HolySpirit in the Congregation.pdf

Volume XIX, Issue 5

L EGACY

OF D EREK P RINCE

The Holy Spirit in the Congregation

One distinctive and important result produced by the presence of the Holy Spirit in the church

may be recognized by the active participation of all the members in the life, worship and service of

the church. In the regular services of the great majority of Christian churches today, almost all the

real initiative and activity are conﬁ ned to just a few individuals. The congregation as a whole may

take part in certain prearranged activities: singing hymns or repeating ﬁ xed prayers or responses.

There may also be one or two smaller, specially trained groups, such as a choir or an orchestra.

But apart from this, in the vast majority of congregations, all the real initiative and activity are left

in the hands of one or two individuals while the rest of the congregation is expected to contribute

little more than an occasional Amen .

H owever, if we examine with an open mind

This is clearly brought out by the teaching of Paul

in 1 Corinthians 12. In verses 7 through 11 of this

chapter, Paul lists nine speciﬁ c supernatural gifts of

the Holy Spirit, ending with the words: “But one and

the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each

one individually as He wills” (verse 11). This last phrase

obviously indicates that these gifts are given in the ﬁ rst

instance to individual believers. However, Paul does not

end there.

In the next 16 verses of the same chapter (verses

12–27), Paul goes on to say that the Christian church

is like one body with many members, and he likens

each individual believer to a single member of one body,

ending with the words: “Now you are the body of Christ,

and members individually” (verse 27). Spiritual gifts are

not intended primarily for the beneﬁ t of the individual

but for the life and worship of the whole congregation.

This truth is clearly stated by Paul in the very next

Gifts Are Given to the Church

The ﬁ rst point we need to establish is that, according

to the New Testament pattern, the supernatural gifts of

the Holy Spirit are not given primarily to the individual

believer. Rather, they are given—through the vessel of

the individual believer—to the church or congregation

as a whole. Therefore they cannot achieve their proper

purpose unless they are freely manifested and exercised

in the life of the congregation.

L E G A C Y

T HE T EACHING

the life and worship of the early church as

portrayed in the New Testament, we ﬁ nd

that there was active participation by all the believers

present in any service. This was brought about by the

supernatural presence and power of the Holy Spirit,

operating in and through the individual believers.

fts Are Given to the Chu

Volume XIX, Issue 5

verse—that is, “And God has appointed

these in the church: ﬁ rst apostles, second

prophets, third teachers, after that

miracles, then gifts of healings, helps,

administrations, varieties of tongues”

(verse 28).

Speaking here of various minis-

tries and supernatural gifts of the

Holy Spirit, Paul says that all of them

have been appointed by God “in the

church.” That is, they are intended not

merely for private use by individual

believers, but for public manifestation

in the church—the congregation of

God’s people as a whole.

says that the Spirit-baptized believer

belongs by right in the candlestick—

that is, in the church, the congregation

of God’s people. A candle under a

basket or covered up by an empty

vessel is out of place and useless. Just

as the lighted candle belongs in the

candlestick, so the Spirit-baptized

believer is under an obligation to take

his rightful place in the congregation

of God’s people. A believer who has

received the baptism in the Holy

Spirit but never makes public use of

any spiritual gift is just like a candle

under a basket.

We see then, from these Scriptures,

that the baptism in the Holy Spirit

and the supernatural manifestations

of the Holy Spirit are intended to play

an effective part in the public life and

worship of the congregation as a whole.

When the presence and power of the

Holy Spirit are publicly manifested in

this way through various believers, the

result is that the whole life and worship

of the congregation are completely

transformed. The main responsibility

for the ministry and conducting of the

service are no longer borne by one or two

individuals while the rest remain lazily

passive. On the contrary, every member

of the congregation begins to participate

actively in the service, and the various

members minister to each other, rather

than one or two ministering to everyone

else all the time.

This is the pattern indicated by

Paul’s example of the body and its

members, and it is conﬁ rmed by the

words of the apostle Peter:

plies, that in all things God may

be gloriﬁ ed through Jesus Christ,

to whom belong the glory and the

dominion forever and ever. Amen.

1 Peter 4:10–11

Peter here speaks of God’s grace

being “manifold.” God’s grace is so

rich, so many-sided, that a different

aspect of that grace can be manifested

through each individual member

in the total worship and service of

God’s people. God’s grace is so rich

that every member of the church

may receive a special manifestation

of it and may thus have something

to minister in turn to all the other

members. The language Peter uses

here includes every member of the

church; no one need be left without

a gift or a ministry. Peter says: “As

each one has received a gift, minister it

to one another.” And again, in the next

verse: “If anyone speaks . . . if anyone

ministers.” There is no indication

here of a church with one or two

“professional,” full-time ministers,

while the remaining members are

largely inactive.

The Lampstand

This same truth is strikingly

brought out by a brief parable Jesus

uses in the Sermon on the Mount:

“Nor do they light a lamp and put

it under a basket, but on a lamp-

stand, and it gives light to all who

are in the house.” Matthew 5:15

The two main symbols used

in this parable are the lamp and

the lampstand . The symbol of the

lampstand may be interpreted by

reference to Revelation 1:20: “The

seven lampstands which you saw are

the seven churches.” Throughout the

whole of Scripture, a lampstand (or

candlestick) is used as a symbol of a

church or a congregation.

The symbol of the lighted lamp or

candle may be interpreted by reference

to Proverbs 20:27: “The spirit of man is

the lamp of the L ORD .” Thus, the lighted

lamp is a symbol of the spirit of the

believer, made to burn and to shine

by the ﬁ re of the indwelling Spirit of

God. More simply, the lighted candle

represents the believer baptized in the

Holy Spirit and ﬁ re.

Going back to Matthew 5:15, Jesus

Active Members

This picture of the church with

every member active is conﬁ rmed by

the words of Paul:

For I say, through the grace given

to me, to everyone who is among

you, not to think of himself more

highly than he ought to think, but

to think soberly, as God has dealt

to each one a measure of faith.

For as we have many members

in one body, but all the members

do not have the same function, so

we, being many, are one body in

Christ, and individually members

of one another. Having then gifts

As each one has received a gift,

minister it to one another, as good

stewards of the manifold grace of

God. If anyone speaks, let him

speak as the oracles of God, if

anyone ministers, let him do it

with the ability which God sup-

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The Lampstand

Active Members

Volume XIX, Issue 5

differing according to the grace

that is given to us, let us use them:

if prophecy, let us prophesy in

proportion to our faith, or minis-

try, let us use it in our minister-

ing: he who teaches, in teaching;

he who exhorts, in exhortation;

he who gives, with liberality; he

who leads, with diligence; he who

shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

These words make it plain that it is the

express will of God for every member

of the church to exercise spiritual

gifts—the open, public, supernatural

manifestations of the indwelling

Spirit. If all believers do not in fact

have these gifts in operation, it is

not because God withholds them,

but simply because such believers

(through carelessness or unbelief) fail

to press on into the fullness of God’s

revealed will for His people.

Again, in 1 Corinthians 14:31, Paul

says: “For you can all prophesy one by

one, that all may learn and all may be

encouraged.” Nothing could be plainer

than this. It is within the revealed

will of God for all the members of the

church to exercise the spiritual gift of

prophecy. On this general revelation

of God’s will, Paul imposes only two

limitations. Here in the verse just

quoted, he says, “one by one.” That

is, believers are to exercise this gift

by turns, not more than one believer

prophesying at any one time. The

purpose of this is obvious, and is

stated a few verses further on: to avoid

confusion (verse 33).

The other limitation upon the

exercise of the gift of prophecy is

stated by Paul a little earlier, in verse

29: “Let two or three prophets speak, and

let the others [the members] judge.” Paul

here limits how many may exercise

the gift of prophecy in any service to

two or three. The purpose of this is

that the whole service should not be

monopolized by one particular form of

spiritual manifestation. The exercise of

prophecy has its place in the service,

but it does not make up the whole

service. The ministry of the Holy Spirit

through God’s people is much more

varied than that. Many other different

forms of ministry are required to make

up a complete service.

In this verse Paul also says clearly

that the exercise of the gift of prophecy

must be judged, or tested. He says:

“Let the others judge.” The word others

here, in Greek, is plural, meaning:

“the rest of the members” or the other

Spirit-baptized believers present who

are capable of recognizing the genuine

manifestation of the gift of prophecy.

Even in this we see that Paul brings in

all the members. He does not specify

merely one professional minister who

Romans 12:3–8

In these verses Paul once again

likens the Christian church to a body

of which each individual believer is

a member, and he lays great stress

on the activity of each member.

Paul teaches that God has allotted

to each believer a special function,

a special ministry. God has also

appointed to each member a measure

or a proportion of faith, sufﬁ cient

to enable each particular member

to fulﬁll successfully his allotted

ministry. Thus, the New Testament

picture of the church is that of a

vigorous, active body, in which each

individual member properly fulﬁ lls

his or her special function. A church

in which only one or two members

had any active ministry would be,

by New Testament standards, like a

body in which, let’s say, the head, one

hand, and one foot were strong and

active, and all the rest of the body was

paralyzed and useless.

In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul lays

particular emphasis upon the

supernatural ministry imparted by

the Holy Spirit to every member of a

New Testament church. He says: “But

the manifestation of the Spirit is given

to each one for the proﬁ t of all” (verse

7). And again, concerning the nine

supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit:

“But one and the same Spirit works

all these things, distributing each one

individually as He wills” (verse 11).

Exercising the Gifts

In 1 Corinthians 14:5, Paul says: “I

wish you all spoke with tongues, but even

more that you prophesied.” Since Paul

is here writing under the inspiration

of the Holy Spirit, his words impart

to the church the revealed will of God

for all His believing people both to

speak with tongues and to prophesy.

If there are believers who do not enjoy

the exercise of these gifts, it is not

because God has withheld the gifts, but

simply because those believers have

not entered into the fullness of their

inheritance in Christ. The Lord said

to Joshua and to His people under the

old covenant: “There remains very much

land yet to be possessed” (Joshua 13:1).

So it is also with God’s people under

the new covenant today: There remains

very much land yet to be possessed.

In 1 Corinthians 14:13, Paul says

also: “Therefore let him who speaks in

a tongue pray that he may interpret.”

Plainly, God’s Word does not tell us

to pray for something which it is not

God’s will for us to have. Therefore,

we know that it is God’s will for

anyone who speaks in tongues to also

interpret that utterance. Since Paul has

already said that it is God’s will for all

to speak in tongues, it is therefore also

God’s will for all to interpret.

the teaching legacy of derek prince | dpm archive

Volume XIX, Issue 5

is to judge, but he makes the believers

as a whole responsible to do this.

This is in line with what Paul says

in 1 Thessalonians 5:19–21:

Notice the phrase, “each of you

has” —a psalm, a teaching, a tongue, a

revelation, an interpretation.

Generally speaking, when Chris-

tians come together today, they come

with the primary purpose of receiving,

not of contributing. They come to get

a blessing, to receive healing, to hear

a preacher. But this was not the way of

the New Testament church. There, the

members came not primarily to receive,

but to contribute. Paul mentions vari-

ious possible forms of contribution.

A psalm would denote some form

of musical contribution. This might

be the product either of natural talent

or of the supernatural enabling of the

Holy Spirit.

A teaching would denote the

ability to impart some truth from the

teaching of God’s Word.

A tongue and an interpretation

might be taken to cover generally the

three gifts of supernatural utterance:

tongues, interpretation and prophecy.

A revelation would cover any one of

the three main revelatory gifts: a word

of wisdom, a word of knowledge, and

discerning of spirits.

In this way—mainly through the

operation of the supernatural spiritual

gifts—all the members had something

of their own to contribute towards

the total worship and service of the

church. They are thus able to fulﬁ ll

the injunction given by Peter: “As each

one has received a gift, minister it to one

another” (1 Peter 4:10). The ability of

the members to minister effectively

to one another was due mainly to

the fact that they had received these

supernatural spiritual gifts.

Had their ability to minister to

each other depended merely on

education or natural talent, many

of them would have been just what

we see in the majority of Christian

churches today. The main burden of

ministry would have fallen upon just

a few of the members, and the rest of

them would have remained largely

passive or inactive, without any real

opportunities for spiritual expression

or development.

The only escape from this limita-

tion and frustration is through the

supernatural ministry of the Holy

Spirit in the church, dividing spiritual

gifts to all the members individually,

according to His own will. In this

way, the members are delivered from

and lifted out of their own natural

limitations into a spiritual realm

where they can all operate freely and

share together the burden of the total

ministry of the church. In this way,

all the members of the body of Christ

can be made effectually active, instead

of only a few members participating

while the rest remain as spectators.

Thus the body of Christ, as a whole,

is able to fulﬁ ll its appointed function.

Taken from “New Wine” magazine,

November 1970.

Do not quench the Spirit. Do not

despise prophecies. Test all things;

hold fast what is good.

These three verses are addressed

to Christian believers generally, and

they must be taken closely together.

It is wrong for believers to quench or

reject the moving and manifestation

of the Holy Spirit in their midst. It

is also wrong for believers to adopt

an attitude of criticism, contempt,

or unbelief toward the manifestation

of the gift of prophecy. On the other

hand, when this gift is manifested,

believers are to test it by the standards

of Scripture and then accept or retain

only that which is good—that which

accords with the standards and

patterns of Scripture.

We see, then, that Paul is careful to

guard against anything that might be

spurious or disorderly in the exercise

or manifestation of spiritual gifts.

However, with this one qualiﬁ cation,

Paul repeatedly and emphatically states

that all believers in the church can—

and should—enjoy and exercise the

open manifestation of spiritual gifts.

For further study, we recom-

mend Derek Prince’s CD:

How to Exercise

Spiritual Gifts

We are making this material available to you

at no charge. Just use the enclosed reply slip

to request your copy.

Reproduction of articles from

the DPM archive for free

distribution is permitted. To

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encouragement by e-mail, sub-

scribe at derekprince.org.

All Contribute

What is the result in a church when

all its members freely and publicly

exercise supernatural spiritual gifts

in this way? In 1 Corinthians 14:26,

Paul describes the kind of services

that result. He says: “How is it then,

brethren? Whenever you come together,

each of you has a psalm, has a teaching,

has a tongue, has a revelation, has an

interpretation. Let all things be done for

ediﬁ cation.”

Derek Prince Ministries

P.O. Box 19501

Charlotte, NC 28219

704.357.3556

www.derekprince.org

TL115

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