Releasing a Prophetic Voice: Outpouring unto Prophetic Messengers

And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy. (Acts 2:17-18)

In Acts 2, not only were apostolic messengers released in the time of the book of Acts, but also the promise of messengers to be released in a day when the fullness of Joel’s prophecy would be fulfilled—the Day of the Lord’s Return.

The Lord promised that He would pour out His Spirit and release dreams and visions on His menservants and maidservants, and they would prophesy.

God wants messengers who do not merely prophesy from knowledge in their mind, but He wants those who experience God in the place of encounter and prophesy from that place.

God can release a measure of encounter to His people at any time, but He has promised that there will be an outpouring in the last days like has never been seen and His people will prophesy.

Although this prophecy was partially fulfilled in both the book of Joel and the book of Acts, the fullness of it will not come until the last part of the verses happen—the moon turning to blood, vapors of smoke, fire, etc…The ultimate fulfillment of this verse will happen in the Day of the Lord’s return.

The Lord grants the realm of encounter to steady our hearts in the mundane and bring revelation on portions of the Word that have never come alive to us. Suddenly, a passage of scripture which never meant much to us, becomes a personal Word of the Lord that is alive and active in our hearts and message.

God grants dreams and visions so that the Word comes alive and is active for His messengers. Also, encounters are released so that there is a personal “word of the Lord” to cling to in times of hardship and difficulty.

Even though the Lord sends waves of His glory at different times, He will send an ultimate wave of glory in a last-days revival that will release prophetic messengers like the world has never seen.

They will prophesy from a place of encounter with God that is deep in their inner man and shut up like a fire. Even in the midst of judgment, they will have boldness and clarity (Acts 2, I John 4:17). Out of response to their prophetic message, all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Five-Fold Ministry: Teaching Role & the Gift of Discernment

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting… (Ephesians 4:11-14)

Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man can come to the Father except through me” (Jn. 14:6). One of the names of Jesus is “the Truth.” Many times, the Holy Spirit is called “the spirit of Truth” (Jn. 14:26).

In our post-modern society, the idea of relativism has so permeated every area of our culture that it has replaced the idea of absolute truth. It has even crept into the church. The idea that there is more than one way to God has become a dominating premise in the whole of society.

The truth of the Gospel is absolutely opposed to any other way to God except through Jesus Christ. However, even in the early church, men were being persuaded to the right or left because of false doctrines that were infiltrating the church (Gal. 1, II Cor. 11:4).

Paul said in Ephesians 4:11-16 that the role of pastors, prophets, apostles, teachers, and evangelists was for equipping the saints into the work of ministry AND for bringing them into the fullness of the knowledge of Christ. The reason was so that they would not be tossed around by every whim of false doctrine.

There is a huge lack in the body of Christ of having discernment. Many people cannot discern truth from lies, and they cannot distinguish between soul and spirit. This is because they do not know the Word of God.

Although the Lord has raised up all those in the five-fold ministry to bring the Church into the fullness of Christ. I believe one of the main roles of the teacher is to teach the true, accurate Word of God to believers and to equip them with discernment.

Many times, the apostles exhorted the church to test all things and to hold fast to true doctrine (I Thess. 5: 21, I John 4: 1-6). The role of the teacher in the body of Christ is to systematically teach true doctrine to the church and to equip the body to search out the knowledge of God for themselves.

I believe that one of the spiritual gifts of a teacher is discerning of spirits, because they need to be able to see the lies infiltrating the body of Christ and correctly teach the Truth.

One of the names of Jesus is “The Truth” and when we look at Him, we will be able to discern all things that are false. God is restoring the Five-Fold Ministry back to the Church to train the saints in the truth of His Word, bringing them into the fullness of the knowledge of Christ, so that they will not be tossed about by every whim of false doctrine.

Life & Message of the Apostolic: Laying Down Your Life

On the night that Jesus died, he was in the garden of Gethsemane praying in anguish that the grueling assignment of his death would be taken away from Him. He knew His assignment on earth was to die on the Cross. Yet, He knew it would be the hardest thing any human being has ever done (Lk. 22:39-46; Mt. 26:36-46).

However, Jesus stayed in the place of prayer and surrendered His will over to the will of His Father. He said, “Not my will, but Yours be done” (Lk. 22:42). In the place of prayer, He laid down His life before He was even arrested or went to the Cross.

Jesus knew what was coming for His disciples and He told them to pray so that they would not enter into temptation (Mt. 26:41; Lk. 22:40). He knew that they would have the opportunity to lay down their lives that night, and He told them to pray to strengthen their spirits so that they were not tempted to betray Him.

However, they all fell asleep in the garden. None of them prayed during that time of temptation, and all of them were scattered. By the end of the night, every one of the disciples betrayed Jesus.

Jesus had promised that anyone who wanted to be His disciple needed to take up their cross and follow Him (Mk. 8). A mark of following Jesus is laying down your life.

Later on, after the resurrection of Jesus, the disciples were restored back into their ministry. I believe they were forever marked with what it means to lay down your life.

Time and time again, Paul preached how the mark of the apostleship was laying down their lives for the Church. And ultimately, nearly all of the apostles (if not all of them) were killed for their faith.

Laying down your life is a constant process of being identified with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ in your daily life (Gal. 2, Rom. 6). It is like being “a living martyr” who is fully surrendered to Jesus. However, the entire New Testament is marked with those who actually died for their faith.

Before the return of Jesus, the Lord will restore the true apostolic to the church again and many will die for their faith in Christ.

However, if we, like Christ, stay in that place of prayer so that we will not be delivered over into temptation, our lives will already be completely surrendered to Christ in life, a long time before we are given over to death.

“Greater love has no man than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (Jn. 15:13).

Apostolic Demonstrations of Power: Signs & Wonders

Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds. (II Corinthians 12:12)

When Paul is addressing the church of Corinth, he said that the “signs of an apostle” had been done among them and that was part of the proof and their apostleship.

Of all of the things we have talked about so far in the life and ministry of the apostolic, this trait of true apostles may be the one of most overlooked in much of the church (along with the sufferings of Christ aspect).

Part of the reason is that many people rationalize away the power of the Spirit because of their lack of experience. They have never seen it, and so they try to explain it away so that it is less painful for them.

However, there should be a sting in our hearts that there is such a lack in the true apostolic ministry in the body of Christ. We cannot take only parts of the gospel and throw the rest away. We should not take only the organizational aspect of the apostolic and throw away the life, message, and power of the apostolic ministry.

In Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth, he said that, “…my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (I Cor. 2:4-5).

The reason that signs and wonders were done among them was so that God was the one who received the glory for the works done among them, because the power was not from men, but from God.

One time, Paul struck a man blind with his words so that a governor could be saved (Acts 13:4-12). Another time, he raised a guy from the dead who fell out of a window (Acts 20:7-12).

Another time, Peter spoke and two people fell dead because they had lied to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:1-11). The next passage says, “And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people….so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed" (Acts 5:12, 15-16).

Even the shadow of Peter was healing people! Talk about a sign and a wonder! It also says that many signs and wonders were done by the apostles—implying that all of them were involved.

Many times in the modern church, we look at someone with a lot of charisma and natural ability to lead and gather people, and we say that they are an apostle and esteem them highly. Of course, giving honor to leadership in an appropriate way is a good, godly practice, but many times, we attribute the glory of God to a man instead of to God whom it belongs. The flip-side to this coin is that many times if a man begins to move in mighty signs and wonders, they are also placed on a pedestal and the glory is attributed to them as well.

However contrary to both aspects, the reason a sign of an apostle is signs, wonders, and demonstrations of power is so that no man can receive the glory for what God has done. God alone deserves all the glory, honor, and praise for the magnificent miracles that He performs through His servants.

God, grant the signs and wonders of the apostolic back to your Church again!

Untapped Tool of the Apostolic: Supernatural Language Ability

Even though an apostolic person or a missionary can be sent anywhere, many times, they are sent to different nations, languages, tribes, and tongues. Often, an apostolic person will travel all over the world.

Something the Lord has been teaching me is that the language barrier between peoples is a result of sin. When the people in ancient days built the tower of Babel, they were in rebellion together in unity against God, so the Lord confused their languages and scattered them to keep them from uniting together against Him (Gen. 11:1-10).

From that time on, there has been racial division and language barriers that resulting from man’s unified rebellion against God.

However, when the Lord poured out His Spirit in Acts 2, He brought together the nationalities and languages of the earth with the gift of tongues. As the apostles spilled out of the upper room prophesying, there were many different nationalities gathered together and each heard them prophesy in their own language.

Some people say that those listening understood the disciples as if they were speaking in their own language, and others say the disciples were actually speaking the languages through the utterance of the Holy Spirit. I think it could have been both.

When the Bible mentions the gifts of the Spirit, it mentions both “diversities of tongues” and the “gift of interpretation.” There are many ways that these gifts can play out, but I think that one way is an actual gift of speaking a foreign language that you only know by the Holy Spirit (diversities of tongues), and another way is understanding what a tongue is saying as though someone is speaking your own language (gift of interpretation).

I believe that there is a gift of tongues that is available for every believer to edify their own spirit (I Cor. 14:4), but that there is also a gift of diversities of tongues and a gift of interpretation that can be operated in at various times like the other spiritual gifts listed in I Corinthians 12. These gifts of diversities of tongues and of interpretation may not always be actual foreign languages, but they may be a prophetic utterance in tongues that can be interpreted for the edification of the body.

Also, praying in tongues unifies the body of Christ in any language or people group to pray together in unity by the Spirit. Even today, if you go to any nation in the world, believers can pray in unity when they pray in tongues, because each one speaks the mysteries of God (I Cor. 14:2). God is the one leading the prayers of the people through one unified language that is not in rebellion against God, but is in absolute unity with His will and purpose.

I also believe that the Lord can give a gift of learning and understanding languages for the mere fact that we are no longer under the curse of sin from the Tower of Babel, but we are now under the blood of the New Covenant and under the grace of the unified language given at Pentecost.

It is also my opinion that speaking in tongues often aids language comprehension, interpretation, and communication. I have also heard of scientific studies proving that speaking in tongues uses a specific part of your brain that is not used for any other purpose.

Frequently, I try to understand a language that I have never studied or spoken, and many times, I can understand the general topic of conversation just by dialoguing with the Holy Spirit. Once, I correctly interpreted Indonesian into English by the Spirit, and also dreamed in French and German even though I have never studied any of those languages. I also have some level of fluency in four other languages which I have studied, plus the ability to understand languages that are in similar language groups to those four original languages.

I am not saying this to boast; however, I am saying this, because I truly believe it is available for those who ask for it, but that not many people have ever thought about it. Some may say that I have a natural language ability and that may be true, but I also believe that there is a supernatural gift that is available for those who will lay hold of it. It is biblical. I believe also that many who are called to other nations get overwhelmed and feel disqualified with language learning, but I believe that we can move into the realm of faith like what happened in the book of Acts and the reversal of the curse through the New Covenant.

I have heard of many people who have spoken a foreign language by the power of the Holy Spirit in one instance or interpreted in another. Also, I have heard of those who have been downloaded with an entire language—I am still asking for this one!

I also believe that this is an untapped gift for the use of the apostolic that can be claimed for the mere fact that God has removed the curse of the sin of Babel by the power of the Blood of Jesus. We can now walk in the authority of the power of the Holy Spirit who knows every language on the earth. He can equip us with the ability to communicate cross-culturally and across the barriers of language if we will ask Him.

God’s will is for every nation, language, tribe, and tongue to come into the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Granting a supernatural ability to overcome the language barrier is nothing for Him.

Apostolic Preaching & the Window of Mercy

“Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Then Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the holy Spirit…Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them…” (Acts 2:38, 41)

On the day the Lord poured out His Spirit on the disciples in the upper room, God anointed His Apostles to preach in such a way that the power of God fell on the hearts of those hearing the message. They were “cut to the heart” and their response was “What must we do to be saved?” Three-thousand people came to the Lord in one day. What a remarkable demonstration of apostolic preaching.

People walking around on the streets without knowing their Savior are dead in their sins. Their spirit is dead. Their eyes are blind, and they cannot hear the Good News of Jesus Christ. Everything in the natural world is in the exact opposite spirit of the message of Jesus Christ.

Satan, his demons, and the sinful nature of man are all in absolute opposition to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. People without God are walking around under a cloud of blindness.

However, it is in God’s mercy that He longs to convey us out of darkness and into the kingdom of the Son of His Love (Col. 1:12-14). Now, we walk in the light, and God has called us to be light to the world.

When the message of the gospel is preached with the anointing of God on the vessel, it opens a “window of mercy” over that person where suddenly, they can see the barrenness of their own life and they are faced with the decision of where they are going to spend eternity. When the gospel of Jesus Christ is preached in power, a decision must be made. It is life or death.

God is wanting to release apostolic vessels who know the authority of the Holy Spirit living on the inside of them and not only preach—but live—the message of the Gospel. He wants to release the apostolic preaching with power where men are “cut to the heart” and brought to repentance and the knowledge of God.

God’s Word is powerful, but He is lacking in vessels who can rightly wield the true power of His Word for the Glory of God and the salvation of the lost. God is looking for vessels, sold out to God and His righteousness who can rightly release that power to see millions and millions of souls brought into the kingdom of God.

Lord, release the power of apostolic preaching again to the church in the nations. Let millions of souls come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ!

Apostolic Intercession & the Birthing of Souls

Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” (Matthew 9:35-38)

In this passage, Jesus was healing the sick and preaching the gospel to the people, but he looked out and saw they were like sheep without shepherds. He was moved with compassion for the people. He then spoke to his disciples and said that there was so much harvest, but not enough laborers. The following conclusion that he made was remarkable.

Did Jesus say, “Therefore, everybody get busy and do something”? Or did He say, “Start more programs and building projects”? Or what if he had said, “Go and be laborers”? However, Jesus did not make any of those statements.

When you really think about it, what Jesus said was remarkable. He said, “Therefore, PRAY the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers.” Jesus gave us the key to the release of laborers for the harvest field—prayer.

I find it remarkable that a man named Rees Howells lived a life of intercession, crying out for revival and that “every creature would be saved.” Norman Grubb wrote about his life in the book called, Rees Howells Intercessor. Rees Howells was an intercessor who saw many victories through the power of power, but never saw the major breakthrough he was crying out for. He spent most of his life praying for revival in Africa and that Africa would be saved. Although Rees went to Africa for a brief period of time and saw moves of the Spirit break-out with repentance and salvation, he never saw the mass number of souls that he was crying out for.

However, Rees Howells founded a ministry-school in Swansea, Wales. Around 50 years ago, that ministry school was attended by a young man no one knew named Reinhard Bonnke. Much to the surprise of those around him, Reinhard Bonnke grew up to be one of the most powerful evangelists the world has ever seen. He has led nearly 100 million people to the Lord in his life time.

Guess where Reinhard Bonnke has spent the most time preaching and where he has seen millions and millions of converts? Africa. Reinhard Bonnke has spent his entire life preaching on that continent so that “From Capetown to Cairo, All Africa shall be saved!” You can read more about Reinhard Bonnke’s life and ministry in his autobiography titled, Living a Life of Fire.

The role of intercession cannot be separated from the birthing of souls and the release of the harvest. God can use intercessors to birth souls through others like He used Rees Howells to influence the life and ministry of Reinhard Bonnke.

However, I believe that God wants not only intercessors who birth souls through the life of someone else, but intercessors who pray and in turn, they become the answer to their own prayers. Those who pray for laborers to be released, then become the laborers they are crying out for. He wants intercessors who become the messengers they have been praying for during years of intercession, tears, fasting and prayer.

God is raising up apostolic messengers who are formed in the place of prayer and fasting to be the answer to their own prayers.

Lord of the harvest, send out laborers into your harvest field!

Message of the Apostolic: A Vision for Eternity

Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal (II Corinthians 4:16-18).

Another aspect of the apostolic ministry is that it always restores the message of eternity and connects it to the life of the believer in the “here and now.” If people see that they are not living for today but for the age-to-come, it will help them realize that every moment counts. Every decision made for righteousness will be rewarded in eternity.

Paul constantly made the connection of holiness with the hope in the resurrection (Rom. 6:5-12, I Cor. 15:42-45, II Cor. 5:1-7, etc.) He also constantly connected the indwelling Holy Spirit with eternity. He would refer to the indwelling Holy Spirit with phrases like, “guarantee of our inheritance as sons” (Eph. 1:13-14) or “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27). He would make reference to being transformed from glory to glory into the likeness of His image (II Cor. 3:18). He spoke of how the momentary afflictions were nothing compared to the eternal weight of the glory we will have in eternity (II Cor. 4:16-18).

Also, the connections that Paul made with eternity, holiness, and the resurrection of the dead were many times connected with a vision for the Second Coming of Christ (I Cor. 15:50-58; I Thess. 4:1-8, 13-18, I Tim. 3:1-11). Also, the vision of Christ’s Second Coming and hope in the resurrection were also given to comfort those who suffered persecution (I Thess. 2:3-10, II Thess. 2).

Peter also made the connection between eternity and holiness in I Peter 1:3-4 when he said, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you…”

 

Then, later in the chapter he says, “Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct…" (I Pet. 1:13-15). He was saying that in light of our eternal promise, let us live in godliness and holiness now.

John was the Apostle who saw Jesus in His resurrected glory and wrote the book of Revelation. He saw the eyes like a flame of fire, the door standing open in heaven, and the events of the Second coming of Christ. He heard a voice calling out to him and heard the lightning and thunder of God. He saw God seated on His throne in all of His glory and splendor. Reading the book of Revelation, which was written by an apostle, will give you a vision for eternity and put a cry in your heart for the return of Jesus.

The apostolic message is the story of Jesus from beginning to end, and constantly keeping before us the hope and vision for eternity. God, restore the apostolic message back to the church.

Life of the Apostolic: Acts 2 Communities

And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42-47)

 

In Acts chapter 2, the disciples were gathered together in the upper room in prayer, when the Holy Spirit visited them in power. They were sent out into the streets and began to prophesy in the tongues of many languages and preach with apostolic authority. Three-thousand souls were saved that day.

What happened next is that the believers continued in the apostles’ doctrine. They had fellowship together in meals and taking communion. They consistently met together for prayer, worship, and times of teaching. They were actively in each other’s lives—even to the point of selling their possessions and giving to the ones of their body who were in need.

The reality of the Lord visiting with His Spirit in corporate times of prayer and fasting cannot be separated from the day-to-day life of a community of believers who live together, pray together, eat together, and play together.

This is not to say that everyone needs to go live in a commune (as many young people in our generation tend to lean), but we need a restoration of both aspects of the community we see in the book of Acts—corporate prayer and fasting in unity AND a community running together in their daily lives.

An Acts 2 community of believers would see one week, someone has no groceries. So, they would give money to that person to buy food. The next week, the person who had no groceries is suddenly blessed with a large financial donation, and they give to another friend had their car break down.

Of course, there are negative ditches that people fall into on both sides of this road. Sometimes, people do not have proper boundaries and allow others to take advantage of their generous spirit, and sometimes people can develop co-dependent relationships “sharing their possessions,” because they need inner-healing. Other times, a person may become dependent on the labor of others and not work for themselves. However, there is a healthy, godly way of having this type of giving in a community, and God is going to teach His church how to do it.

God designed the Body of Christ to give financially to one another and help support each other in times of need. Also, He designed the Body of Christ to have fellowship, constantly meeting together and being involved one another’s lives. We must realize that the idea of corporate prayer and corporate outpouring absolutely cannot be separated from loving and caring for the needs of individuals in the body and the mutual involvement of believers in the lives of those in their community.

Life of the Apostolic: Sent in Apostolic Teams

As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away. So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. And when they arrived in Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They also had John as their assistant. (Acts 13:2-5)

It is fascinating that as the church gathered in fasting and prayer in Acts 13, the Lord asked them to set aside Paul and Barnabus and send them out. Then, in practically the same breath, it says that the Holy Spirit sent them out. The Lord spoke to those in the church in a time of prayer and used them to release an apostolic team.

Paul and Barnabus were sent out together and they had an assistant with them as well. As we have been looking at the five-fold ministry, it is obvious that God intends for His ministers to be sent out in teams. God designed His Church as a body with interwoven parts and He wants us to function that way.

When Jesus sent out the seventy disciples in Luke 10, he told them to go in pairs. The Lord always seems to have a pattern of team ministry.

When Daniel was together with Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael, they prayed together and strengthened each other to seek the  Lord about the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. Also, three of them were thrown together into the firey furnace and God delivered them. Their friendship strengthened them to stand true in the ways of God. This was a community moving together in the ways of God.

Another example of this is in I Chronicles 12:32, which says, “The sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their command…”

 

I heard a man named Robert Stearns speak one time about this verse. He said that the sons of Issachar had three things: 1.) Prophetic Vision, 2.) Apostolic Strategy, and 3.) Covenental Unity. He said that many times those anointed to carry out a work have both the prophetic vision and apostolic strategy, but are lacking in the covenantal unity aspect that the sons of Issachar had with all their brethren in ranks together.

God designed His body to work as a team, and when He releases an apostolic sending, He will send His people out in apostolic teams.

Life of the Apostolic: Cry for an Apostolic Sending

There are times when we go somewhere and do something because Jesus commissioned us all to go and make disciples. There are times when we are just living the gospel and God uses us in powerful ways. Other times, God may send us out to accomplish a specific task for a certain amount of time.

However, something that has been burning in my heart for a long time is the need for a corporate apostolic sending. I am speaking of a corporate move of the Spirit like in the book of Acts where 3,000 souls were saved in a day through the power of apostolic preaching. In Acts 3, John and Peter were at the temple gate beautiful and they spoke and a man was healed—resulting in mass salvation of souls.

Deep in my heart, I am a revivalist. There is a cry so deep in my heart for revival that I will never be able to let it go. We need another wave of the Glory of God to hit the church in America and in the nations to bring us even closer to walking in the fullness of all that God has for us.

Even though God can commission and send His people out anyway at any time, we should never stop reaching for the sudden in-breaking of His power.

Jesus promised that those following Him would do “greater works” than the ones He did (Jn. 14:12). I do not know about you, but I have never seen anyone walk on water, calm a storm, or raise the dead. However, just because I have never seen it, does not mean it has not happened or that I will not see it and do it myself. I never want to come to the place where I stop asking, stop reaching, or stop stepping out in faith. It is our inheritance to have revival and to move in greater works than what Jesus did while He was on the earth.

We need to continually cry out for the greater breaking-in of God’s glory. When God’s glory visited Isaiah, his first heart response was one of repentance—“woe is me, I am a man of unclean lips!” His second heart response was, “Here I am, Send me!” (Isaiah 6).

God, grant us repentance that the times of refreshing may come from Your presence (Acts 3:19-21). Release an apostolic sending on Your Bride that the nations may know the Glory of Your Son!

Role of the Apostolic: Birthing the Next Generation

For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. Therefore I urge you, imitate me. For this reason I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church. (I Corinthians 4:15-17)

It is so remarkable to me that in this passage, Paul was exhorting the church in Corinth to imitate him. Later on in chapter 11, he exhorts them again to imitate him as he imitates Christ. What I think is even more remarkable, however, is that Paul did not go to Corinth himself in this passage. He actually sent Timothy to them who was his beloved and faithful son in the Lord. Paul had fathered Timothy as a son, and Timothy was being sent to father the church in Corinth. He had been birthed as a father by Paul.

Timothy was the one who taught the church in Corinth and through that they were imitating Paul who was imitating Christ. Although Paul did go to Corinth at certain points, Paul was not addressing himself going to Corinth in this passage, but he was speaking of Timothy going to Corinth and that Paul through Timothy would birth them as a father.

Even more than this, it is noteworthy that Paul was distinguishing here between teachers and fathers. He was telling the church in Corinth that he has begotten them. He was saying that he was the one who led them to the Lord but even more than that, he was birthing them.

Paul continually uses the imagery of fathering when he is referring to his role in the church. In all of those passages, he constantly de-emphasizes the glamor in the life of an apostle, and he emphasizes that fact that they are laying down their lives for the church rather than taking advantage of them. Even in one passage, Paul likens himself to a mother who nurtures them.

Nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, when we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children. So, affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us. For you remember, brethren, our labor and toil; for laboring night and day…as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children… (I Thessalonians 2:6-9, 11)

The role of every generation is to honor the generation above them and to pour into the generation under them. Every ceiling on one generation should become the floor of another. We need fathers and mothers in the generation who build on the foundations of the older generation while promoting and birthing the next generation into all that God has created it to be.

Life & Message of the Apostolic: Fellowshipping in the Sufferings of Christ

For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored! To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless. And we labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now. (I Corinthians 4:9-13)

Over and over again throughout Paul’s letters, he repeats the lifestyle of an apostle as one of a bondservant—a slave, who gladly lays down his life (Rom. 1:1, II Cor. 4:5, Gal. 1:10, Phil. 1:1). He speaks of the apostle as being one who is whipped, beaten, shipwrecked, reviled and distained (II Cor. 11:22-33). He defines the life of the apostle as being one who fellowships in the sufferings of Christ and bears the marks of His suffering (Phil. 3:2-11).

All throughout the New Testament, the life of following Christ and the life of the apostle is one of laying down your own life and completely giving all to Christ. The lifestyle of an apostle or minister of Christ is not one of glamor, fame, or popularity, but one of suffering, labor, and hardship.

Many of us care so much about fulfilling our assignment or calling in this life. However, look at the life of Jesus. What was His assignment on this earth? What was He born to do? Heal the sick? Raise the dead?  Cast out demons? Preach the Gospel?—No.

Jesus Christ’s assignment on this earth was none of those things. Those things were just demonstrations of how believers are supposed to function on the earth in communion with the Holy Spirit. He was demonstrating how sons and daughters walk in their inheritance.

When Jesus Christ came to the planet, His assignment was to die. He was called to die on the Cross and save all of humanity. Jesus did not fulfill His assignment until His death on the Cross.

In Gethsemane the night before He died, Jesus was in agony over fulfilling His assignment. He asked the Father to take the assignment from Him because it was too difficult to bear.

Many of us want the glamor of a big assignment, but we do not realize that it will cost us our very lives. If our own Lord and Savior had to die to fulfill His assignment, how much more should we?

Message of the Apostolic: Apostolic Gospel

Several years ago while living in a closed foreign nation for a few months, I came across many people who had never heard anything about Jesus Christ. They had never heard of the Bible. They had never heard of sin, and they had never heard of Adam and Eve. They did not even know about the need for a Savior.

Growing up in a western culture, this came as a shock to me. These people had no background knowledge of the message I was carrying. Suddenly, I came face-to-face with my inadequacy at being able to properly deliver the message of the gospel from beginning to end.

This began a journey and a passion of mine to preach the Gospel from Genesis to Revelation. In Genesis 3:15, God gave the first promise of the Messiah—the Seed that would crush the head of the serpent, and the serpent who would bite His heel. This promise is known as the proto evangelium or “first gospel” in Latin. From that point on, the message of redemption and the promise of the Messiah has unfolded through scripture—and continues to unfold even today.

As I began to walk these pre-believers through the story of redemption, I began to fall in love with the Big Picture of God’s unfolding story. I spoke of Isaiah and his message of the Suffering Servant (Is. 53). I spoke of David and his messianic promise of the one who would be crushed (Ps. 22). I spoke of the Messenger who would come and turn hearts of fathers and children (Malachi 4).

Then, I spoke of John the Baptist and Jesus, of the Gospels and the Apostles…of the Epistles and the Promises of the Second Coming in Revelation…As I began to tell the whole story from beginning to end, I was getting a vision for eternity and beginning to see our little part in the Big Picture.

I began to realize that the Story of Jesus is much bigger than us, and the true Apostolic Gospel is to tell the whole story from beginning to end—calling people to step into the big picture and take their little part. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is Good News. It is Good News from Beginning to End, and the whole world needs to know about it!

Role of the Apostolic: Identifying Gift Packages in Body of Christ

Now that we have looked at the gift packages of the five-fold ministry, we can now look at the gift packages in the body of Christ. Not everyone is called into ministry and not everyone is called to the five-fold offices. However, every believer should be useful to God in bringing the kingdom of heaven into daily life in the world. Every believer can be equipped to edify and grow the body of Christ.

Part of the problem in the church today is that people show up looking for what they can get rather than what they can give. We need those who will call out the gifts and callings in believers to bring them into the fullness of the knowledge of God themselves, but also call them into the fullness of their inheritance in giving to the Body of Christ.

Many times in a church body, we may see someone who we think of as a revivalist. This type of person is typically anointed in deliverance. They move in the power of the Holy Spirit on a regular basis. We would typically see them as someone who baptizes in fire. Sometimes, I think this type of person may be an evangelist, but I think even more than that, this type of person would fall into the category of “worker of miracles” (I Cor. 12:10, 28). I think someone anointed in this area would have the gifts of miracles, discerning of spirits, and possibly varieties of tongues and/or interpretation of tongues.

Someone who is anointed in compassion ministry would possibly have: gifts of healings, mercy, and helps. This type of person would be a nurse or work in the healing ministry. They would also be the ones to have meal-ministries for those in hospitals or nursing homes.

Someone anointed in administration would typically have the gifts of administration and giving. They may also have the gifts of leading and exhorting, but not necessarily. They may also have a gift of prophecy that helps them administrate. Typically, a true administrator would have the gift of giving, because finances would be important to them, and they would be good with money. An administrator will be good at managing and carrying out the ideas of an apostolic visionary in a long-term way, but they will not always necessarily be good at taking a primary leadership role. Likewise, an apostolic visionary may have gifts of administration in order to begin a work, but they will not be good at carrying it out administratively in a long-term way.

There will also be people in the church body who have pastoral, teaching, evangelistic, prophetic, and apostolic leanings, but they will never carry-out the offices and are not called into full-time ministry. However, the leadership of the church can pull these people into functioning in the body and ministering to the lost even in the midst of their normal daily lives.

Gift Packages of the Five-Fold Ministry Callings

Although there is no hard-and-fast rule to this, there are certain gifts that are helpful to identify on a person to know the calling on their life or ways that God may use them in edifying the body and bringing in the lost. Many times, there will be approximately three or so gifts that a particular person finds themselves using more than others.

An apostolic person will typically operate in the gifts of leadership, faith, & administration to some level. Also, they will typically be gifted in exhortation. An apostolic person is usually a visionary, so many times, administration is not their highest gifting, but they can do it do some extent—and more than do it, they can see what needs to be done and call someone else into doing it. Many times, an apostolic person will also have a leaning towards another aspect of the five-fold ministry such as the prophetic or the evangelist. Many times, that leaning will bring in other gifts that go along with their primary role.

Someone whose primary function is in the prophetic will have a combination of all of the revelation gifts: words of wisdom, words of knowledge, and the gift of prophecy. They will be able to see what is happening and call it forth, but they always need to partner will the apostolic, the teacher, and the pastor to be able to implement what they are seeing. Many times, God will use them to identify someone with an apostolic call and thrust that person into beginning the work. Then, after the work begins, they will help call the church back to the vision and keep them in focus as time goes on.

An evangelistic person will typically have the gift of miracles, faith, and words of knowledge. God uses them to bring in the lost and activate believers in evangelism. Therefore, they will often operate in words of knowledge for healing, miracles, and specifics about an unbeliever, so that person is moved to believe in Jesus. They also typically operate in a gift of faith and divine appointments that puts them in the right place at the right time to lead someone to the Lord.

Typically, a pastoral person will be gifted in helps/ministry, teaching, and mercy. Many times, they are also gifted in giving as well. These are your disciplers. They are the ones who care about the day-to-day needs of the people. It is helpful to pair these people with evangelists, so that they disciple the people that the evangelist is saving. Even though all of the ministry roles should serve like Jesus did, the pastoral person is a servant at heart and highly merciful and full of compassion. They get into the daily lives of people and help them move forward in knowing Jesus.

Finally, the teacher will be gifted in teaching, ministry, and discerning of spirits. Many times, they will also be gifted in exhortation as well. The reason why a teacher would be gifted in discerning of spirits is that the job of the teacher is to give correct doctrine and correct false doctrine. It takes a high-level of discernment to speak right doctrine in a timely fashion to combat false doctrines of demons that infiltrate the church. Typically, a teacher helps to stabilize the prophetic person in keeping them in right doctrine and also providing discernment. Contrary to common opinion, a prophetic person may be high in the prophetic, but they usually do not have much discernment. Pairing a prophet with a teacher helps brings balance to both roles.

Role of the Apostolic: Identifying Spiritual Gifts

Part of the role of the Apostolic is to call out the giftings in other people and set them in roles and teams according to their giftings. For this reason, an apostolic person must know the different giftings and be able to identify them on a person. It is also helpful to know how they might be packaged in a certain individual to carry out a specific function.

Three of the primary passages concerning the spiritual gifts are as follows: I Corinthians 12:3-8, I Corinthians 12:27-31, and Romans 12:3-8. The primary passages describing the Five-Fold ministry are Ephesians 4:11-16 and I Corinthians 12:27-31.

From these three passages on the spiritual gifts, there are twenty-one gifts listed and some of them overlap. Eliminating the repeating ones, there are seventeen remaining from these passages: words of wisdom, words of knowledge, gift of faith, gifts of healings, gift of prophecy, working of miracles, discerning of spirits, different kinds of tongues, interpretation of tongues, helps (or serving), administrations, ministry, teaching, exhorting, giving, leading, and mercy. (Some may combine helps & ministry, but I will leave it separate for now).

Not every person has all of the gifts. I believe every person can operate in all of the gifts at different times because every believer has the Holy Spirit living inside of them, so at any point, God can use any believer to operate in one of these gifts.

However, God designed the body of Christ to function as a body with different parts. Each person has their own part to play, so God will grant them certain gifts that they continually operate in more than the other gifts. Many times, God will package these gifts in a person to fulfill a certain role in the body of Christ.

We will take the next few blogs to discuss how these gifts may be packaged to carry out different roles.

Five-Fold Ministry: Importance of Lifestyle

Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. (I Corinthians 9:26-27)

Before His return, the Lord is going to bring the Body of Christ into the fullness of the five-fold ministry and the fullness of the gifts of the Spirit. However, God does not only want the Body of Christ to operate in the fullness of the nine gifts of the Spirit (from I Cor. 12:8-10), but He also wants the body to operate in the nine fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22).

The nine fruits of the spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. These are fruits in our character that come from abiding in the spirit and becoming transformed into the image of God. These are not called “fruits of our own will-power”—as though we can muster them up as a form of discipline. These are “fruits of the Holy Spirit.” We can only develop this character of godliness through relationship with the Holy Spirit and abiding in the Spirit.

The nine gifts of the Spirit are what are sometimes referred to as the “power gifts.” These gifts listed in I Corinthians 12 are as follows: words of wisdom, words of knowledge, faith, healings, miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, different kinds of tongues, and interpretation of tongues. These gifts are the outflow of our life of walking in the spirit.

The nine fruits of the Spirit are what is evident in the character of someone who is living a life in the Spirit. They are a result of our vertical relationship with God (love God with all your heart). The nine gifts of the Spirit are the outflow of that relationship that spills over to edify the people around us (love your neighbor as yourself).

Unfortunately, someone who moves in the gifts does not mean that they have godly character. On the other hand, someone who spends too much time focusing on their own walk with God and does not care about others means that something is not right there as well.

It seems, however, that finding those who value righteousness and godly character is more difficult than finding those who value the gifts. We must be careful not to place more emphasis on the gifts than on the character.

As ministers, we must seek to grow both the gifts and the character in an equal fashion. Otherwise, we will find that even though we preach the truth to others, we fail to live by it, and we become disqualified ourselves.

Role of the Apostolic: Importance of the Body

For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them… (Romans 12:3-6)

Even though an Apostolic person can many times function in a variety of roles, their purpose is not to try to do everything or be the best at everything. Their purpose is to promote the function of the body.

One of the weakest areas in the structure of the church body today is the lack of a five-fold expression in the leadership structure—or even the lack of a group-leadership structure. Most local congregations have a pastor who is the head and everything in the church is based on his opinion.

Many times, you may have someone in the role of a pastor, who is not even really a pastor. They may be an evangelist or a prophet, and because of that, their leadership is lop-sided. They focus more heavily on one area, and neglect another area. Even a person who is actually a pastor, may not fully lead in the way the church needs to be led, because God designed His church to function as a body with many parts.

The lack of the function of the true apostolic is one reason (among many) that the church is not functioning in the way that it should. A true apostolic figure is someone who acts as a father to those in the church and calls them and establishes them into a moving functioning body as a whole—not a small handful of people who do everything while everyone else watches.

Sometimes, we have seen this done so wrongly that we shrug off the five-fold ministry all-together. Other times, we think so highly of those in church leadership, that we put them on a pedestal and treat them as those they were some famous rock-star. Both extreme is wrong.

The Lord is going to restore the five-fold ministry in the church and the functioning of every believer in their inheritance as saints before He returns. Therefore, we need to study the scriptures and seek God about a right-view of how his body operates, and ask God to rightly restore the five-fold ministry to His bride.

Five-Fold Ministry: Function over Title

Ephesians 4:12 says that the role of the apostle, prophet, pastor, teacher, evangelist is to equip the saints in the work of ministry and unifying the bride into the fullness of the knowledge of Christ. Their job is to call believers into their inheritance as sons and daughters of God to move in the things of the kingdom. Yes, they are called to also to walk in it themselves, but their job is not to do it all alone. They are called to equip believers to step into their inheritance in the works of the kingdom.

Apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, and evangelists should focus on building the kingdom of Jesus—not their own kingdom. Therefore, it is important to be able to acknowledge the role and function of someone to establish order, but not to value the title or position as though that person is more valuable than everyone else.

Imagine a father who has several children with different personalities. He cannot treat each one of his children exactly the same, because each child responds differently according to their gifting and personality. In the same way, God leads each one of us differently, and He calls each of us forward into different roles in the kingdom according to the way He designed us.

Not everyone is called into ministry and not everyone in ministry is called into one of the five-fold offices, but those who are called should have more responsibility and trial like the apostles and prophets of old, than they have glamor and privilege like what is commonly seen today.

The giftings and callings of God should not be used to promote our own ministry or lifestyle, but they should be used in humility and meekness to promote the Glory of King Jesus and His kingdom.

Sometimes, titles are a necessary means of communication to promote order and clarity among a group of people—helping to define roles and leadership so that everyone can go in one unified direction.

For example, God provides a model of leadership in the home for the husband, wife, and children to be able to have one unified direction. So, he established that the man would be the leader of the household. Even though the woman is capable of leading, the man is the designated leader. He may discuss decisions and take advice from his wife, but ultimately, he is responsible for the direction of the family and the consequential outcomes of the final decisions made.

Similarly, it is necessary that in the church, there are designated leadership roles to provide structure and clarity of direction. However, many times, the titles and positions become more of a means of gaining personal favor or influence and less about the overall well-being of the body.

Therefore, we must be careful not to place more value on a title or position than on the fruit of that ministry bringing Glory to Jesus and edification to the Body.

Message of the Apostolic: Christ Crucified

…Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

(I Cor. 1:20-25)

It is a tragic thing that so many in the body of Christ are beginning to water down the Gospel and the power of the Cross of Jesus Christ. Many are beginning to say that there is more than one way to the Father other than Jesus Christ.

However, we need a restoration of the true Apostolic Gospel in the Church today. We need to restore back the absolute Truth of the Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ into every home, every school, every church, and every place in the world.

There is no way to God the Father, except through Jesus Christ. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man can come to the Father, except through Him (Jn. 14:6).

Everything in the world goes in the exact opposite direction of the wisdom of God. The wisdom of God was an innocent man dying on the Cross for the sins of the guilty. The wisdom of God was the Creator of the Universe taking on a human frame as a baby, then growing into a man and being killed by the very people He came to save.

 

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong…so that no one may boast before him… (I Cor. 1:27, 29).

The wisdom of God cannot be understood by human thinking, but it must be revealed by the Spirit (I Cor. 2:9-10). The fleshly human mind is at war with the things of the Spirit (Rom. 8:7). So, the things of God cannot be discerned with the human mind, but our mind must be renewed so that we can come under the leadership of God rather than the leadership of man (Rom. 12:1-3).

For this reason, Paul said that he did not preach with persuasive words of human wisdom, but with demonstration of the power of God, so that their faith was not in the power of men but in the power of God (I Cor. 2:4-5). He said that he determined to know nothing among them except Jesus Christ and Him Crucified (I Cor. 2:2).