Editor’s note: The following article contains an address by Dr. Larry Clayton on enduring afflictions in ministry. This faithful evangelist has been preaching for over 70 years in dozens of nations around the world. He speaks from a place of faithfulness, experience, and a deep knowledge of God’s Word. Along with his remarks is a charge by Scott Pauley to stay with the gospel — to be true evangelists. These comments were adapted from remarks originally given at the 2026 Evangelists’ Luncheon at the Southwide Baptist Fellowship in Milford, OH. May God help us to endure afflictions with joy and steadfastness and stay with the work of the gospel. 

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

Endure Afflictions in Ministry

Evangelists have a calling from God to do what they are doing. They must not apologize for that.  I just want to say that the same verse we have is 2 Timothy 4:5, and it does say, “do the work of an evangelist” (2 Timothy 4:5), but it also says, “endure afflictions” (2 Timothy 4:5). All right? And I’d like to encourage us all—me and you and all the lovely wives who are helping their husbands in ministry. There is a lot of hardness today that we must endure. And I don’t know about you, but my heart has been absolutely broken this year by what some evangelists have done. We are losing some young evangelists that we put time and effort and money into; it just breaks my heart.

Do Not Quit

So I would like to encourage you, all of you: stick with it! Don’t quit! “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 2:3). I mean, after all, what do you expect? If you want a bed of roses, then join a political party—make you a lot of money! But I would like to say that there’s a world out there that’s going to Hell! We don’t preach enough on Hell. People don’t know what Hell is.

We had an occasion in one church where a mother and kids were praying for her husband and father. And he was milking the cow in the barn with his wife, and they had a brand new baby, and he had built a room under the house for the new baby. She was canning, but she forgot the paraffin on the stove, and she looked up and she said, ‘Oh, this house is on fire.’ So he ran up, and he ran in through and got the baby and came out. The baby was already gone, but he got it up and got it out of there. But in and out, he cooked himself. And we came to Cincinnati to the burn hospital to see him. And he was all patched up, and they had stitched his eyes together, but there was a hole in one of the eyes where he could look out. And he looked up at me through that hole and said, ‘Brother Clayton, through this hole in my eyes, I could see you.’ I tried to not look horrified, but I was. That man lay there before me, cooked through by the fire.

It was awful. Men, do not forget that the multitude of this world is going to Hell forever! I mean, does that move me? Yes, it does. So, don’t quit. Just endure hardness.

Now, I will just say one other thing: there is a special reward for the soul-winner in the Bible—a special crown. Let me tell you about the crown. The crown is going to identify you throughout eternity. The Bible says it’s a permanent, everlasting crown “that fadeth not away” (1 Peter 5:4). And what comes with a crown? A kingdom. Jesus said, “I will make thee ruler over many things”(Matthew 25:21). It just pays! It pays great dividends. Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Amen.

*Read more truth about the evangelist by Dr. Clayton HERE. 

What is the “Work of An Evangelist”?

There has been long discussion about what an evangelist is or is not. But the bottom line is this: the evangelist is a gospel man. Somebody said of our ministry, ‘Oh, you’ve got a podcast, or you’ve got resources.’ Yes, we have those. But we don’t have many things going on. We have one thing going on: the gospel. There may be many outlets, many platforms, many entry points for it. Bluntly, if your ministry is defined by anything other than the gospel, you are not a biblical evangelist.

Passports don’t make a missionary, and miles don’t make an evangelist.

Some people have the idea that because a man travels a lot, he is really an evangelist. No, not necessarily. In fact, when I went into evangelism, I prayed, ‘Lord, deliver me from just traveling and preaching sermons. I don’t want to just be a traveling preacher. I want to go where God wants me to go.’

Realize that in Acts 21 (the only time Philip is called ‘the evangelist’), he was stationary. Now, that’s fascinating to me. It was after his travels, when the Holy Ghost placed him in Caesarea by the Sea. He’s living there with his four daughters. Remember that? “And the next day we that were of Paul’s company departed, and came unto Cæsarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him” (Acts 21:8). And he’s hosting Paul’s missionary team. That’s the only text that calls him ‘the evangelist.’ An evangelist is not an evangelist because of location; it’s vocation. He’s consumed with it.

An Evangelist is Consumed with the Gospel

The evangelist could be in Alaska; he could be in Hawaii; he could be in India; he could be in West Virginia; he could be in Ohio—wherever he is, you cut him, he bleeds the gospel. You shake him, Jesus comes out. You let him talk, he says, ‘Let me tell you what happened to Him on the road to Damascus.’ That’s an evangelist. We are going in a lot of different directions, a lot of travel. Wherever you travel, seek to get the gospel out.

Charles Spurgeon pastored, but also did a lot of travel around the United Kingdom. Recently, I came across something that he wrote about travel that was so rich. Spurgeon said:

“Where there is a true heart, the horse that bears it is a consecrated one. Let our goings out be in the Lord’s sight. We are lights. If the light is moved, it should be to illuminate other places. We’re salt. If the salt be scattered, it should be that the conserving influence should be felt the more widely. Do not go from home unless you feel that you can take your Master with you. And when you are from home, ever seek to be doing something for your Master, that when you’re gone, you may leave a fragrance behind you. How much good might my sons do who are called to travel continually. There are some few in this church, for instance, who travel as commercial gentlemen. I know one or two of them who scarcely ever go into a town without preaching the word there. And I know others of them who, in the commercial room where they meet with some who despise the religion of Christ, speak boldly for “the truth as it is in Jesus” (Ephesians 4:21), and are as useful in their daily journeys as any Christian men could be who fill up a place in the Sabbath school or officiate as deacons in the church at home. Let your journeying then always be with the ringing of these bells: ‘HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD.’(Zechariah 14:20).”

They said when George Whitefield made one of his crossings by ship to America, when he landed, someone heard him say, ‘As here’s the sun, so here’s the same God in America as England.’ And then he said this: ‘I bless God, all places are equal to me.’ All places are not the same. Even though some places are more beautiful than others, more comfortable than others, easier than others—what he meant was, God is God everywhere you go. 

The gospel works everywhere you go. Sinners are still getting saved. Yes, they are. Where? In all places. As an evangelist, it’s one of the great joys of my life to show up. I may not know anybody, but I’ve got the Bible. I’ve got the Holy Spirit. And I trust He has me. God will work in all places if we trust Him.

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About Scott Pauley

Related Series: A Gospel Christian // Philip, The Evangelist 

A Gospel Christian

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