Do The Work Of An Evangelist

Paul’s Second Epistle to Timothy is an extremely important farewell message to Timothy and to all Christians. He gave Timothy two charges. The first one was “Preach the Word” (2 Tim. 3:2) which I shared last week. The second one was “Do the work of an evangelist” (2 Tim. 3:5) – my message this week

Paul was a type of Christ to Timothy

I am using Typology to compare the ministry of Paul to that of Christ. When I say Paul is a type of Christ I am saying that there are certain aspects in Paul's life that portray the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Christ’s last command to His disciples was:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19, 20, NKJV, emphasis added).

Paul’s last charge to Timothy was:

“But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (2 Tim. 4:5, NKJV, emphasis added).

Notice the parallel truth concerning the calling of Christ and calling of Paul to their respective disciples/servants. Both Christ’s and Paul’s command was “Preach the Gospel” – the work of an evangelist. This is the same command for all Christians – even to the end of the age! When we do the work of an evangelist Christ promised to be with us just as He was with Timothy.

As Christians (disciples of Christ) and especially as pastors, we must also heed the advice of Paul to Timothy. Notice that there are four imperatives in 2 Tim. 4:5:

1. Watchful in all things

In the epistles of Paul and Peter the idea of watchfulness and alertness is stressed.

“Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober” (1 Thess. 5:6).

“Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong” (1 Cor. 16:13).

“But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers” (1 Peter 4:7).

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

We must be vigilant against error and against sin; watch our work, watch against the temptations of Satan; prayerful and watch over the souls of those who are committed to our charge.

2. Endure afflictions

Christians and ministers are expected to endure afflictions in the discharge of their duty faithfully:

“You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Tim. 2:3).

“Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Tim. 3:12).

An example of Paul’s suffering for the gospel is:

“… for which (the gospel) I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains; but the word of God is not chained” (2 Tim 2:9).

“… But share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God” (2 Tim. 1:8).

But the Lord delivered Paul from all his afflictions and persecutions:

“Persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me …. And out of them all the Lord delivered me” (2 Tim. 3:11).

3. Do the work of an evangelist

“Evangelist” is one of the five ministry gifts given to the Church (Eph. 4:11). Not every minister or Christian holds the office of the evangelist which is a special calling. But, every Christian, as a disciple of Christ, must do the work of an evangelist.

The word “evangelist” comes from the Greek word, “euaggelistes” which means, “a preacher of the gospel” or “one appointed to proclaim the glad tidings of salvation”.

Timothy at one time was Paul’s traveling companion and both of them were doing the work of evangelists. Later on Paul planted a Church in Ephesus and he stationed Timothy at Ephesus to be the Pastor. Paul wrote to Timothy two epistles known as the Pastoral Epistles when he served as the Pastor there. Paul charged Timothy to carry on and do the work of an evangelist besides his pastoral duties.

4. Fulfill your ministry

Paul’s final advice to Timothy was “Fulfill your ministry”. One way of fulfilling the pastoral ministry is to do the work of an evangelist. At the same time Timothy needs to be a good example to his own Church members:

“Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1 Tim. 4:12).

Paul also encouraged Timothy to reach out beyond the comfort level of his own flock and boldly proclaim the Gospel to unbelievers outside. Timothy must do it all, leave nothing undone but to accomplish every God-given task and ministry.

Paul set himself as an example for Timothy to follow:

“But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24, emphasis added).

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7, emphasis added).

Our race is not finished until we have fulfilled our ministry.

The reward is, “Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not me only but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Tim. 4:8, emphasis added).

God’s condition for us to receive the “Crown of righteousness” is to “love His appearing”. This means Christians must look forward to the second coming of Christ. In other words, the promise of the "Crown of righteousness" is for all Christians who are “looking for and hastening the coming of the day God ….” (2 Peter 3:12).

The Scriptural way to hasten the second coming of Christ is found in Matthew 24:

“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matt. 24:14).

To preach the Gospel of the Kingdom to all the world is God’s mandate for all Christians – everyone must do the work of an evangelist!

Timothy’s strengths and weaknesses

Some Christians might think that Timothy was such a unique person that not many can carry out the tasks like he did. But he has his fare share of strong and weak traits.

Strong traits

Timothy’s strongest traits were his sensitivity, affection and loyalty. Paul commended him to the Philippians as one person with “proven character”.

“But you know his proven character, that as a son with his father he served with me in the gospel” (Phil. 2:22, emphasis added).

Weak traits

Paul’s warning to Timothy, “Be strong in the grace that is in Jesus Christ” (2 Tim 2:1) suggests he suffered from timidity and fearfulness (1 Cor. 16:10 – 12; 2 Tim.1:17). There is also some indication that he suffered bodily infirmities (1 Tim 5:23) and perhaps youthful lusts (2 Tim. 2:22).

Summary of Paul’s Instruction to Timothy

In his two rather short epistles to Timothy Paul had given him a lot of instructions and commands. We can sum them up in five categories:

1. To be faithful in his preaching of Biblical truth.

2. To be bold in exposing and refuting error.

3. To be an example of godliness to the flock.

4. To be diligent and work hard in the ministry.

5. To be willing to suffer hardship and persecution in his service for the Lord.

Paul said nothing about:

1. How people might respond to his ministry method.

2. How to be successful in building mega-churches.

3. Timothy must attend a Bible Seminary for training or coaching before he could be officially ordained as a pastor and allowed to preach.

Paul himself was personally trained by Gamaliel, an extremely strict teacher of the Old Testament laws (Acts 22:3). But, Paul counted “all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus …” (Phil. 3:8). To Paul the Holy Spirit is a far better teacher.

Notice that Paul would not instruct Timothy to do anything he himself had not done. He led Timothy by examples. He did not instruct Timothy to "do as I say and not as I have done". In other words, Paul was a perfect mentor and counsellor for Timothy. Above all, Paul was a perfect personal coach to young Timothy by helping him to develop further his "proven charcacter" and his spiritual gifts. Paul coached Timothy to pursue excellence and not to seek external success. Timothy must know that external criteria such as affluence, numbers, money, or positive response have never been the biblical measure of success in ministry. Paul's emphasis was on commitment and not external success.

Conclusion

An interesting question is, was Timothy faithful in following Paul’s counsel? As far as we know from the Scripture we heard nothing about Timothy replying Paul’s epistles. But, I notice an obscure little verse at the end of the Epistle to the Hebrews:

“Know that our brother Timothy has been set free, with whom I shall see you if he comes shortly” (Hebrews 13:23, NKJV, emphasis added).

The writer of Hebrews (very likely Paul) obviously knew Timothy well. He told the Hebrew Christians that Timothy had been “set free” or “released”. Released from what? The Greek word used in this verse suggests that Timothy had been released from prison. From this inference we are confident to come to the conclusion that when suffering came, Timothy endured it. He did not compromise. He did not try to please men, especially his captors. Just like his mentor, the apostle Paul, he remained faithful, even though it evidently meant imprisonment!