04.11. Section 2: "The Added Parts", Introduction
In each generation there have been various ways and means used to secure the attention of sinners so that they may be shown the truth and then led into a saving knowledge and true relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is a fact that man is a creature of habit. He loves form, doesn’t like things to change "too quickly," and he clings to tradition. Unfortunately (for man), God is no such person. Though something has never been tried before, God simply does not care. His only concern is that it is the wisest and most direct way of accomplishing His desire. This of course, threw the children of Israel into many a panic. "What’s God doing now?" If there was a big sea in the way, no problem, He just split it. If there wasn’t any water, snap! A drinking fountain from a rock. Food running low? Presto! It’ll rain bread in the morning. And Jesus had the same way of dealing with things. When His disciples were far from shore, it didn’t matter, Jesus just strolled over the waves. Problem with the weather? "Shut up wind!" And so it went . (Exodus 14:21-22; Exodus 16:4; Exodus 17:6; Matthew 14:25; Mark 4:39)
Now as you can see in the Bible, God had a lot of problems with man and his traditions. Just take a look at the Jews - how they loved their temple, their sacrifices, their Sabbath - too bad they didn’t care much for their God. And Jesus ran up against the whole stubborn lot of them. "Did you see that? Why, He healed on the Sabbath!" (Luke 13:14) At every turn, Jesus tried to show them the truth, using the wisest reasoning and the best examples, but they kept getting hung up on His methods - touching lepers, raising the dead, hanging out with sinners, whipping moneychangers - it scared them to death!(Matthew 8:2-3; Matthew 9:11; John 2:15; John 11:43-44) Their religion was basically peaceful, very solemn and quiet. But Jesus... why Jesus had the whole town in an uproar at least once a week! You can see why He bothered them; He disturbed their nice little religion... with the truth! (John 8:44-45)
It is obvious that God anoints men and women who are completely yielded to His Spirit. He also anoints methods and tools that we use - meetings, tracts, books, music, witnessing, preaching, etc. - when they are also fully submitted to Him in faithfulness. But there is a great danger when man (or even God) designs a tool to be used for God’s glory, and then as time passes, people’s attention starts to be fixed on the tool itself, rather than on the glory of God (which it was originally designed to promote).(See 2 Kings 18:4 - Because it had become an idol, King Hezekiah had to destroy the same bronze serpent that Moses had made in Numbers 21:8, which was used to stop the plague of death among the Israelites. This is the same bronze serpent refererred to by Jesus in reference to Himself, in John 13:14 !) The following is a list of just some of the tools, methods, and concepts that I believe have become so much a part of presenting the modern gospel, that they have become just about inseparable from it. In fact, they are to such an extent considered necessary, that if many of them are left out of an evangelistic meeting, Christians can hardly believe that anyone can be saved there.