From Ordinary to EXTRA-ORDINARY

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, 

that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. 

2 Corinthians 4:7

The treasure of which Apostle Paul speaks in this passage is the Holy Spirit. Even though you are an earthen vessel--common, crude, and unrefined--your human vessel is the temple of God. You may not be well known by man. You may not be well known in your community, church, or denomination. You may be an ordinary person who works at ordinary tasks. But God can use you in evangelism when you allow Him to take your ordinary vessel, clean it up from the inside out with His Holy Spirit and change it from Ordinary to EXTRA-ORDINARY.

The messengers of the Gospel are born-again disciples. God's method is for each disciple to bear "witness" of the Gospel message. To "witness" is to tell what you have seen, heard, or experienced.

And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. Acts 10:42

In a court of law, a witness is one who testifies about someone or something. As a witness, we are to testify about Jesus and His plan for the salvation of all mankind. There are two kinds of evidence presented by witnesses in a court of law. One is testimony which is verbal witness about the subject. The other is evidence which is visible proof. The Holy Spirit helps you bear witness to the Gospel both verbally and through the visible demonstration of God's power.

God's plan is for each disciple to be a witness of the Gospel. The early Church [body of Christ] grew as they followed this plan. Each believer shared the Gospel and reproduced spiritually. As the Church [body of Christ] grew, God called some people to serve full-time as pastors, evangelists, prophets, teachers, and apostles. 

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

Over a period of time, believers became part of one of two divisions in the Church [body of Christ]. They were either clergy or laity.

The word "laity" comes from a Greek word which means "belonging to the chosen people of God". The term "clergy" developed to identify professional ministers in the church.

As the church [body of Christ] at Jerusalem multiplied, it became necessary for a division of labor to meet all the needs in the church. The leaders (disciples) gave themselves full-time to study of the Word and prayer.

But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. Acts 6:4

Laymen performed duties like ministering to the widows and other such tasks of serving. But although believers served in different positions in the church, they were all involved in the spread of the Gospel:

*  Stephen was one of the laymen chosen for serving tasks, yet he bore powerful witness to the Gospel (Acts 6:8-11).

*  Philip was another layman chosen for serving tasks. He shared the Gospel with the Samaritans (Acts 8:5-12).

When persecution came in Jerusalem and believers scattered to other cities they continued to be witnesses of the Gospel: 

Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word. (Acts 8:4). 

For true believers, there is no division between sacred and secular because Jesus is Lord of all.

If we are to really understand the spiritual call of the laity, we must go back to the Old Testament. God's plan was for the entire nation of Israel to be priests or ministers:

And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. (Exodus 19:6)

As priests, each person in Israel was to be a witness of the one true God to unbelievers.  The establishing of an official priesthood did not change God's plan for Israel. The priesthood was like the clergy of today with special leadership roles. But the entire nation was still to serve as ministers of the message of God to heathen nations.

In the New Testament, believers are given a similar calling. They are to be priests or ministers of the Gospel:
  
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praise of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9)

The calling of believers is to bear witness of God who has brought them out of spiritual darkness into the light of Jesus Christ.  

As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. (John 9:5) 

Believers are told to "walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called". 

I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,  (Ephesians 4:1). 

There is one calling and that is to bear witness to the Gospel. It is the vocation of all believers.

The call to be a messenger of the Gospel is not based on education or natural ability. God uses ordinary laymen so that He alone may receive the glory:  

For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are. That no flesh should glory in His presence. (1 Corinthians 1:26-29)

Some messengers of the Gospel are given a special gift from God to be an Evangelist. The gift of evangelism is an ability to share the Gospel with unbelievers in a way that men and women respond and become responsible members of the Body of Christ. The word evangelist is used three times in the New Testament. Apostle Paul says that God gives men and women who are gifted as evangelists to the church.

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; Ephesians 4:11-12

No one can determine to become an evangelist just because he speaks well, has a good personality, or relates well to different kinds of people. God calls and equips men to be evangelists. There should be no competition between the ministries of pastor, teacher, and evangelist. The evangelist is part of the Church, not independent from it.

The gift of being an evangelist is one of the five-fold ministry gifts given to the Church, whose main purpose is to equip others for the work of the ministry. This means an evangelist not only has the ability to communicate the gospel to sinners, but also to equip saints to evangelize.

Although God gives some the special gift of being an evangelist, all believers are to do the work of an evangelist and share the Gospel with others. Apostle Paul urges Timothy to do the work of evangelism: 

 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.  2 Timothy 4:5. 

You may not have the special gift, but you do have the responsibility to do the work of an evangelist which is mainly to communicate the gospel to sinners.

In the account of the healing of the lame man in Acts 4, after the healing when Peter and John appeared before the Council, it was obvious that they were uneducated, common men:  

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. (Acts 4:13-14)

These common men had received new life through Jesus Christ. The life within them resulted in powerful, life-changing evangelism.

Jesus entrusted the laity with the responsibility of spreading the Gospel. He took fishermen from their boats and made them into fishers of men. He believed that ordinary people could become extra-ordinary when empowered by the Holy Spirit:

Gideon was a farmer. 

Paul was a tentmaker. 

Moses was a shepherd. 

Luke was a doctor and 

Joseph was a political statesman.

Whatever your education or occupation, God can use you in His plan.

Where you are and who you are is not important. It is what you are doing where God has placed you.

The key to effective evangelism is to be 

God's man or woman, 

in God's place, 

doing God's work, 

God's way.

(Biblical Studies)

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02/11/21