The Holy Spirit in Evangelism

Today we will look at some ways in which the Holy Spirit is involved in evangelism.  A great verse to keep in mind is Proverbs 24:11, ““Deliver those who are drawn toward death, and hold back those stumbling to the slaughter.”  This is an apt description of “The Lost.”  Without Jesus we are all drawn toward death and stumble to the slaughter of judgment.  But the Spirit of God calls to those who have been saved to deliver others.  Thus anything we do to cause those who are spiritually dead and going into eternity condemned to embrace Jesus can be called evangelism.  This is a cry of the Holy Spirit to us, “Deliver them!”  And, “Who will go?” 

Now we previously looked at how the Holy Spirit is working on the lost to help them see their sin and conviction before God.  Today we will focus on how the Holy Spirit helps believers to join Him in the work He has already started in their life.

He Calls Us to be an Active Witness

In Acts 13:1-3 we see that the church in Antioch had several prophets, two of whom were Saul and Barnabas.  It appears that there was a prophetic word (probably from one of the other three prophets, Niger, Lucius, or Manaen) which instructed the church to pray over Barnabas and Saul, and then send them out to evangelize the Gentiles.  Now these men had already been called.  And, they were already active in evangelizing in Antioch.  So I would point out that this specific calling is more about the scope of what they were doing and not the heart.  Thus when a person is called to missions they are not called to some strange new work.  But rather to do the same work in a strange new land, or people.

When Jesus called his disciples he told them that he would make them “fishers of men.”  This was instructive because that was their profession.  We can make the logical step of recognizing that if Jesus had come to builders he would have said, “follow me and I will make you builders of men.”  Or to a waiter, “follow me and I will make you one who waits on people’s souls.”  Or to a politician, “follow me….I have a different job for you: )  Okay, maybe he would have said, “I will make you a true servant of the people.”  Either way, just like Jesus called the disciples, so the Holy Spirit calls to us in our lives to use our gifts for more than just the natural.  He calls us to be an active witness of the person and work of Jesus Christ to those around us.

Here Saul/Paul and Barnabas receive a specific call to go to other countries and share the gospel.  Whether one has a missionary title from an official missions sending organization, or one is simply using business in other lands to do so, the call of the Holy Spirit to evangelize is the heart of our mission at whatever scope we are called.  Are you on the mission?  You don’t need a title, just an ear to hear the Spirit calling you.

All believers are called to be an active witness and because the believers at Antioch were faithfully responding to this call, the people of that area called them, “Christians.”  How sweet is that?

He Prepares Us to be an Active Witness

The same Spirit who calls us, also prepares us.  You most likely didn’t have a salvation experience as dramatic as Saul’s.  However, you did “run into Jesus” that day.  When you put your faith in Jesus, then Holy Spirit not only blew into your life, but he also took up residence.  Usually the wind blows through a house, but for those who believe it stays.  This is the ultimate preparation for being an active witness.   Paul later reminds the Corinthian Church in 1 Corinthians 3:16, “Don’t you know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”  We need to remember that God’s Spirit dwells within us, which enables us to have a confidence that we are in constant communication with Him about these things.

From His strategic position within us, the Holy Spirit then teaches us what the Word of God is saying and who Jesus is.  In 1 Peter 3:15 the Bible says, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.”  Notice that it begins with sanctifying God in our hearts.  That is strange because we are used to God doing the sanctifying to us.  The idea is that we set God apart as the Main Thing in our lives.  It is a reference to an inner recognition not only of the Holy Spirit’s presence, but also of the Critical Nature of such presence.  When we do this, we are open to the many ways in which the Holy Spirit seeks to make us ready.  Not just ready to fight, but from such a relationship, to give witness to His grace in your life.

He Leads Us in our Active Witness

In Acts 16:6-10 we see a clear example of the Holy Spirit leading Saul in where to witness.  It is impossible to miss the statements: vs. 6 “forbidden by the Holy Spirit, vs. 7 “The Spirit did not permit them,” and vs. 10 “concluding that the Lord had called them.”  Now the Spirit led them through various means. 

First He led them through a word of prophecy.  Someone or several in the group would sense the Holy Spirit saying something in their Spirit and share it with the group.  Now clearly we could cynically say that this is not a good process because someone could mislead you.  However, we should not let cynicism rule where caution would serve us better.  God clearly uses prophecy throughout all of Scripture.  In fact, Scripture itself is prophecy.   So how can we know?  Well the Bible has proven itself over thousands of years to not be the words of flakes and crazy men.  Millions have patterned their lives upon its instruction and found the experiences to be true. Thus Saul had come to know the Holy Spirit personally.  The Spirit was within him and leading him.   In that environment he is not just following what someone else says is “from the Spirit.”  Rather, he is judging whether the prophecy either confirms what he has been sensing himself, or whether the prophecy is in character with the written Word, the Bible.  All believers are responsible to know God for themselves.  We are responsible to take prophetic words and judge whether they are trust worthy.  If you just ignore all statements of prophecy then you are actually refusing to grow up.   God calls us to grow in our understanding of what is of Him and what is not.  This may not be easy, or fun, but it is God’s plan in our life.

Secondly, we see how Saul had a dream or a vision of a man from Macedonia saying, “Help us!.”  Throughout the Bible God spoke through dreams, but not every night.  Most dreams are just our brains winding down.  However, there are times that we recognize something was different about a dream.  Interestingly enough, there is no Jesus or angel in the dream to help Saul understand if God was trying to say something to him, which leads to our next point.  But even if “Jesus” was in the dream, we are always responsible to take the vision and compare it to God’s Word, especially Jesus himself.  This requires us to pray for understanding.

The Holy Spirit also works through logical reasoning, but not through it alone.  Notice that Paul reasons in such a way.  1. We have been told to not go into an area 2 times now.  2.  This has led us to a port city across from Macedonia.  3.  Now I have a dream of a Macedonian man asking for Help. 4. They also need the Gospel.  5.  I think the Spirit is trying to lead us to go to Macedonia.  Notice how the reasoning builds upon that which may not seem reasonable to outsiders, i.e. Prophecy.  Again we must exercise personal responsibility in how we reason.  If we are reasoning to satisfy our flesh then we will only delude ourselves.

Lastly, the Holy Spirit works through the events of life.  When Saul got to Macedonia there was no synagogue.  So he went down to the river and preached to those gathered to pray.  A woman named Lydia believes and persuades Saul to stay and teach her more.  Her conversion helps Saul to see the leading of God to stay and help establish her and perhaps others in the faith.  In all of these, no one way reigns supreme.  They all work together.

Final Thoughts

The Holy Spirit is working always to make Jesus known to us.  So we need to actively engage Him in prayer, Scripture reading, and obedience.  He knows how to lead us in sharing Jesus.  So we should be bold for the sake of the lost and for the joy of becoming like Jesus.