The following is my outline from the message I gave recently in Philadelphia at The Church of God in the Word. I hope it is beneficial to the reader. You can listen to the message in its entirety here.
THE WORD AND POWER CHURCH
An Outline by Christian Edmiston
A. The Word and Power Church is a fellowship of Christians committed to both the supremacy of the Bible as God's Word and the Gospel it proclaims, while also praying for and expecting the same to be accompanied by spiritual gifts and other acts of power through the Holy Spirit.
1. I prefer the phrase "Word and Power" over "Word and Spirit" mainly because I do not want to unintentionally give the impression that there is too much a distinction between the Holy Spirit and the Bible. The Holy Bible is the book that the Holy Spirit wrote. The words of the Bible are the words of the Holy Spirit.
2. It should also be pointed out that the Word and Power Church is also committed to the other means of grace available to the Church, particularly the Sacraments of water baptism and the Lord's Supper.
B. Before we go any further, we must be sure that the Bible teaches and expects churches to be committed to Word and Power. Let us turn to the New Testament. I want you all to notice Word and Power closely linked together in all these Scriptures (all emphases are mine):
1. Matthew 4:23 NASB
Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.
They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common...
For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.
And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power...
...For our Gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction...
Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching. Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands of the presbytery. Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all.
For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands...Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.
Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. And this we will do, if God permits. For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come...
Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves...Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.
Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation...As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father...Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
A. Now that I have established how the New Testament links Word and Power together, lets explore some ways in which such a church honors its commitment to the Word:
1. I usually think of the Word in two senses:
a. The Gospel itself (Acts 14:3; 20:32)
b. The Scriptures
c. I will mainly be focusing on this second usage; the Scriptures.
2. The Word and Power Church is focused on accurately teaching and preaching the Bible alone and the doctrines contained theirin. Simply put, the word and power church emphasizes maintaining the pattern of sound doctrine that the Apostles taught the earliest churches and has been maintained throughout the history of the Church.
a. 1 Timothy 4:6 NASB
In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following.
3. The Word and Power Church does not pay mere lip service to the importance of theology, but prizes the precious doctrines of the Bible.
4. The word and power church doesn't pit the Bible and the Holy Spirit against each other as if the Holy Spirit ever speaks contrary to the Bible. The word and power church is committed to Sola Scriptura. The Bible is the book that the Holy Spirit wrote, through human authors. If we want to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, we hear it first in the Bible.
5. I favor a verse-by-verse expository preaching approach to preaching, but I do not believe that only this approach is glorifying to God or that topical preaching is substandard. Much of this depends of the gifts and background of the preacher/teacher, as well as the makeup of the congregation.
III. What is "Power" about the Word and Power Church?
A. The Word and Power Church is unapologetically and consistently continuationist. The word and power church denies any form of cessationism. Neither is it merely "open-but-cautious".
B. The Word and Power Church understands that the gifts of the Holy Spirit and other manifestations of God's power are given for two primary purposes:
1. The building up and equipping of believers
a. 1 Corinthians 12:7 NASB
But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
So also you, since you are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek to abound for the edification of the church.
And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
a. Mark 16:15-18 NASB
And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."
...But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."
A. I believe that what I have shared is not only true, but also is worthy of investing in and exploring further. I hope that I have inspired you to think a little differently about how we can go about ministering to each other and to the world through the Church.
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