A.        FAITH.

                                      Apostles and “Apostolic Authority”

And God has appointed these in the church:

first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues.

(1 Corinthians 12:28)

This is God’s order: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers…..

The apostolic gift and anointing should always be at the heart of the Church, therefore, is a necessary and indispensable part of the church, not optional, but needed and required.

Apostles are standard-bearers-commanders who lift the standard and rally the army of God (Isa. 59:19).  The Church needs apostolic leadership to help set the Church in order, being a catalyst to help organize and mobilize the believers into an army of the Lord.

Every believer has been gifted by God to fulfill his or her calling and purpose.  We are loved and forgiven equilaterally and all necessary to the Body of Christ.  We are all equal in God’s eyes in Christ as to salvation; no gift makes anyone more important that anyone else, yet as you see in the scripture above lists apostles first in rank in the spirit.  The reason for this is that someone has to be first; someone has to be a pioneer or forerunner.  This is the divine order of ministry given to the Church, and it is not to elevate men or exalt the flesh but that each gift function can operate in it’s greatest capacity fulfilling its commission.  When the church neglects this it will cause disorder and confusion and inhibits the flow of anointing and power of God through His order.

The apostolic prepares and opens the way for the prophetic, and in turn the prophetic prepares and opens the way for the teaching.   All   three are needed to establish God’s purposes in that region and our ability to fulfill the Great Commission is based on this order.  Evangelism and pasturing are utilized as ways of reaching and overseeing the people to perfect the saints.  The apostolic cannot function without these two gifts and the others as well.  The apostolic gift and anointing should always be at the heart of the Church making the Church relevant to our world without compromise.  Just think of all the pioneers in history; perseverance, the hardships, misunderstandings, injury, mistreatment and even deaths. The pioneering spirit is apostolic. Apostolic people have a breakthrough anointing that will invade and possess new territory – naturally and spiritually.  The apostolic ministry has the ability to penetrate the defenses set up by the powers of darkness, and apostolic preaching and teaching has this penetrating power.  (Matthew 12:29, Mark 3:27, Luke 11:21,22, Daniel 7-10, Ephesians 1:21, Ephesians 6:12, Colossians 1:16 and Romans 8:38.)  Apostles can go into regions and break through the resistance by binding the strongman. We must break through tradition, religion, ignorance, poverty, witchcraft, rebellion, pride, and other obstacles so that people might be set free to walk in the truth.  In addition to regions being opened up to the Word of God, the Lord uses apostles to affect cities as well (Acts 13:44) and will help change the spiritual climate of their assigned areas, whether those are cities, regions or nations.  The result is that the people in those areas are more receptive to hearing the Word of God- and the Church will be that much closer to fulfilling its mission.

A mature apostle, one who has embraced the cross and walks in awareness of his limitations, will spend and be spent doing everything in his power so his spiritual sons and daughters are equipped for the ministry and find their purpose.  The difference between local pastors and apostolic leaders is primarily in the way they think, not the size of their church.  There are many mighty apostles that no longer serve a local church. 

God wants to build on the old truth of our forefathers and maintain their pioneering spirit and use our own faith and fresh revelation to push into new territory with God.

(Ephesians 4:16) "From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work."

All authority in the Kingdom of God is by relationship.  Jesus is exalted as King in heaven ruling over both heaven and earth.  From there He gifts His church with the five fold ministries.  While He rules sovereignty over the earth, including the civil ruler i.e., the kings of the earth (Psalm2), He rules savingly over His church – those He is related to by the New Covenant in His blood.  Therefore, the church must respond in the right way to His delegated authority, which He has sent through the five fold ministries of (Ephesians 4:11).

In (11 Corinthians 1:24) the epistle Paul feels compelled to defend his apostleship because he was the spiritual father of the church at Corinth.  However, for whatever reasons, the church was not responding to him as their spiritual father, therefore his apostolic authority was hindered in its application.  The functioning of authority is in direct proportion to the strength of the relationship. The church received him as another teacher like Peter and Apollos, but they did not receive him as their apostle.  Paul responds, writing this: ”not that we lord it over your faith, but are workers with you for your joy…..” 

The word “workers” is a Greek word synergoi, translated “fellow-workers”, used also by Paul in (1 Corinthian 3:9).  We get the English word synergy from this word.  Paul is saying that through a covenantal working relationship between the apostles and the local church, including its leadership, the maximum efficiency is released for the fulfillment of God’s Kingdom agenda.  Authority is by consent not coercion. Paul understood that the saints of Corinth needed to stand on their own faith and his role was to help them walk in joy instead of defeat. They were not to place their dependence upon his faith neither were they to become recklessly independent of his apostolic authority in bringing correction and disciplined change.  They were to maintain the principle of interdependence in the local church:  the intricate interlacing of apostolic leadership, local leadership (such as pastors and elders) and the local membership in harmony and balance.  Neither the apostle or the local leadership nor the people can be complete without the other.

All authority is the kingdom is given…it is delegated to us.  No one takes it upon himself. In the Great Commission, Jesus announced that all authority (Greek: exousia) had been GIVEN to Him!  Would His disciples respond to His authority and obey the Commission He gave them?

Even through the sad stories of the past legitimate Biblical authority remains the same.  An abuse should not drive us into disuse, but motivate us to seek the proper use! 

Relational apostolic authority should include:

*  The Authority of Influence.  This should remain the lowest level of authority because those with whom we do not have a relationship with can influence us. Paul was able to minister to many (Acts 28: 30-31).  He was not their spiritual father (apostle), but he still had great influence there.  Ministers like Billy Graham and Dr. C. Peter Wagner that I have worked with, read their books, but don’t know personally very well, have influenced me over the years and I would probably not decline if either calls me to participate in something again.

*  The Authority of Fellowship.  If one open my heart to a group of fellow ministers concerning some “unsanctified” area of one’s life, that brings a measure of spiritual authority into my life.  All of us respect and respond at least in some measure to those who minister encouragement to us and even to those through whom the Holy Spirit may release correction to us.  Doing so will obviously test whatever level of relationship one has with them.

*  The Authority of Service.  The principle is: godly and unselfish service releases authority. Paul declares at the beginning of most of his letters as being a bondservant of Christ.  The nature of authority in the Kingdom of God, sharply contrasts the nature of authority in the world system, i.e., the Gentile overlords. In (Matthew 20:28), Jesus said:  “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many”.

*  The Authority of Accountability.  This believed by most is the highest level of authority. We will give an accounting of my ministry to the Chief Shepherd.  Meanwhile, we are endeavoring to walk in a relationship of accountability with those minister-leaders to whom the Lord has relationally joined us.  Iron sharpens iron!   As in the previous illustration of opening of one’s heart with fellow minister-leaders may lead to either the forge that changes one’s life that we need or leave avoiding what must be dealt with. Whatever the problem may have been…everywhere I go there I am, so it is better to keep the accountability group in place! In a free flow of fellowship among minister-leaders, there is a measure of authority released.  

*  There isn’t much said about women apostles but one is specifically mentioned and is an area for discussion and acceptance if indeed true.  I share with you some findings:

In (Romans 16:6-8), Paul mentioned Junia, an outstanding apostle and fellow prisoner.

“Greet Mary, who bestowed much labour on us. Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.  Greet Amplias my beloved in the Lord.”

It is argued that Junia could be Junias, a man’s name, but scholars aren’t absolutely sure which gender is meant, since both the names Andronikos and Junian are in the accusative case.  Rather than beginning from a base of uncertainty, it is possible to search the writings of the early church fathers that were much closer to the original manuscripts and church than we are today.

John Chrysostom (337-407), bishop of Constantinople, wasn’t partial to women.  He said some negative things about women but spoke positively about Junia.  “Oh, how great is the devotion of this woman that she should be counted worthy of the appellation of apostle!” (1) Nor was he the only church father to believe Junia was a woman.  Origin of Alexandria (c.185-253) said the name was a variant of Julia (Rom. 16:15), as does Thayer’s Lexicon. (2)  Leanard Swidler cited Jerome (340-4 19), Hatto of Vercelli (924-961), Theophylack (1050-1108), and Peter Abelard (10709-1142) as believing Junia to be a woman.

Dr. Swidler stated, “To the best of my knowledge, no commentator on the text until Aegidus of Rome (1245-1316) took the name to be masculine.” (3)  Apparently the idea that Junia was a man’s name is a relatively modern concept but the bulk of the best evidence available is that Junia was indeed a woman, and an outstanding apostle.  What would Junia have been doing in prison with Paul if she were confined, quiet lady?  Surely, a silent woman wouldn’t have generated enough evidence to convict her of being a Christian!

A common counter-argument against any woman being an apostle is this:  Why didn’t Jesus choose at least one woman among His apostles?  Christ ministered primarily to the house of Israel (Matt.15:24).  He preached to Jews who were governed by both the Bible and the oral law.  Jesus knew the oral law forbade women witnesses in both civil and religious matters. “The law about an oath of testimony applies to men but not to women.  One of those curses supposedly placed on women because of Eve’s transgression says, “She is not to be believed as a witness.”

Christ chose His apostles for one main purpose, to bear witness of His resurrection (Acts 1:21-22).  One of the requirements for being an apostle was being with Him through the time of His death and resurrection.  They lived together as a family.  It would have been highly questionable, or wrong ethically, morally, and culturally, for a woman to be part of that original group.  No Jew would have accepted her witness.

But Junia wasn’t one of the twelve apostles; she was a New Testament church apostle, as was Paul.  (Ephesians 4:8-11) tells us these apostles were not ordained until after Jesus ascended, and their qualifications were vastly different than those governing the twelve.  Only one of the original twelve was ever replaced.  Matthias took Judas’s place.  After that time no living person could fulfill the necessary requirements (Acts 1:21-22).  Paul wasn’t considered one of the twelve and frequently argued the validity of his apostleship.  Junia could have been one of the New Testament church apostles, although not one of Jesus’ original apostles.

Notes for the study of Junia and apostolic women:

1.        The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom, Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers, Series 1 (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1956).

2.        Joseph Thayer, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1968), 306

3.        Leaonard Swidler, Biblical Affirmations of Women (Philadelphia, PA: Westminister Press, 1979), p. 299

                         The Prophetic and the “Prophetic Anointing”

His word says to us “be eager to prophesy” and “eagerly desire spiritual gifts,especially the gift of prophecy.” 

(1 Cor. 14:1)

We as a people have been called to carry a prophetic type burden; to live out God’s eternal purpose.  There is a working distinction that will be made in further teaching between the office of a prophet and the prophetic ministry of a person and of a corporate people.

“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit.  And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord.  And there are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons”  (1 Corinthians 12:4-6)

Comparing oneself to another, and wanting what they have produces death.  Avoid jealousy and insecurity.  Through rejection or comparison, and the residue of legalistic traditions in a man/woman, we can walk under false “molds or yokes” that need to be identified and broken off with the help of the Holy Spirit so that we can walk with integrity within the Church.  Allow God to take the lid off the box.  Seek your own call and anointing, learn from others that are well seasoned and respected, but get your own. Walk in accountability with others and cultivate faithfulness with what you have a unique expression of all that you are to be in God. 

We see the prophetic ministry as one aspect of the five-fold calling, resident in a degree in every ministry, more evident and activated in others.  God’s ultimate weapon is a man or a woman who has encountered the prophetic anointing.  God does not anoint projects but anoints men and women...people.  First and foremost, your identity is in Christ first, not the gifting.  God gives and we must allow the unique expression of His grace in our lives.

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.  And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.  (Joel 2: 28-29)

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father; And whatever you ask in My Name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son."

(John 14:12,13)

*  Prophetic Anointing: The supernatural enablement, grace, manifested presence of the Holy Spirit operating upon or through an individual or corporate group to produce the works of Jesus.

(Ephesians 4:11-13) And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and 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 of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

The prophetic are not by birth or official designation, but by the power of their inner call and the response of their hearers.  They speak the Word of the Lord in the Name of the Lord, and carry “weight” by virtue of the ethical, moral and spiritual urgency in their message. 

(Isaiah 42:9)  “Behold, the former things have come to pass, and the new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”

The single most important characteristic of true prophetic people is the evidence that they have stood in the counsel of Jehovah and have faithfully declared what they have heard from His mouth. They are primarily concerned not with the distant future, but to tell forth the will of God in the crisis of their own days, essentially, interpreting God.

Prophecy is the expressed thought of God, spoken in a language that no man in his natural gift of speech could ever articulate and the substance exceeds the limits of what the natural mind could conceive. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways says the Lord.  (Isaiah 55:8)

But, as it is written,

“What no eye has seen, nor ear

heard,

nor the human heart

conceived,

what God has prepared for those

 who love him” -

These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.  For what human being knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within?  So also no one comprehends what is truly God’s except the Spirit of God.  Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God.  And we speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual.

Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.  Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else’s scrutiny. 

“For who has known the mind of

the Lord

so as to instruct him?” 

But we have the mind of Christ.

(1 Corinthians 2:9-16)

There are varieties of prophetic anointing:

Old Testament and New Testament, had as their most major task to declare that in Christ, all the prophecies were foreshadowed and fulfilled:  (Acts 3:24, 1 Peter 1:10-11, Revelations 19:10)

Some prophetic people are placed in the church to equip the church.  Others are placed in the church for ministry to the secular community to release God’s Kingdom influence.

Transitions are difficult and won’t happen without an “agent of change” as a catalyst with that being the role of prophets, to help provoke or guide biblical change.  God wants to build on the old truth of our forefathers and maintain their pioneering spirit and use our own faith and fresh revelation to push into new territory with God. All change begins with repentance, a change of mind leading to a change of direction.  If we don’t change our way of thinking, in the end, nothing changes about our ways.  A real danger is that the church will adopt new terminology but still think old and behave old. 

Some prophetic people carry a governmental leadership anointing (Moses, Abraham, David, etc.)  Others do not and should not, and it is wise not to covet or envy that call. 

The list below is not a complete list and varieties may be varied; absent of sameness; different form of same thing, condition and/or collection of differences.  There are many gifted and revelatory people that may be radically different from one another. Differences may be more than the array of personalities or the way revelation is delivered.  This may include how a person receives revelation from God and the type of revelation they receive may vary from person to person.  This makes for a variety of differences visually when watching and listening how someone delivers or ministers a word for the Lord.

1. Spirit –Bearers: They practice the presence of Jesus, releasing the ordinary manifestation of God’s glorious presence, through a love-walk.

May have extraordinary manifestations, such as falling in the Spirit, quaking, shaking, ecsta speech, power encounters, kingdom clashes, angelic and demonic warfare, angel activity, fragrance of Christ, dreams and visions and interpretations.  Proclaim God’s corporate Purpose and heart standards for His people.  Proclamation of the church’s social responsibilities and moral actions and speak forth the administrative strategy of God.

(John 3:8), “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.  So is everyone who is of the Spirit.”

2.   Prophetic Intercessors:  Help make way for the prophetic fulfillment. 

3.   Prophetic Worship Leaders:  They usher in the manifested presence of God. 

4.  Prophetic Evangelist:  This is taking the revelatory gifts to the streets, stadiums, neighborhoods, health clubs, executive places, shopping malls, grocery stores, parks, etc.

5.  Prophetic Counselors:  This is a combination of pastoral and prophetic.  Often mingles with the spirit    of counsel and understanding (gifts of healings and discernment of spirits).  Their concern is with the internal condition of the heart and mind of man.

6.  Prophetic Enquirers:  These are a prophetic and teacher combination.  They explain the ways of the Spirit, taking the bizarre and making it practical, relatable, and understandable.  Their call is to multiply and disciple.

7.  Prophetic Writers:  This is a gift-mix of writing and the prophetic.  They write with revelatory anointing, expressing God’s heart to a contemporary society. 

“Make room for us in your hearts.  We have wronged no-one, we have corrupted no-one, we have not taken advantage of no-one.”  (2 Cor. 7:2)

This scripture should and needs to be true for all of us.