THE WORD SIROCCO
Saturday, May 23, 2020
Month Theme: The Sons of Oil
Topic: New Testament Ecclesiastical Power
Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:1-31
Main Text:
Ephesians 4:8
8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
The New Testament mostly uses the terms “gifts of the Holy Ghost” and “being filled with the Holy Ghost” to describe the ecclesiastical power of believers instead of the word “anointing”. Believers with ecclesiastical power don’t function in the office of the Old Testament priests but in the five-fold ministry of the apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher. Jesus Christ gave these gifts to men when He ascended into Heaven (Ephesians 4:8-12). The ministry gifts are anointed or empowered by the Holy Ghost to operate in the Body of Christ and to the world. They edify the Church and equip the saints for the work of the ministry.
The Church is the light of the world because it is meant to manifest and display the nature, character, power and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ in a spiritually dark and wayward world. To do this, God has set the gifts of the Holy Ghost in the Church to empower and equip it to function. The world cannot exist soundly without the Church and the Church cannot function effectively without the gifts of the Holy Ghost. The apostle Paul enjoined the Corinthians to covet earnestly the best gifts (1 Corinthians 12:27-31).
Apart from the five-fold ministry gifts of the apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher, God has endowed the Body of Christ with nine spiritual gifts, which are manifested for the benefit of believers and the world (1 Corinthians 12:3-12). The Body of Christ must study, desire and then receive the gifts of the Holy Ghost or the anointing to benefit from them. Without the gifts of the Holy Ghost or the anointing, believers cannot edify themselves or make any kind of lasting impact on this world. Joshua the high priest was one of the sons of oil needed to rebuild the temple and Jerusalem. Without his ecclesiastical power, the civil power of Zerubbabel would have struggled to make headway or impact. The world needs godly, efficient people with ecclesiastical power complementing civil power to deal effectively with the challenges it faces.
Prayer: Pray that every gift of the Holy Ghost in you will be sharpened by the quickening power of the Holy Ghost.
Recommended Reading:
“The Sons of Oil” by Eastwood Anaba
( Find e-books at http://www.amazon.com)
http://www.eastwoodanaba.com