What Is God’s Plan Of Evangelism?

© 2026 by C. O. Bishop

2^nd Corinthians 1:1, Acts 17:1-14, Acts 18:1-8, Romans 15:15-20; Acts 8:1-4

¹ Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia:

Introduction:

Corinth was the Roman Capitol of Achaia at the time Paul was writing. Obviously, wherever he went, Paul made a practice of going to principal cities, such as Corinth, Philippi, etc. He sought to plant churches in each place as a “start,” like planting grape cuttings. This served to introduce the Gospel of Christ, via a self-supporting, self-propagating organism. He hoped each “start” (each fledgling church) would flourish and spread to all the villages around them.

To begin with, the Church exists as a Living, self-replicating, and self-propagating organism. The Holy Spirit has planted the church in the world, much as the wind plants dandelions in your lawn. (Obviously, You did not plant the dandelions there: They simply arrived, blown by the wind.) And they blossomed where the wind planted them: They sent down tough, resilient taproots, seeking water and nourishment. Furthermore, they maintained through dry summers, cold winters, and other hazards. And, every spring, they blossom again, producing hundreds of seeds. When mature, those seeds will blow away on the wind, like tiny parachutes and start new life elsewhere.

Clearly, the World does not want us here, any more than you want the dandelions in your lawn. But, like dandelions, we blossom where God planted us. And, like dandelion seedlings, we dig deep into God’s Word, seeking Living Water and Spiritual food. We multiply, and the “Wind of God” carries our “seeds” elsewhere. They take root in other places, other cities, other countries and languages.

This is God’s Plan of Evangelism

Paul demonstrates this “plan of evangelism” in Romans 15:17-20. It says “from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.” Now the distance from Jerusalem to Illyricum, by road, is anywhere from 1,000 to 1,400 miles. (That distance depends on what cities he visited as “side-trips.”)

Paul did NOT “talk to every single person” in that area. He planted churches any where he found even a few receptive hearts. Then he allowed the natural, spiritual reproduction of the Living Spirit of Christ to spread out and “self-propagate” from each of those “starts.”

Normal Propagation

Corinth and other primary cities in Achaia had received the Gospel of Christ. God caused many small churches to thrive there, though Paul had not visited everywhere in that province…just a few chief cities and towns (We only know of Athens, Corinth, and Cenchrea, for sure.) But, he said that He extended his greeting “to all the saints which were in ALL Achaia!” The Gospel had spread, just as it is supposed to do!

Forced Propagation

Acts 8:1-8 gives us one example of a delayed, but highly productive “spread.” Persecution broke out in Jerusalem after a mob stoned Stephen to death. The persecution “broke up the party” that the believers were enjoying in Jerusalem. They had continued to increase, in and around Jerusalem, but they had made no effort to evangelize outside that area.

in Acts 1:8, Jesus gave the following assignment: “After that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, ye shall be witnesses unto Me, in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the Earth.”

The believers at Jerusalem, (whom we see in Acts chapters 2-6) had become pretty complacent: They were “having a great time around the Table of the Lord,” but they were not venturing out “into the field,” as they had been directed. We can’t really blame them: We tend to do the same thing.

What Happened in Jerusalem?

After the stoning of Stephen in Acts 7, a persecution broke out. Acts 8:1 “And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.”

Please remember: Many of these believers were not natives of Jerusalem. They had come to Jerusalem for Pentecost, and the Apostles introduced them to Jesus as the Messiah. They stayed, to learn and grow, and to fellowship and grow strong. When the persecution began, most of them probably just went back to wherever they had originally come from.

And we see the result in Acts 8:4, : “Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.” (Aha! So, persecution can result in evangelism!)

But, do we have to wait for persecution to drive us to the world around us? Or can we do it for the sheer joy of responding in obedience to the Great Commission?

The Joy of Christ

If we read the rest of Acts 8, we see that Philip went straight to Samaria. It was the old capitol city of the region of Samaria. Idolatry was common there. Jews and Gentiles existed in a confusing mix. They pracitced a “mixed bag” of Judaism and a host of other religions. Paul preached the Gospel there: Specifically, it says, “He preached Christ unto Them.” (That is what we are called to do, too!)

The result? Acts 8:8 says, “There was great Joy in that city.”

The Joy of Christ has been the result wherever there has been a true reception to the Gospel. In individual lives, we see that Joy replicated, today. We see lives transformed by the Living Word of God. As a result, we see the Person and the Character of Christ beginning to appear in their lives, and the Fragrance of the Savior beginning to emanate from their lives.

We see people, young and old, lifting up their eyes from the World around them, taking their attention away from the crushing apathy, the evil desires and the gross self-centeredness of the Human Race, and seeing Jesus, the perfect human who is also the True God, in the flesh.

The Result In Our Lives

Together, we find Refuge in Him. We rejoice together in His Light, and we feed together on His Word, and we fellowship together around the Person and Work of the Risen Christ. We learn to find our Joy in Him, (Habakkuk 3:17-19) and, as Habakkuk did, to find that He “makes our feet like the feet of the ‘hind,’ a rock-climbing, mountain-loving deer: He places our feet on our high places,” so that the troubles of this life seem far below us. And even when they affect us directly, we see those troubles from the vantage point of Citizens of Heaven, not as those still enslaved to the World.

How We Choose God’s Plan

People have written scores of books about evangelism. One such book claims the title of “The Master’s Plan of Evangelism,”and it is actually a pretty good book. If one is truly going to follow “The Master’s Plan of Evangelism,” then regardless of how they see that plan, the first item on the agenda is to deliberately choose God’s plan, as opposed to our own, or a program set up by our school or by the founder of a movement, or anything else.

If we can Look to God’s Word, and see how He planned to reach the world, and deliberately choose to learn His way, and to follow His way, then we are already on the right path.

Acts 16:6-11

⁶ Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, ⁷ After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not. ⁸ And they passing by Mysia came down to Troas.

⁹ And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. ¹⁰ And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them. ¹¹ Therefore loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course to Samothracia, and the next day to Neapolis;

When we read Acts 16:6-11, we see that Paul and his entourage did not get to just “look at a map and pick where to go next:” God forbade them to go in one direction, then another. (verses 6, 7) But a little further along, He sent a vision, directing them to Macedonia. So, off they went, going where HE directed them to go, and doing as HE directed them to do!

Being “In” The Way: (On The Path: “On Task“)

In Genesis 24:27, we see that the servant of Abraham, who was on assignment to find a wife for Isaac, stated that he was “in the right place, doing the right thing,” when he prayed and asked God for direction. He said “I being in the way, the LORD led me!” He was already choosing, day by day and step by step, to follow the assignment given to him, and the directions he had been given so far. And so it was, that, when he asked for specific direction, God responded immediately, and very specifically.

Paul and his group were in the same situation in Acts 16:6-11. They were doing their “best diligence” to follow what they knew of God’s direction. But then it came down to a need for a specific direction: They had tried two directions, and God had “closed the door.” (We are not told how: All we know is that He forbade them to go to the first two places they attempted.)

So, they continued seeking His will, and He gave them very specific direction. They obeyed that new directive immediately, and they headed for Macedonia.

What About Us?

As a Church, we were already promoting evangelism and discipleship. Our church preached the Gospel and we taught the Word, and we avoided distraction. We taught that the one assignment Jesus gave to the Church was the Great Commission. We understand that the propagation of the church occurs because of a “Spiritual chain reaction.” (One beliver shares with one unbeliever. If that person believes, and is born again, then TWO believers are now sharing with others, and so forth.)

We continually sought His direction as to how we could reach out and be a part of His plan. And we had no idea how that might work out. Then He dropped “His plan for us” into our collective laps! We responded with joy and eager obedience, and God has been blessing this little church, beyond anything we had hoped for! We have now supplied hundreds of Bibles for believers in places where they could not possibly afford to buy them.

The Results?

We can see the results in the Philippines, in Papua New Guinea, in Kenya and in Pakistan. Hundreds of hungry hearts are being fed on the Word of God. Hundreds whom we may never meet in this world are being trained up to “Blossom where they are planted, to Dig deep into God’s Word, to Press closer into Him for the Living Water of His Grace, to Bear fruit, and to multiply.” (Just like Dandelions!) And we are called to do the same!

Can there be more? Without a doubt, there can be! But what we must continually do, is to continue in obedience and to look to Him for direction, just as we have done before.

Lord Jesus, please raise our eyes to see You clearly, and to discern the path of obedience for each soul among our flock. We desire to do Your Will, and we confess that, apart from Your leading, we do not know how to do so.