In the first century church of Christ, preaching was done by standing in the midst of the assembly to proclaim Christ's truth. At that time, Christians did not have the completed New Testament, but they did have ways of testing the accuracy of what was being preached.
Some churches had letters written to them by the apostles. These were studied and read to the whole church. The same letters later became part of the completed Bible. Some of the Christians were given spiritual gifts so they could teach God's truth to the rest of the church. With the help of spiritual gifts, knowledge of the truth was permanently recorded in the New Testament . At that time, spiritual gifts were needed to preach the truth in the congregations until the New Testament could be written.
After copies of the Bible were made and circulated among the people, miraculous gifts were no longer needed. The completed Bible replaced the need for miraculous gifts because it put all knowledge in one place. Gifts of the Spirit faded away and are not needed today to teach God's truth. Many churches today believe in miracles, but they do so incorrectly because the Bible says gifts were done away with when the perfect (completed Bible)came,1 Cor. 13:8-10.
Preaching and teaching the truth of God has always been a major part of worship services. Paul told the young preacher Timothy to preach the truth constantly, 2 Tim.4:1-4. Teaching in the assembly was necessary to keep false teachers from coming in and making changes. A preacher had no authority over the congregation. He was commissioned to preach the whole truth, leaving nothing out.
Christians today should not let the preacher control what the congregation does or believes. They must keep a watchful eye and test what is preached, in case he strays from the truth and teaches error. It is easy to see that this has happened in the past by the existence of many different religions that have sprung into being over the past(19) centuries.
Copyright 1989 by Carmen D Hilliard. Used by permission