Rom 1:11 For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established;
I Cor. 14:26 How is it then, brethren? When ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.
1Co.14:12 Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.
1Ti.3:15 But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
 

It seems that the Lord has given a great deal of latitude to His people in how they meet with each other to worship and learn of Him, allowing them to do whatever they think is good. Yet, despite His apparent aloofness to our forms and practices, are not the Lord's true preferences disclosed to the discerning throughout the New Testament Scriptures? And if so, would not His methods and preferences be more beneficial to us than our own busy gatherings, and therefore, most likely to induce spiritual growth? He has given His apostles very few direct commands about the meeting, yet can we not deduce by reading the blueprint (The Book of Acts, various epistles) what the apostles taught and laid down as the genuine practice of the Faith? We can go to meetings of any sort we wish, but does that mean we have met with God, and that spiritual nurturing has taken place? Too many of our meetings are based on a purely intellectual, or emotional basis with little or no actual input from the Holy Spirit. We can (and often do) have meetings without awaiting the visitation and administration of the Holy Spirit. We presume too much when we merely mouth words inviting the Lord's presence into our meetings, but do not actually expect His vital participation. Does He hear such prayers that are voiced merely out of form and ritual? Consider: would you go to a party surreptitiously given in your honor if you knew you were only asked out of a sense of obligation, requiring nothing of you but to observe those who invited you playing imaginary games?

In the First Century it was not that way. The meeting depended on the Holy Spirit's working in the meeting. They did not know how to have a meeting apart from the Spirit's anointing. When we speak of anointing, it needs to be clarified that much of what is called 'anointing' today is merely emotionalism and wishful thinking. Hands are laid on, a tingle is felt, and we think the Anointing has come to do our bidding. What a shallow concept of the power that raised Christ from the dead! The Anointing spoken of in Scripture is more than a side-show after (or during) the meeting. The Anointing was the sole dynamic that led the meeting. No pastor or board of elders pre-determined what songs to sing, what words of Scripture to read, what testimonies were to be given, what solos to have or what sermon to preach. All these planning sessions of man's organization only evolved after believers drifted away from the dynamic guidance of the Lord's presence. First Century believers waited upon the moving of the Spirit for the format in the meeting: from when and how to begin, to the last prayer or hymn. If the Spirit did not move upon someone, nothing happened. We get 'antsy' when silent moment after embarrassing silent moment glides by and no one 'does' anything. The sad truth is, most churches start a meeting right on the dot and end on the same dot an hour later. Where is the careful waiting upon the eternal Spirit of God to prepare hearts and minds to enter into the Lord's presence, which is independent of time? We need to learn that the delays of the Holy Spirit are not without purpose, and if a 'dead spot' occurs in the beginning or during the flow of the meeting, it is not necessarily an indication of a derailed meeting. Most believers in today's churches do not even take time to wait upon His pleasure. They start and stop meetings based on the world's schedule.

To assume that all congregants who show up on a Sunday for worship are in a state of preparedness is presumption which has been detrimental to the spiritual condition of the Body of Christ both locally and internationally. The enemy works overtime as believers prepare for church, causing family frictions and diverse distractions, all to the effect that believers are robbed of their ability to hear the Word even before the meeting starts, let alone carry anything away after the meeting. Waiting in a state of quietness prior to the opening of the meeting, cleansing our hearts, seeking God to come to us individually and corporately is time well spent that both prepares the worshipper to receive, and defeats the annoyances the enemy has thrown into our path. It also provides opportunity for some to hear from the Lord for the first time in days, and to repent of their hardness of heart and sin. Only the Holy Spirit, Who searches the hearts, knows when the condition of each believer is repentant, receptive and responsive to His moving. When He is waited on in such a way, He will signal the one He intends to start the meeting, knowing that all are ready. This is the Body coming into a state of teachability before Him so He can dispense truth and have it received, leading all present to merge into a unity of heart and mind in His Spirit. When we start meetings presumptuously, without His giving the first movement, people wrongly adopt the attitude that having the meeting is the important thing, not the One we are coming to meet. Worldly demands of convenience intrude when we feel pressured to start 'on time' and end 'on time', giving indication that the demands of the outside world are more important than why we have come together. A false, superficial notion of God soon pervades the congregation that obeys man's institutions and schedules, and our Lord is unintentionally relegated to less importance, while meetings, or more accurately, schedules, take on more significance. Oneness of heart and mind is not achieved, and only a handful, at most, come away with any beneficial food to grow on throughout the coming week. The whole Body of Christ suffers from this malady of presuming we can meet without His specific, personal leading and preparation. God's leadership is no longer the main element constituting the church, the man-instituted meeting is.

The first prerequisite for having a Spirit-led meeting is for the congregants to be all of one heart and mind (see Acts 4:32; Rom 12:16; 15:6; 2Co. 13:11; Phi1:27; 2:2; and 1Pe. 3:8). Jesus' prayer for us in John 17:11 to be 'one' is no idealistic platitude He mouthed to the Father, but is to be a reality in the Body of Christ, especially when we gather to worship. It is extremely hard for Christians to lay down their errant doctrines and practices in order to be one with the Lord-- and with those who are learning to be one with Him. The evidence indicates that believers would much rather cling to unscriptural beliefs and doings, maintaining their individuality in their denominations (or non-denominations, as the case may be) than accept the challenge to enter a higher realm of experiencing His passion for directing the meetings in such a way that truly glorify His Son and edify the worshippers. The marvel of it is that He lets us go our merry way, playing sanctuary games that pretend to honor Jesus, when we are really only glorifying the morass of our own intellectual planning sessions sponsored by the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil. Thus it is that millions of saints come away from meetings unfed and frustrated, sensing in their hungry hearts that there must be more available than they are currently receiving. We start and stop meetings by the hands of a machine on the wall rather than by the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Days, weeks, even months in advance we plan what the topics will be. Calendar holidays become honored above themes the Spirit wants us to dwell on, and no one need cleanse themselves of known sin or wrong attitudes in preparation for the meeting's beginning. It is not unusual that we are not one when we enter into the meeting place, but the tragedy is that we are not one when we leave, either.

Those who are learning to 'wait on the Lord' before and during the meeting are seeking to experience His refreshing breath moving in their hearts, preparing them to come into His presence where no lie or pretense can remain unchallenged. This is what John referred to: 1 Jn 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another.... Only as we walk in the light-- without deceptions toward others or ourselves-- are we able to meet with Him who is perfect purity itself. It takes a moving of the Spirit upon each individual to accomplish this state of being, and it is required regularly, challenging us to examine ourselves to see if we are truly in the Faith. Instead of this soul-searching, millions of worshippers glibly presume that 'of course I am in the Faith', not realizing how out of touch with the blueprint the Church is. Only when we let him reveal our hearts to us can we meet with others who, likewise, have come to Him with open-hearted hunger for truth, and together with them, be fed what their souls crave most. To have fellowship in the light requires-- demands-- a willing readiness to be in that light, and that does not come easy.

That is more than many who call themselves 'Christians' want from church. Too many just want to sign God's attendance book every week so He will know they were there. They want to be coddled, and told week after week that they are okay, they are going to heaven or are going be raptured, and nothing radical or upsetting is required of them to be 'cool' with God. Were Paul or Peter to show up in our services, the spiritual discernment of many congregations is so dull that they would not even be recognized. If Jesus were to appear in physical form, He would likely be resisted, for they already have the god-Jesus of their own imagination. The insipid meetings that that vain imagination approves are not the meetings the real Jesus would institute!

So, just what kind of meeting does the real Jesus reveal as His design to glorify Himself and edify the believer?

The meetings in the First Century were dependant upon each body member sensing his/her role the Spirit gave them in the edification of others in the circle of faith. This required each and every member of the Body of Christ to be Spirit-baptized and thereafter continually refilled and abiding (Eph. 5:18) in the Spirit. In a Spirit led meeting, it is imperative that there be those present who have had their spiritual ears opened. This is done via the reception of the gifts of the Spirit. The method of the Spirit's communication to the church is through the gifts He dispensed to each and every believer (I Cor. 12:7). Now, there is a great controversy dividing the body of Christ on this issue of gifts. Many claim to still have the gifts of the Spirit in operation, while others claim that such experience is invalid, since the apostolic gifts disappeared with the death of the last apostle. That apostles are still a valid and needed office in the Body of Christ today has been already discussed. But there is a greater example of the present day validity and use of the gifts of the Spirit-- in the Old Testament, attesting to the eternal purposes of God.

Ex. 39:24 And they made upon the hems of the robe pomegranates of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen.

25 And they made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates upon the hem of the robe, round about between the pomegranates;

26 A bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, round about the hem of the robe to minister in; as the Lord commanded Moses.

Here we see the high priest's garment decorated around the hem with pomegranates and bells. Now we know that the institution of the Tabernacle and all the priestly garments, sacrifices, festivals etc. are all symbolic of spiritual truth revealed clearly in the New Testament (ICor. 10:11). These symbols instructed the early Christians how God had planned from before the foundations of the world to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles and accomplish His purposes through Jesus Christ, the Messiah. In fact, for the first couple decades the only Scripture the Church had was the Old Testament. It was from hearing Christ's teachings as faithfully kept by the apostles, studying the OT Scriptures, and correlating these two that the understanding of the Faith expanded. All the apostolic teachings and writings only confirmed what God had originally concealed in the types and shadows of the Old Testament. This garment of the High Priest's is a prime example of spiritual truth that the Church needed to grasp in order to fully operate in His principles. The issue of the Charismatic gifts of the Spirit is not merely one of God's mutability, but of the proof of acceptance of Jesus' sacrifice by God the Father!

The bells, intermingled with pomegranates, decorating the hem of the High Priest's robe were more than just ornaments filling up a blank, boring space in an otherwise ornate robe. No, every thread, color and feature has a spiritual significance. The high priest obviously represents the ministry of Jesus. In this case, the meaning of the pomegranates are not hard to guess, since they are fruit, they represent the fruit of the Spirit-- the character of Jesus-- manifest in the presentation of sacrifices and offerings to God, which is the function of the High Priest. But what of the bells? To fully comprehend the true meaning of the bells we need to see their function in the type and shadow. When understanding parables and types and shadows, there is a rule of interpretation that must be followed, and that is: first understand all the elements of the parable or symbol in their own setting, then apply the spiritual meaning, keeping the applications consistent. So, to understand the spiritual significance of the bells on the high priest's robe, we need to understand the practical reason for them.

Ex.28:33 And beneath upon the hem of it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about the hem thereof; and bells of gold between them round about:

34 A golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about.

35 And it shall be upon Aaron to minister: and his sound shall be heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before the Lord, and when he cometh out, that he die not.

Here we see Aaron, the high priest, wearing the robe with this mix of bells and pomegranates as he goes in to minister to the Lord as required. Tradition tells us that the purpose of these bells was to let the other priests waiting in the holy place know that the high priest was still alive as he entered and ministered in the holy of holies, offering the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement. As long as the bells were heard tinkling, the high priest was alive, and those waiting outside who heard the tinkling sounds of those bells knew that the sacrifice being presented was acceptable to God. Should the bells stop tinkling, it would be an immediate indication of God's displeasure and rejection of the sacrifice and the death of the high priest for offering an unacceptable sacrifice. That would be a disastrous day for the nation of Israel, for it would mean that God had not forgiven their sins and they were without hope. The bells, then, represent some attention-getting device that proves Jesus, our High Priest, is still alive, ministering an acceptable sacrifice to God, and we who trust in His sacrifice have forgiveness, and therefore, a great hope. Paul, in I Cor. 13:1 mentions a clanging gong or tinkling cymbal, associating the use (or abuse, as the case may be) to the gifts of the Spirit to ringing bells. For those steeped in Jewish tradition, the connection to the high priestly robe's bells and the gifts of the Spirit is obvious by his usage, especially when contrasted with the intermingled pomegranates, the fruit of the Spirit. So we see the bells representing the gifts of the Spirit as the pomegranates represent the fruit of the Spirit. Therefore, the proper use of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the meeting is evidence to us, the royal priesthood of believers waiting in the holy place, that the Lord Jesus' sacrifice is accepted and all is well. How much of the rich symbolism available in Scripture is thrown away by erroneous man-made doctrines that relegate the activity and power of the Holy Spirit to the past? How much spiritual discernment and learning is waiting for us in the types and shadows of the OT, but will remain undiscovered because short-sighted theologians have decreed such things are no longer relevant. The gifts of the Spirit are objective evidences that we serve a risen Lord who is no longer dead, but is accepted by God, has been raised to life, and is full of power to deliver and heal. But like the Jews of the First Century who rejected their Messiah and subsequently had their Temple destroyed, we pretend that our errant doctrines are not spurious when contrasted with deeper true revelation. Will we continue to practice watered-down religion despite all the evidence revealing our shallowness and disobedience, until the temples we have erected lay toppled around us, not having one stone left upon another?

Even those who practice the gifts pervert their usage of them into something not glorifying to the Lord. Because of abuses, we strive to keep a lid on all expressions of the Spirit in the meetings; or we add a list of unscriptural manifestations to His doings; or we invent our own tongues, prophecies and visions and interpretations and convince ourselves it is Him. Thus, the bells do not give out the clear, distinguishable sound that our High Priest is alive. There is no doubt that there is much misunderstanding of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but that is not gift's fault. Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of Lights (James 1:17).... To blame the gifts and/or ignore them because of the controversy raised by the ignorant is as inaccurate as accusing the Law of being an evil thing-- since by it sin revived and I died (Rom. 7:13). No, it is not the fault of the gifts that there is immaturity and division in the Body of Christ, but those who fail to understand and use them properly! There really is no excuse, for we are given explicit detail in Holy Writ to know the proper use of the 'spirituals'.

The meeting of the church should consist mostly of the Charismatic (grace-working) gifts, and the gifted offices (Eph.4:11) given to the Church. But it is the Holy Spirit that leads the meeting. Even though an apostle or teacher may be present doesn't in any way mean that the burden of making the meeting work is on them. They need to have done their part by seeking the Lord's guidance and ministration, praying, and only if the Lord leads, by preparing a word (teaching) in advance. As far as what will transpire in the meeting-- that is best left to the Holy Spirit, Who alone knows what each person present needs to hear. The Lord knows the hearts of His people best, and can and will design a theme in every meeting that will meet each person's needs if we but allow Him. But being full of unbelief, we scrupulously prepare every detail ahead of time, leaving Him nothing to do, and subsequently, every member hungry.

John wrote about Diotrophes in 3 John, who loved to have the pre-eminence, or the place of recognition. True, Diotrophes' problems went far beyond being the main attraction in the meetings, but too many pastors today fear that if their congregations begin to move under the Anointing and minister one to another, they will lose their pre-eminent position (though that is not what they'd call it) and be considered irrelevant, and therefore, undeserving of their paychecks. Many, to protect their own interests, unconsciously hold back the church from developing in the grace and power of the Lord. By this they prove themselves unworthy of being financially supported for the nurturing of the Lord's flocks. The true job of a pastor, or prophet or evangelist or apostle is to work themselves out of a job if they can. This will never happen though, for the law of sowing and reaping is that as we give, we receive. The more we raise up disciples to 'fly' on their own without our guidance, the more disciples will be entrusted to us by the Lord. The higher we raise the maturity level of our flock, the more immature lambs will flow in to be nurtured. The more pastors that are raised up, the more sheep there will be to feed. Let us not protect our own interests. If we truly trust in the Lord, He will faithfully continue providing work for us to do. If a time comes when He does not provide more work, it is best that we not improvise. Let Him have His way. He may be giving us a deserved respite, or be setting us aside for correction, or deeper development. When the time is right, He will send us back to the fray. We must never assume our own indispensability or seek pre-eminence, but only His will.

If pastors are not necessarily to be the leaders of the meeting, then what is their purpose? Our Western concept of Church has been that the pastors do most of the performing in the meeting, as well as the planning. But this is not the scriptural role of the office of pastor. Although they often do have a large portion of guiding the meeting, especially in the early stages of a church's development, that is not always to be the case. The meeting can be started, advanced, and ended by anyone in the group who is accustomed to receiving personal revelation from the Lord. In fact, as a church matures, the pastor(s) often sit quietly by and watch with pleasure as their children learn to walk in truth (3Jn. vs.4). The true distinctive of a godly pastor is that he is not jealous of his position, and gladly lets others minister, even though not as 'perfectly' as he could have done. Imitating John the Baptist, the pastor knows his job is being accomplished when he freely allows others to increase as his own visible role decreases. He also is receptive to visiting ministries (possibly traveling apostles or prophets with a deeper revelation than he himself has) addressing the church. The godly pastor's concern is for the edification of the sheep God has given him, not the preservation of his own role, and if someone brings in fresher fodder, for the sake of his flock, he relinquishes 'his spot' in the order of the meeting. He is certainly not out of a job if the church prospers to the point of raising up other mature leaders to share the work load with him. Pastoral counseling will continue, and as one of the elders, it is his responsibility to make sure that no error is being taught in the charismata or words shared. Pastors are to hear the Lord's direction and keep the meetings on track, as well as oversee (gift of administration) the evangelistic, relief and instructional ventures of the church beyond the meeting.

A typical meeting could begin with one person leading in a worship song that came to mind, or a prayer need. As they share, someone else is given (by the Spirit) the next part-- a word of Scripture, perhaps, or a personal anecdote that illustrates what the Lord is doing in their life. A season of worship can follow, or several readings from the Word, or even devotionals by godly writers. Someone may then receive a prophecy or tongue and/or interpretation, then, possibly, more prayer, or songs of praise and worship. One of the more mature brothers may have been led to prepare a teaching, or he may receive insight on the spot and share with the others. A younger (less spiritually mature) brother may venture out and give a short exhortation or teaching, starting on the road to ministry, with the encouragement of the Body. The teachings may come first in the meeting, or last, or be interspersed throughout. In fact, all the elements of the meeting--charismatic gifts, worship, testimony, teaching, prayer, confession, communion, various traditions, revelation-- are interchangeable. Some meetings may have certain elements left out entirely, while other meetings may include all the above and more! The Spirit is creative and spontaneous, making each meeting different than any other, yet utilizing the very same elements. The one indispensable element the Spirit needs in guiding such a meeting are believers who have been baptized in the Spirit and are maturing to the point of recognizing His prompting. We have crippled the Church's life by muddying the waters when it comes to the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and the gifts He bestows, despite the obvious teaching of Scripture. God and His methods are immutable-- the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8).

How stifling when we continually follow the same man-made routine (with slight variations) week after week, not letting the Spirit have the freedom to express the Lord's heart and passion. And our lives show it. Christians remain stunted in their spiritual growth, ministry, and walk because they remain loyal to churches that do not encourage spiritual principles of growth. Why were the First Century believers so vibrant in and willing to die for their faith? I am not so shallow as to suggest it was because of a spontaneous form of meeting. But I do dare to emphatically, categorically declare that it is because they had a Church that taught them to be attentive to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to do His pleasure in their lives and in the meetings. That requires a vastly different concept of Church than most believers presently hold or want.

The question often arises "How then, following this 'open format', do you keep utter chaos from taking over the meeting? The pastors, given their position of authority for a reason, preside from a position of passivity. They are not, as we previously discussed, to have the pre-eminence, but to quietly guide and keep order. In practical experience however, I have personally found it is more of a problem encouraging participation than it is discouraging inappropriate contributions and behavior. Those coming to a spiritual meeting, for the most part, are hungry and wanting to be fed, not stuffed and anxious to spew out all they know. There is also a sense of the awe of the Lord's presence when the mode and purpose of the meeting has been properly explained and understood, and few want to open their mouths in foolishness, as Eccl. 5:2 indicates: Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few. The job of the pastor more often than not, becomes one of encouraging believers to overcome their natural inhibition against speaking out and drawing attention to themselves, even when those reluctant Body members are hearing the Lord's prompting. The pastor needs to have a good grasp on the gift of discernment, or at least have someone present who does, to sense when a believer is shyly resisting the Lord's prompting, thinking it to be his own thought.

There are occasionally those individuals who seek recognition for themselves, or are satanically induced to try to disrupt, mislead, or even take over the meeting, but through such charismatic gifts as discerning of spirits and words of knowledge and wisdom, the Spirit alerts the elders how to handle the situation before it gets out of hand.

Through the various manifestations of the Charismatic gifts, our High Priest, the Lord Jesus, is shown to be alive and well, and ministering at His Father's right hand for the sake of His Bride. The bells on His garment are tinkling loudly indicating that His sacrifice is accepted by God, and our sins are indeed forgiven, and we have a living hope. The one factor that sets Christianity apart from all Satan's counterfeit religions is that we have the genuine activity of the Holy Spirit in our midst through the gifts, and they don't. What does a fundamentalist (un-charismatic) church have that a gathering of Christian Science practitioners doesn't? Any cult or shallow religion can plan meetings, give meaningful sermons, plan a theme through songs, solos, testimonies, prayers and readings, and induce a feeling of well being; but only a meeting led by the Holy Spirit can produce holiness in the understanding and life of the believer. This is why Satan and his minions war so hard against the gifts, causing either outright rejection of them, counterfeit replication of them (as the Mormons do), or misappropriate usage. The true gifts reveal the risen Lord Jesus (1Jn. 4:1&2) and expose Satan's counterfeit religions for what they are-- cheap imitations.The mockery of the gifts, such as Mormons display, have no real power to bring one in touch with the eternal God. Satan fights tooth and nail against the true and proper use of the gifts in the Church of Jesus Christ because he is doomed if Christians begin to grow in and understand spiritual realities. Jesus did say there would be those who used various gifts, yet never knew Him. Therefore, the Church, if she fails to properly utilize the tools and weapons the Lord has given her to be built up in love and defeat satanic deceptions, will soon lose touch with her High Priest and His attestation to the power of His ministry. He has given these tools and weapons in the form of gifts that must be exercised on the spiritual plane so that the Church might be established (Rom. 1:11) in a hostile and dangerous environment. If the Church remains on a purely natural plane, and doesn't encounter the virulent spiritual counterattack for grappling in the spiritual realm with principalities and powers, she suffers lack nonetheless due to stagnation. The Lord wants His church to grow in spiritual prowess, not natural abilities and talents, for only the spiritual power of the Spirit will redound in giving Him glory.

The gifts and prompting of the Spirit in a truly spiritual assembly give assurance to us that our hope is fixed on realities that are as vital today as when first delivered from the quills of the apostles. The Faith is not some stuffy, irrelevant, archaic, obsolete system of creeds developed by the ancients, but is vital and vibrant, attested to by bells ringing loud and clear that every jot and tittle is as meaningful and powerful today as it was then. If the meeting of saints has few or none of the Holy Spirit's manifestations, can it be called a true church?

© John MacLeod 1997