PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANITY
Chapter Three
The Work of the Evangelist
"Other sheep I have
which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my
voice; and there shall be one flock, and one shepherd." (John 10:16) In such
terms does the Lord Jesus announce the great change which would be effected
consequent upon His death and resurrection. Sheep He had which did not belong
to the fold of Israel. He was, He is, in a special sense (Ezek. 34:23; Zech.
13:7), the Shepherd of Israel. But He has other sheep whom He would bring, and
they should hear His voice; and thus following Him, as did the believing
remnant of Israel, the two would form one flock, owning, and cared for by, the
one Shepherd. This explains a passage in I Corinthians 10, where the children
of men on the earth are divided now into three classes, the Jews, the Gentiles,
and the Church of God. Before the Lords death there were but two classes
on the earth- the Jews and the Gentiles. So when the Lord in John 7 stated that
whither He would go they could not follow Him, reasoning among themselves the
Jews said: "Will He go to the dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the
Gentiles?" There were then but Jew and Gentile, on the earth. By and by it will
be the same. After the church has been caught up to meet the Lord in the air,
the human family will again be divided into these two classes, and these only,
Jew and Gentile.
Now, this third class exists on the earth, the church
of God. It was this class, as distinct from Jews and Gentiles, but composed of
those who had been once Jews, that Paul persecuted."I persecuted the Church of
God." It was this class, composed of both Jew and Gentiles, that the Jews
endeavoured to exterminate. (Thess. 2:14) And it is in the midst of the
churches that the Lord Jesus Christ is said to walk as Son of man, taking
special cognizance of all that goes on in them. (Rev. 2) Moreover in the church
God, in the person of the Holy Ghost, now dwells (Eph. 2:22) It is Gods
house. (I Tim. 3:15) Gods temple. (I Cor. 3:16; II Cor. 6:16)
In
early days the"within" and the"without" (I Cor. 5:12-13; Col. 4:5) were terms
understood, and limits clearly defined, by all believers on the Lord Jesus
Christ. Within, were all who professed to be, and, as far as man could judge,
were, believers on the Lord. Without, were all who had not taken Christian
ground. Within, was the sphere in which the Spirit of God ruled and dwelt;
without was the region where the god of this world had sway.
Brought
out of Judaism by the preaching of the gospel, those who were to be saved of
Israel found themselves members of Gods assembly or church on the earth -
a position quite distinct from that which the nation had; the church or
assembly being spoken of as a company apart from their countrymen, the Jews at
Jerusalem. (Acts 5:11) Brought out of heathenism by the preaching of the same
word, believers from among the Gentiles found themselves members of the same
assembly - the church. A common bond united them, a common interest occupied
them. They were partakers of the same life. They owned the same Lord, and
belonged to the same Head in heaven. Children of the same Father, indwelt by
the same Spirit, they were one with Christ, forming the church of Christ, the
house of God, the habitation of the Holy Ghost. And wherever the gospel was
preached in Judea, Samaria, Galilee, Syria, Asia Minor, Greece, Italy, those
who believed formed part of the church. Philip preached in Samaria, the
apostles Peter and John evangelized many villages of the Samaritans (Acts 8),
and soon after we read of the church existing in Samaria. (9:31) Souls at
Antioch in Syria were evangelized by those scattered abroad upon the
persecution which arose about Stephen, and shortly afterwards we read of the
assembly in that city. (11:19-26) Paul and his fellow labourers visited
Thessalonica, the first evangelists in that country, and but little time
elapsed before the converts received a communication addressed "to the church
of the Thessalonians in God the Father, and in the Lord Jesus Christ."
Wherever souls receive the glad tidings which Paul preached, churches sprang
up; and as Paul and Barnabas returned from Derbe to Antioch in Syria, they
appointed elders in the churches previously formed by their evangelistic
labours. But whilst apostolic power or authority was requisite or the
appointment of elders, none being appointed to that office except by the
apostles or their delegates in primitive times, it needed not an apostle, nor
authority from one, for churches to spring up in different localities. There
was a church in the house of Aquila and Priscilla at Rome, before Paul or any
other apostle had visited that city. (Rom. 16:5) There were churches at
Colosse, Laodicea, and Hierapolis, souls gathered out by Epaphras and others
whom Paul had never seen. (Col. 2:1; 4:13; Philemon 2) To call souls out of the
world into the church was the work of the evangelist. Hence there was a twofold
result of his labours. Souls were gathered out of the world, delivered from the
power of darkness, rescued from a condition of wrath, having passed from
darkness to light through believing on the Lord Jesus Christ; and believers,
thus brought out of Judaism, and heathenism, were brought of necessity into the
church of God. There could be no other place for them, there is no other
division of men on earth recognized of God, but Jew, and Gentile, and Church of
God. Ceasing to be a Jew or a Gentile by becoming a Christian, the individual
forms part of the church. The evangelist might not teach them much about the
church, its composition, its government, its position with reference to
principalities and powers in heavenly places now. All that would follow
afterwards, being the more direct work of the teacher set by God in the
assembly; but his preaching made them take a new place on earth, i.e., brought
them openly into Gods assembly. They had heard the voice of Christ, and
forthwith became members of the one flock.
To form a church was not
their aim. God had formed the church by the baptism of the Holy Ghost. If they
laboured in a place where none had laboured before, all the souls called out in
that place formed the church of God in that locality. In a country there might
be many churches, as in Galatia. (Gal. 1:2) In any locality there was but one
church of God, as at Corinth. (I Cor. 1:1) How differently do evangelists often
act in these days. We hear of souls brought to the Lord, and then left to shift
for themselves, to choose the denomination to which they will be attached. This
is called liberality of sentiment, the catholic principle on which the work
should be carried on. The salvation of individuals is all that is aimed at
here, to bring them to Jesus is the avowed end of such labourers. Blessed be
God, however we may fall short of His thought, He never fails His people. Saved
by grace through faith, we are, whether conscious of it or not, quickened with
Christ, risen with Him, and seated in Him in the heavenlies; we are members of
His body, part of His church. But such teaching as is often met with ignores
the church of God, and keeps out of sight, or overlooks, some of the
distinguishing characteristics of the present interval between the day of
Pentecost and the Lords descent in the air.
If by faith in
Christ we become members of the one flock, the one church of God, there should
be uniformity and harmony of action. Each one of the children of Israel had to
observe the same rules, and was bound to worship God in the same way. So each
member of Christ should know what are Gods directions and regulations for
His church. In ignorance surely of what the church of God is, earnest, godly,
souls, feeling the need of uniformity, have devised rules for all such as will
agree on some special doctrine or church question with themselves. Hence the
formation of so called churches, composed of some, not all the members of the
church in any one place. Hence, too, the varied forms of church government and
worship. Paul at Corinth would have nothing to do with the divisions there,
save only to correct such evils. He did not form a church for all those who
followed him, to the exclusion of those who were attached to Apollos, or
Cephas, or some other teacher. All who believed at Corinth were members of
Gods church there, they were all Gods husbandry, Gods
building, the temple of God. Was he indifferent about uniformity in order and
worship? He insisted strongly on it. He sent Timotheus to remind them of his
ways which were in Christ, as He taught everywhere in every church. (I Cor.
4:17) As regards marriage, he ordained the same in all the churches. (7:17) If
the covering of women, order of worship, were in question, he spoke of the
customs of the churches of God, and the order of worship in all the churches of
the saints. (11:16; 14:33)
To leave souls in ignorance of the place
into which they are brought through the labours of the evangelist, is to leave
the work entrusted to him unfinished. What disorders would have been prevented,
what feuds and troubles would have been averted, if labourers of former days
had acted differently. What disorders may now be prevented, and the wanderings
of the sheep effectually restrained, if evangelists, whilst leading souls to
Christ, shew them that they are, through faith when saved, members of the one
church of God, and part of the body of Christ.