Ecclesiology - The five - fold Ministries. The Ministry of Evangelist.

from Ephesians 4:11-13

Eph 4:11  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

Eph 4:12  For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

Eph 4:13  Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

Evangelist G2099 εὐαγγελιστής euaggelistēs

Thayer Definition:

1) a bringer of good tidings, an evangelist

2) the name given to the NT heralds of salvation through Christ who are not apostles

Philip, the Evangelist Acts 21:8

We came to the house of Philip - One of the seven deacons, Act_6:5. After his conversation with the eunuch of Ethiopia, he went to Caesarea, and probably there abode.

The evangelist - This word properly means one who announces good news. In the New Testament it is applied to a preacher of the Gospel, or one who declares the glad tidings of salvation. It occurs only in two other places, Eph_4:1; 2Ti_4:5. What was the precise rank of those who bore this title in the early Christian church cannot perhaps be determined. It is evident, however, that it is used to denote the office of preaching the gospel; and as this title is applied to Philip, and not to any other of the seven deacons, it would seem probable that he had been entrusted with a special commission to preach, and that preaching did not pertain to him as a deacon, and does not properly belong to that office. The business of a deacon was to take care of the poor members of the church, Act_6:1-6. The office of preaching was distinct from this, though, as in this case, it might be conferred on the same individual.

What is the difference between a Witness and an Evangelist?

We are all called to be witnesses. Acts 1:8

Act 1:8  and yet you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judaea and Samaria and to the remotest parts of the earth."

A witness is someone who is willing to speak the truth about Jesus even if it leads to his death. He tells what He has seen and heard.

My witnesses (mou martures). Correct text. “Royal words of magnificent and Divine assurance” (Furneaux). Our word martyrs is this word martures. In Luk_24:48 Jesus calls the disciples “witnesses to these things” (martures toutōn, objective genitive). In Act_1:22 an apostle has to be a “witness to the Resurrection” of Christ and in Act_10:39 to the life and work of Jesus. Hence there could be no “apostles” in this sense after the first generation. But here the apostles are called “my witnesses.” “His by a direct personal relationship” (Knowling). The expanding sphere of their witness when the Holy Spirit comes upon them is “unto the uttermost part of the earth” (heōs eschatou tēs gēs). Once they had been commanded to avoid Samaria (Mat_10:5), but now it is included in the world program as already outlined on the mountain in Galilee (Mat_28:19; Mar_16:15). Jesus is on Olivet as he points to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the uttermost (last, eschatou) part of the earth. The program still beckons us on to world conquest for Christ. “The Acts themselves form the best commentary on these words, and the words themselves might be given as the best summary of the Acts” (Page). The events follow this outline (Jerusalem till the end of chapter 7, with the martyrdom of Stephen, the scattering of the saints through Judea and Samaria in chapter 8, the conversion of Saul, chapter 9, the spread of the gospel to Romans in Caesarea by Peter (chapter 10), to Greeks in Antioch (chapter 11), RWP

But an Evangelist is associated with the Church but operates outside the Church as a Herald of the Good news of Jesus Christ. This was the Ministry of Evangelist, Billy Graham.

Eph 4:11 He gave some evangelists; by whom are designed, not so much the writers of the Gospels, as Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, some of which were also apostles; as preachers of the Gospel, and who yet were distinct from the ordinary ministers of it; they were below the apostles, and yet above pastors and teachers; they were the companions of the apostles, and assistants to them, and subserved them in their work; such were Philip, Luke, Titus, Timothy, and others; these were not fixed and stated ministers in anyone place, as the following officers be, but were sent here and there as the apostles thought fit: J.Gill

The Bold Evangelist out on the Streets of Paris - Vince Estherman

Pray the Lord of the Harvest to Thrust forth Labourers into His harvest.

The Fields are white but the Labourers are few.

A Billy Graham Crusade