EVANGELISM

Evangelism involves reaching out to believers with the good news (“gospel”) that Jesus Chris died for their sins and rose from the dead to bring forgiveness and new life. As such, evangelism is not directed toward the church, but toward the lost world. Thus, the normal venue for evangelism is not in the worship service (though it may occur here, as in 1 Cor. 14:24-25). Rather, the most effective evangelism takes place in the world through both passive and active intentionality.
Passively, as believers live their everyday lives, they exhibit the person of Christ and make the most of every opportunity to give a response to anyone who inquires about the hope they have (1 Peter 3:15). At the same time, every believer should actively engage in planned evangelistic activities, either individually or corporately, disigned to harvest those unbelievers whom God has prepared for faith in Jesus Christ (Luke 10:2; John 6:44; Acts 2:39; 13:48). All believers must simultaneously prepare for opportunities for evangelism, that may come their way and deliberately engage in active evangelism (this may take place in outings, gatherings with both believers and non-believers, but with the consciousness that it should not turn out to be just having a ‘great and fine time’ of enjoyment and losing the objective of communicating the gospel).
Evangelism should never be replaced with either ineffective activity or inactivity.
If a person engaged in evangelism does not have a wholesome view and clear understanding of the fundamentals of the gospel, that person may be involved in persuading, or even storytelling, but not in evangelism. Evangelism is not even asking various unbelievers to ‘parrot’ the ‘sinner’s prayer’ and helping them to receive the gospel as a ‘social gospel’ where the recipient will be blessed with material rewards and blessings of various kinds.

The pastoral elders and leaders are to equip the congregation for the work of evangelism ( Eph. 4:11-17).They are to lead by example alnd to train the members of the church in both orthodox teaching concerning the gospel and how to share it with others (note: we are not talking about just training methods that focus on marketing worldly strategy and communication).
The teaching elders and leaders of the church should serve as excellent resources when believers encounter mnon-Christian religions, false-Christian sects, or difficult questions or challenges by unbelievers. Thus the leaders of the church play a major role in preparing, motivating, and mobilising the church for the work of evangelism.

Evangelism is not only the work of the gifted and trained evangelist or the elders of the church. Evangelism is the work of every believer. Each of us has a sphere of influence among unsaved family members, friends, coworkers, and acquaintances we meet regularly. In fact, church members have more contact with unsaved people than full-time church workers. Remember the role of the leadership of the church is not to do the work of the ministry, but to equip the saints for the work of service (Eph. 4:12). If you are a believer, you are an evangelist. If we look at the book of Acts, the gospel spread from the ministry of the members of the early church as persecution in Jerusalem caused them to spread to other places with the good news.

EDIFICATION

Some of us believers think that by some mystical, supernatural miracle, the Holy Spirit will simply cause us to grow toward maturity apart from any actual teaching, instruction, or active participation on our part. We just show up, soak in spirituality for an hour or so a week, then spend the rest of the week wondering why we are living a defeated Christian life instead of the victorious Christian life described in Scripture.

We need to learn to develop an ‘Ezra’ attitude: when Ezra discovered the treasure of God’s Word, he “set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel” (Ezra 7:10). However, as we work hard at studying the Scriptures, we must not forget the warning of Apostle Peter against the ‘untaught’ who ‘distort’ the Scriptures to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:`16). Learning God’s Word was never meant to be an independent study or correspondence course. Rather, God gave teachers to the churches to equip the saints and to build them up toward maturity (Eph. 4:11-13).
A major emphasis in a local church must therefore be the unapologetic preaching and teaching of God’s inspired Word by teachers who have been trained faithfully in its historical and theological context. This aspect of edification requires a robust order of qualified leaders and a clear sense of biblical orthodoxy (which ensures apostolic teachings and doctrines).
This requires teaching and preaching elders who know their congregations, live among them, endure the same trials, and face the same challenges in community living, in loving and caring for one another in the Lord.
Unfortunately, many methods of modern preaching and teaching in the church prevent pastors and teachers from knowing their congregation intimately enough to apply the Scriptures to their lives. Massive meetings in which the pulpit is a stage and the congregation is an audience can make this difficult (not to mention the focus on ‘performing music and musicians taking the center stage, and oratorical skills taking the lead instead of the dependence of the Holy Spirit to speak and to minister).
The church ought to emphasise smaller meetings, on the ground ministry in which leaders and elders, including deacons, lead by serving in the midst of their congregations. This involves actually training and equipping others to assist in carrying out the work of the ministry. It is sometimes very sad to hear of large congregations which are not aware of their members missing from worship service and group meetings for a long period, and of pastors and leaders ‘running from one activity to another’ without even the time (or desire) to interact with individual Christians in the church.

If teaching is the mind of the local church, prayer is the heart. Without teaching and spiritual thinking, the church does not grow wholesomely; and without prayer, edification is impossible. It is also sad to see the reality of the lack of prayer in the church corporately and personally – even a very large congregation can only see a ‘trickle’ of individuals who trod their way to the church’s prayer meetings.
Jude explicitly ties prayer to edification when he writes, “But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith ( edification) and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life” (Jude 1:20-21). Clearly prayer is both the heart and the lifeblood of the local church.
Ponder over how much the Apostle Paul prayed for the churches he ‘founded’: (Philippians 1:9-11 for instance) and the vital role prayer contributed to the growth of the early church (Acts 1:14; 2:42; 3:1; 4:31; 6:4: 10:222; 12:5).
Edification and growth requires persistent Prayer which moves the hand of God for His people.
Even the gifts of the Holy Spirit should not focus on the individuals and their gifts but the focus should be on the edification of God’s family and church (1 Cor. 12:7; Ephesians 4:7-16). The current emphasis in many churches on gifted healers, gifted preachers, gifted charismatic communicators – all these make one wonder whether the glory is God’s or the glory is that of individuals who claim to serve God.

EXALTATION
The Reformed Westminster Shorter Catechism of 1647 opens with the question, “What is the chief end of man?” The answer: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.” The chief end of man must of necessity be the chief end of the church – hence the essential work of every local church must be exaltation, that is,”giving praise and glory to God.” Ultimately, everything we do should be to the praise of his glory (Eph. 1:12,14). In fact, even the mundane things of this life should be done “to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). Thus, we glorify God through both our words and our works, in corporate as well as individual worship.

The work of exaltation also involves the edification of the believers, as those who participate in the church’s worship are themselves nourished in their faith. The vital mark of exaltation thus becomes the crowning work of the local church – the foundation and capstone, ground and goal of its existence.
Exaltation involves adoration and service and represents our response to the proclamation of the Word. Christians do not stop glorifying God with the final worship chorus, closing hymns, or benediction on Sunday. We are to live lives of worship by loving others, serving them, and meeting their needs. God is glorified when his people, who are made in his image, fulfill the purpose for which they were created. Love fulfills that purpose. Therefore the local church must be in the business of organised adoration of God as well as genuine love and service for one another. Both adoration and service are meant for exaltation of the Almighty.
To fully enjoy God (as the chief aim of man) is to glorify him. In commanding us to glorify him, God is inviting us to enjoy him.
And the new life in Christ has moral implications: true Christian behaviour ought to be the spontaneous expression of the power of the Gospel in a man’s life – his response, in living, of gratitude for God’s grace. The genuine transformed life and behaviour of Christians glorifies and honours God.
In regeneration, God implants a new germ or principle of life; the task is to work it out, with God’s help, in a world where the insidious pulls and pressures of ‘the flesh’ are everywhere. The pattern of the new life is to be ‘according to Christ.’ And this means living in a way befitting the Gospel of Christ (Phil. 1:27), or “Act as members of Christ’s body (1Cor. 8; Rom. 14), or ‘fulfill the law of Christ (Gal. 6:3) which means following Christ’s example (2 Cor. 8:9) and obeying his commands (1 Cor. 7:10). All can be summed up in one word – agape, the love which gives and cares is not only the sum-total of the Law (Rom. 13:8-10) but the master-key of morals and the supreme standard for Chrisian action and behaviour (Phil. 2:1; Eph.3:17 and 1 Cor. 13).
Loving God, loving our brethren, loving our neighbours (and even our enemies) like Christ, truly exalts the Triune God and fully glorifies Him.

If the church fails to shine as a ‘beacon of light and life’ in this world (remember the church in Ephesus which lost her first love; the church in Saridis which had a name that she was alive but was actually spiritually dead; the church in Laodicea which was luke-warmed), then surely she does not exalt and glorify God (like the young church in Thessalonica whose testimony was proclaimed throughout the churches in the surrounding areas). Such a church will not glorify God even if she ‘boasts’ of many activities, tremendous growth in membership, and the sending of many ‘missionaries’, for all these would only intensify the lack of exaltation and praise of God in her midst.

THE WORD AND THE SPIRIT

We have considered EVANGELISM; EDIFICATION; AND EXALTATION in the essential works of the local church. But we need to emphasise also that these works are carried out in the SPIRIT and in the WORD.

Just as the Word is insufficient without the Spirit, so the Spirit is insufficient without the Word. There are those who censure those who seem in practice to embrace the idea that biblical orthodoxy is all that matters and biblical teaching alone produces a healthy church. Idolizing orthodoxy is not the same as worshipping God and that complacent “orthodoxism,” by inflating pride, actually quenches the Spirit.
But preoccupation with the Spirit can slow down maturity too. Many Charismatics appear impatient with biblical and theological study, insisting that their movement is about experience rather than truth, contented with a tiny handful of biblical teachings, and expressing the unwillingness to reason out guidance for life from the Scriptures. Endless possibilities of self-deception and satanic manipulations open up the moment we lay aside the Word to follow supposedly direct instruction from the Spirit in vision, dream, prophecy, or inward impression. We cannot afford to neglect, in any way, the formation of the mind by the Word.

What is needful always is constant instruction in biblical truth with constant prayer that the Spirit will make it take fire in human hearts, regenerating, redirecting, and transforming into Christ’s likeness at character level. The prayer of Jesus is that his people would be sanctified by the Spirit through God’s Word of truth.
Particularly in the study of Revelation, what comes through is that the presence of the Spirit of Christ, though a foretaste of glory, also joins the church to Christ in his suffering, and shows us the glory of the cross. The Spirit who groans in yearning for the glory to come joins us to Christ in our present suffering. The Spirit girds the church militant for struggle even as he carries us forward to the sure hope of Christ’s return (hence the role of the Spirit in spiritual warfare; Eph.6).
The call of Jesus joins us in his community, the church, the community of his Spirit, where we serve one another in the path of discipleship.
The Spirit is the Spirit of truth, and the Spirit of life. As the Spirit of truth, he confirms the witness of the Old Testament to Christ (1 Peter 1:10-12). The Spirit reveals the truth as it is in Christ to his apostles (1 Cor. 2:10-16, Eph. 2:20; 3:3-5; Heb. 1:1; 2:3-4), reminding them of Jesus’ words and deeds.
The Spirit thus inspires the Scriptures and illumines the minds of believers to understand them. Since the BIble comes from the Spirit, humankind cannot control its interpretation (2 Peter 1:20-21). Apart from the Spirit, the truth of God seems foolish, but one who has the Spirit will judge all things in the light of the whole counsel of God (1 Cor. 2:14-15; 1 John 2:27).
The Spirit uses the Word as his sword to convict and sanctify believers (Eph.6:17; Heb. 4:12). In the Word the Spirit speaks, giving his verdict as Judge on the issues of life. The Spirit who gave the Scriptures gives understanding in them and fills us with saving wisdom to perceive the will of God in our lives (Eph. 5:15-18; Col. 1:9).
In the book of Acts, the Spirit of truth also directs the witness of the church to the world (Acts 5:32). So closely is the growth of the church connected with the witness of the Word, that Luke can say the Word increased 9ACTS 6:7; 12:24; 19:20).
The Spirit who possesses the church is also the Creator Spirit, the Author of life. The Spirit of God is the life-breath of the Creator. We share God’s life, born of the Spirit to be children of God as we partake in the resurrection life of Jesus.

The presence of the Spirit is now a community blessing. Christ has removed the outward constraints of the Old Covenant; his Spirit provides a unity that could never be achieved through external structures. The new wine of the Spirit bursts the old wineskins (remember this in Jesus’ statements in Luke announcing the arrival of the new Age and the kingdom of God).
Hence the Spirit of life is also the Spirit of truth (the Word).
God’s redemption revealed to, and received by individuals in the church, involves inward enlightenment from God whereby the meaning and truth of divinely inspired witness to redemptive realities are grasped and these realities are themselves embraced in responsive faith. Revelation in this subjective sense is the work of the Holy Spirit. In this sense, revelation continues in the present time.
Yet it is also not wrong to equate revelation with the Bible. The BIble is central and crucial to divine communication, but that is because, first, it records, interprets, and shows the right response to God’s revelation of himself in history and second, it is the means whereby God brings all subsequent believers to recognise, receive, and respond to that revelation for themselves (revelation in this subjective sense is the work of the Spirit).

We Christians believe that the Bible is the Word of God in which God reveals to us the reality of redemption through Jesus Christ the Saviour; in our study of Luke, this reality is also revealed and affirmed.
And why so? The answer is that God himself has confirmed this through what is called the inward witness of the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit’s witness to Scripture is like his witness to Jesus, which we find spoken of in John 15:26 and 1 John 5:7-8. It is not a matter of imparting new information but of enlightening previously darkened minds to discern divinity through sensing its unique impact – the impact in the one case of the Jesus of the gospel, and in the other case of the words of Holy Scripture.

The Holy Spirit shines in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God not only in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor.4:6) but also in the teaching of Holy Scripture. From this we come to know Jesus as a divine person and Scripture as a divine product. Thus God authenticates Holy Scripture to us as his Word – not by some mystical experience or secret information, not by human argument alone (strong as this may be), not by the church’s testimony alone (impressive as this is when one looks back over church history). God does it rather by means of the searching light and transforming power of the Spirit whereby Scripture evidences itself to be divine.

We need to always bear this in mind: As various ones preach the Word, as others teach the Word, we cannot expect to impart divine life and light without the inward witness and working of the Holy Spirit. It is not a matter of information but a revealing of God himself and his desires for his people in their learning, understanding, transformation and growth in Him.