APOSTLE

The church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ being the chief corner stone. Ephesians 2:20

The Ministry Gifts

The Lord had all the ministry gifts and when “He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men, some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, unto the perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness, thereby they lay in wait to deceive.” (Ephesians 4:8, 11-14) Obviously, this is the leadership structure which Jesus set in place. The structure is a design which gets activated by receipt of promised Holy Spirit power.

So, what is an Apostle?

Apostle is an extremely controversial term in Christendom today. Being ordained by an Apostle in the Apostolic denomination, I have grasp of the office and function of the Apostle, as well as now walking in that function. The key word is function and there is the rub. Many assume the title of Apostle but are mere posers and some even charlatans. I would opine, and believe this is in line with my Spiritual Father’s Dr. Don Lynch’s thought, that one is an Apostle from their mother’s womb and gradually moves toward the call until the Kairos time when he or she becomes functional. Though the apostle seemed to have disappeared from the original ones that Jesus commissioned, they have remained and are becoming an important part of the Kingdom Culture that is re-emerging in our times. When we can embrace Kingdom Culture, Jesus is able to establish His government or Ecclesia. Though seemingly impossible in the natural, we realize that reality is in the spiritual realm, and as Moses and those after him, we stand and see the salvation of God, as we come full circle back to the blueprint for operations given us by the first Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Jesus Christ (Hebrews 3:1). The Apostle is like a road grader or pioneer whose purpose is activation of God’s blueprints for a region, nation, or nations.

The Significance

Why is this such a big deal? It is a big deal because it is precisely the culture that Jesus established, and man and his adversary have managed to pervert and distort. But in these last days the remnant will arise and embrace the divinely appointed blueprints given His chosen Apostles, establish the kingdom culture contained in the blueprints given His Apostolic leadership and the Lord will establish His Ecclesia. We see clearly in scripture the who, what, when, where, and why Jesus instituted the structure. The how is Holy Spirit, given at Pentecost. The church has been asleep and in these accelerated end times the apostolic leadership has re-surfaced to be a clarion call and orchestrate the body for the end-time harvest. Ephesians 2:20 says the church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ being the chief corner stone. Many argue that Paul and crew were the last apostles and that God speaking through His Son has provided all things necessary for life and salvation and there is no need for the apostolic. If that be the case, why does Jesus give the gifts on departure and if we have been given Holy Spirit and still manage to derail, then God most assuredly meant for the apostolic to remain and is revealing His apostolic fathers to accomplish His end time plans. The Body needs to comprehend this because the next scheduled visit by the Godhead, beyond what has been sent, is when Jesus is dispensed by Father to come for His Bride. 

Purpose

We find all that matters is His plan, of which each of us is given a choice. As an apostolic man, I have seen the power of the ancient first century church in operational form and it stems from the form and order that Jesus Christ decreed. Each functional position was ordained by Christ to fulfill necessary leadership. Man failed it in the garden and continues to fail today, even after being given all the tools and power requisite to fully living the Divinely inspired life, for which we were created. Why would man abort apostles and prophets? Our adversary knows that answer, as he has deceived us yet again into preaching and accepting another gospel devoid of the power of God and devoid of the dynamics of two most critical positions of leadership, apostle and prophet. They are no less significant than the other three, but their function is critical to the whole. The Apostle has been given the blueprints. The prophet speaks into the plan of God. The evangel leads the harvest of souls. The teacher enlightens and trains the Saints. The Pastor cares for and protects the Saints as they grow to their purpose and beyond. When the Christ ordained synergy exists, His body is unstoppable, can take dominion of their assigned area and usher in Ecclesia.

Apostate Times

The true apostle has a difficult time with apostasy, not only in humanistic America today, but in the church everywhere as posers assume the title and many use it for personal gain. The apostle is sent by the King to establish Kingdom culture just as Jesus, our first Apostle, was sent by Father God to do. Jesus was a threat to the culture of His day because He came to reset that culture. Kingdom culture has principles, procedures, and protocols. American church culture is not Kingdom culture. The apostles and prophets are to be involved in all they establish. We should expect to see fruit as evidence and witness a humble servant, as was Jesus the model, bringing the blueprints he or she has been entrusted to run with. Father is about Nations. America is supposed to lead but has in many ways abdicated allowing the enemy to quench evangelistic fire. We need Apostolic fathers to reset us. Many of the nations have far more fire than America does. My African spiritual sons and daughters, associates, and friends tell me that Africa’s survival is dependent upon the United States. We must arise from slumber and accomplish our mission. Scripture indicates the final harvest will be quick, Revelation 14, hence the need to awaken from our slumber, become kingdom culture in thought, word and deed, so that Ecclesia is established, and the Body of Christ can accomplish our mission. It is not going to happen without true apostolic leadership aligning and setting the Body in order.

It’s in the Fruit

The apostle has an apostolic mantle. This mantle is the authority of the assignment. His or her blueprints are specific to that assignment and region. He or she must be tested by God to show themselves approved. He or she is expected to have the wisdom to establish counsel with other apostles who have other parts of the larger blueprint and submit to those who have larger blueprints. Accountability brings God’s trust in you. Receipt of the apostolic mantle, as with any mantle, is only the beginning. The testing comes to make sure that you are a finisher that He can entrust with responsibility for His plan. Just as Father sent Jesus and Paul sent Timothy, they were known to be same, i.e., if you’ve seen the Son – you’ve seen the Father. The passion for the process is extremely important and submission requisite. The quality of submission determines ability to handle Kingdom Leadership. I find the fathering aspect of apostolic leadership to be critical to the healing and preparation of the Body. With proper apostolic leadership, much of the damage to the Body would cease and the Body would become strong and vibrant. Often, we are our own worst enemy and it should not be.

Take Dominion

How then shall we live? We must live in accordance with the manual, the Bible, and allow Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth. We must understand the dichotomy of living a humble and peaceful existence, yet realizing that we are constantly at war. When we listen to and follow Holy Spirit, submission to Christ’s blueprint for leadership and order becomes very easy to accomplish and provides strength and a shield. When the Body locks shields, we become invincible and it becomes impossible for the enemy to take us out, unless we break ranks with fellow members of the Ecclesia, hence of extreme importance. God is showing me truths, but rest assured I am preaching to myself as much or perhaps more than to the Body. Having been under apostolic leadership and Dr Lindy and I receiving that mantling in our metron of Africa, I am more convinced each day that it is truly Christ’s plan for His often-anemic Body to arise in power and perform the Great Commission.