Evangelistic Endeavour
Simon Attwood
If priesthood is service Godward in worship and prayer, ministry is service manward. The risen, ascended and exalted Christ ‘has given some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some shepherds and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints; with a view to the work of the ministry, with a view to the edifying of the body of Christ’ (Eph. 4:11–12). Earlier in this letter, Paul exhorted his readers to use ‘diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace’ (v. 3), but here we find that our Head in heaven has provided a diversity of gifts within that unity for the edification of the assembly ‘until we all arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, at the full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fulness of the Christ’ (v. 13). This can only refer to the rapture when He brings us into complete and united conformity with Himself.
Apostles and prophets are foundational gifts (Eph. 2:20) but the living ministry of the others continues until He comes. As far as the effect of this on individuals is concerned, evangelists begin the process by ‘testifying … repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Acts 20:21). This was the way ‘the Lord added to the assembly daily those that were to be saved’ (2:47) at its very beginning, and it will continue to be so until the close of its history here. So far, the ministry has lasted 2,000 years but Paul writes as if it could have been completed in his lifetime. We know from James that ‘the coming of the Lord is drawn nigh’ (5:8) so great urgency attaches to it, especially ‘the work of an evangelist’ (2 Tim. 4:5) since this has to do with the eternal destiny of souls. We make a big mistake if we do not put a premium on evangelistic enterprise (Prov. 11:30).
Luke’s words in Acts 21:8, ‘we came to Caesarea; and entering into the house of Philip the evangelist, who was of the seven, we abode with him’, link Paul’s journey to Jerusalem ‘to testify the glad tidings of the grace of God’ (Acts 20:24) with Philip’s ministry over 20 years or more in various places including that city, Samaria and the desert near Gaza. Here was a man ‘well reported of, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom’ (6:3) who had served in a team of seven ‘deacons’ that ensured that all the widows in the assembly in Jerusalem received practical support. This had silenced the murmuring of believers from a Hellenistic background against their Hebrew cousins. Instead ‘the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem was very greatly multiplied, and a great crowd of the priests obeyed the faith’ (v. 7). What a triumph!
Having fulfilled a local charge that preserved unity among the saints, and following the persecution that scattered them from Jerusalem, Philip went ‘down to a city of Samaria [and] preached the Christ to them’ (Acts 8:5). Notice, there is no mention of him being directed to do this by the apostles or the assembly; he was an evangelist given by the Lord who led him and blessed his ministry in the hearts and consciences of those who gave heed to his words: ‘there was great joy in that city’ (vs. 6, 8). In learning from this we should bear in mind that Acts is a transitional book. Sign gifts were needed in those early days of Christianity to validate the ‘glad tidings’ as ‘God’s’ (Rom. 1:1). It was also necessary to demonstrate that the assembly was one body, for centuries of antipathy between Jews and Samaritans might have led the new converts in Samaria to declare themselves a separate entity from those who were formerly Jews. This accounts for the fact that God in His wisdom had withheld the gift of the Holy Spirit from them when they believed. So we read: ‘the apostles who were in Jerusalem, having heard that Samaria had received the word of God, sent to them Peter and John; who, having come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit; for he was not yet fallen upon any of them, only they were baptised to the name of the Lord Jesus’ (Acts 8:14–16).
It is so instructive to see Philip, though wonderfully used by the Lord to bring the glad tidings to the Samaritans, deferring to the apostles so that the Lord’s promise to the woman at the well of Sychar might be made good to them (John 4:13–14, 21–24) and unity preserved among the believers. The evangelist is the Lord’s servant and often works alone, but how good it is when he and his brethren act together as led by the Head in heaven to ensure new converts freely enjoy the blessing of fellowship with those in Christ before them. Let us apply this to ourselves: Are we willing to spend time praying with an evangelist before he goes out to serve? What about standing with him while he preaches, and giving out tracts? If he gets low, do we detect it and encourage him? And what of people he brings to the gathering, do we welcome them, befriend them, show them hospitality, answer their questions? And those of us who are evangelists, are we willing to inform our brethren of our work, seek their prayers, allay any concerns they have, take their advice when they know the local circumstances in which we are working better than we do? Indifference and, worse still, dissension tend to sap the exercise and energy of the Lord’s people in their service for Him whether it be in evangelism, shepherding or teaching. Philip was a man who prized genuine unity because it provides the best setting for young believers to ‘grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ’ (2 Pet. 3:18).
The evangelist is a gift to the assembly wherever he goes, and now that Philip’s ministry in Samaria was complete the Lord directed him elsewhere. There was a man from Ethiopia on the desert road near Gaza who needed one-to-one ministry, and Philip was willing and ready to provide it. Philip’s name means ‘lover of horses’ but his encounter with Queen Candace’s treasurer shows how much he was a lover of souls. His focus was not on the horses that pulled the chariot but the man inside — he ran to him, listened to him, asked him a question. These actions display an evangelist’s energy, his interest in where people are, spiritually speaking, and his readiness to help them. Previously he had proclaimed Christ to crowds; now he sat beside a single individual and presented him with ‘the glad tidings of Jesus’ (Acts 8:35). This was entirely suited to someone who had not been brought up to expect a Messiah but nevertheless needed the one of whom Isaiah had prophesied. He could not resist the appeal of the Saviour and desired to be identified with Him in His death: ‘Behold water; what hinders my being baptised?’ (v. 36). This, and his rejoicing as he went on his way afterwards, reminds us of the effect of Philip’s service in Samaria. He preached a complete gospel wherever he went, and we can be sure he was still doing so when Paul stayed with him on his way to Jerusalem, for Luke calls him ‘Philip the evangelist’.
We now turn from a sunny scene at the start of Christianity to a colder, darker one three decades later: Paul’s prison cell in Rome. Figuratively-speaking, this is where Christianity is today in so many lands — rejected even in those where it was once respected. Are we discouraged as Timothy seems to have been? If so, Paul’s second letter to him should speak to us too: ‘rekindle the gift of God which is in thee’ (1:6). True, there was much to disappoint his beloved child — serious spiritual declension among those who professed Christ — but the apostle exhorts him: ‘proclaim the word; be urgent in season and out of season, convict, rebuke, encourage, with all longsuffering and doctrine’ (4:2). We might think this was enough for Timothy to do, but he adds, ‘thou, be sober in all things, bear evils, do the work of an evangelist, fill up the full measure of thy ministry’ (v. 5). Why? Because he was an evangelist and should not allow the difficulties within the testimony to prevent him from doing an evangelist’s work without. Some of us find it difficult to maintain a proper balance between the assembly and the gospel but Paul writes what he does because he was par excellence a minister of one and the other (Col. 1:23–25). But this passage indicates that an evangelist’s work is never done until the Lord comes.
Evangelists are on the frontline. Love for the lost will prompt them to go the extra mile and even risk their lives to win souls for Christ — Paul did both (1 Cor. 9:20; Acts 21:13). The rest of us may not be free or brave enough for this, but we should pray that they will know the Lord’s guidance and protection in their ministry. The world is becoming ever more hostile to the glad tidings and therefore increasingly dangerous for them.
- ^ The gifts in Ephesians 4 are persons, not powers as in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12. This shows the ministry is from Christ the Head to His body and therefore should be exercised in living, loving reality. We see this in the men we mention in this article: Paul (2 Cor. 12:15), Philip (Acts 6:3) and Timothy (Phil. 2:20).
- ^ Scripture abounds with examples of ways we can help one another in the work of the Lord, though not necessarily evangelism specifically. Here are a few: Acts 5:12b; 11:1–18; 13:3; 14:26–28; 18:26; 19:31; Eph. 6:18–19; 2 Tim. 1:6–7; 16–18.
From: Truth and Testimony, 2024