Ministry by the Spirit

But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. (I Corinthians 12:11)

There are organizational problems in the Body of Christ, the Christian Church.

There are at least three issues that must be addressed:

The operation of ministries and gifts by the members of the Body.

The defining of the office of elder.

The imposition of organizational assignment on leadership and ministry rather than the development and operation of Spirit-chosen ministries and gifts.

The crux of the problem is the issue of the head of man versus the head of Christ, on the Body of Christ. This has been a problem throughout Church history. We have inherited two thousand years of human-directed church government.

A weight of tradition and precedent perpetuates the present system. We must in our generation make the transition from ministry by organizational assignment to ministry by the Spirit of God. We must make it possible for the Spirit to direct the churches.

The Spirit seems to be saying it is time for the saints to pray for the restoring of the ministries and gifts of the Body of Christ.

The Scriptures teach us there will be an end-time outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. (Joel 2:28,29)

The end-time refreshing is referred to in the Scriptures as the "latter rain," referring to the harvest rain that falls in Israel prior to the grain harvest.

Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. (Joel 2:23)

Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. (Hosea 6:3)

Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. (James 5:7)

The latter rain will be the greatest of all the demonstrations of God's power, the most powerful witness ever given of the Kingdom of God. We believe the latter-rain outpouring is symbolized by the "two witnesses" of the eleventh chapter of the Book of Revelation. The lampstands and olive trees of the eleventh chapter of Revelation are taken from the fourth chapter of the Book of Zechariah.

Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. (Zechariah 4:5,6)

Ministry by the Spirit 2

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