1 Timothy 4:14 “Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership.”
As I have already stated, it is normative for the church to experience the power of God displayed among them, and the New Testament is full of accounts to that effect. One of the main ways that God’s power is made manifest in the church is through the laying on of hands. The above passage of scripture is an example of just such an account. In this example, the eldership which included the apostle Paul, laid hands on Timothy to impart a spiritual gift to him and that gift was named through the prophecy given at the time. As that gift was imparted to him, it is more than likely that the tangible power of the Holy Spirit would have come upon Timothy to confirm the impartation, i.e. he would have been filled with the Holy Spirit, and he in turn would have displayed some form of physical reaction to that anointing. The pattern remains the same however, i.e. it was the Holy Spirit that decided when to impart the gift to Timothy and Timothy would have experienced the power of the Holy Spirit for the express purpose of operating in the gift he received.
Michael E.B. Maher
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