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I want you to keep your finger here and then go to 2 Timothy chapter 4. We'll probably be going back to Acts chapter 8 a lot throughout the sermon. That's going to be what we're mostly focusing on. If you were here last week, I kind of preached a part 1 about teachers of good things. I'm going to put that on hold and I'll preach the rest of that in the future. But tonight, let's look at 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 5. The Bible reads, but watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. And the title of my sermon actually comes from this verse. The title of my sermon is the work of an evangelist. Now in 2 Timothy chapter number 4, the Bible is instructing a pastor to do the work of an evangelist. So I think the obvious question then would be, what is the work of an evangelist, right? So let's look at all the mentions of the word evangelist in the Bible quickly and then I'm going to, we're going to talk about what I believe the Bible teaches, the work of an evangelist is. It's very clear. So go to Ephesians chapter number 4, if you would, Ephesians chapter 4. We see the pastors instructed to do the work of this evangelist. Now I think a lot of times, there's a lot of pastors where maybe they wouldn't even be able to tell you exactly what the evangelist means here, but they're not doing it. They're not doing it. They wouldn't even give you a definition and then say they're doing it. They're just lacking in this area a lot of times. Whether or not they give a definition that's wrong, they're not even doing that. So there's definitely a lack there and we see it's important for not only a pastor but a lot of people to do the work of an evangelist. So let's see what this means. In Ephesians chapter 4 verse 1, I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith your call. Vocation is similar to like the word job, meaning your occupation, meaning what is your purpose? What is it that you're supposed to be doing? As with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace, there is one body and one spirit, even as you're called in the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. So what the Bible is saying is, look, there's only one Lord, there's only one faith, there's only one baptism, there's only one spirit, but he's giving different gifts unto men. And he has a little parenthetical statement after this sentence, let's look at verse 9 and 10 real quick, he says, Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first in the lower parts of the earth? He that descended in the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things. So it's giving more description of Christ, but if we take from verse 8, where it says, Wherefore he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. Now look at verse 11, and he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers. So the question is, what is he giving? He's giving gifts. Because if you take out the parenthetical statement there, he's giving gifts unto men, what did he give them? He gave them the prophets, he gave them the apostles, he gave them the evangelists, he gave them the pastors and the teachers. These offices, these vocations, these are gifts unto men. It's a gift to have a pastor, it's a gift to have a teacher, it's a gift to have an apostle, it's a gift to have the evangelists. Why? Look at verse 12, For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, under the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the slight of men and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplyeth. According to the effectual working and the measure of every part, make it increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. So what is this saying? Did it really give us a definition here of what the evangelist is? No. He's just saying in general, look, God gave gifts unto men, he gave these different vocations, he gave, you know, the apostle, he gave the prophet, he gave the evangelist, he gave the pastors, he gave the teachers, what? To perfect the saints, to make us better. To make us more complete, to edify us, to build us up, so that we can come into the unity of the faith. There's only one faith, but we see there's a lot of different gifts of different people doing different things to what? Bring us to the one faith, to give us that unity, to give us more knowledge, that we're not just children the rest of our lives, that we're brought up. So we see the point of an evangelist is what? Perfecting the saints, the work of the ministry, but it's more of just a broad sense that all of these are what they're doing. Now there are distinctions between these, between an apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastors and teachers. And not only that though, you can even mix them. People can be a prophet and an apostle. People can be an evangelist and a prophet. People can be a pastor and an evangelist. We see that the pastor was instructed to do what? Do the work of an evangelist. So you see the pastor's supposed to also do works of an evangelist. So we see these different gifts can be mixed and matched, and I'll prove that later in the sermon. But so far we say, hey, pastors do the work of an evangelist. Then what does the Bible teach us? The Bible teaches us that evangelists are important. Why? To teach doctrine, to bring us in the unity of faith, the gift that God's given unto men. But we still don't really understand what an evangelist is, do we? So let's go to Acts chapter 21. This is the only other place the word evangelist is even used. If you look up the word evangelize or evangelist, I mean, there's only three mentions. It all says evangelists, or evangelists, look at Acts chapter 21 verse 7, it says that when we had finished our course from Tyre, we came to Polimas and saluted the brethren and abode with them one day, and the next day we were of Paul's company departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered in the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven and abode with him, and the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy. So we see in Acts chapter 21, it says there's a man named Philip, and he's called the evangelist. Now here's the problem, did the Bible really tell us what the evangelist is from any of these verses? Did it really say, hey, this is what evangelism is, this is what evangelist does? No. But I think the key is understanding that Philip is called the evangelist. So if we can figure out who Philip is, and we can figure out what he did, that will give us a really good idea of what the work of an evangelist is, because God's not the author of confusion, God's not going to tell a pastor to do the work of an evangelist, and then he just has no idea what that means, he has no idea how to open the Bible and understand what the evangelist does, but a lot of times today we see people, they don't use the Bible to get their definitions, they use man's ideas, they use the world's ideas, so they twist these words on their head, they make up whatever they want it to be, let's use the Bible to figure out what an evangelist is. And if you look in verse 8, it says that Philip was one of the seven. Now if you have been reading Acts through, you would realize that in Acts chapter 6, there's a specific mention of seven men being set out, and Philip is one of those seven. So let's go back there and see what it said in Acts chapter 6. Let's go back to Acts chapter 6 and we'll see why he's called one of the seven. In verse 1 it says, And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. Then the twelve called the multitude of disciples unto them and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among these seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. Let's stop here for a second. So what's happening? We see the disciples, the first disciples of Christ, they can't get all the work done. There's too much work to be done. There's so much daily ministration. They have thousands of people that were saved in Acts chapter 2, and guess what? That's a lot of people to maintain. That's a lot of people to take care of. And we see the number continues to grow and to grow and to grow. So now they're struggling to even do the word of God. They say, Look, we need more people to help because we can't just leave the word of God and serve tables, meaning what? Doing the day to day jobs, the day to day business, taking care of widows, taking care of all people's needs. There's a lot of work that goes with the ministry, and these men are going to have to stop preaching. Stop preaching the gospel. Stop doing the works of an evangelist. Stop doing these things that are so important to just, you know, serve some table, to be a waiter, to be a waitress. And it's more important that the word of God go forth. So look at verse four, But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word. And the same pleased the whole multitude, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Acanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Niccolas, a proselyte of Antioch, whom they set before the apostles, and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them. And the word of God increased, and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly. And a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith. Now like I said earlier, and I'll prove this a little bit later in my sermon, but people can hold multiple offices, okay? The pastor can do the work of an evangelist. A pastor can also be a prophet, which a prophet would just simply mean a preacher, one that's preaching God's word. Apostle is one that's going to preach God's word. We see there's a lot of mixing and matching. Peter, he's an apostle, he's also a bishop. We see he also does the work of an evangelist. So just because someone has a certain office or a certain role does not exclude them from having another role. And in this chapter, we probably get one of the best descriptions of a deacon, according to the Bible. We see, what is a deacon? Well, he's one who does the daily ministration. He's one that serves the tables. We also see that this is a picture of an evangelist, because we have Philip here. And if we look in verse 7, it says, and the word of God increased, and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly. So when they add these men, guess what, there's more preaching going out, and more people are being saved. That's a good thing. That's a good picture. That's going to give us an idea, what is the evangelist doing? Well the word of God is increasing when the evangelist gets involved. When the evangelist gets involved, the word of God is increasing, and the number of disciples is multiplied. So let's go to Acts chapter 8. Why Acts chapter 8? Well Acts chapter 8 focuses on a guy named Philip. Now I don't think I've ever heard this argued, but to just make it clear, there is a disciple named Philip. One of the first, one of the twelve disciples is Philip. But Acts chapter 8 is not that Philip. It's a different Philip. It's the one of the seven, and as we go through and we read it, we can understand that it's not the apostles, it's actually the evangelist. So as we read this passage, we can see, what is it the evangelist? And my first point, what is the evangelist? It's one who travels. That's my first point. Look at Acts chapter 8 verse 4. They that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them. So you see, Philip is leaving where he's at. He's being scattered. Now the reasoning isn't necessarily the most important thing. The point is that he's going somewhere else. He's taking the gospel where it's not. He's going to a place that doesn't have the gospel, that's not been evangelized, that doesn't know the word of Christ. There isn't multitudes being saved and he's bringing them the gospel and he's preaching Christ unto them. That's the first thing you'd preach to anybody. Preach Christ and him crucify is what the Bible teaches. You see, Philip's not just staying in one place for an alone period of time. No, he's going out and preaching the gospel. The Bible says they were scattered abroad and went everywhere preaching the word. Look at verse 25 now. It says, and they, when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem and preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans. So look, they're going to a lot of different places. He's going to Samaria, then they're going to many villages of the Samaritans. They're not just going to one specific place of Samaria. He didn't just move his family to one specific place. No, he's going to many villages throughout Samaria. He's going to a lot of different places. Look at verse 26. And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is a desert. And you say, well, we can't base our doctrines off of just things that people do. And I agree with that. We need to base it off the clear statements. But here's a clear statement of the angel of the Lord speaking unto Philip and saying, look, you need to rise and go. And we have a clear commandment from Jesus Christ, what? Go ye in all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. We have clear statements in the Bible that mesh with this, but what distinguishes an evangelist? He's traveling with the gospel. He's taking the gospel to different places. He's going. Look at verse 40. But when Philip was found in Azotus and passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea. Now that's interesting, the last little bit, he says, till he came to Caesarea. That's where we found him in Acts chapter 21 when we read about him being an evangelist, right? He says, and the next day we that were of Paul's company departed and came to Caesarea and we entered in the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven. Now that makes a lot of sense when the last verse talking about this guy says he traveled everywhere preaching the gospel and then he stayed in Caesarea and then we pick up in Acts 21 and says, hey, we came to Caesarea, here's Philip the evangelist, one of the seven. That makes perfect sense. The Bible completely jives and it helps us realize this isn't Philip the apostle. This is Philip the evangelist. There's a separation there. There's a difference between these two people and there's another way we can prove that too. But see, Philip's not just staying in one place. Philip's going out and he's preaching the gospel to multiple places. So if someone's going to say I'm doing the work of an evangelist, but then they're never going anywhere to preach the gospel, they're not an evangelist. I mean, Philip is one who's going out, he's traveling, he's obeying God's commandment to do the evangelism. Now just because someone is, you know, maybe an apostle in the Bible doesn't mean they're also not an evangelist. He told all the apostles to go everywhere preaching the gospel. So they were supposed to do the work of an evangelist. In a way they are evangelists. But we see an evangelist that doesn't travel is not an evangelist. Let's see my second point, is that an evangelist persuades. Look at Acts chapter 8 verse 6. I mean, if you just break down the word evangelist, think of the root word evangelize. Now in the world today, you know, the secular world has really embraced this term. You know, there's people that even have jobs where they call themselves evangelists, but you know what they're evangelists of? Their company, of their product. Hey, I'm an Apple evangelist. I sell you Apple products. Hey, I'm a Microsoft evangelist. They literally call themselves evangelists. Now what are these evangelists doing? They're persuading you to buy their product. They're persuading you to use their service. They're persuading you to use their company in some way, right? Now would you say they're a good evangelist if they never sell any of that product? Hey, you know, this guy called the evangelist for Apple and he loaded me up with a bunch of Microsoft goods. He's not a very good evangelist. If he's never getting you to buy any of their products, he's never converting you to get onto their program, he's not evangelizing you. The evangelist is taking a non-customer, a non-buyer, and making them a buyer. Making them a purchaser in the secular world, right? So what does that mean according to the Gospel? It's one who's not a believer in Jesus Christ, one who's not of the faith. He's evangelizing them to the Gospel. He's evangelizing them to bring them unto Christ. He's persuading them to be a Christian. Look at chapter 8 verse 6, and the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. So the people are giving heed unto what he's speaking. What he's speaking is persuading them, it's changing their mind. Just because you travel doesn't make you an evangelist. I mean, you're just a backpacker at that point, you're just a globetrotter. I mean, traveling does not make you an evangelist. What makes you an evangelist? You're persuading people to be a Christian. You're converting people to Christ. That's the essence, that's the whole root of the word. You're persuading men. Go to chapter 18. The Bible says in Luke 16 verse 31, and he said unto them, if they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. Yes, persuasion is an aspect of the Gospel. You're taking someone that's not a believer and you're trying to persuade them, hey, believe on Jesus Christ so you can have eternal life. Believe on Jesus Christ so you're spared from the wrath of almighty God, so you don't burn in everlasting hell for all of eternity. We're persuading people. We're taking people that don't believe and you're showing them, hey, this is why you should believe on Jesus Christ. There is a lot of good reasons to believe on Jesus Christ. I can't even name them all, but hell's a good one not to believe on Jesus Christ, right? I think most people, just for the fear of God, is why they believe on Jesus Christ. That's probably one of the strongest persuasions. Look at Acts chapter 18 verse 1. After these things, Paul departed from Athens and came to Corinth and found a certain Jew named Epila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome and came unto them. And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them and wrought, for by their occupation, they were tent makers. And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. Now Paul, he's an evangelist too. He's definitely an apostle, but guess what? He went out and what? He traveled and he persuaded people to be Christians. He persuaded people to believe on Jesus Christ. He was evangelizing. He was preaching Christ and him crucified. Go to Acts chapter 26. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5 and 11, knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest unto God, and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences. If you're not preaching the wrath of God, if you're not preaching the terror of God, your persuasion's not going to be as strong. Our persuasion comes from preaching the depths of hell, the utter darkness, where their worm dieteth not, where there'll be, you know, screaming and torment for day and night, no rest, no drink of water, constant suffering of the mind. It's horrible. If you think of a loved one that's burning alive, you probably couldn't even bear it. But hell's much worse than that, isn't it? Hell is ten times, it's infinitely worse than watching someone even burned alive. We need to persuade men when we have that in our heart, when we have that in our mind, and it can help us once what, evangelize people, to persuade them. An evangelist is one who's persuading. The evangelist who's not persuading, does he understand the terror of God? Does he understand the wrath of God? What is he doing? He's not an evangelist. Acts chapter 19, I'll read from one more place for you. More what you see and hear than not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul, have persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods which are made with hands. Now these people are accusing Paul, they're saying, look, he's turning them away from all of our false gods, but that's a good thing. He's turning them from idols unto the Lord Jesus Christ. He's letting them repent from false works, from false idols, from false gods, from any other thing, and putting all their faith in Jesus Christ. He's persuading them, what? Through the scriptures, through preaching God's word. Look at Acts 26, verse 25, but he said, I'm not mad, most noble festus, but speak forth the words of truth and soberness. For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I spake freely. For I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him, for this thing was not done in a corner. King Agrippa, believeth thou the prophets? I know that thou believeth. Then Agrippa said unto Paul, almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day were both almost and altogether such as I am, except these bonds. We see, what is Paul doing? He's trying to persuade Agrippa to be a Christian. That's what an evangelist is going to do. He's going to persuade people, hey, you need to be a Christian. You need to believe on Jesus Christ. You need to be saved. The person that doesn't do that, not an evangelist. We have a clear picture of Paul being an evangelist and Philip in that chapter. He gets multiple people saved. So go back to Acts chapter 8. We see, not only did he get the people saved in Samaria, but he also gets the Ethiopian eunuch saved. He persuades him to believe on Jesus Christ, doesn't he? Look at Acts chapter 8 verse 12, this is my third point, that an evangelist baptizes. Says in verse 12, but when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. And then Simon himself believed also. And when he was baptized, he continued with Philip and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done. So we see this guy believes and then what happens? He gets baptized by Philip. Philip is going out and he's baptizing people. The evangelist is accomplishing the Great Commission. I mean, think about it. The evangelist is focusing on the Great Commission. That is their charge. You say, what is the work of an evangelist? It's the Great Commission. It's to go out and preach the gospel and to get people baptized. That's what they do. But you know what? They have to go. They have to go out into all the world. They have to go and preach the gospel to every creature. They're not one that's just staying in a corner. No. They're going out and spreading the gospel to the whole world. That's what the evangelist is. That's what the evangelist focuses on. Look at verse 16, we'll see, for as yet he was fallen upon none of them, only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Saying that they hadn't received the Holy Ghost falling on them yet, the converts, but they were baptized. Look at verse 36, and as they went on their way, then came unto a certain water and the eunuch said, see, here is water. What doth hinder me to be baptized? Now think about this question for a moment. We know that the one thing that hinders some from being baptized is faith on Jesus Christ, right? But notice Philip didn't say, well, we need to wait for an apostle to baptize you. We need to wait for a pastor to baptize you. Nope. You know what he said? If thou believeth, why? Because he had the authority to baptize. He was an ordained minister of the gospel. He's had hands laid on him. He has now had the power to go out and to baptize. So we see an evangelist has the power and the authority to baptize, doesn't he? When a person asks him what must I do to be baptized, you know, what doth hinder me to be baptized, he said, if thou believeth all thy heart thou mayest. And after he believes on Jesus Christ, what? Look at verse 38, and he commanded the chariot to stand still, and they went both down in the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized them. So we see that the evangelist does what? He baptizes. And then what happens? The spirit whiffs them away. So we see what is the point of the evangelist? He's there to just stick around and really instruct this guy and really teach him. The guy that's the evangelist, he's just focusing on getting converts and then baptizing them. So he's going out, preaching the gospel, and getting them baptized. So now to really drive this point in, I think it helps us to understand all of those different gifts that we read about in Ephesians, okay, to understand, well, what is the difference between the apostle and the prophet and the evangelist? Are we really sure? Let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 4. So I believe there is distinctness between these gifts. There's distinctness between the apostle and the evangelist, but that's not to say that people can't span across multiple of these offices or these giftings. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 9. For I think that God has set forth us, the apostles last, as it were appointed to death, we are made a spectacle unto the world and to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ. We are weak, but ye are strong, ye are honorable, but we are despised. Even in this present hour we both hunger and thirst and are naked and are buffeted and have no certain dwelling place, and labor working with our own hands, being reviled we bless, being persecuted we suffer it, being defamed we entreat. We are made as the filth of the world and are the obscuring of all things unto this day. Now we see that God has set forth the apostles last, okay, they're made fools for Christ's sake. Go if you would to Acts chapter 4 now. So that's not necessarily everybody's, you know, position. Not everybody's the obscuring of God. Not everybody's just the most reviled, you know, Christian on the planet. But we see the apostles, they were treated horrible. They suffered great affliction for their witness. What was their witness? Look at Acts chapter 4 verse 33. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. So one of the distinctives of an apostle is that they are a literal witness of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. They literally saw the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. And Christ gave them that great power. You know what came with that? The off-scoring. The bitter tribulation. You know, the fact that men reviled them and hated them and persecuted them greatly. But what a great gift! I guess with a great gift comes great responsibility, right? To go out and to preach the gospel and to be persecuted and hated and rejected to the men just like Jesus Christ was. Think about the two disciples that come in Jesus Christ and they want some of the left hand and the right hand. He's like, do you know what you're asking for? Do you know what cup you're asking to drink? He's like, you will! Hey! You're going to bear a lot of the same sufferings and afflictions that I did. And we see the disciples, a lot of them were persecuted greatly. They suffered great afflictions. Happening none more than the Apostle Paul. He talked about being, you know, burned and stoned and scourged and just naked and hungry and just, I mean, every bad thing you can imagine happens to Paul more than once even. I mean, it's just happening over and over and over. We see the Apostle, what makes an Apostle? He's a witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And not only that though, go back to Acts chapter 8. I'll read for you from Acts chapter 5 verse 12. And by the hands of the Apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people, and they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch. Now look at verse 13 of Acts chapter 8. Then Simon himself believed also, and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done. Now when the Apostles, which were at Jerusalem, heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent on them Peter and John, who, when they were come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost. For as yet he was fallen upon none of them, only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Ghost. So we see Philip, he's going on, he's preaching the Gospel, he's traveling, he's preaching the Gospel, he's getting people baptized, but the Holy Ghost hadn't fallen on them. So what do they need? They needed an Apostle to come. They sent Peter and they sent John under them. And when the Apostles, they laid their hands on them, what happened? The Holy Ghost fell on them. So they see, by the Apostles, special miracles and special wonders were done by the Apostles. Jesus Christ gave them a special power, a special ability. That's not every evangelist, that's all the Apostles. The Apostles were the witnesses of Jesus Christ. And that helps solidify the fact that this isn't Philip the Apostle. Because why would they need to send Peter and John if he was an Apostle? Then he could have just laid hands on them and they would have received the Holy Ghost. No, they needed the Apostle. So I see some distinctives of an Apostle are what? They're a little witness of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and they have special power to give the Holy Ghost to fall on them at the beginning of the church, right? Go if you would to Nehemiah chapter number 6. So now the Apostles, I believe they were all commissioned to do the work of an evangelist. Some of them did it better than others, some of them tried to just stick around Jerusalem. Peter, we see, he does the work of an evangelist often. He's going out and preaching the word, but then he has to have a dream come unto him where he sees, you know, all manner of unclean beasts telling him what? Hey, you need to go preach to these Gentiles too. You need to go and evangelize Cornelius. You need to go and evangelize all these other people and give them the Gospel. So I'll look at our second point that we had in Ephesians. So we had Apostles that were given unto us. We also had Prophets given unto us. And Prophets used in the Bible a lot, prophesy, prophesying, prophet. I believe that just means preacher in the broadest sense. Now there's a lot of different types of preachers. There's a lot of, you know, differences between preachers. But I think in just the broadest sense of prophet or prophesying just means preacher or preaching. Look at Nehemiah chapter 6 verse 7. This is the first mention of the word preach in the whole Bible. And thou hast also appointed prophets to preach of thee at Jerusalem, saying, there is a king in Judah, and now shall be reported to the king according to these words. Come now therefore and let us take counsel together. So the first time the word preach is ever even mentioned in the Bible, it's talking about a prophet preaching. And what is he preaching? The word of God. He's going out and preaching God's word. Now what would make somebody a false prophet? Someone who's not preaching God's word. Who's preaching lies. That's what makes someone a false prophet. And I think just because when you read the Bible, most of the time, I would say even the majority of the time, prophets are preaching about future events. They're proclaiming future judgments. They're proclaiming all kinds of different things that are going to happen from the Lord. They're prophesying Jesus Christ. They're prophesying all kinds of judgments. They're sometimes prophesying double. They're prophesying about a judgment now, and that's going to come later. It's like a double prophetic thing that's going to happen under them. And so people get confused to say a prophet is one that's forth-telling always. He's always, or fore-telling. He's always telling the future. But I think in the broadest sense, a prophet is just one who preaches. It doesn't always have to be forth-telling, but obviously in the beginning of the Bible, a lot of the word that's coming out, hey, future events, pointing to Jesus Christ. The Bible says in Acts chapter 10, to him give all the prophets witness that whosoever believeth in him shall receive a mission of sins. So guess what? They're all preaching about Jesus Christ in the future. Of course they're telling for-telling events, right? Things that are going to happen in the future. The Old Testament pictures and then samples unto us how we should live. So we see a lot of future things, but I don't think that it's right to say that a prophet is only one who fore-tells. The prophet of God is one who preaches God's word. The false prophet is the one who preaches lies in the name of the Lord. Go to Luke chapter 7, if you will. It says in Jonah chapter 3, and the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time saying arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. Now I think everybody would admit that Jonah was a prophet, right? What was he doing? He was bid by the Lord to what? To go preach, to go preach unto the Ninevehites. Why? Because the prophet is one who preaches. Matthew chapter 3 verse 1, in those days came John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judea. You say, well, was John the Baptist a prophet? What was the first thing the Bible even mentions about John the Baptist? He's preaching. The first thing that's ever mentioned about John the Baptist in the Bible is he preaches. Look at Luke chapter 7 verse 26, but what went ye out for to see a prophet? Yeah! For I say unto you, and much more than a prophet, this is he of whom it is written, behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. For I say unto you, among those that are born of women, there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist. But he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. So we see John the Baptist is recorded as being the greatest prophet among men, a non-deity factor, right? So what does he do? What's the first mention of John's word? Preaching. What do we see the first time the word preaching is mentioned? A prophet preaching. We see Jonah. What is he doing? He's preaching. The prophet is one who preaches, and that's why you can even see in Joel when it talks about God pouring out his spirit on the handmaidens, saying that they were prophesying. Doing what? What were they doing? Were they foretelling things? Were they doing witchcraft and spells? No. They were preaching God's word. They were preaching people unto be saved. He said, what do you think about women preachers? Hey, that's great. If they're going out preaching Christ, as long as they're not preaching lies. We need to understand there's a difference between a preacher and a pastor, though. And a pastor is not to be a woman, is not, you know, a woman's not supposed to hold that office. But as the Bible says that women can't preach God's word, they're supposed to preach men to the children. The Bible says that they're supposed to teach the young women. The Bible says that in Joel that the young maidens, what prophesied what? They were preaching God's word. They were getting people saved. There's nothing wrong with a woman preaching God's word, as long as it's not behind the pulpit as a pastor. We see that there's differences. What is the prophet? What is one prophesying? It's preaching. It's one who preaches. We even have in Psalms chapter, or sorry, Proverbs chapter 31, it says the prophecy of King Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him. So you see, the mother was what? Teaching him prophecy. She was teaching him preaching. She was teaching him the word of God. Go to Jeremiah chapter three if you would. So an apostle can also be a prophet, can't he? He's a preacher. We see in the New Testament, you know, it mentions a lot more about preaching, right? It's just another word to help us understand, hey, prophet, preacher, same thing. Jeremiah chapter three verse 15, it says, and I will give you pastors according to my heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. So what is, what is the distinctive of a pastor though? What's the real distinctive between the preacher? The pastor is one who is feeding the flock. It's one who's caring for the flock. It's one who's shepherding the flock. Now there's going to be a lot of overlap between the preacher and the pastor, right? One of the primary offices of a pastor is to do preaching, but we see the pastor is feeding the flock. Not every prophet is necessarily caring to go out and feed the flock. They might just go to a wicked nation and proclaim judgment against them, like Jonah. He's not going out and feeding the flock, he's just proclaiming God's word. He's just a preacher. We see the pastor is one who's feeding the flock. Go to 1 Peter chapter five. The Bible says in Acts chapter 20 verse 28, take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. In Acts chapter 20 he's giving an admonition to the pastors, he's saying, look, hey, God's made you an overseer, so you know what you need to do? Feed the church, feed the people, take care of them. Look at 1 Peter chapter five verse one. The elders, which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder. Oh, Peter, he's an elder, which is synonymous with bishop and pastor. Meaning what? You can be an apostle and a pastor. You can be an apostle and an elder. You can be an apostle and an evangelist. These things can be interchangeable, but we need to understand what the differences of these opposites are. It says, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed. So he also noticed, he mentioned he was an apostle there, he was a witness of the sufferings of Christ. He saw Christ die on the cross. And then we see in verse two, feed the flock of God, which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly, not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind. Neither as being Lords over God's heritage, but being in samples to the flock. So the admonition under the pastor is what? Feed the people, not by constraint, not because you feel like you have to, but because you want to, because you want to help people, because you actually care for people. We see the pastor that's after God's own heart. He cares for the sheep. He loves the sheep. The guy who doesn't is called a hireling because when the wolf comes, he runs away cause he doesn't really actually care about the sheep. We'll see a pastor is one who cares for the flock and he guards against the wolf. He warns against the wolf. He takes care of the wolf and he feeds the sheep. He leads them under green pastors. We even think Peter's mentioned here. What is Jesus Christ saying to Peter? And in the end of the book of John, he says, feed my lambs, feed my sheep, feed my sheep. He's saying, look Peter, don't just go out and live your secular life. No, feed my sheep. Don't go fishing. Fish for men and take care of them and feed them, feed them, feed them. See the importance of a pastor is to feed the flock, is to take care of them. But so many pastors, what do they want to do? Oh, if you really want to learn the Bible, go to Bible college. Oh, you know, I can't, I'm just going to teach real broad things, real basic things. No, feed the flock if you're a pastor. The pastor that doesn't do that, he doesn't really love the flock. He's just teaching things for filthy lucre's sake. He just wants the money, he's just a hireling. Go to a first Timothy chapter two. So we've learned what? The apostle's the witness of Jesus Christ. We see that he has special giftings or special signs and wonders. We see the prophet, he's just a preacher. We see what the distinctive of a pastor. Well, he's one who cares for the sheep. He's one who feeds the sheep. He takes care of the flock of God. So then what about a teacher? Look at first Timothy chapter two, verse seven. Where unto I am ordained a preacher and an apostle, I speak the truth in Christ and lie not a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and buried. Now go to Matthew 28, if you would. So again, another reference. This is the apostle Paul and he's saying what? I'm a preacher, I'm an apostle and I'm a teacher. He said, look, I have a lot of these offices and we know he's also an evangelist by the work that he did. We saw that he did the work of an evangelist. He was traveling, he was persuading men and he was baptizing, was he not? Look at Matthew 28, verse 19. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever commanded you and lo, I am with you always even under the end of the world, amen. Teaching them is what? To observe all things whatsoever Christ commanded. The teacher is one who is teaching God's word. He's teaching all the counsel of God. Now I believe that if you understand what a pastor is or a preacher, teaching just falls in the subcategory of that. All preaching in a way is teaching. If you're preaching God's word, you're being instructed, you're learning things so that you could classify that as a form of teaching. But you can't necessarily say that all teaching is preaching. All teaching would be, you know, someone could get up and teach a very mild truth about the Bible, that wouldn't necessarily be preaching. Preaching is lifting up your voice loud, is crying aloud, sparing not, lifting up that voice like a trumpet, showing my people their transgression. It's with emphasis, it's with, you know, more determination. A teacher's not always a preacher. You could go to a secular college today and you can learn a lot of things from people, but guess what? They're not all gonna preach at you. They could teach you math, they could teach you English. They're not necessarily preaching at you. Now some of them will be, you know, the geologist. He'll preach you his false religion. You know, the biologist, he'll preach you his false religion. There are preachers out there, but not all teaching is preaching. But I would argue that all preaching is teaching. So then what's the distinctive of a teacher? It's one I think that would be more of a one-on-one. He's teaching you all things. He's making it more plain unto you. One that's sitting down and you're a student. You're studying with this person. Now a preacher, he's usually more preaching to a crowd. He's preaching to a great audience. So one of the distinctives could be that a teacher is more of kind of a one-on-one, more of a, you know, a milder approach, one that's just instructing in meekness. We see Jesus Christ is considered a teacher. He taught them many things from the Word of God. But I would argue again that all preaching is teaching, but not all teaching is preaching. Teaching would be edifying the church. Teaching is to observe all things that Christ had commanded. Go to Acts chapter six. So when we learn some of these different words, there's not always a huge distinction. The distinction between preaching and teaching, again, I would think would just be the emphasis. If someone's not really ever getting that animated, that fired up, they're not really, you know, they don't really, emphasizing the terror of the Lord, are they really preaching at you or are they just teaching you something? Sometimes people, when they're rebuking you, you know, they're saying, hey, you're doing this wrong. You're doing this bad. Like you don't have to preach it to me. You know, it's usually the emphasis that's what the people are indicating, the difference between teaching and preaching. It's how you're wording things. It's the subtlety of how you word stuff. Maybe it's more command, more authority, more emphasis on, hey, thus saith the Lord, is more like preaching than teaching. But we see that, you know, all preaching would be an aspect of teaching. Instruction comes from the word of God. Let's look at our second to last point, a deacon. Says in Acts chapter six, verse one, in those days, we've already read this, but let's read it one more time. When the number of the disciples was multiplied, there rose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. What is a deacon? He's one who ministers in the daily ministration. Look at verse two at the end. He serves tables. Look at verse three, whom we appoint over this business. So we see a deacon is what? One who serves the church, who's doing work for the church. What is the church? It's not the building, it's the people. He's helping the people of God. He's helping the widows. It's not necessarily just sweeping the floor and putting the chairs together. No, he's ministering unto the people, the daily ministration. You can hire a janitor to clean the building, but you can't hire a janitor to do the work of the ministry under the church. You can't hire just some person off the street to minister under the widows through God's word. They need men of God full of the Holy Ghost to do the daily ministration of the church, to help edify the church, to help build up the church, to go in to visit people that are sick, to pray for them. You can't just hire someone to go pray for the sick people. You can't hire someone to go out and do extra soul-winning, to bring in more disciples, to do works of evangelists. We see Philip, I believe he was a deacon and an evangelist. So what is he doing? Has the deacon serving the church? He's going out and spreading the gospel, doing more work for the church. We see a deacon is one who's the servant of the church doing work for the church. That was the whole purpose of them even getting these seven men. And lastly, we had the evangelists. Look back down at verse 40. What would be the distinctive between evangelists and all these others? I believe it's the one who travels. It says in Acts chapter eight, verse 40, but Philip was found at Azotus and passing through. He preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea. So now a preacher, he could probably be one who's persuading men to be saved. He could be baptizing. But if he's not traveling, is he really doing the work of an evangelist? I would argue no. Why is the Bible instructing the pastors to do the work of an evangelist? He's saying, look, it's important for you to go out and preach the gospel, to reach people that aren't being reached, to go where the gospel's not shown, where there is no light, to be a light unto the Gentiles, to go out and spread God's word. We see that it's not always in the history, there's not always pastors in every city that care for the people. We need the pastors to go out and also be evangelists. What do you tell the apostles to do? To be evangelists. What is he telling the preachers and the pastors to do? To be evangelists. We don't have the apostles alive today anymore. We don't have anyone that's witnessed the resurrection of Jesus Christ and doing special miracles by the hand of God. But we have pastors and teachers, and then you do what? Do the work of an evangelist. We need the deacons to go out and do the work of an evangelist so we can reach the gospel, or we can reach people with the gospel. That's the whole point of him doing the work of an evangelist. So what's the instinct of an evangelist? One who travels, one who's going out. You say, oh, well, your church just goes to all these Indian reservations, just preaches them the gospel, gets people baptized, and then comes back home. Yeah, he's doing what the Bible said. He's doing the work of an evangelist. People that are criticizing that, they don't know what the Bible says. And you know what? There's a lot of pastors that guess what? They don't do that. It's because they don't do what the Bible says. They're not doing the work of an evangelist. You say, oh, they're evangelizing people. No, the evangelist is going out and preaching the gospel. He's traveling in areas that don't have the gospel. He's trying to reach new people. What is the emphasis of doing the work of an evangelist? Going out. I think sometimes when you don't see the other offices, you sometimes lose sight of the distinctive between an evangelist, don't we? We see that there's all these distinctives. You know, what's the coolest thing about this is that Christ was all of them. Christ was every single one of them. Go to Hebrews chapter three. Jesus Christ said in John chapter 11, verse 25, Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. Was Jesus Christ a witness of the resurrection? Yes, he was. He is the resurrection. Bible says in Revelation 1 18, I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, amen, and have the keys of hell and of death. John chapter 20, verse 21, then said Jesus to them again, peace be unto you, as my Father has sent me, even so send I you. So he's the witness of the resurrection. What was the other distinct of an apostle? He gave the Holy Ghost, didn't he, right? Well, it says in verse 22, and when he had said this, he breathed on them and said unto them, receive ye the Holy Ghost. What did Jesus Christ do? He was a witness of the resurrection and he gave them the Holy Ghost. Look at Hebrews 3 one. Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, considered the apostle and high priest of our profession, Christ Jesus. Jesus Christ is an apostle. Jesus Christ is the apostle. He is the resurrection. Go to Acts chapter three, if you would. Not only that, he's clearly a prophet. The Bible says in Deuteronomy that he would raise up that prophet. There's a special prophet being raised up among their brethren. Who is it? It was Jesus Christ, a preacher. Look at Acts chapter three, verse 20. He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you, whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things which God has spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. For Moses truly said unto the fathers, a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me. Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. Jesus Christ was the prophet that the Lord God raised up amongst the people. Go to 1 Peter chapter five. Not only that, he is a pastor. He is the good shepherd. Psalms chapter 23, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. 1 Peter chapter two, the Bible says, for ye were as sheep going astray, but are now returned unto the shepherd and bishop of your souls. Look at 1 Peter five, verse four. And when the chief shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. Go to John chapter three. And what was the distinctive of the shepherd? The shepherd who feeds the flock, who cares for the flock. The Bible says that Jesus Christ laid down his life for the flock. He was constantly feeding the disciples the word of God. He was constantly taking care of them. He wasn't a hireling. He didn't run when the wolf. No, he died on the cross. He laid down his life for the sheep. There is flock. He was gathering the flock, even not of the fold of Jerusalem, but the fold of the whole world. He is the chief shepherd. He is the pastor. He's the bishop of our souls. And all of that, look at John three, verse two. The same came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest except God be with them. What does Nicodemus say unto Jesus? He says, you're a teacher come from God. And now it was kind of hard to see what the distinctive of a teacher is, but think about this example. It's what? Nicodemus and Jesus. And he's teaching him the word of God, isn't he? You see, it's kind of a one-on-one, more of a personal thing. He's not sitting there preaching on him necessarily. I mean, in a way, you could think that, but he's saying, hey, we know you're a teacher. And the Bible says he taught with many parables. The Bible says that Jesus Christ is a teacher. Go to Philippians chapter two. Not only that, he pictures the role of the deacon. He pictures the role of the deacon. What is the deacon? One who serves. One who serves the church. One who serves the congregation. One who serves the brethren. Philippians chapter two, verse seven. But made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even the death of the cross. Jesus Christ did not come to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. The Bible says that Jesus Christ walks to disciples' feet. He's a picture of what a deacon would do. He's serving the people, but he's full of the Holy Ghost, is he not? It's not just a random person. It's not like me just hiring a random stranger. No, it's doing the work of the ministry. And what was the last of the evangelists? Go to John chapter, or go to Luke chapter eight. The Bible makes it clear that Jesus Christ travels to all the cities and all the villages and preached the gospel and all of Judea. Bible says in John chapter four, verse 41, and many more believe because of his own word. Not only that, he persuaded. He got many people saved. The Bible says when he was preaching, many more believed because of his own word, not just the word of the woman at the well. The woman at the well went and said, hey, this has gotta be the Christ. You gotta come and hear him. And there was a great multitude come out to hear Jesus Christ. And then after he preached, after he was persuading, the Bible says that many more believed because of his own word. So as he's doing the work of an evangelist, he's getting people saved. John chapter eight, verse 30, and he spake these words, many believed on. Luke chapter eight, verse one. And it came to pass afterward that he went throughout every city and village preaching and showing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God and the 12 were with him. Jesus Christ is every one of them. He's the apostle, he's the prophet, he's the preacher, he's the pastor, he's the teacher, he's the evangelist, he's the deacon, he did it all. He's our perfect example to men, to women, to children, to all, Jesus Christ did it all. He's always our example. He's the example of women, how he served, he submitted himself unto the Father. He's the picture unto men of how he's the head of the church, how he led the disciples. We see Jesus Christ as everything. He's all things. So go to 2 Timothy, or go to, sorry, Luke chapter 19. So why do we have the importance of an evangelist being emphasized? Why do we need the evangelist? We need the gospel to go out. The Great Commission says, go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world, amen. The apostles are given that command, but guess what? We don't have apostles today. So you know what we need? We need evangelists. We don't just need the pastors. We don't just need the teachers. We don't need just the preachers. We don't need just the deacons. Guess what? All of them need to do the work of an evangelist. They need to go out and to preach the gospel, to go preach the word. But today, Baptist churches all over America, they have people they call evangelists. What do they do? They just, they're like a traveling circus. They go around from church to church and just preach some word to the church. Is that what the evangelist's doing in the Bible? No, he's going to a new place where they don't have the gospel and he's getting people saved. He's getting them baptized. He's persuading men. We have these circuit riding preachers who just go around churches and get nobody saved. He's not doing any part of an evangelist. He's just traveling. That just makes you a globetrotter. That just makes you a backpacker. That's not an evangelist. That's not one what the Bible's teaching here. And we see not only, it's not even really necessarily a position as much as it is just a command for all these guys to do. Hey, the deacons need to go out and do the evangelism. Hey, we need, you know, the passage to the evangelism. We only have one guy in the Bible that's mentioned as the evangelist. We see, but I think you could argue he was a deacon. He was a deacon according to the Bible because we look at Acts chapter six. So I would say, you know, all these positions, it's important to understand they can mix and mingle. They can be different things. And we see the positions in the Bible, you know, of a pastor, of a deacon. Then we see Philip the evangelist. These are the things that we should seek for. So what should I do if I want to serve God? How about fulfill the offices and the gifts that he gave us? He gave unto his evangelists. He gave unto his pastors. He gave unto his teachers. The Bible says in 2 Timothy 4, I'll read for you again, but watch out on all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. So the pastor who's not doing the work of an evangelist, there's some kind of chink in his arm. There's something lacking in his ministry. He's not fulfilling all of the call that God has on his life. Let's look at our last verse, Luke chapter 19 verse 10. For the son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. The Bible says, look, we need to go out and find lost people and get them saved. We need to rescue them from the pits of hell. We need to do the work of an evangelist. Let's close in prayer. Thank you Father so much for your word. Thank you so much for the perfect example that you set for us. The fact that we can look to you and that you are our apostle, that you are our prophet, that you are our pastor, that you are the picture of a deacon, that you are an evangelist, that you've fulfilled all of these roles, all of these offices. We just thank you so much for your unspeakable gift. I just pray that all of us in our heart will get the terror of the Lord so that we see that we have earnest desire to go out and preach the gospel to all nations. We go out and reach people that don't have the gospel and we persuade men to be Christians. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.