A. Are there truly any apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ today?
To answer this question, let's first define an apostle as one who is supernaturally called, prepared, empowered and then sent by Jesus Christ upon a mission to certain places and certain people whom He has selected. This is a matter that initially is completely subjective to the man who senses that he has the Lord's call upon him to be an apostle today and then over time, it becomes also subjective to those who encounter him in this ministry.
The calling of individuals into apostleship by Jesus is testified to in the book of Acts and described and discussed within the letters of the New Testament. So, is the spiritual gift of apostleship that only Jesus can give being given to some chosen believers today or was it just a gift for the past as the majority of Christians believe?
I would ask the reader to review the article; Are Apostles for Today? written by Mr. Dell Young. This article's author claims to be a modern day apostle as I do. From what I read in this article of his I believe that he is an apostle of the Lord. Yet, he is someone whom I do not know personally but with whom, on this issue, I totally agree. If you have an open mind to it, you will find as I have that his brief article successfully Biblically refutes the doctrinal contention which some have erroneously derived that there are no apostles from God functioning today!
Then, if you reach or have already reached the faith conviction that there truly are modern-day apostles as he and I have, let's see what the Scriptures tell us to do in order to ascertain that any man who claims to be one, truly is one!
But before we begin this discussion it is good to remember that the real focus of our faith should always be kept upon the Lord Jesus Christ, not upon His apostles or even the miraculous events that He might manifest thru their faith.
I Corinthians 3:5 - What then is Apollos? and what is Paul? They are but (apostolic) servants who gave you the good news as God gave it to them.
Apostles should always be viewed as merely being servants of The Lord and no more. They should not be exalted by those who believe in their ministry nor should they ever self exalt! All glory for any of their good works should always go only to the Lord Jesus Christ!
1. So-called apostles must be tested for authenticity to be sure that they truly are sent by the Lord Jesus Christ.
Rev 2:2 - ...put to the test those who call themselves apostles...
Legitimate apostles are never self-appointed nor self exalted. They are chosen and sent by God and and God will testify in some way as to them being true apostles. It is very important that they be supernaturally substantiated or denounced by God thru signs and wonders and miracles.
II Cor 12:12 - The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles.
Any true apostle of the Lord will come humbly to the brethren, bringing with him the peace of the Holy Spirit and he will always be accompanied by God's substantiating signs and wonders and miracles.
Collosians 3:15a - And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds (such as an apostle's authenticity - my addendum)...
Apostle testing should always be done by at least 2 and preferably more Christians to see if they all reach the conclusion that he is truly a God-sent apostle.
II Cor 13:1b - ...every fact is to be confirmed by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
2. Today, the only Chrisitians who will test a so-called apostle are...
(a) those who are open to the possibility of there being apostles today
(b) those who already have the belief that Jesus still sends apostles today.
Stubborn Christian unbelievers who just will not allow themselves to believe in even the possibility of the apostolic gift being viable for today will never be able to receive any person as being a true apostle sent to them by God. Their fixation that the apostolic gift is no longer viable and that consequently there are none, preclude this.
Yes, it's true, as they will invariably claim, that Satan can send false apostles. But they say this because they believe that all so called apostles are false apostles and that they come from Satan. They just will not trust that phonies will be exposed by God during the apostolic testing process.
II Corinthians 11:13 -15 - For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness... A true apostle today is ordained into his apostolic ministry by Jesus and then sent by Him with His special peace upon him and with adequate supernatural substantiations to authenticate him to believers that are open to his apostleship.
I Cor 9:2 - If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
All of today's apostles' supernaturally invested miracle powers are brought forth by God to help His people improve and strengthen their faith. Thus their invested powers also supernaturally authenticate the apostle's authoritative ministry from Jesus to His brethren.
John 4:48 - Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders...you will never believe.
3. Unbelief is the ONLY REASON that Christians don't have apostles in their fellowships today.
Unfortunately, because of the wide spread unbelief about there being even the possibility of a current day ministry of apostles (or prophets for that matter) which is prevalent amongst today's evangelical and most charismatic Christians, none are being sent to them by God. Why should He? He knows that the spiritual powers that He would love to send to them thru His apostles (and prophets) will just be disbelieved because of their lack of faith in the modern day ministry of these high church officers. So He doesn't send them.
Heb 11:6 - ...without faith its impossible to please God...
This particular unbelief originates in evangelical and main stream Christians' pervasive fear of any kind of supernatural things today as having true authenticity from God. Most of today's Christians are afraid that the devil is going to deceive them in anything that involves the supernatural, so they just don't let themselves believe in such things at all!
One of the brethren whom I know had a dream wherein He saw angels stacking beautifully wrapped packages on shelves in a huge, sparkling new warehouse in heaven. In the dream he asked one of the angels why they were doing this and what was in the packages. The angel replied that the beautifully wrapped gifts were those that Christians would not accept from God and that they were being stored away for the Judgment so that their loss could plainly be seen by them!
By trying to avoid Satan's deceptions, Christians end up being deceived by him anyways! Satan first beats them out by enticing them into fearing being deceived by him thru anything supernatural and then he uses this embedded fear to rob them of the faith necessary for them to receive any of God's supernaturally given gifts and powers. The devil loves to use specific fears to rob Christians of elements of Biblical faith, which then leads them to suffer the loss of the benefits that can only come thru their faith in those Biblical elements!
I Cor 3:15 - If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, yet so as thru fire.
Satan may not be able to beat Christians out of their salvation faith, but he's quite willing to settle for crippling them in their ministry to people in this world, which thus also robs them of many of their eternal rewards. So in this regard he tempts Christians into fearing the inauthenticity from God of things supernatural and when they buy into that lie, he then uses their fear to generate their unbelief in 5 very important, obviously supernatural elements which are described in the following major verse on the subject...
I Cor 12:28 - And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues.
Fear of inauthenticity from God for today of the 5 obviously supernatural gifts of apostles, prophets, miracles, healings and tongues mentioned in this verse precludes evangelical and main stream Christians from having faith in any of these gifts as being valid and therefore present today. So for these fearful and unbelieving Christians, they are not present today and until they begin to believe in them, they never will be.
Their unbelief in these gifts could actually be termed as devilish faith because it is belief in a wrong doctrine.
4. Why do charismatic Christian fellowships have only 3 of the 5 obviously supernatural gifts, those of miracles, healings and tongues?
Because charismatics accept and believe in the 3 supernatural gifts of miracles, healings and tongues for today, they have faith in a few more of the words of I Cor 12:28 than do evangelicals and other main stream Christians. So God blesses them with these 3 gifts and all of their benefits in their lives and in their charismatic fellowships. But they fail to get all of the blessings of I Cor 12:28 because they too do not believe all of the words that are there. They don't believe those words that say God appoints apostles and prophets to His church as being relevant for today. So even though they have the 3 supernatural gifts of miracles, healings and tongues manifesting amongst them, they don't have any apostles and prophets in their fellowships.
5. Where can one find a fellowship with Christians who do believe in all five obviously supernatural gifts?
Only the Apostolic Christian fellowships and a small number of non-aligned, home fellowship Christians (of which I am one) believe in all of the words of this verse as being for all churches for all time. So these believing Christians do get all 5 of them from God! But sad to say, these believing Christians are very few in number compared to the vast majority of deceived Christians who have so much unbelief in so many of the words of I Cor 12:28.
So to find fellowship with other like minded believers on this issue, just pray and wait upon the Lord and in due time He will direct you into a church group where these things are practiced.
6. What explains all of the unbelief in these gifts of so many of today's Christians?
II Thessalonians 2:10 - 11 - ...because they did not receive the love of the truth...for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence, so that they will believe what is false...
Evangelicals, charismatics and main stream Christians who don't love the truth that all of the words of I Cor 12:28 are for the ongoing church, will believe Satan's deluding influential falsehood about them. So, using the principle of the above verse, God sends upon them Satan with this delusion thru his favorite method of deceit by which to cripple Christians - wrong doctrine! He fools them into attributing the supernaturally given gifts from God of apostles and prophets as only having been necessary to the establishment of the early church.
But God, in His love and mercy is faithful to also send them the testimony of people who have seen or experienced these supernaturally given gifts and powers to show them that they are caught up in Satanic falsehood. Unfortunately, most of these erroneous Christians, because they do not love all of the truth, are just not open to correction in this regard. So they disregard these believing Christians sincere testimonies and attribute their descriptions of these manifested gifts as being deceitful works of the devil!
However, isn't it ironic that in all Christian churches worldwide today, the supernaturally given gift of Bible teachers is universally accepted and believed in as an ongoing ministry for the church? So are the supernaturally given gifts of helps and administrations. Evangelical and main stream Christians today don't view and shy away from these 3 (not obviously supernatural) gifts in the way they do the other 5 (obviously supernatural) gifts.
This explains why their churches universally have only teacher-pastors, administrators and helps ministries and why they lack the manifested presence and powers of the 5 other extremely powerful, obviously supernatural gifts. If they didn't believe in and thus have these 3 lower level gifts, they wouldn't even be churches! So, in effect they limp along, crippled in their ministries because of wrong doctrine and unbelief, in just the way that Satan delights in seeing them crippled! They operate within only these 3 lower level offices to engage in spiritual warfare with Satan for the salvation of souls and for their own growth in the Lord. They try to do battle without their God ordained, spiritually powerful, apostolic and prophetic leaders and without the ministries of miracles, healings and tongues!
This means that they fight their spiritual battles at a huge disadvantage and they are therefore virtually powerless against many of the devils tactics and strategies to keep them from achieving God's ultimate goals for them. Eventually, this crippling of their powers will even lead, one way or another, to the death of their assembly!
Most of the Christians in the evangelical and main stream churches believe that the God appointed ministries of teaching and administrating are not supernaturally given at all and that they can be learned and performed naturally. That's why they rely upon schooling and not the anointing from the Holy Spirit for the accreditation of teachers and administrators. They also view helps ministries as merely coming from each others inherent generosity, although some of them do concede that somehow God moves within helpers to do their good works.
Yet, if they would really think about it, I Cor 12:28 implies that the 3 gifts of teachers, administrations and helps are actually just as supernaturally given by God as are the other 5 gifts! Pondering this matter a little deeper, they would also realize that people operating within these 3 gifts wouldn't be even able to do so without God's supernatural enabling power and without Christian's belief in the modern day validity of their ministries. So these 3 gifts of teachers, administrations and helps go unheralded as being supernaturally ordained and empowered and, because of this thinking the other 5 obviously supernatural gifts from God of apostles, prophets, miracles, healings and tongues are totally shunned.
If these deceived Christians believed that the 3 gifts that they do accept as being viable ministries for today were supernaturally given by God, then they'd have no excuse for not also accepting the other 5 gifts as being viable for today as well! So, out of the pecking order of I Cor 12:28 they pluck the 3rd gift of teachers and the 6th and 7th gifts of helps and administrations as being all that are valid and acceptable in their churches today. And because they do believe in the validity these 3 gifts, they get them from God and to a degree they are blessed by them. But they are not nearly as blessed as they would be if they also believed in their supernatural origination from God! And because they consider the rest of this verse's 5 listed gifts as being irrelevant for today, God doesn't send any of them so these Christians have to make do without their accompanying powers, blessings and benefits.
I Cor 12:31 - ...earnestly desire the greater gifts (listed in verse 28).
God offers and encourages Christians everywhere to desire these 5 (obviously supernatural) gifts as well as the other 3, and especially the first 2 gifts of apostles and prophets but He will not send them without Christians having the faith to reach out to receive them from Him as gifts for them for today.
7. Belief in any of the gifts of I Cor 12:28 brings their manifestation.
Because charismatic Christians do believe in the validity for today of 3 of the 5 supernaturally given gifts, those of miracles, tongues and healings, they get them and they are blessed by them. Furthermore, Apostolics and some non-aligned Christians get the gifts of miracles, tongues and healings from God also and, because they believe in all 5 of these gifts as being valid for today, they also get the 2 gifts of prophets and apostles that the charismatics do not get.
The fact that both groups have the faith for, and then get and practice the obviously supernatural gifts that they believe in, should prove to all Christians everywhere that all of the gifts in I Cor 12:28 are true and valid gifts from God for today's churches.But they don't and in the process they are convinced by Satan to demonize as false those who do when actually is just the other way around.
8. What do the Scriptures say about these gifts validity for today?
Should not all Christians believe that God put this list of gifts to the church into the particular pecking order that He did within I Cor 12:28, just to preclude the false arguments and consequent false doctrine that some harbor of their non-validity for today? The verse says that the gifts of miracles and healings come after the gift of teachers but before the gifts of helps and administrations, so how can evangelicals and main stream Christians who believe in teachers, helps and administrators be so presumptuous as to ignore this fact by leaving miracles and healings out of their mix?
And should not Christians believe what I Cor 1:2 says about the entire book of I Corinthians (obviously including I Cor 12:28) being written to ALL PEOPLE IN EVERY PLACE who call upon the name of the Lord? Does this verse just mean all people in every place only way back when the book was written and not for all time? If it means that, then why do those with charismatic or apostolic faith experience the manifestation of these gifts today?
I Cor 12:31 - But earnestly desire the greater gifts.If the correct interpretation of I Cor 1:2 is that this particular book is for all generations of Christians, then should not all Christians today earnestly desire all of the gifts as they are exhorted to do in I Corinthians 12:31, especially the greater gifts of apostles and prophets?
Heb 13:8 - Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.
According to John 1:14, the Jesus Christ mentioned in the verse above is the Word of God made flesh. So the Word of God, which contains I Cor 1:2's statement about that particular book being written to all Christians everywhere, is therefore the same yesterday, today and forever. Do not the verses I Cor 1:2 and Heb 13:8 shown above apply to every Christian everywhere, not just to those of the past early church formation? Do these verses not include those Christians from then on thru now and into the future, thus utterly decimating the false doctrine that so many Christians believe that these gifts were only for the early church?
9. The physical proof of these gifts being present in today's Christian world.
Go to visit any of the many, many, many Apostolic and charismatic fellowships' and see for yourself just what the incorporation of belief in these supernatural gifts brings forth. You'll see each of these supernaturally given gifts that each of these fellowships believe in, manifested beautifully (not devilishly) in their meetings and amongst their leaders. Tune into any of the charismatic religious TV shows and watch the healings occurring on their programs and listen to the testimonies given there of all of the modern day miracles that occur for their viewers. All of these Bible believing, God praising charismatic fellowships and TV shows can't just be agents of the devil as so many evangelical and main stream Christians have been led by their leaders to believe.
These misguided leaders condemn sincere, true apostolic and charismatic Christians as being those who are deceived by Satan, when they are the ones who are deceived as they continue to justify their own false and crumbling doctrine of unbelief in so many of the words of I Cor 12:28! These evangelicals and mainstream Christians have been rooted in this unbelief for hundreds of years so it is now extremely entrenched in their traditionals, which makes the problem even worse than a simple lack of faith.
Matthew 15:6b - ...you make the word of God of no effect because of your traditions10. Are there eternal consequences for embracing the false doctrine of unbelief in these gifts being valid for today!
I Corinthians 3:13b - 14 - The fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. If any man's work (this includes a person's doctrines) which he has built upon...(his belief in the Lord Jesus Christ)...remains, he will receive a reward. (But) if any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss (my own parenthetical comments).
It takes a belief in all that the Word of God actually says about these supernatural gifts from God to reach a correct doctrine about them. Embracing and upholding any wrong doctrines about them will ultimately result in a Christian's shame before God and his or her loss of rewards. Do you want those consequences for yourself? I sure don't!
II Tim 2:15 - Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the Word of truth.11. How do people appropriate these gifts?
Judges 6:13 - ...where are all of God's miracles which our fathers told us about?
For any of today's Christians to once again receive these blessed gifts which He has always been offering to them, it takes firm faith in the correct interpretation of the Word of God that tells about them.
Rom 10:17 - So faith comes from hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ.To get any supernatural gifts or powers from God, a person's faith must be very strong in the correct interpretation of all of the Scriptures on the subject. Especially when considering the pressure against these things coming from the vast majority of misguided Christians who do not believe in them as being valid for today. Once Christians have firm faith for these gifts to manifest today, then God will send them to empower them and their fellowships for full blown spiritual warfare. But this will only happen when Christians believe the truth of all of the words of I Cor 12:28.
12. My testimony about my own apostleship from the Lord.
Romans 15:18 - For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished thru me...
I know first hand about modern day apostleship because when I first felt called upon by Jesus into believing that I was being appointed as an apostle for today, I struggled to believe it. And since finding the truth about this gift's validity for today, I have been forced to battle long and hard against the evil pressures that Satan sends against this belief of mine. Satan delights in bringing forth this pressure thru the incorrect opinions of so many well-meaning but very Satanically misguided Christian brethren and their leaders.
The Lord began to substantiate my apostolic call to me by sending me a huge sign (described in march 2008's entry 3). Right after that, every day for a week, He sent a couple of His beautiful sheep to join with me in a new home fellowship. Because of my Baptist background, I still struggled with the idea about being a modern day apostle. But immediately we began to experience many signs and wonders in our meetings and in our personal lives that confirmed to all the validity of my apostolic appointment.
Acts 5:12 - At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people...
After the group had been established for a while, in spite of all the exciting things that were constantly occurring amongst us, the devil used a popular radio minister to deceive one of our more studious brothers. That minister's radio sermon taught that there was no such thing as a true modern day apostle because apostles were only sent by God to start up the early churches and to establish the New Testament Scriptures. Therefore, he concluded that they were no longer needed after that and he preached that Satanic lie well.
After hearing this preacher's message, this dear brother came to me and told me that as a result of that radio minister's worldwide evangelical acclaim and his powerful teaching against the current day presence of the apostolic gift (since all Christians everywhere now have the original apostles' New Testament writings and don't need them anymore), that he could no longer have faith in my apostleship over him or over the other brethren.
His unexpected denouncement of my ministry led me to quickly make a heart prayer to God for guidance. Instantly it came to mind to suggest to him that he should probably remove himself from under my authority since he obviously now viewed me as being a false apostle. He agreed with that statement and sadly, we parted company. Then I prayed for God to bless him wherever he went because perhaps he was right and I was not really an apostle at all or if I truly was, he was meant to not be under my ministry!
A few days later the brother called me on the telephone and said that as a result of some extremely difficult events that began occurring just as soon as we parted, including almost getting killed, he had come to realize that he went out of grace in departing from Jesus ministry to him thru me as his apostle and he wanted to come back under my authority. Of course I was relieved that he was still with us and had returned to faith in God's apostolic workings thru me. So I eagerly welcomed him back and we resumed our mutually beneficial ministry where we had left off. And right away good things began to occur in his life and many signs and wonders continued to occur.
Acts 2:43b - ...many wonders and signs were taking place thru the apostles.Then he and I and other members of our home fellowship attributed these events as being further substantiating signs and wonders from God of my true apostolic ministry from Him to them. We also saw these events as confirmation of the false teaching on this subject by that otherwise fine Christian radio minister.
13. Conclusion
As was stated at the beginning of this teaching, true apostles are not self-appointed and they need to be tested. If they are truly from God, He will testify to their authenticity with His peace about it and He will cause substantiating wonders and signs to take place thru, near and around that apostle.
Numbers 32:23 - Be sure your sin will find you out
If the so-called apostle is not from God, the testing process will find him out.
Rev 2:2 - I know...that you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false..
So please do not just accept my claim and my testimony here of being an apostle from Jesus just because I have claimed to be one. Instead, pray to the Lord to substantiate the truth of it to you, in a way that you can understand. Then you can rely upon Him to testify to you as to whether I have been appointed by Him as an apostolic teacher to you here for your betterment. If I am truly being sent by Him to you, then He will do what it takes to convince you of that. If I'm not, He won't and in such a case you should write a comment to me here about it and then depart from my influence.
I believe that God has moved events in my life to take me away from most of my previous apostolic work and that He has been preparing me to now work electronically on this knol, and on another networking website (which is under construction at this time) to minister almost exclusively to those of you whom He sends to these sites. I believe that He is sending me (in spirit) and my messages (with the power of the Holy Spirit) thru the Internet via these 2 websites to awaken Christians everywhere to the viability of modern day apostleship and prophecy and to open willing minds to faith in their reality.
I Cor 12:31 - But earnestly desire the greater gifts.
My job here, as I see it from God, is to begin by humbly attempting to bring you into faith in the truths of the Words of the Bible about the great supernatural gifts of apostleship and prophecy. Then, once you grasp and believe them, I believe that I'm to take you on into teachings on many of the other gifts from God and about God's supernatural powers which are available to all believers today. To prove to you that Jesus wants me to minister as an apostle to you, I believe that He will send you His peace about it and accompanying signs and wonders to substantiate each of my teachings as being legitimately from Him and worthwhile to the improvement of your lives.
Again however, let me caution you to not accept my self-proclamation here (or anyone else's about their apostleship for that matter). Never believe such a claim as being true without first praying to God and asking for Him to validate or repudiate it in a way that you can understand and then patiently waiting for His movement to do so.
Rom 14:22a - the faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God...
Then, reach your own conclusions and convictions of faith before God about all of this and walk in them. The failure of people to study Scriptures for themselves and then to seek God in prayer asking for Him to validate to them in a way that they can understand the truth or falsehood of what they think to be some truth and then to patiently wait for that validation, is what leads people astray. Without doing all of these things people can be misguided by the ravenous wolves in sheep's clothing of false ministers and then fall into their phony religious activities and cult traps.
II Cor 13:7 - Now I pray to God that you may do no wrong; not that I myself may appear approved, but that you may do what is right, even though I may appear unapproved.
I may not be approved by God for ministry to every single person who reads this writing, so please seek out the Lord diligently (as just described) as to whether or not I am to be an apostolic minister to you. Remember, because of the fact that we will be communicating only thru comments, I will not know who you really are and you will not know who I really am. Therefore, even though we will be in communication with one another, because we do not meet in person, we will still remain anonymous to one another. Consequently, the truth of who each of us really is will not become actually become known to us until we stand at the Judgment of God, when eventually we will meet. So, what goes on here has eternal implications for each of us which I take very seriously, as I hope that you will also.
Luke 12:48c - Great gifts mean great responsibilities; greater gifts, greater responsibilities! (The Message Bible)I don't wish to incur any eternal losses in any of this as I'm sure that you don't either, so be very serious and careful about all of this.
I Cor 3:15 - If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss...
B. How may an apostle be substantiated?
Image via WikipediaAll apostles must be tested in order to prove that the Lord Jesus Christ has truly chosen them and empowered them for ministry.
I John 4:1 - Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God because many false (apostles) have gone out into the world.
1. Humility
The first and foremost characteristic to look for in any so-called apostle is that he is extremely humble and self effacing, just as were all of the apostles described in the Bible.
James 4:6 - ...God gives grace to the humble but resists the proud.
That means that the very first test you should give to any so-called apostle is to carefully observe his behavior for consistent, deep humility. He may be confident in his apostolic calling but he should not be in any way inflated about having it. Rather he should be meek and humble and lowly among you. Any evidence that you detect of pride or self-exalting about being an apostle (or about anything else for that matter) is a warning from God to beware of that so-called apostle's ministry.
Matthew 7:15 -16 - Beware of false prophets (and apostles), who come to you dressed as (outwardly humble) sheep, but inside they are devouring wolves. You will fully recognize them by their fruits (of self inflation, self-exaltation, greed, etc.).
An apostle's great humility is required in order for him or her to appropriate God's grace (God's power and authority) by which to operate effectively within his office. If any professing apostle does not have great humility, he cannot possibly be a true apostle of the Lord because he, in his pride, will be resisted by the Lord and therefore will have no grace by which to bring forth God's power in the exercise of his office. The apostle Paul, because of his great knowledge of God, was even given assistance by the Lord to stay humble!
II Corinthians 12:7b - ...to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me--to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness..."
If a true apostle (who should always be humbly learning and growing in the Lord just as anyone else should be) leaves humility at any time, he immediately falls from God's grace and loses all of his apostolic powers and authority from God because God will resist that apostle until he repents and returns to humility. Grace can only be appropriated and function to bring forth God's powers apostolically for the brethren when an apostle humbly reaches up to God for it.
Numbers 12:3 - 4a - Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth, and SUDDENLY THE LORD (MOVED!)...
The amazing powers and miracles brought forth by God thru Moses could only have been manifested thru him because of his extremely humble spirit. God, of course, knew His man and picked Moses as His vessel thru which to perform all of His miraculous works in Egypt because He knew that Moses could be led into reducing himself enough to appropriate the tremendous dose of grace needed to bring all of them forth.
The same is true of the ministry of any true apostle from Jesus in the past and today. Apostleship is not a gift that can manifest if the so-called apostle has a spirit or attitude of pride or self-exaltation, because God will always always resist that pride.
So, always, always, always, look for consistent humility first in any so-called apostle, when putting him to the test.
2. Strong Faith
When any Christian's humility is firmly in place, that humility combined with their firm faith then works together to bring forth great power and miracles from God to accomplish His purposes. This principle holds true especially for His modern day apostles. Strong faith is just as important as humility, but without both working together, an apostle cannot be used to bring forth God's powerful workings.
So the second test of the apostle is - does he have great faith in God (and in all of His Word), combined with great humility? At the end of the apostle Paul's ministry he wrote that he had kept the faith that Jesus had given to him to conduct his ministry and that he had fought the good fight of it and that when he died he would then deliver it back intact to his battle captain, the Lord Jesus Christ (I Tim 4:7 - Amplified Bible). Any true apostle today needs to have the same humble and faithful attitude at all times.
Hebrews 11:6 - WITHOUT FAITH - IT IS IMPOSSIBLE to please God...
Humble faith in God and His Word is necessary to appropriate His salvation power in one's life. Great faith is also necessary within an apostle in order for him to successfully appropriate God's authority and great miracle power by which to work all sorts of wonders for the betterment of the believers to whom he is sent. The apostle's God-given strong faith working thru his great humility is what brings forth miracles and signs and wonders from God. Consequently, strong faith combined with great humility must be present in the apostle's teachings and confessions in order for him to begin to be judged as maybe being a true apostle from the Lord today.
A Biblical instance of this concept is when, after an amazing apostolic healing miracle had occurred, Peter said to the incredulous onlooking crowd...
Acts 3:12 - 16 - Why are you amazed at this (healing miracle), or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk?...It is on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given this man his perfect health in the presence of you all.
Peter did not grab for any glory to himself or his companion over this amazing healing miracle (of a man lame from birth who was now walking and running and leaping for joy)! Instead he immediately and humbly gave all of the glory for it to the faith which originated and came to him and the lame man from Jesus Christ and which manifested upon the lame man thru Peter's bold, faith-filled use of Jesus name. Peter was totally self-effacing as he emphatically and humbly denied that his own piety had anything to do with this miracle. Here in these verses, faith and humility within an apostle are clearly displayed as Peter gives the Lord Jesus Christ all of the glory for this amazing miracle healing.
3. Biblical Love
The 3rd test of a so-called apostle is the test of Biblical love which is described fully in the passages below.
I Cor 12:31b - 13:8 - ...(these passages come right after a complete discussion of all of the amazing supernaturally given spiritual gifts that we are to earnestly desire. Here, Paul proceeds to put these gifts into context)...
I show you A STILL MORE EXCELLENT WAY! If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have LOVE, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have LOVE, it profits me nothing.
LOVE is patient, LOVE is kind and is not jealous; LOVE does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; LOVE does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. LOVE never fails!
But if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; etc..
The true apostle of the Lord will have this kind of enduring Biblical love for everyone to whom he ministers, even for those who reject him. He will always consider the Lord's LOVE to be the greatest gift that he can share with the brethren, considering it as being of even more importance than any of the powerful, miraculous gifts that come from God.
Apostle testers should look carefully for all of these I Corinthians 12 love qualities in any so-called apostle before accepting his or her ministry as coming to them from God.
4. Truth
A true apostle from God will only teach that which is Biblically true and correct. And he will teach it humbly, faithfully and lovingly so as to help each of the brethren to grow in their faith. Therefore, the 4th test of the so-called apostle is to insure that he only brings forth teachings that all of the testing brethren agree are Biblically correct and truthful.
Ephesians 4:15 - ...speaking the truth in love we are to grow up in all aspects into...Christ.
The apostle's teaching of Biblical truth is discernible by the internal approval of the Holy Spirit of Christ within the minds and spirits of each of the testing brethren. When the apostle is truly from the Lord, the testing brethren will sense Jesus himself actually speaking truth thru him!
Luke 24:32 (the brethren) said to one another, "Were not our hearts burning within us while He (Jesus looking like another man) was speaking...explaining the Scriptures to us?"
If Jesus Christ has truly sent the apostle then He is with and in that apostle. So his teachings and interpretations of the Scriptures will be ignited within the hearts of his hearers as Jesus Christ Himself speaks thru him. When the so-called apostle lives and breathes the truths of God's Word the apostle testers will sense Christ's glory manifesting out from within him.
John 1:14 - And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
5. Substantiating signs and wonders from God
Once brethren feel that the person being presented as an apostle has passed all of the above tests, then that person is probably a legitimate, God-sent apostle. But just to be certain, the testers can expect that signs and wonders will accompany him.
However, TESTING BRETHREN SHOULD NEVER LOOK FOR SIGNS OR WONDERS to come forth to substantiate that person! What is meant by these seemingly contradictory statements? Just spend a moment pondering the following...
Matthew 16:4 - An evil and adulterous generation SEEKS AFTER A SIGN; and a sign will not be given...
The SEEKING FOR SIGNS TO BE GIVEN BY GOD thru the apostle is not the way in which God will substantiate his or her apostolic ministry to testers.
Heb 11:6b ...(God) is a rewarder of those who SEEK HIM!
Instead, testers should SEEK THE LORD HIMSELF on the matter of somehow supernaturally substantiating that apostle's authenticity for them. But never, never, never should they seek for any substantiating sign or wonder itself to do it!
Mark 16:17 - ...signs will accompany those who have believed...
Accompanying signs will be given by God to substantiate a person's apostolic ministry to testers ONCE THEY BELIEVE THAT GOD WILL CONFIRM OR DENY HIM IN SOME WAY TO THEM and then after they WAIT UPON THE LORD to do so.
Testers can expect for God to move somehow to substantiate any of His true apostles but let me emphasize again, THEY SHOULD NEVER SEEK FOR SIGNS TO SUBSTANTIATE THAT APOSTLE! Instead, they should always seek the Lord Himself and wait upon Him to move in their life in some way that they will be able to understand in order to authenticate or denounce the so-called apostle.
Then, should that person not be legitimately from God, Jesus will bring forth something by which to clearly show the testers that he is actually a false apostle. But if that person is truly and legitimately one of Jesus Christ's modern day apostles, God is sure to bring forth substantiating signs and wonders to confirm his or her power as an apostle to them.
Acts 4: 33 - ...and with GREAT POWER the apostles were giving testimony
The following is a testimony on this principle of never seeking for signs and wonders...
One day a dear brother in our home fellowship (who is a confirmed prophet and who had experienced many, many signs and wonders almost daily from the Lord for a long time) came to me and told me that he hadn't experienced any signs from God for weeks and he could not figure out why. He said that he really missed the comfort of being given them by the Lord.
So, after a heart prayer to the Lord for guidance, I felt led to ask him if he had been seeking for signs. He said that he had. So I routed him to Matthew 16:4 and Mark 16:17 (shown above) and explained this principle of signs accompanying believing in the Lord but that they are never given to those who seek for them.
He immediately realized the truth of this teaching and his own misguidance. So he repented of his wrong approach in this area and then he again sought the Lord on his questions and began to wait upon Him for His answers to them. Rapidly, things happened to answer one of his most important questions! He then rejoiced in the clarity of the answer that came to him in those wonderful and very welcome comforting signs from the Lord.
This testimony well illustrates why we always should be seeking the Lord and His guidance in any matter, but we should never seek for signs and wonders themselves.
6. Conclusion
The testing of any so-called apostle involves careful observation by the brethren of that person's attitudes and behavior. The testing brethren should be especially watchful for
(2) strong faith
(3) sincere Biblical love
(4) that person's espousal of truths which can be substantiated by an internal movement of the Holy Spirit which gives the testers peace that his teachings are correct interpretations of the Scriptures.
(5) Signs and wonders showing the validity or falseness of that person's apostolic ministry.
Now, before going any further, the reader might want to put my so-called apostle's spiritual feet to this 5 point fire. How do you do this? Well, since you won't actually meet me, just as you have not ever met any of the Biblical apostles, you can only go by my writings, just as you have to go by theirs. But unlike Biblical apostles, I am not claiming to write new Scriptures, only to quote those that exist already as they (and their principles) apply within my teachings.
If theses teachings pass this muster with you then just pray and wait upon the Lord to further confirm my apostolic ministry to you by sending you some kind of substantiating signs and wonders. You might not want to go any further in this writing until this happens for you. You might want to wait upon the Lord's guidance before proceeding any further into my teachings.
This is how I believe that any modern day apostle's ministry is substantiated to all of us by God. So, if you too believe this, then please wait upon the Lord's good pleasure to substantiate (or denounce?) my apostolic ministry to you.
C. What are the signs & wonders that substantiate a God-given apostle?
I can only give you my own testimonies of those that I believe that God has sent to me or to others. Let me remind you however, a Christian's major attention should always be on the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word, not on the signs and wonders that He sends forth thru and for His believing children. They are only meant to be substantiations from God, not things to be sought after.
So here are my testimonies of some of the events that have occurred in my life that I believe are signs and wonders truly from God...
1. Proof from Jesus to me of my appointment by Him as His Apostle!
One warm fall afternoon, while I was first struggling with what I felt might be the Lord's call within me to become a modern day apostle, I was sitting at a bandstand in a park near my home. I was meditating upon the beginning verses in James Chapter 1 that are all about the testing of our faith. Because of my mental discomfort from these thoughts which kept plaguing me about this huge matter and because of the severe trials then in my personal life, I felt that I was being so tested.
Well, there I sat struggling with whether the thoughts in my mind about apostleship were coming from God or from myself or from some demon trying to tempt me to exalt myself. I wanted to step forward and embrace this office if it was truly God's will for me to do so, yet I didn't want to be in any way presumptuous. Fully engrossed in this decision making, I didn't notice some people from a band that were active in the core of the park's bandstand, setting up for the evening's entertainment.
Isaiah 8:11 - ...the LORD spoke to me with mighty power...
All of a sudden one of the band setup guys hollers into a microphone, "James! Testing! Testing 1 - 2! James! Testing! Testing 1 - 2!" Well, the band's huge speakers must have been set at their highest volume so that booming voice shouting out from them, using that name (which is my first name) and declaring a testing with those numbers (which coincided exactly with the Scriptures from James upon which I was meditating) sounded to me just like the voice of Almighty God!
Deuteronomy 4:11 -12 - You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain (this high calling of God to become an apostle)
and the mountain burned with fire (severe, painful testings) to the very heart of the heavens (symbolizing the topmost spiritual church office of apostleship);
darkness, cloud and thick gloom (my certainty of much loss in this pursuit and my uncertainty of how to proceed in it and where it would all lead).
Then the Lord spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of words, but you saw no form - only a voice!
I literally jumped out of my seat in fear at the immensity of the sound of that voice and in the huge coincidence of the setup guy's use of those words. As a result of that booming voice and what it said, I immediately perceived this as a substantiating sign to me from God that He was the one who was actually bringing these thoughts to me, not myself alone or some clever Satanic tempter. I felt right then and there that these thoughts were truly a test from God of my faith about the validity of the gift of apostleship for today and at the same time they were a specific test of my willingness to become one.
Deuteronomy 4:36 - Out of the heavens He let you hear His voice to discipline you...
After I heard that fearsome, booming voice I felt that it might quite possibly be God's way of telling me that He was testing me to see if I would believe in and move on into an apostolic ministry. So if it was, I wanted to proceed into the office and please God. But the thought of so doing was also fearsome and that created a temptation to disbelieve in the voice and shrink away from the whole idea!
Hebrews 3:7 -8 - ...just as the Holy Spirit says, "TODAY, IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, do not harden your hearts...(and) provoke Me!
So just to be sure that this sign was truly from God, I prayed and asked Him to further substantiate my apostolic ministry from Him by sending me some other Christians who would also believe that my apostleship was truly His calling and not some Satanic deception.
II Cor 13:1b - ...every fact is to be confirmed by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
Within a week I had met and begun to fellowship with 10 new people (one or two every day) besides the couple of brothers with whom I had been confiding all along. This was a dozen people seeking to disciple with Christ with me! And it wasn't very long after that that, just as I had felt might happen, I suffered the loss of all of the worldly things that had been the mainstays my life.
Philippians 3:8b - 9 - ...I (the apostle) have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ and may be found in Him...having...the the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith!
But as those losses of mine were gradually unfolding, these newly found brethren all agreed to meet with me one evening and our discussion turned to the subject of baptism.
For myself, I had come to believe that baptism should be performed immediately upon believing in the Lord Jesus Christ as one's Savior. So I explained to all of them about how, in the book of Acts, all of the baptisms described were done immediately and in the name of Jesus and also how, at the end of the book of Matthew we are told to do baptisms in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. So, since I had just been baptized myself in this manner, I proposed that they all might want to do the same.
We discussed this for a while and then reached agreement that technically Biblically, immediate baptism both in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ as well as the name of the Father and the Holy Spirit is what should be done. None of these Christians had yet been so baptized, therefore they then agreed to do so all together and quickly.
However, the cool fall weather prevented us from going right down to a nearby river to do it. Instead the Lord used that cold weather to lead us into another setting that He had prepared for the baptisms. He guided us there by having us soon discover that we could rent a small beginner's swimming pool at the YMCA in town for only $25 per hour (1980's pricing).
We felt that this would be a fine place to do the baptisms in warmth (our faith was not yet strong enough for cold water baptisms!), so we all pitched in a few bucks and rented the pool for one hour which would be plenty of time in which to do them all (of course not realizing that God had a surprise waiting there for us).
So, when we paid the pool rental fee, the YMCA manager insisted that they provide us with a lifeguard. We accepted this, thinking that a lifeguard was not really necessary for what we would be doing in the pool and not realizing this was the Lord's brilliant doing. So, the next night while the lifeguard was watching, I performed each baptism under this young man's gaze. I felt the Lord leading me to preach a strong fire and brimstone gospel message as a part of the baptisms in hopes that the lifeguard might be touched by the message.
Sure enough he was and when we were done baptizing the last person he asked excitedly, "Hey, before you go, can I get baptized too? I don't want to go to hell!" So we told him to repent of his sins to God and truly believe in the Lord Jesus Christ in his heart for his salvation. When he said that he just silently did that, I then baptized him also, to the glory of God. This was God's surprise first fruit of our small apostolic church fellowship!
To me all of these events were signs from the Lord that He had truly selected me to function as a modern day apostle and that He was the One bringing everyone together as He built this small church fellowship.
The following is a testimony of how God shortly thereafter supported my apostolic appointment from Him during a major testing.
I was staying with a lovely married couple and their three children at their invitation in a suburban town near Chicago. This couple had great gospel musical abilities and they were becoming known in some Christian circles in the area. They had joined up with our fellowship and offered us their home as a place in which for our group to meet. They looked to me as being an apostle sent to them by God to help them to grow in the Lord. Together, we had many Holy Spirit led sessions of Bible teachings with many, many signs and wonders occurring.
Mark 16:20 - ...the Lord worked with them and confirmed the Word by the signs that followed.
One day the leader of a larger, more established home fellowship in their town came to visit with them when I was not there and in the course of their discussion suggested that they join his group. They sensed that he craved to use their music ministry to expand his fellowship, so they balked at that idea and told him that they believed that I was a God-given apostle sent to them to help them and they felt that they should stay with me and our small group. So disappointed, he left and said that he'd come back when I was there so that he could meet with me, which he soon did.
Meanwhile, when I heard of his visit and what he had proposed to them, I began praying for guidance to see whether or not The Lord was leading us to merge our group in with his since he had been in the faith much longer than I had. When he arrived, we all sat down and engaged in some small talk for a while. But the conversation soon became stilted, and he left.
Later he called the man of the house and told him that he had met many apostles in his day and that he was certain that I was not an apostle!
Luke 22:53 - ...this is your hour, and your delegated authority and the power of the darkness...
He then counseled my friend to send me away and join up with him and bring the rest of the fellowship along too. The man of the house responded that he would take his recommendation into advisement and pray about it.
Luke 22:31 - Satan, by asking, obtained you...for himself...that he may shake you in a sieve, as grain is sifted, by an inward agitation, trying your faith to the verge of overthrow! (Kenneth Wuest's expanded translation of the New Testament)
So he prayed for God to reveal to him just what he should do because he was becoming upset about this matter. This established minister's denouncement of my apostleship was severely shaking his faith in it, making him quite uncertain about it.
A couple of days later this minister came by to inform him that the person who was providing him and his large family with a free house there in town had just unexpectedly notified him that he needed him to immediately move out. His landlord told this minister that he needed the house back right away for use by his own family. This minister then mentioned that the donations in his fellowship had been down and because of this reduced income the only place that he could think of to move into on such short notice was 800 miles away, as a guest of his family on their farm.
Then this minister confided to him that he had never before in his life felt so powerless from God for this kind of a situation and he couldn't understand why the Lord was letting this happen to him. He went on to say that even though he did not want to do so, this event was forcing him to send his church fellowship to another minister and move away immediately.
Proverbs 26:27 - Whoso diggeth a pit (for another) shall fall therein.
A few days later, he phoned to tell him that he was safely there. This was the last any of us heard or saw of him. So in this manner the Lord settled with finality the matter that I had been praying about of whether or not to merge the 2 fellowships under him and to also restore firm faith within the man of the house in my apostolic ministry to him and his family. He soon told me that he viewed this minister's removal from the area as an answer from God to his prayer about my true apostleship.
Luke 22:32 - But as for myself, I made petition for you that your faith should not be totally eclipsed. And as for you, when you have returned to your original position with respect to your faith, stabilize your brethren. (Kenneth Wuest's expanded translation of the New Testament)
He soon shared this whole testimony with all of our church brethren and that helped to also stabilize their faith in my ministry as being truly from the Lord.
Luke 23:34 - ..."Father, forgive them, they know not what they do"
I was still new at apostleship then so unfortunately I didn't pray whole-heartedly for this misguided minister's well-being as I should have. This was because his opposition and ankle-biting hurt me personally and deep down I felt that he got what he deserved from God. But today I'm more experienced and confident and loving in my role as an apostle of the Lord, so whenever he now comes to mind, I pray for God's best for him and his family.
As I said in my first entry in this blog, the devil loves to stir up strife by using misguided Christians to attack other Christians who are on a good track. But God forgives the ones at fault and works to correct them and He can be counted upon to eventually help any Christian who is truly seeking Him and His wisdom to find the truth for any matter.
Hebrews 11:6b - ...He rewards those who seek Him.
God will show them how to get past any devilish assaults that are being perpetrated by Satan upon them thru erroneous brethren.
Ephesians 6:12 - For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.2. Manifestation Prophecy
I Corinthians 9:1b - ...have I not seen Jesus our Lord?
I had been praying for years for guidance from God about finding the truth of His will in so many issues that were pertinent to my life. Yet I believed that Jesus couldn't come to visit me to instruct me himself because His next appearance on earth is reserved for His 2nd coming. But, because of the many doctrinal errors that I felt that I was perceiving in every Bible teacher's teachings which I had been encountering, I felt all alone against all of them. So I just wished that somehow He would come and instruct me Himself so that I would get all of these things right. I wanted to really know the truth of His Word about the many doctrines floating around today that seemed to me to be contradicting it. Well, did Jesus have a surprise for me!
Matthew 19:26b - with God all things are possibleOne beautiful spring morning He did an entirely unexpected and totally thrilling thing for me that had never entered my mind as being possible. He led me to drive out to a local park in my van with one of the young sisters in our fellowship. We went to a place where we could privately pray for a while. I was in the driver's seat and she was sitting on the couch in the back when we arrived at a good place and started to pray silently to the Lord.
All of a sudden I heard her call my name. But her voice was different? It was somehow very commanding! So I opened my eyes and turned to look at her. Well, there she was sitting in the center of the couch with an extremely noble quality to her posture! So, unsure of what was happening, I asked her, "Did you call me?" to which she responded, "Jim, I the Lord Jesus Christ who came in the flesh, have called the two of you to come out here this morning so that I could talk with you and answer your questions!"
I John 4:2 - This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God...Instantly I knew that this was not her speaking but that it was the Lord Jesus Christ Himself somehow possessing her and speaking thru her mouth! Her voice had somehow become the most regal voice imaginable and her demeanor was utterly majestic.
John 7:46 - ...No man speaks as this man speaks!
This was definitely not her voice or manner! So instantly, tears began flying from my eyes like machine gun bullets! I knew that right there in my van in that park, somehow thru her I was being addressed by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself! For Him to converse with me is what I had for so long hoped to happen but it was being done in a fashion of which I had never heard or read anywhere. But later I found it in the following Scriptures...
I Samuel 10:6 - Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you mightily...and you will be turned into another man...and the Spirit of God came mightily upon him, and he spoke under divine inspiration among them.
So thru my tears I timidly asked, "Is that you Lord?" to which He responded, "Yes it is I. I've been sent here today in response to your many prayers to My Father asking for Me to help you find the truths for which you are longing." Well at this statement I was struck speechless! So, in awe, I just kept looking at Him (in her) but He kept her eyes shut while He patiently sat there, waiting for me to recover from my initial shock over all of this.
It took a while but eventually I stopped crying enough to lamely ask Him where she was? He then explained that He had her spirit in a pleasant place while both she and I were experiencing this gift from God which He called Manifestation Prophecy. He explained that this is a supernatural gift wherein His Holy Spirit takes possession of a willing person and uses that person as a vessel to converse in human form with the brethren.
He then said that He came in this manner to me because He had given me enough faith to believe that it was truly Him so doing. He said that when we were done conversing, I was to go back to my brethren in the fellowship and help them to also believe in this gift. He said that I was to tell them that if they could have the faith for it, He would come thru her again that evening to converse with them also!
Needless to say I was thrilled beyond belief at His appearance but there was of course a tiny doubt within me about the genuineness of such a manifestation since I had never heard nor read about such a thing up until then. Could she be faking it for some reason or could Satan be possessing her and tricking me? After all, the Scriptures say that the devil can come as an angel of light! So I proceeded to ask Him in her a few questions that I felt that she, in her newly embraced but still uneducated faith, could not possibly know herself.
One question I asked was about the greatness of His original disciples / apostles compared to other Christians. He surprised me by telling me thru her how those men saw Him and walked with Him and experienced all that He had to say and all of His miracles for years and they still had trouble really believing in Him. Yet thereafter, all Christians have just read a book of words or heard preaching of those words and testimonies of Him and thru that alone they have been able to firmly believe in Him. So why would God consider the original apostles any greater than those who never saw Him and yet still believed?
J0hn 20:29 - ... Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
This answer and this verse have been food for thought for me ever since it was so given to me, especially because I believe that I also am now one of those He refers to as having seen Him! But technically, the truth is that I didn't really see Him in His own flesh. My encounter with Him manifesting in her is still a matter of my own personal faith that it was truly from God.
Hebrews 11:6 - Without faith it is impossible to please God for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him!
That is the brilliance of God in rewarding me with this Manifestation Prophecy gift because it is an encounter with God that must still be accepted by faith, even after testing it (but not God) with pointed questions (which I made of the Spirit within the person)!Another question that I asked of Him manifesting in her was where the original autographs of the Scriptures are now? She could not have possibly known the answer to this question since she probably never even heard of the term Biblical autographs. So I felt that it was a good test of the validity of the Manifestation. He in her blew me away and proved that she was not the one giving me the answer by saying very matter of factly, "In Heaven."
Well, of course they're in heaven! But when I asked that question I never even considered that fact, because my evil heart was masking some evil intentions of which I was not consciously aware. I was only conscious of the fact that this question was merely a test of the girl and of the Manifestation. That's why I was referring to the original earthly parchments of the Scriptures. I consciously felt that I was merely testing her and the Manifestation Spirit with it, but not the Lord Himself.
I John 4:1 - ...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.
However, in giving me this answer, He revealed to me another evil motive for asking this question which was stuck deep down in my deceitful heart. That motive was that had He answered me with an earthly place in which to find them, I would have become exceedingly proud! After all, would not finding the original autographs of the Scriptures be the greatest discovery ever for mankind! And where would little old phony me have been when I exposed the press to the secret earthly location of these original autographs? Wicked me would have been right in the center of that discovery, grabbing for glory while feigning humility!
Jeremiah 17:10 - I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
Luke 24:32a (the brethren) said to one another, "Were not our hearts burning within us while He (Jesus) was speaking...?"
Knowing the pain in me from this conviction of my deceitful heart's deep seated proud motive, He then encouraged me to be at peace. He repeatedly exhorted me to peace during His manifestation because every question I posed to Him would bring an answer that I did not expect and that would force me to face my own deceitful heart's reasons for asking it! So pretty soon, in reverent fear, I became afraid to ask questions of Him.
Ecclesiastes 5:2 - Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God...therefore let your words be few!
But I was so thrilled and excited at this wonderful, supernatural gift of Jesus Christ actually appearing to me to converse with me, that I didn't absorb all of the really deep stuff that was occurring at the time. Most of it came to me much later. That morning I was just out of my mind with joy at this amazing gift from God of the Lord's personal appearance to me ! I was more excited than I've ever been before in my entire life!
Yet, as I ran out of questions the Lord in her suggested that we stop and He would leave her until that evening when He promised to manifest back within her, if the brethren wanted Him to so appear to them. He also suggested that we write out our questions so that when He appeared, we wouldn't be nervous and forget them.
He then instructed me that the girl would need to be told all that had happened thru her because she was not aware of it. So I thanked Him profusely for visiting me, we said our goodbyes and He left her. Immediately, she blinked her eyes a couple of times and asked me what had happened?
So I told her everything about the Lord's use of her to speak with me and she rejoiced exceedingly about His visitation along with me. Even though she was not there for it, she was greatly thankful that He chose her as His vessel thru whom to so appear.
Then we drove back to the fellowship house and burst in excitedly to share our testimony of this wondrous event with all of our church brethren. Of course they were skeptical at first, but so were Jesus original disciples when Mary Magdalene announced that Jesus had risen and conversed with her. After we all calmed down and could more quietly discuss the event, they all came around and agreed that they too wanted to talk directly with Jesus in this manner, just as I had.
So we all gathered together that evening and when we prayed for Him to come, He possessed her and reappeared within her and we all were given answers by Him to our many questions for the next couple of hours. Then, when He left, we dissected everything that was discussed and came to the conclusion that this Manifestation had to truly be the Lord Jesus Christ! So, many times thereafter, we have prayed and asked for Him to come back again and He always has.
According to the Lord (speaking thru this girl), the Manifestation Prophecy gift was given to us only after we had done all that we could do in all of our own Bible studies to find the correct answers to our questions. After many times getting such manifestation appearances from Him, we no longer asked for Him to come back to us in that manner any more because He eventually resolved all of our questions.
He gave most of His answers to our questions by first starting with a question of His own, "What does your faith tell you about this?" We'd then respond by telling Him where our thinking on that particular issue was and then He would encourage us to hold our faith position until God moved in some way to improve it. But He never redirected us thru the Manifestation into some new faith position on our issues. He'd only encourage us to go on in our present faith and to conduct Bible studies while watching and waiting for God to send us new teachings or events or other kinds of prophecies by which to redirect us.
Romans 14:22 - The faith which you have (currently), have as your own conviction before God.Well, after a while we all began to understand that we should just sit, stand and walk in our current faith positions, whatever they were. As long as those positions were the best we could come up with, whether they were right or wrong, God would be pleased with us. Then, if they were right, God would be faithful to strengthen us in those particular faith positions, but if they were wrong, He would somehow send us corrections.
Also, He would also always manifest within her with the greeting , "Peace be with you. Yes, Jesus Christ has come in the flesh." and He would always depart with similar words.
Collosians 3:15 - And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state] - The Amplified BibleBut when He led one of us to find this version of Col 3:15, we knew that we no longer needed for Him to manifest Himself in this manner amongst us to answer our questions, because His peace in us is what proves to us that we already have the answer to that question that God wants us to have faith for at that time.
Matthew 5:8 - Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
The gift of manifestation prophecy was given to us initially to answer our questions because God had no earthly teacher with pure enough doctrines that God could send to us to take us further along in our faith. But now that we knew how to interpret God's peace within us as being the umpire and the final decider of all of our doctrinal issues, the manifestation prophecy gift is only an occasionally manifested, just for those times when we feel the need to rest and comfort ourselves in Jesus sweet, loving presence!
These are some of the signs and wonders that I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has given to confirm my own appointment as one of His modern day apostles.
D. What are the functions & duties of apostles today?
Luke 12:48c - Great gifts mean great responsibilities; greater gifts, greater responsibilities! (The Message Bible)
There are obviously many duties that accompany the high spiritual office gift of apostleship. Yet, no Scriptural list of just what those duties are has been given. So in order to compile one, all of the Scriptures about the functions and activities of the Biblical apostles need to be consulted.
II Timothy 3:16 -17 - All Scripture is inspired of God and is profitable for teaching...for training in righteousness so that the man of God may be...equipped for every good work (including the duties of apostleship).
Therefore, this list of an apostle's many duties being set forth here comes from all of the pertinent Scriptures which I have so far found which describe how the first apostles functioned. To best bring forth this teaching, these Scriptures have been combined with my own many personal experiences as an apostle.
Romans 15:18 - For [of course] I will not venture (presume) to speak...of any work except what Christ has actually done through me [as an instrument in His hands]...
Please review all of this information carefully for yourselves to see if the Holy Spirit confirms its correctness to you.
Acts 7:11 - ...(being) noble-minded...they received the Word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures (for themselves)... to see whether these things were so.
If you find errors, inconsistencies, missed functionings or any distortions of Scripture within my list, please feel free to constructively comment below or send me an e-mail at anonymousapostle@gmail.com, so that it may be corrected.
1. Ministering unto the Lord
To start, it seems to be the case that the foremost duty of apostles is for them to at first minister exclusively unto the Lord Himself until He is ready to send them out into service with His apostolic powers. This is shown when Jesus told his apostles after He was resurrected that they were to stay in Jerusalem and wait there until they were clothed with apostolic powers by the Holy Spirit.
Luke 24:49b - (Jesus said)..."You (speaking to his apostles) are to stay in the city (waiting) until you are clothed with power from on high."
Also, Paul and Barnabas prayed and fasted and ministered unto the Lord before they were sent out by the Holy Spirit with all of their great apostolic powers.
Acts 13:2 - While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."
So, it seems that apostles are to first minister unto the Lord before they will be qualified and empowered by Him to go out and minister to men.2. Ministering unto people
a. Proclaim the Word of God
Once apostles have been chosen, prepared and then sent out into their ministry from God unto men, it appears that their most important duty is to proclaim the Word of God from the Bible.
Acts 13:4 -5 - So, being sent by the Holy Spirit they went...and began to proclaim the Word of God...
When they go forth to so preach God's Word, the Lord works with them supernaturally. He does this by confirming their preaching with substantiating signs and wonders which are designed to convince the people to whom they are sent that they are truly sent to them by God and their message is from Him.
Mark 16:20 - And they (the apostles) went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the Word by the signs that followed.
Apostles will be given many wondrous powers by the Holy Spirit, those which He knows will be needed as time goes by to further confirm their apostolic ministries.
b. Preach the gospel of Salvation thru the Lord Jesus Christ
After first ministering unto the Lord the apostles' next major duty seems to be to preach the Word of God, especially the word of the gospel, in order to try and save anyone to whom they are sent.
I Corinthians 9:16 - For if I (the apostle) preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the Gospel for...I have a stewardship (from God) entrusted to me!c. Baptize new believers by immersing them in water
Acts 16:33 - ...immediately(!) he (a brand new believer) was baptized...
The apostle Paul, after being blinded by the Lord and not eating for 3 days, had his sight restored to him. Immediately Jesus had him baptized, even before he ate anything!
Acts 9:9, 17 -19 - And he was 3 days without sight, and neither ate nor drank...So Ananias...entered the house (where he was staying) and after laying his hands on him said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus...has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." And immediately...he regained his sight and he got up and was baptized, and (after that) he took food and was strengthened.
After a 3 day fast, considering the ravenous hunger that Paul must have had, being first baptized before eating illustrates just how important to God it seems to be for his newly born-again believers to be immediately baptized! Urgency of baptism is later recounted when Paul quotes Ananias comment to him during this healing event...
Acts 22:16 - "Now (that you are healed) why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name."The immediate baptismal duty of the apostle is further illustrated in the Biblical account of the believing response of an Ethiopian eunuch to the apostle Phillip's preaching of the gospel to him.
Acts 8:36 - 39 - ...they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?"...and...(Phillip) baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Phillip away and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went rejoicing on his way.
Notice that God did not finish ministering the gospel to this eunuch thru Phillip until, at just the right moment, they happened (!?!) to find a miraculous water supply right there in the dry, arid desert by which for Phillip to immediately baptize him. Then, once the baptism was finished, the Lord removed Phillip from ministering to him any further. (As an aside, this testimony builds a case that we are not always called to minister discipleship to a newly saved person.)
d. Passing powers from God to other believers thru the laying on of their hands
Another duty of apostles seems to be for them to lay hands upon and call for the the Holy Spirit to fall upon any brethren who, after being baptized, have not yet perceived His power as being manifested in some way, upon or within them.
Acts 8:15 -17 - (the apostles) came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For He had not yet fallen upon them; they had simply been baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus.
Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.
e. Establish local churches
Apostles also seem to be duty bound to establish local fellowships of and for believing brethren or they are to place them into an existing church. Then, if the apostle ministers within that church, he appears to be duty bound to carry on the ministry of God's Word to build up their faith.
Acts 16:5 - So, (by the presence and preaching of the Word of God from the apostles) the churches were being strengthened in the faith...
f. Exercise all of their gifts and powers
Apostles seem to be duty bound to exercise all of the gifts of which the Holy Spirit empowers them, bringing forth supernatural signs and wonders, miracles and healings which will help their brethren to perceive and believe that God is present among them.
Acts 22:42 - Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place thru the apostles.
Apostles (and the church's prophets) are to bring forth pertinent prophecies to guide that assembly's brethren.
I Corinthians 14:3 - ...one who prophesies speaks to men for edification and exhortation and consolation.
As well as bringing forth prophesies, apostles should also be giving teachings and they should be describing their revelations from God to their brethren in order to increase their brethren's knowledge of the Lord.
I Corinthians 14:6b - ...what will I (the apostle) profit you unless I speak to you either by way of revelation or of knowledge or of prophesy.
g. Initially they are to pray for, pastor, administer and help their newly formed churches
Acts 6:2b - 4 - ..."It is not desirable for us to neglect the Word of God in order to serve tables. Therefore brethren, select from among you...men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task.
But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word."
h. Confirm the anointing of new church officers and appoint elders
Acts 14:23 - When they had appointed elders for them in every church (in various cities), having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord (who is the Word!)...
i. Teach the brethren how to conduct their meetings and Bible studies in an orderly manner
It seems to be an apostle's duty to teach the brethren over whom God has established their authority, to conduct their church worship meetings in an orderly, Holy Spirit led fashion according to I Corinthians 10:15 thru 14:40. In these meetings, worshiping brethren can speak forth making requests of God, give revelations, teachings and prophecies. They can also pray and sing hymns in their native language and also speak and sing in tongues with interpretations.
I Corinthians 14:25b - ...When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all be done for (mutual) edification.
Apostles should encourage Bible study and they should also to teach the brethren how to exercise and control all of their God-given supernatural gifts within the privacy of the home fellowship.
I Corinthians 14:40 - ...all things (taking place in a fellowship meeting) must be done properly and in an orderly fashion.
Apostles seem to also be have authority from God to establish their protective and teaching authority over any existing fellowships, to which they might be invited to do so.
Conclusion
As God moves within the apostle's ministry, brethren to whom they are sent will eventually be raised up as new apostles and prophets, evangelists and teachers, healers and miracle workers, pastors and elders to nurture and shepherd each church of the brethren.I Corinthians 12:4 - 11 - Now there are distinctive varieties and distributions of endowments (gifts, extraordinary powers distinguishing certain Christians, due to the power of divine grace operating in their souls by the Holy Spirit) and they vary, but the [Holy] Spirit remains the same.
And there are distinctive varieties of service and ministration, but it is the same Lord [Who is served].
And there are distinctive varieties of operation [of working to accomplish things], but it is the same God Who inspires and energizes them all in all.
But to each one is given the manifestation of the [Holy] Spirit [the evidence, the spiritual illumination of the Spirit] for good and profit.
To one is given in and through the [Holy] Spirit [the power to speak] a message of wisdom, and to another [the power to express] a word of knowledge and understanding according to the same [Holy] Spirit;
To another wonder-working faith by the same [Holy] Spirit, to another the extraordinary powers of healing by the one Spirit;
To another the working of miracles, to another prophetic insight (the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose); to another the ability to discern and distinguish between [the utterances of true] spirits [and false ones], to another various kinds of [unknown] tongues, to another the ability to interpret [such] tongues.
All these [gifts, achievements, abilities] are inspired and brought to pass by one and the same [Holy] Spirit, Who apportions to each person individually [exactly] as He chooses.
Matthew 18:12 - "What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying?
There are some excellent further teachings on the authority and the role of apostles amongst the brethren today. They can be found at Peace Apostolic Ministries, a website that I highly recommend. It has been established by a senior apostle whom I believe to now be my own apostolic father from God, even though God has not yet let me meet him personally!
So, just as all Christians regard Biblical apostles and just as you regard me and I you, he and I have not yet met and we may never meet until we are in heavenly glory! But having reviewed his teachings within his website, I have recognized the grace which has been given to him by God to teach me personally much about the love, authority, power and functioning of apostleship within the church (and therefore to apostolically father my own ministry).
This elder apostle has a great grasp of this entire subject which (it is obvious to me) God has given him over his many years of apostolic ministry. So recognizing his seniority as it was revealed to me by God thru his teachings, I felt led by God to place myself under his apostolic fathering authority and his teaching ministry. I believe that God revealed to me that this is now necessary in order to protect my flock and myself from evils which, in my prior ignorance of this man's particular apostolic teachings, God Himself protected us.
You the reader, may also reach that same conclusion about his ministry as I have after your own review of everything on his website.
E. What are the powers given by God to His apostles and prophets today?
The subject of apostolic and prophetic powers is very important because there are so many supernatural things that God says in His Word that He wants to do for His Christians thru these 2 high church offices. However, in His great mercy towards His Christians who don't believe in them for today, God might still elect to send any of His supernatural powers thru evangelists, healers, miracle workers, teachers and pastors in whose ministry they do believe so that they won't miss out on these blessings. He might also send them thru church helpers or administrators or thru any faithful Christian at all for that matter for the same reason.
But God seems to have established in the Scriptures that He will make all of His supernatural powers accessible to Christians everywhere; first thru the personal faith of His appointed apostles and prophets and then thru other believers' faith in Jesus working these powers thru them. He seems to have ordained this pecking order for the distribution of His powers in order to certify His supernatural appointment of particular men to these 2 offices.
Let's just assume that the apostles and prophets spoken of here are truly from God before we embark on this discussion of their powers. Let's not take up a discussion about false prophets here in order to not confuse the issue. The subject of dealing with false apostles and false prophets has already been taken up in the 1st two major entries above..
1. The greatest and most wonderful power that Jesus gives to His believers is that which comes forth as they (by the movement of the Holy Spirit) preach the gospel, convicting their listeners that they are doomed, lost sinners subject to the righteous holy wrath of Almighty God!
Romans 1:16 - ...for it (the gospel) is the power of God for salvation...
The magnificent, Holy Spirit given conviction power which will lead sinners who hear the gospel into repentance and salvation, can accompany any believer's preaching of it. This power is not put thru God's apostles only, but it is the most important power that God does put thru them and they are constrained to bring it forth.
I Corinthians 9:16 - For if I (the apostle) preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the Gospel for...I have a stewardship (from God) entrusted to me!
The dictionary tells us that the word apostle means one who is sent. Therefore, any true apostle of God is by definition, one who is supernaturally sent unto various individuals whom God has chosen.
Romans 10:14b -15 - How will they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how will they hear (about Him) without a preacher? (and) how will they preach unless they are sent (by God)?
Once in these people's presence, the apostle's first and foremost supernatural power will come forth mightily upon them when he preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ to save them from God's righteous wrath upon their sin.
Acts 4:33 - And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all!
During their preaching of the gospel, God the Father will give to people a supernatural revelation (via His Holy Spirit) directly into the spirit of their minds that Jesus Christ is His unique, only begotten Son.
Matthew 16:15 - 18 (Jesus) said to (His disciples), "But who do you say that I am?"
...Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!"
...And Jesus said unto him, "Blessed are you...because......flesh and blood did not reveal this to you...
...but MY FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN (REVEALED IT TO YOU)!
(Kenneth Wuest Expanded New Testament Translation with my comments added)
When sinners realize and believe in their hearts this revelation that the Lord Jesus Christ is God's unique, only begotten Son and that as such, He is the only One qualified by God to save them from eternal death and damnation at God's holy, righteously wrathful hands, they are saved from that wrath and born-again within their spirits.
John 3:6 - That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.
So, with salvation from God's wrath being the most important thing that can happen to anyone, the preaching of the gospel is the first and foremost power that He gives to His apostles (or any believer for that matter).
I Corinthians 4:20 - For the kingdom of heaven does not consist in (mere) words but in power!
2. God uniquely empowers His apostles to form new, Scripturally structured churches and to use their supernatural apostolic authority to protect those churches (and also any existing churches whose members desire to place themselves under their ministry).
The apostle is to gather and bring newly born-again-of-the-Holy-Spirit, infant believers into their new family of God within either a new or an existing Scripturally structured church fellowship. This is the God ordained family within which for these new believers to continue to be fathered by Holy Spirit thru the apostle, so as to grow up in all aspects into the Lord.
I Corinthians 4:15b - ...For in Christ Jesus, I (the apostolic preacher) became your (spiritual) father through the gospel.
Within these church fellowships, these new believers are to be taught the Word of God and about the things of God in order to be built up in Christ. Here their fathering apostles are to exercise all of their unique apostolic supernatural powers to train them (and everyone else within the fellowship) in all of the things of God.
Ephesians 4:11- 12a - ...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...
As the individual believers grow within a Scripturally structured church under the auspices of apostles and of all of the other church officers, they will gain more and more knowledge and grace and strength in their faith. Then eventually, they will mature into readiness for the Holy Spirit to also imbue them with their own powers by which to promote God's heavenly kingdom among men.
Zechariah 4:6b - Not by might nor by power but by my Holy Spirit, says the Lord of Hosts!
Now, it stands to reason that the most spiritually knowledgeable, wisest and most powerful church groups will grow their members in such a way as to become fully equipped to wage effective spiritual warfare against Satan's kingdom. The best equipped groups will be those church fellowships that have the purest beliefs, as is suggested in the principle of the following verse...
James 3:17 - The wisdom from above (from God) is FIRST - PURE (!)
Therefore these wise, spiritually powerful churches of God will garrison their brethren who are in various stages of growth and maturity under the pure, Scripturally sound, ministerial structure listed in the Scripture below
I Corinthians 12:28 - 31 - And God has appointed in the church - FIRST APOSTLES, SECOND PROPHETS, THIRD TEACHERS, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues.......but earnestly desire the greater gifts.
Any church group today that is fellowshipping outside of the purity of this church structure (in this pecking order), inherently forfeits God's supernaturally offered, top-level spiritual gifts! He has ordained for them to come forth thru each church officer's faith and they are absolutely necessary in order to fully defeat all of Satan's foils against a church's members.
Ephesians 6:11 - Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil!
Unfortunately, most Christian denominations do not put on the full spiritual armor of God because, along with many other supernatural things described in the Scriptures, they do not believe in the validity of the first 2 church offices of apostles and prophets for today. Therefore, because of their own and their spiritual fathers' traditional unbelief, they do not and have not encouraged nor allowed apostles and prophets to operate within their churches.
Matthew 15:6b - ...you make the word of God of no effect because of your traditions.
Consequently, their impurity of faith (in denying the validity of these first 2 church offices for today), causes them to be without the full power needed for completely effective spiritual warfare today. Total spiritual power over Satan's forces requires all of the glorious, supernatural gifts that God wants to send to His Christians. And His very most important armament gifts He will normally only send forth thru these first 2 denied church offices of apostles and prophets.
Only recognized, appreciated and properly functioning apostles and prophets today can bring forth the special supernatural gifts and unique powers necessary to fully protect and guide individuals within individual church groups. Churches without the first 2 God-ordained ministries of apostles and prophets pierce themselves with many unnecessary pangs, since they wander from faith in these ministries for today.
I Timothy 6:10b - for some... have wandered away from the faith (in the truth of some Scriptures), (and have) pierced themselves with many a pang (in so doing). (the principle of this verse)
As a result, they don't have the God-given, top-drawer powers necessary within their churches to fully empower their brethren's overall efforts to defeat Satan's war machine. So they don't get enlightening and comforting personal prophecies from God, encouraging miraculous healings, deliverances from demons and the problems that they maliciously propagate, miraculous events and enlightening signs or wonders. All of the apostolic and prophetic powers being active within a church, along with those of the other officers within the church, help to strengthen all of the church's brethren's faith and fulfill their growth into mature Christians.
Ephesians 4:11 - 13 - 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.
These deficiencies utterly hamstring such churches' brethren from ever maturing enough to win most major battles against Satan's forces. This is one reason why so many Christians feel so frustratingly powerless in their church homes.
3. The third power which apostles are given (which is also the first power that prophets are given) is the power to bring forth prophecies from God thru the Holy Spirit to edify, influence, comfort, caution and / or direct the various believers in their churches.
Christians who believe in apostles and prophets as being valid for today, experience and benefit from many God-given prophecies which are sent to better their lives.
I Corinthians 14:1 - 3 - ...desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy...(for) the one who prophesies speaks to men for edification and exhortation and consolation.
Of course Christians who believe in apostles and prophets all love to receive every positive prophecy that God will send to them thru either of these offices. So, what else needs to be said about positive prophecies? If one believes in their validity, one will easily accept, believe and benefit from them.
But most Christians hate to get negative prophecies (at least they hate them when they first hear them), because of their inherently sinful nature which is always at work within them to defy God. Apostles and prophets are really challenged to love the brethren to whom they are called upon by God to bring forth a negative message. Why? Because most recipients of negative messages do not usually wish to hear them and consequently will often cop an attitude towards the apostle or prophet giving it.
However, mature recipients of negative prophecies will immediately do internal battle within themselves and with Satan to humble and soften themselves so as to be able to respond well to the truths coming forth in a negative prophetic message. But recipients who stubbornly resist any negative message sent to them from God, automatically fall from grace and thus into Satan's power, becoming demonically hardened (just as Moses pharoah was). Eventually, in one way or another, this hardening will be evilly expressed to the apostle or the prophet and that then becomes a personally painful experience for them to endure.
An evil reaction to a negative message can result in the prophesier becoming bitter and thus lose his or her brotherly love for that message's resister. Prophesiers may also get bitter towards and lose their love for any other brethren who might join up with the resister.
Hebrew 12:15 - See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God, that no root of bitterness, springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled.
Negative messages from God are therefore given as a test both for the recipient and for the prophesier and for those who do or don't side with a resisting recipient.
4. Apostolic and prophetic authority to bind Satan and loose blessings.
God provides those appointed to these 2 callings with great power to bind all evil Satanic forces that they are gifted by the Holy Spirit to perceive.
Luke 9:1 - And He called...(His apostles)...and gave them power and authority over all the demons...!
They are also empowered by God to loose offsetting blessings that they perceive to be forthcoming from God, upon individual members of their church fellowship. They do both binding and loosing by revelation from God of the heavenly decrees for these bindings and loosings upon the earth.
Matthew 16:19 - ...(Jesus said to the first apostles) ...whatsoever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven and whatsoever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.
Whenever any brethren willingly place themselves under the apostolic and prophetic authorities within a church fellowship, they will automatically obtain God's great protection from evil for themselves thru these church officers' powers, for their church group and for those who are under their own spiritual authority.
For much further information on this subject, the reader might like to view this great 1 hour teaching on apostolic and prophetic authority.
5. Apostolic and prophetic healings and deliverance from demons.
God can do supernatural healings thru a variety of means such as thru the anointing of the sick with oil and the laying of hands upon the sick by church elders (or by any of the brethren) when the healing is being faithfully requested. Faithful prayers and fastings by anyone can also move God to send healings and deliverances.
Mark 9:29 - (Jesus explained that)...This kind (of demon) cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting
Occasionally, especially when God wants to substantiate one of His apostles or prophets, the only way the desired supernatural healing will come forth (after all else may have been tried), is by that apostle or prophet calling for it under his authority from Jesus!
The same can be true of some deliverances from demonic possession. Demons are sometimes given authority by God to occupy someone until an apostle or prophet demands that the demon come out of that person and in the process uses an invocation of their apostolic or prophetic authority vested in them by the Lord Jesus Christ. In this kind of a possession, the demon is authorized by Jesus to stay within its victim even if the name of Jesus is invoked by a non-apostle or a non-prophet! Only by the apostle or prophet himself invoking both the name of Jesus and the apostolic or prophetic authority vested in him, will that demon depart! This is another means that the Lord uses to elicit respect from members of the flock for a particular apostle or prophet.
6. Bringing forth Miracles
Any Christian that Jesus selects and empowers can bring forth miracles if that Christian has the faith for them. But again, in some circumstances Jesus may decide that a particular desired miracle will not be allowed to occur unless a person's faith plus the authority of an apostle or a prophet is invoked by that apostle or prophet in the request to God for the miracle. This spiritual mechanism again is what is sometimes used by the Lord to substantiate that apostle or that prophet to those to whom he is ministering.
Sometimes apostles are even given power which can attach healings to articles of clothing like handkerchiefs or aprons or anything else which can be taken to the sick.
Acts 19:11 - 12 - God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of...(the apostle)...so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried to the sick and the diseases left them.
The following is a testimony of this kind of a miraculous healing...
I ran into a woman one day who told me that her mother was very sick and that she was worried that she was about to die! Then she started crying and my heart went out to her. She said that she was a Catholic believer and that she was looking to find a healing priest to heal her mother but had not been able to find one. God had done a number of healings thru my prayers as an apostle and as she spoke I felt moved to tell her that I had a healing priest friend (I was thinking of Jesus but I didn't tell her that) and that he had given me a handkerchief which he had blessed.
Then I pulled out my brand new hanky and I told her that he had told me to keep it on me and give it to anyone whom I might encounter who might be seriously sick. So she looked at me rather funny-like and said, "Really?" in a not-so-sure-but-desperate-to-try-anything tone of voice. To this I responded by telling her that I didn't really know if it would heal her mother or not but it might at least be worth a try because it wouldn't hurt anything to do so. She thought about that for a moment and then agreed to give it a try. So she took the hanky and left.
About a week later I ran into her again and she came right up to me and thanked me profusely for the handkerchief because she said that right after she laid it on her mother's blankets, she began to feel better immediately! And she said that now her mother was up and about and cooking again! Then she asked me how she might find that priest to thank him? So I told her to just thank Jesus because He was the source of the healing and that my friend the priest wanted to remain anonymous. She accepted that excuse and went off, still rejoicing.
Even an apostle's shadow can bring forth healings.
Acts 5:15 - 16 - ...they even carried the sick out...so that when...(the apostle)...came by, at least his shadow might fall on any one of them...and they were all being healed!
So, as the Scriptures depict, apostles and prophets are vested with very unique powers and authority to do great things by God! This is why they are so very necessary today to every church group!
P.S.
This lengthy teaching on apostleship is actually a compendium of the first 5 entries posted on my blog Annals of an Anonymous Apostle. If you are now interested in reviewing more of my apostolic teachings please go there where all of them are posted (and where any new teaching that I feel moved by God to record will also be posted). You may also wish to review the know Freedom and Control in Today's Churches which is a white paper on the subject. You may also wish to visit Peace Apostolic Ministries which is a website containing many very good apostolic teachings.
Thank you and may God richly bless you.
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