The Role Of The Holy Spirit In Evangelism And Discipleship

Introduction

In Matthew 28:19-20, when Jesus was about to ascend to heaven, He gave a twofold task to the disciples and by extension, the church today. The task of evangelism and discipleship.

In this world, we have two main categories of people. Believers in Christ Jesus. These are people who have received Jesus into their lives as Lord and are now born again. Then we have unbelievers. Those who are yet to acknowledge that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory, repent of their sins and accept Jesus into their lives as their personal Lord and Saviour.

1 Peter 2:11 tells us that we are all sojourners and pilgrims in this world. This world isn’t our final home. We are all travellers on a journey. Believers are travelling on the narrow road that leads to life, while unbelievers are on the broad road that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13).

The work Jesus therefore entrusted into our hands in Matthew 28:19-20 is to help and encourage those who are on the broad road to get off that road and join the narrow road so their souls aren’t destroyed. This is evangelism. Discipleship is helping and encouraging those who are already on the narrow road to stay on that road irrespective of what comes their way, until they see Christ Jesus in glory.

Don’t Be A Stumbling Block, Be A Directional Sign To Jesus

One thing we notice when you are on the road is that every now and then, you come across road blocks. The police or the army can put a road block or barricade on the road to check those that are passing through a particular road. Road construction workers may put a road block to enable them work on a particular road. When a road block is put in place, this can cause a lot of traffic and difficulty. In Romans 14:13 Pauls tells us to determine in our heart not to be a stumbling block or a road block. We shouldn’t by the things we do and say, by the way we live our lives be an obstacle, a hindrance or impediment to those who want to move from the broad road to the narrow road. Nor should we make it extremely difficult or discouraging for those who are on the narrow road to keep walking on that road. God tells us in Isaiah 57:14 to take the stumbling block out of the way of my people. I pray today that whatever it is in our lives that constitutes a stumbling block to evangelism and discipleship, God should remove from us in Jesus mighty name. Amen!

Instead of being stumbling blocks, we are to be directional signs that point people to Jesus. May we be that GO sign on the journey of life that as people interact with us, they are encouraged to keep pressing on, to keep moving, keep believing, to keep following the Lord on the narrow road. May we be the ROAD DIVERSION sign on the journey of life that turns people aside from the broad road that leads to destruction; that gets people to take another route, the narrow route instead of the broad route. May we be the U-TURN sign that encourages people to make a complete change; a U-turn from sin to righteousness, from darkness to light, from the board road to the narrow road.

Evangelism and Discipleship Can Only Be Done Through the Help and Power of the Holy Spirit

When Jesus told His disciples to go into the whole world to make disciples of all nations, teach them about Christ, teach them the Word of God, He didn’t say you have been with me for three years, have seen me evangelise and disciple people so hit the streets and start doing the same thing. NO! Jesus instructed them to tarry in the city of Jerusalem until they are endued with power from on high (Luke 24:29). We can’t do the work of evangelism and discipleship by our own power, might and wisdom (Zechariah 4:6). We need the help, gifts, ability, strength, direction and strategy which the Holy Spirit is ready to equip us with. Acts 1:8 tells us that when the Holy Spirit comes on us we will receive power to witness for Christ. The Holy Spirit will supply all we need for the work of evangelism and discipleship.

The 4 Roles of the Holy Spirit In Evangelism And Discipleship

There are four major things that the Holy Spirit helps us to do as regards evangelism and discipleship which can be seen in Acts 16:6-40:

1) The Holy Spirit Creates and Arranges Opportunities for Evangelism and Discipleship (Acts 16:6-10).

In Acts 16:6-10, Paul planned to go and preach the Word of God in Asia but the Holy Spirit didn’t allow Paul do this. Paul tried to enter Bithynia still for the good purpose of preaching the word of God, but the Holy Spirit blocked him from doing this. Instead, Paul had a vision of a man in Macedonia pleading to him to come and help him. By this vision, Paul knew that an opening, an opportunity, a door had been opened for him in Macedonia to preach there.