let me continue my panoramic view of this method.

Teaching as the Primary Evangelistic Method

Acts 5 -21, the apostles. They entered early into the synagogue in the morning, and it says they taught. T-A-U-G-H-T. Acts 5 -25. Behold, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.

Not trying to wring decisions out of them. Teaching the people. Acts 5 -28. You have filled Jerusalem with your teaching. Well, if they filled Jerusalem with their teaching, that means they had to have been about the task of teaching.

That's how you get it full of teaching, is teach. So they were teaching. Acts 11 -26. For a whole year it entered Antioch. Paul and Barnabas, it says, taught much people. They taught much people. That's why there's no follow-up program.

Some of these people said, well, what kind of a follow-up program do you recommend? I said, well, I put the follow-up program at the beginning and do the teaching and everything at the beginning, and then you don't have to worry about the following up.

That's why there's no follow-up program in the book of Acts. They did it all at the front end. Before they tried to get to stations, they let people know what they decided. Acts 14 -21 at Derbe. It says they preached and taught.

Now you get the message. Preached and taught. That's their message. Acts 15 -35. Teaching and preaching. Acts 18 -11. Paul at Carmel. And he continued a year and six months. Teaching the word of God among them.

Give some idea. Is there a divine method? Is there a divine method? They were carrying out our Lord's mandate. He told them to do that, not go out and bring decisions out of people who were deciding they know not what.

Go and teach all nations. They were carrying out Acts 1 -8. Of course, our Lord Jesus Christ set the example of this very method Himself. Mark 6 -50. He said He went around about the villagers. What was He doing, plants?

Teaching. Teaching. Not telling deathbed stories. Mark 6 -34. Jesus was moved with compassion toward them because they were as sheep, not having a shepherd. And what did He do? Next words. He began to teach them.