There is liberty for the exercise of gifts by the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n
\nBob Gessner<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; A distinguishing mark of a New Testament church is that a plurality of The questions then to be asked in looking for a New Testament church One would understand then that in a properly conducted New Testament “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over There is liberty for the exercise of gifts by the Holy Spirit. Bob Gessner And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ (Eph. 4:11,12). Having then gifts […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-church"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nand some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the
\nministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ (Eph. 4:11,12). Having then gifts
\ndiffering according to the grace that i given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy
\naccording to the proportion of faith; or ministry, let us wait on our ministering; or he
\nthat teacheth, on teaching; or he that exhorteth, on exhortation; he that giveth, let him
\ndo it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence, he that sheweth mercy, with
\ncheerfulness (Rom. 12:6-8).<\/i>
From the verses above, and other passages in the New Testament, it
\nbecomes clear that the local church is the gathering wherein there ought to be opportunity
\nfor the local gifts of each believer to be exercised. It is not a gathering where one or
\ntwo exercise all the gifts. There is a plurality of ministers, but not every man in the
\nchurch ministers. There is a plurality of teachers, but not every man in the church
\nteaches. “And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets,
\nthirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, governments,
\ndiversities of tongues. Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all
\nworkers of miracles? (1 Cor. 12:28,29). The Holy Spirit is given the opportunity to use
\nthose whom He has gifted for the edification of the body of Christ. All gifts are
\nexercised for the growth of the body so that the body may grow together in Christ. Thus we
\nlearn from these verses another dynamic character of the local church which enables it to
\nbe a gathering at which the power of the Holy Spirit is able to operate.<\/p>\n
\nbrethren, gifted by God, are given opportunity to exercise their gifts for the edification
\nof the body. In many local churches today this characteristic has been so widely abused
\nthat it is practically impossible to recognize the multiplicity of gift in the church. One
\nextreme is to place the responsibility in the hands of the pastor and appointed
\nassistants. The other extreme is to allow teaching, preaching, and pastoring to be done by
\nthose who are obviously not gifted by God. It is this latter abuse through the years that
\nled to the professional training and choosing of a selected pastor to carry out these
\nresponsibilities.<\/p>\n
\nare: Does one man and his assistants control all of the ministry or is there opportunity
\nfor other gifted men to participate? Does every man minister and consequently the ministry
\nis often not edifying and the body is not growing in Christ?<\/p>\n
\nchurch there needs to be a plurality of elders who watch for and promote the kind of
\nministry that will edify the church. They will not permit one man to dominate the ministry
\nand they will not allow those to minister whose ministry obviously does not edify the
\nsaints.<\/p>\n
\nthe which the Holy Spirit hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which He
\nhath purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"