God’s Formula for Reaching the World

Revelation 17:15

And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.

One reason we miss reaching the world is because we get wrapped up in the multitudes instead of reaching the individual. You can't reach the multitudes if you are not reaching the individual. When a church has a missions conference, the missionaries who come to present their field often talk about the need of the field where they are going, but, if they are not presently reaching individuals, they most certainly won't reach the multitudes they talk about reaching where they believe God wants them to go.

God gives a formula for reaching the world. Notice that God divides up the world into peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. To understand God’s formula, you must look at this list backward. You will never reach every language of people until you reach nations. You will not reach nations until you reach multitudes. You will not reach multitudes until you reach peoples. You will not reach peoples until you reach people. It all goes back to reaching the individual.

The heartbeat of God is in reaching the lost with the Gospel. You reach the lost by giving the Gospel to each individual you meet. It is easy to get sidetracked with things that sound important, but anything that pulls you away from reaching the lost with the Gospel is Satan’s tool. Satan has used many good causes to get God’s people sidetracked from reaching the lost. You would think Satan would never get involved in good causes, but he knows he can win the battle for the souls of mankind if he can get God’s people sidetracked with good agendas. Any cause that pulls you away from reaching the lost is a tool of Satan to send people to Hell. Let me share a couple thoughts about God’s formula for reaching the world.

First, don't lose sight of the individual because of the big picture. One mistake we often make is to look at the big picture and become overwhelmed by it. Many people look at the big picture of reaching every tongue and nation and give up because they don't see how it can be done. Don't let the big picture overwhelm you and cause you to quit.

Second, don't lose sight of the big picture. The big picture is important because it should motivate you to reach more individuals. We cannot just look at the big picture and talk about the need of reaching it, but we must keep the big picture in front of us to stir our hearts with the need of reaching individuals and financing the propagation of the Gospel so everyone in God’s formula can be reached.

Third, keep your focus on reaching the individual, and you will fulfill the big picture. Here is the key; reach every individual you see. What you must remember is inside of every tongue is an individual who speaks that tongue. Inside of the nations are individuals who make up those nations. Inside of the multitudes are individuals who must hear the Gospel so they can be saved.

My friend, the key to reaching multitudes with the Gospel is to reach the individual soul. Reaching individuals adds up to reaching multitudes, and if you reach the multitudes, you will reach nations, and when you reach nations, you will reach the tongues of each individual in that nation. Let’s make it our focus to reach the individual, and we will find that we can make a significant impact on the whole picture.