TREASURY OF SERMONS
The Holy Spirit's Role in Missions and Evangelism
By Rev (Dr) Jeffrey Khoo
(Preached at the 9th Anniversary of the Missionary Fellowship, Life
BPC, June 1999)
Text: John 16:7-14, Acts 1:8
Introduction
We are living in the age of the Holy Spirit. At
this period of time, the Holy Spirit is very active in fulfilling
the divine plan and purpose of redemption in this world through the
church.
The church in general does recognise the active
ministry of the Holy Spirit during this NT period of time. However,
there is a lot of confusion over what the Spirit is really doing in
His work of extending the Kingdom of God. The confusion comes
primarily from the charismatic movement. Third Wave Charismatism
says that the Spirit today is in the business of producing signs and
wonders in order to attract the world to Christ. I have addressed
this charismatic confusion in my book—Charismatism Q&A. So I will
not deal with this here. I want rather to explore with you the role
of the Spirit as revealed to us by Christ.
The Holy Spirit’s ministry is revealed by Jesus
in John 16:8-14. Jesus said, "And when he is come, he will reprove
the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9Of sin,
because they believe not on me; 10Of righteousness, because I go to
my Father, and ye see me no more; 11Of judgment, because the prince
of this world is judged. 12I have yet many things to say unto you,
but ye cannot bear them now. 13Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth,
is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of
himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he
will shew you things to come. 14He shall glorify me: for he shall
receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you." Jesus clearly
delineates for us what the ministry of the Holy Spirit will be: He
will (1) reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and of
judgment, (2) guide believers into truth, and in doing all these
things, He will (3) glorify the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus prior to His ascension, told His disciples
that they "shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come
upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and
in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the
earth" (Acts 1:8). The Holy Spirit will not do the work of missions
and evangelism alone. He will use the church and work through its
members to spread the good news of salvation in Christ to all the
world.
In light of what Jesus has said, we find that
the ministry of the Holy Spirit in missions and evangelism to be
two-fold:
1. The Holy Spirit Calls
Sinners into the Saving Knowledge of Christ (John 16:8)
God calls people into the saving knowledge of
Christ through His Spirit who has a ministry of convicting people of
sin, of righteousness and of judgment. Before a person can be saved,
he must realise that he is totally sinful, helpless to save himself,
and needs the righteousness of Christ to be accepted by God, and to
escape the judgment of His wrath. The outward call of Gospel
preaching must be accompanied by this inward call of the Spirit in
convicting a person of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, if he
is to be saved.
In light of this, we should all be encouraged to
do the work of evangelism. The duty of preaching the good news
belongs to the Christian, but the responsibility of converting a
soul is the Spirit’s. We ought not to feel guilty or despondent if
people reject the gospel after we have preached to them. We are not
responsible for soul-winning or soul-saving, but of
gospel-preaching. We need just to sow the gospel seed, it is God the
Spirit that gives the increase. In Acts 2:47, we are told that it is
the Lord who added to His church such as should be saved.
When we preach the gospel, we need to preach to
all kinds of people: young and old, rich and poor, high and low.
Sometimes, we neglect preaching the gospel to little children and to
the mentally retarded. We assume that they would not be able to
understand the gospel. You may underestimate these people, but
please do not underestimate the power of the Spirit in His ministry
of bringing people into God’s kingdom. The Holy Spirit can give such
people a heightened intelligence at the point when the gospel is
preached to them, to cause them to understand and accept Christ as
Lord and Saviour. Let us just be faithful to do the work of
evangelising, and let the Holy Spirit do His work of convicting and
converting.
2. The Holy Spirit Calls
Saints into the Ministry of the Gospel (Acts 1:8)
All Christians are duty-bound to evangelise, to
preach the good news of salvation in Christ (Matt 28:18-20). In a
sense, we are all full-time Christian workers. We are all called to
be witnesses for Christ. In our respective occupations, in our
various places of work, we ought to testify for God in our speech
and in our deeds. The immediate area of ministry would be our
Jerusalem. That would be those closest to us—our family and
relatives. Then our Samaria—our neighbours, friends and colleagues
at the workplace. Then to the uttermost part—to strangers.
Some Christians are especially gifted in the
area of evangelism. The Holy Spirit endows them with that spiritual
gift. of reaching out to the lost (Eph 4:11).
There are some whom the Spirit will call into
full-time Christian service to become pastors, teachers, or
missionaries. This was what happened in the Antioch church when the
Holy Spirit said, "Separate me Barnabas and Paul" (Acts 13:2).
How do I know whether God has called me to be
His full-time servant? There are several indicators: If the Lord has
called you into full-time ministry, you would be experiencing an
intense and inescapable desire to obey God’s call to do so; you
would find yourself having the gift of preaching and of teaching as
you serve Him actively in church; and you would find spiritually
minded people (especially your pastors and elders) confirming your
desire and suitability for full-time service.
Let us pray that the Spirit may separate some
from among us to serve God as pastors, teachers, and missionaries. I
am glad one from the MsF, namely, brother Quek Keng Khwang, has
already decided to come to FEBC to be trained for full-time service.
May the Lord raise a few more!
Conclusion
We thank the Lord for sending the Holy Spirit to
help us in the work of missions and evangelism. Our missionary and
evangelistic efforts are successful because of the Holy Spirit’s
involvement. May we be very conscious of the Spirit’s role in
calling sinners to salvation in Christ, and in calling saints into
full-time Christian service.
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