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What is an Apostle? © 2009- Curtis Forbes Ever since I received Jesus Christ as my
Lord and Savior in 1989, I have always been totally intrigued by the “5
fold ministry gifts” listed in Eph 4:11 & As I grew in the Lord and developed over the years I began to see specific fruit in my life related to specific gifts, but never really knew for sure exactly which specific office I was supposed to walk in primarily. From day one; I always seemed to see very strong prophetic fruit but I have always been drawn very heavily to the office of the Apostle. Unfortunately there was not any true, accurate, examples of the apostolic office in my life until around 2001 - 2002. I think one possible reason, is that the gift of an Apostle had not really began to be fully released and restored to the “post modern” church until then. I don’t claim to be any kind of church historian but looking back in history, you don‘t really hear much of anything about Apostles or even prophets, after the first Apostles in the first century. After Martin Luther the church itself was pretty much silent until the Azusa Street revival. Then all of a sudden in the last 100 years we start to see a pattern of God releasing and restoring all the 5 fold gifts of Eph 4:11 & 1Cor 12:28 Back to the body of Christ. The most recent of all, was the gift of an Apostle. Most agree that the rippling effects of apostolic restoration began back around 1994 - 1995. in Acts 3:21 it teaches us of a coming restoration “Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began“… there has been no doubt, that there was a very noticeable, significant shift in the Church around 2000 - 2001 which I believe that this was the very beginnings of that restitution process. Although I have always had a burning desire to know all 5 of the ascension gifts - what they really were - how to identify and recognize all the gifts in the body and how they operate. I quickly began to learn much about all of the gifts, but it was not until the major shift within the body in 2000 - 2001 that the Lord spoke to me one day and told me that He was going to bring specific understanding about the office of an Apostle to me personally. As my eyes were being opened, I began to see that an Apostle was not just “one who plants churches”… even though that is one aspect of an Apostle, it is only one very small aspect of an Apostle. There have been many ministers that have planted churches but were never called to be an Apostle. To understand what an Apostle really is, lets first of all look at the word “Apostle” and where it came from. It did not originate from the church and it was around long before Christ walked the earth. It was first used to describe the captain over an armada of ships, chosen by the king or a monarchy to lead, and then SENT out on an expedition, either of war or exploration. This captain would actually sail in the very front of the armada, or he would flank the first ship in order, and all the other captains would follow his command. In the Greek, the word for Apostle is “apostolos” which shows up in the Greek NT 81 times! This emphasis is monumental in relation to other ascension gifts in the NT. Here is the definition to apostolos (G# 652): a delegate, messenger, one sent forth with orders, specifically applied to the twelve apostles of Christ. in a broader sense applied to other eminent Christian teachers Of Paul and Barnabas, of Timothy and Silvanus as well as several others mentioned in the New Testament. This comes from the word “apostello” (G#649) which is a verb… not a noun! this is a compound word “apo” (G#575) which carries a very heavy implication of sending and being sent as well as navigation and direction. A messenger, One ordered to a place appointed - “commissioned“. then you have “stello” (G#4724) which comes directly from the word “histemi” meaning to set, place, or stand, to order, to arrange, prepare to equip, to bring together. These are all just very brief definitions so we could lay a quick foundation and get a better, more accurate view as to what an Apostle really is. They are so much more than just church planters! Their function in the New Testament Church is very extensive yet so many spirit filled Christians do not even have a clue how to recognize an Apostle, let alone what they are in relation to the rest of the body. Eph 2:20 states that the very household of God (the body of Christ, the Church) is built upon the foundation of Apostles and Prophets “And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone”. It is impossible to build without a foundation, and we can easily see in the word of God that Apostles are extremely foundational! Every book in the New Testament was written by an Apostle! 1 Cor 12:28 “And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues“ also Eph 4:11 ”And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers”. This is the New Testament - please keep in mind that as long as there are the other gifts in the body of Christ, there will always be apostles! If there are no more apostles - then there are no more prophets, evangelists, pastors or teachers! It is literally all… or nothing!!! As we can clearly see, the Father “set” Apostles in the body “first” just like you would lay a foundation first! Without laying a proper foundation first, you are in a world of major trouble!!! This is not an option - this is a must for the body of Christ! Apostles fulfill a major role within the Church edifying the body and “perfecting” the saints - this word perfecting here does not mean having no mistakes or being flawless; it actually means “complete furnishing, to mature, to equip” now we begin to see why the enemy absolutely does not want anyone having anything whatsoever to do with an Apostle! More than any other 5 fold gift, an apostle has the grace of God to keep the truth from being spoiled with the traditions of man and the doctrines of man. Mankind is notorious for bending the truth and polluting the truth. One of the main purposes and mantles of an apostle is to restore the accuracy of our foundations and solidify the authenticity of kingdom belief systems - the God kind of faith! The apostolic helps us to navigate away from the pitfalls of religion, accurately guiding us away from deception, and causing us to stand solid in the love of the truth. Apostles are much more interested in building people and no so interested in building a church or ministry. They are more concerned with teaching people how to walk in a spiritual authority that Jesus gave to us, than making a name for themselves. As they focus on building people, ministry will surely develop and Churches will certainly be established. Apostles are not looking to “take over”, their delight is serving ministries by solidifying the foundations of those ministries and building, maturing, equipping the saints - causing them to grow in a true kingdom culture! They are NOT interested in building or preserving the culture of any particular denomination or “church brand“. This is probably why so many things are changing within a lot of churches these days; people are tired of the traditions and doctrines of man, they want to be accurately equipped and experience true spiritual maturity which religion and the traditions of man cannot deliver. This can only come from apostolic grace! When it comes to spirituality; many people do not even know what they really want, they simply realize that they are hungry for the Lord and they just want more! As long as people are hungry - they are ready and willing to change - the apostolic will bring a distinct shift in their relationship with the Lord! their communion with the Lord, even their fellowship with the saints, will go up to a whole new level. They will be able to minister to the Lord like never before and they will be able to pour out more to each other as well as receive more from the Lord and from fellow saints. everything will increase to a brand new level. In other words Apostles are definitely “agents of change” Apostles have a unique mantle/ ability to bring you into the highest level/ realm/ dimension of fellowship with the Lord which is “the joy of the Lord” Jesus himself said in John 15: 11”These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” John 16:24 “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full” Matt 25:24 “His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” When you are equipped with true faith and strength to continue in the joy of the Lord -even though you are going through a difficult time - you know that that is unique and rare. But with apostolic grace it becomes more and more a second nature. Look at 2 Cor 1: 24 “Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand.” My own translation of this passage of scripture is: “we have not come to hijack your faith; but to facilitate your joy, for it is by your own faith that you stand” In closing, Apostles have an unusual ability to bring an open heaven into tough situations in peoples lives, and even entire geographical regions. They bring a higher level of worship, deeper faith and understanding, and obedience in the things of God. Please look at Rom 1: 4-5 “ Who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake,” (NAS) the grace of (or for) true apostleship is solely based upon the resurrection of Christ from the dead and “according to” (agreeing with , harmonizing with, and conforming to) the spirit (or nature) of holiness. These are like the two legs that a true apostle will stand upon. There is so much to say about these “two legs” that I have mentioned in Rom 1:4-5, but to keep it in an nutshell, I will say this - standing upon these two legs that work in tandem, apostles are necessary to bring about the obedience of faith in all nations and will also operate in resurrection power on many different levels, speaking / breathing life into a variety of different situations that we may find ourselves in, including raising the dead. They bring a high level of holiness and consecration to the Lord, and again, bringing a tremendous increase of joy, faith, obedience, and surrendering to the Lord! CURTIS FORBES
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