Angelic Conflict part 203: Human history (the Church) – Act 20:28; 1Co 12-13; 1Jo 2:20-21; 4:1; 5:6-8.

Title: Angelic Conflict part 203: Human history (the Church) - ACT 20:28; 1Co 12-13; 1JO 2:20-21; 4:1; 5:6-8.

 

ACT 20:28 "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers [episkopos], to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

 

"Be on guard" - prose,cw[prosecho] = to take heed, give attendance to, to devote thought and effort.

 

God the Holy Spirit has made [tithemi = put or appointed] overseers to shepherd the church of God, devoting all thought and effort to their perception of doctrine and their privacy.

 

Over the entire history of the Church, in certain churches, people have been hurt by tyrannical PT's who are empire building, or at least trying, and because of that they reject the doctrine of right PT. A truth should not be rejected because some have abused it.

 

Right doesn't mean he is going to fit your personality or caters his teaching style or caters the subject matter to the popular vote, but right means appointed by God. A right man right woman do not have to be agreeable in all areas, like all the same things, have the same personality, etc. they are both running with God and God brings them together at the right time. Their success as a unit is based on their virtue and not their attractiveness to one another, though virtue makes for attraction. I see the right PT and right congregation to be the same. Whenever he or they do not operate in divine virtue then the division and conflicts occur. Think of one another as more important than yourself.

 

The pastor is no better than anyone else. He is not by default more spiritual than anyone else. He is not given authority over anyone's personal life; i.e. he has no authority to judge how you live, what you do, or who you listen to. Tyrants always tell you they are protecting you and that his overreaching is only for your good. He is not given more insight into revelation than anyone else. He may have more knowledge andor revelation than another just due to the time he spends in studying the scripture, but no unfair advantages are given to him over anyone else, for that would destroy the sound doctrine of EPEO for all in the body of Christ. In fact we are to bestow more honor on those members who seem to have less noticeable spiritual gifts.

 

The Bible does not reveal exactly what supernatural qualities are given to anyone who possesses a certain gift, just that heshe has it and through spiritual growth will learn to exercise it. Not every believer possessing the same gift exercises it in the exact same way; how could they? They are different people in different circumstances and unique as children of God. While some things may be found to be similar, the believer, by yielding to the word of God and the Holy Spirit discerns the uniqueness of his ministry in the CA.

 

The following best defines the church of God or the body of Christ's called out ones.

 

1CO 12:1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware.

 

1CO 12:2 You know that when you were pagans [Romans, Greeks, and some Jews], you were led astray to the dumb idols, however you were led.

 

1CO 12:3 Therefore I make known to you, that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus is accursed"; and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.

 

Idols did not speak to them, but God the Holy Spirit did and He testified to their spirit that they were children of God through faith in Christ and so Jesus is Lord.

 

I repeat that some liken the influence of the Spirit to be a loss of reason, a loss of volition, and therefore a loss of control. Some kind of trance makes the sounds of tongues and the gyrations and the overwhelming hysterics, but that is not the Spirit, for one of the fruit of the Spirit is self-control and not a loss of it. Believers are not forced to say Jesus is Lord or forced to believe it, nor does this mean that anyone who can parrot the phrase itself is under Spirit control. It means, as it means in ROM 8:16-17, that the Spirit bears witness or testifies to our spirit that Jesus is Lord of all.

 

Any so-called "Spirit manifestation" that robs a person of self-control is not of God, for "the fruit of the Spirit is . . self-control" [GAL 5:22-23].

 

If Jesus Christ truly is Lord in our lives, then there should be unity in the church. Division and dissension among God's people only weakens their united testimony to a lost world (JOH 17:20-21).

 

JOH 17:19-21

"And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. "I do not ask in behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me.

 

There are a diversity of spiritual gifts, ministries, and energiespowers, but we all depend on the same God - the one and only Spirit, Lord, and God.

 

1CO 12:4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit.

 

1CO 12:5 And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord.

 

1CO 12:6 And there are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons.

 

There is a Trinitarian emphasis here: "the same Spirit - the same Lord - the same God."

 

We individually may have different gifts, ministries, and ways of working, but "it is God which works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure" (PHI 2:13).

 

PHI 2:12-13

work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

 

The source of the gift is God; the sphere for administering the gift is from God, and the energy to use the gift is from God. Why, then, glorify men? Why compete with one another?

 

1CO 12:7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

 

1CO 12:8 For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit;

 

1CO 12:9 to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,

 

1CO 12:10 and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues.

 

1CO 12:11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.

 

Vv. 7-11 reveal that we all minister to the same body.

 

The gifts are given for the good of the whole church. They are not for individual enjoyment, but for corporate employment.

 

The Corinthians especially needed this reminder, because they were using their spiritual gifts selfishly to promote themselves and not to prosper the church. When we accept our gifts with humility, then we use them to promote harmony, and this helps the whole church.

 

The various gifts are named in 1CO 12:8-10 and 28, and also in EPH 4:11 and ROM 12:6-8. When you combine the lists, you end up with nineteen different gifts and offices.

 

Since the listing in Romans is not identical with the listing in 1 Corinthians, we may assume that Paul was not attempting to exhaust the subject in either passage.

 

While the gifts named are adequate for the ministry of the church, God is not limited as to how these gifts will manifest themselves.

 

There are a diversity of spiritual gifts, ministries, and energiespowers (vv. 4-6). Two may have the same gift but different ministries and energies or outworkings. Think of all the combinations if these three variables have different inputs into the ministry of any particular saint. So, while we would say that some gifts are more specific as in PT and evangelist (these can function in a local church, local community, a seminary, a Christian organization, a foreign nation, as a writer), the label on the gift is not nearly as important as its manifestation as we each follow the same God - the one and only Spirit, Lord, and God.

 

He gives gifts as He pleases and the administration of each gift through each believer will be as unique or similar as God wants them to be. But notice the word “individually” in vs. 11. The Greek word is idos (where we get idot - having one’s own opinion) which pertains to what is one’s own. To each individual there is a unique ministry for the common good that finds its boundaries in the will of God.

 

The 12 apostles were given to lay the foundation of the Church. They possessed the highest authority to establish the various, individual, local assemblies and the doctrines to be taught in order to establish that foundation.

 

Prophets were New Testament spokesmen for God whose messages came immediately from God by the Spirit in order to edify, encourage, and comfort, 1CO 14:3.

 

Their ministry was to edify, encourage, and comfort.

 

1CO 14:3 But one who prophesies speaks to men for edification and exhortation and consolation.

 

Their messages were tested by the listeners to determine whether they were truly from God (1CO 14:29; 1TH 5:19-21).

 

1CO 14:29 And let two or three prophets speak, and let the others pass judgment.

 

1TH 5:19-21

 Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good;

 

EPH 2:20 makes it clear that apostles and prophets worked together to lay the foundation of the church, and we may assume that they were no longer needed once that foundation was completed.

 

EPH 2:20

having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone

 

Many have come along, especially after the protestant reformation, saying that they have received revelation that is extant from the scriptures. In essence they are saying they are prophets, but when the foundation of the Church was established and the Bible completed with the apostle John, there was no more need for this gift and it was never given again.

 

Pastorteachers instructed converts in the doctrinal truths of the Christian life from the Word of God, being taught these truths by the Spirit.

 

They taught from the Word as it was manifested through the apostles. Unlike the prophets, they did not get their messages immediately by the Spirit, though the Spirit helped them in their teaching.

 

JAM 3:1 indicates that this is a serious calling.

 

JAM 3:1

Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we shall incur a stricter judgment.

 

The evangelist majored on sharing the Good News of salvation with the lost. All ministers should do the work of an evangelist (2TI 4:5) and seek to win souls, but some men have been given evangelism as a special calling.

 

In the early church, miracles were a part of the credentials of some of God's servants (HEB 2:1-4). In fact, miracles, healings, and tongues all belong to what theologians call "the sign gifts" and belonged in a special way to the infancy of the church. The Book of Acts, as well as church history, indicates that these miraculous gifts passed off the scene.

 

Help and governments have to do with the serving of others and the guiding of the church. Without spiritual leadership and the gift of helps, the church flounders.