"And He gave some . . . evangelists" (Eph. 4:11). The gift of the evangelist is a most precious
one. I know perfectly well it is thought to be simple, and is sometimes looked down upon for that
reason. Still it is remarkable that here, where it is a question of the Lord giving that which is for
the blessing and good of the assembly, evangelists are spoken of, because if you had no
evangelists the assembly would not grow. The evangelist is full of the gospel; and what is the
gospel? It is the revelation of the heart of God, and what can be higher than that? It is the
unfolding of the testimony about His Son, and the object of the evangelist is to bring souls to Him,
and thus, as a consequence, into the assembly. The evangelist is a man who busies himself with
souls. He has a burning love for them and an unquenchable thirst for their salvation. His object
is by all means to win the soul for Christ; yet, mark you, he is, if laboring rightly, working out
from the bosom of the assembly. He is of the assembly. His work, therefore, though in no ways
in, yet goes out from the assembly; thus the soul that is led to Jesus becomes a member of His
Body, and ideally is gathered with other members of the Body. The evangelist should be like a
pair of compasses with one leg fixed and the other sweeping all around as far as it can reach. If
his work is to be successful not only in conversion but really in edifying the body, he must have
a fixed leg; that is, he must remember he is of the assembly, and works out from and returns to
it.

Too many evangelists look upon their work as a sort of guerrilla warfare. They are spiritual
sharpshooters, freelances, delighting in being "unattached." In all such, the will is working. They
are like a man who brings out a lot of stones from a quarry, and having got them out, has no
building to fit them into. You would surely say of all such that they are careless workmen. I ought
to have a definite object before me in preaching the gospel:first, to bring the soul to Christ, and
secondly, to put it into its right niche in God’s assembly on earth.

Now, what should the evangelist do when he gets the soul converted? He should introduce him
to the assembly, though not necessarily bring him into it. Others should do that. It is well to let
others judge of the reality and soundness of God’s work in the soul. They are responsible to do
so. Perhaps you say the evangelist should now teach him. No, the teacher should teach him. I
quite admit that, owing to the ruin of the Church, the evangelist often has to seek to do the
teaching as well, but it is not his work. Owing to the ruin and failure of the Church, practically
speaking, many of the gifted servants of God do not do the part for which they are fitted. The
reason is this. Many of those who possess spiritual gifts are buried under the ruins of
Christendom. Hampered, hindered, and restrained by ecclesiastical systems which prevent the
exercise and development of gift, they are not exercising the gift the Lord has given them. They
have been dislocated from their true functions by the purely human organizations with which
Christendom abounds; in these organizations the free activity of the Holy Spirit in the gifted
members of Christ’s Body is hindered by that which man calls "the ministry," but which, in
principle, is opposed to the direct and plain commandment of God’s Word.

Returning to our main theme, we see how beautiful is the divine order in God’s assembly. First,
the evangelist reaches the soul and brings him to the gateway of the assembly. Then those in the
assembly test him as to the reality and soundness of God’s work in his soul, preparatory to

receiving him. And it cannot be too strongly asserted that it is the assembly as a whole that
receives. Each and all composing it are responsible_not only the laborers or those who may
commend souls that seek admission. When the young convert, judged to be born of God and
indwelt of the Spirit, is admitted, he is to be instructed. Let us beware of keeping souls out of the
assembly until they have as much intelligence as those within. Such a thought is very common,
and some saints have the idea that all such should be kept outside until they have got a certain
amount of intelligence. That shows how little intelligence they possess who would act on such
lines, and how little they really know the mind of the Lord, because, you see, when a child is born
it needs a great deal of nursing, attention, and care. Now the assembly, if walking rightly, is just
the place to find all this, and is the spot to which the new-born soul is rightly led by the evangelist,
in the expectation that there, if anywhere, will be found plenty of nurses glad to foster and help
the infant life given of God. Would that we saw more of this.

(From Another Comforter.)

FRAGMENT
Oh, ye saints, arouse, be earnest;
Up and work, while yet ’tis day,
Ere the night of death o’ertakes you;
Work for Christ while yet you may.