This is number three of five in the lineup and my goal as with all the others is to show the importance of having all of these ministries functioning properly in the Church.
TEXT: Ephesians 4: 7-13
4:7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
4:8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
4:9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
4:10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, EVANGELISTS; and some, pastors and teachers;
4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Evangelist (Greek - euaggelistēs) : a preacher of the gospel; from a similar word meaning to announce good news (“evangelize”) especially the gospel: - declare, bring (declare, show) glad (good) tidings, preach (the gospel).
The first thing I am going to do is to give you every instance of the word evangelist being used in the Bible.
II Timothy 4: 1-5
4:1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4:4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
4:5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.
Acts 21: 7-11
21:7 And when we had finished our course from Tyre, we came to Ptolemais, and saluted the brethren, and abode with them one day.
21:8 And the next day we that were of Paul's company departed, and came unto Caesarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him.
21:9 And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy.
21:10 And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus.
21:11 And when he was come unto us, he took Paul's girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.
The term evangelist originally denotes lay-preachers which are preachers of the Gospel that do not have any one specific place that they have settled to preach the Gospel; but rather preach anywhere that the Lord leads them and people (lost souls or other churches) need them.
Phillip is the only one in the Bible that is actually given the title of Evangelist and if we study what know about him both in the Bible and from other historical resources we will find that for the most part he traveled where ever he was led so as to preach Jesus Christ. His means of operation was not that of the Apostle per-se seeing as how he wasn't a missionary in the proper since but he did promulgate the Gospel, led souls to Jesus, Baptized and built up the church.
The primary goal of the evangelist is to build up the church or in Biblical terminology, edify. Paul himself is a great example of several of the Gifts including Evangelist. We know that he was an Apostle by calling and he functioned in this office regularly by going on missionary journeys. He operated as well in the office of the Prophet (not in the spiritual aspect but in the physical actions) by appointing and anointing the authorities in the areas that he would go into and Christianize. After this, he continued in the office of Evangelist by not only helping build up the churches that he would establish but would also keep regular tabs on these churches whether by letter or person thereby operating in the office of pastor as well. Paul truly was multifaceted.
The role of Evangelist is to come in after the Apostle has went in and made new converts (thereby starting a church base) and gave them guidelines, and the prophet has come in and set up the structure and brought them deeper into the knowledge of Christ. The Evangelist at this point builds up the church (physically and spiritually) and keeps tabs on the local churches and when needful, goes back to churches that have been previously established and reproves and rebukes in a manner that would not normally be accepted from a Pastor. Paul many times said in his writings "It is needful that I come unto you" or "It is needful that I write unto you". He was often times correcting problems that would arise in established churches that the Pastors couldn't or wouldn't deal with themselves. Sometimes a Pastor doesn't even know how to deal with a situation other than to pray and then God lays it on the heart of an evangelist to go in and help.
Paul's journeys were called missionary trips but in all actuality several of his trips were not missionary in nature at all; but were evangelistic in the fact that he was going back to churches that were already established to either build up their most holy faith or to right a wrong.
Paul told Timothy to do the work of an Evangelist. By this he was telling Timothy to be a church builder and to keep tabs on these churches as well as do the pasturing of the church that he was over. At this point in history the church was outgrowing itself. There were more converts to the faith than there was room in the corporate church setting which naturally meant that many house-churches were springing up. These were firstly going to need structure so that everything could be done decently and in order. Secondly they were going to need someone to watch over them so that these satellite churches didn't turn into cults by their very design.
According to scripture, Paul considered the office of Evangelist a paid ministry, even going so far as to rebuke one church for not desiring to give of their temporal means when he and those with him had sown unto them eternal things.
I hope and pray that all who read this series will learn and grow in knowledge of the Word.
Jonathan D. Saunders.
The term evangelist originally denotes lay-preachers which are preachers of the Gospel that do not have any one specific place that they have settled to preach the Gospel; but rather preach anywhere that the Lord leads them and people (lost souls or other churches) need them.
Phillip is the only one in the Bible that is actually given the title of Evangelist and if we study what know about him both in the Bible and from other historical resources we will find that for the most part he traveled where ever he was led so as to preach Jesus Christ. His means of operation was not that of the Apostle per-se seeing as how he wasn't a missionary in the proper since but he did promulgate the Gospel, led souls to Jesus, Baptized and built up the church.
The primary goal of the evangelist is to build up the church or in Biblical terminology, edify. Paul himself is a great example of several of the Gifts including Evangelist. We know that he was an Apostle by calling and he functioned in this office regularly by going on missionary journeys. He operated as well in the office of the Prophet (not in the spiritual aspect but in the physical actions) by appointing and anointing the authorities in the areas that he would go into and Christianize. After this, he continued in the office of Evangelist by not only helping build up the churches that he would establish but would also keep regular tabs on these churches whether by letter or person thereby operating in the office of pastor as well. Paul truly was multifaceted.
The role of Evangelist is to come in after the Apostle has went in and made new converts (thereby starting a church base) and gave them guidelines, and the prophet has come in and set up the structure and brought them deeper into the knowledge of Christ. The Evangelist at this point builds up the church (physically and spiritually) and keeps tabs on the local churches and when needful, goes back to churches that have been previously established and reproves and rebukes in a manner that would not normally be accepted from a Pastor. Paul many times said in his writings "It is needful that I come unto you" or "It is needful that I write unto you". He was often times correcting problems that would arise in established churches that the Pastors couldn't or wouldn't deal with themselves. Sometimes a Pastor doesn't even know how to deal with a situation other than to pray and then God lays it on the heart of an evangelist to go in and help.
Paul's journeys were called missionary trips but in all actuality several of his trips were not missionary in nature at all; but were evangelistic in the fact that he was going back to churches that were already established to either build up their most holy faith or to right a wrong.
Paul told Timothy to do the work of an Evangelist. By this he was telling Timothy to be a church builder and to keep tabs on these churches as well as do the pasturing of the church that he was over. At this point in history the church was outgrowing itself. There were more converts to the faith than there was room in the corporate church setting which naturally meant that many house-churches were springing up. These were firstly going to need structure so that everything could be done decently and in order. Secondly they were going to need someone to watch over them so that these satellite churches didn't turn into cults by their very design.
According to scripture, Paul considered the office of Evangelist a paid ministry, even going so far as to rebuke one church for not desiring to give of their temporal means when he and those with him had sown unto them eternal things.
I hope and pray that all who read this series will learn and grow in knowledge of the Word.
Love and Blessings,
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