Restoration of the Charismata

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1 RESTORING THE CHARISMATA

Dr. Bernie L. Wade

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The Ephesians Four Ministry Model is irrefutably and unequivocally the greatest “church growth”

paradigm and principle ever known or revealed. The Ephesians Four Ministry Model is the

original “purpose-driven” paradigm that overshadows by a million light years all others. The

Ephesians Four Ministry Model is a ministry model in which all the Fivefold Ministry Offices are

functioning and flowing together in concinnity (individual parts working together harmoniously in

concerted effort as a whole) in and unto the local church to accomplish the true, unfathomable

Purposes and Plans of God for His Eternal Bride through all the ages revealed in the Word of

God — that is, the ongoing Ministry of Jesus on the Earth. The Ephesians Four Ministry

Model is the ministry model that Jesus, the eternal and exalted Head of the Church, enacted

and activated as He was ascending back into Heaven from whence He had come to sit down at

the right hand of God on His Throne of Sovereignty, having purchased and redeemed His Bride

through the shedding of His own blood and sanctifying Her through the Church Age by the

washing of the Water of the Spirit to become His Eternal Co-Sovereign Companion.

Dr. Steven Lambert

For almost two thousand years the Church has hobbled about in self-imposed weakness because of Her failure to recognize God's provision for power. The same preachers who warn us: "Never pray for patience" for "tribulation worketh patience" (Romans 5:3) admonish us to pray and fast for maturity and unity, when our Father's provision is already revealed in Ephesians 4:11-15.

Dr. Dale Climie

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INTRODUCTION During the late 1800’s and early 1900’s a religious euphoria began to affect certain adherents of the evangelical portion of the Protestant movement. This group began to experience and to encourage others to experience manifestations of God that were taught by the main line Protestant church to be extinct or no longer available. These manifestations began with persons receiving the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues, and were soon followed by miracles, signs, and wonders. Some said this was similar to manifestations explained in the Bible at such important events as the Day of Pentecost and at the conversion of the first recorded Gentiles (Acts Chapter 10). These events were most evident in what would be called the Wales Revival and the Azusa Street Revival. The organized church, both Catholic and Protestant had long ignored or disregarded manifestations1 or the Charismata2 (Charisma) and deemed them to be discontinued or not relevant to the modern church. Charismata is a theological term that refers to the spiritual graces and qualifications granted to every Christian to perform his or her task in the Church. The Roman Catholic Church counsels determined that all of the operation of the gifts of the spirit were held in their apostolate3 and were no longer available to the laity. Instead of challenging this hierarchical approach to the gifts of the spirit, the operation of the gifts and the fivefold ministry, the Protestant reformers had rejected the Catholic apostolate and its claims of Apostolic Succession4 and with it went interest in or acceptance of the manifestation of the Holy Spirit, the operation of Spiritual gifts and fivefold ministry. When the Azusa Street Revival (and other similar revivals) began to experience the restoration of these charismatic gifts (that were given to the original New Testament Church) the established ‘mainline’ denominations were opposed. When the subsequent movement began to openly encourage others to have these experiences the mainline denominations decided to denounce, ignore or explain away these manifestations. Over the last 100 years these mainline denominations have largely continued as they were. When members of these groups experience these modern manifestations of the Charismata, they are either discouraged, made persona no grata or excommunicated. Some Protestant groups have taken a hard stance against anyone who believes in the charismata. Others have taken a harsh stance only to have to soften the stance because of the backlash from their membership. In the last hundred years, no Christian denomination has escaped from having to take an official or unofficial position on the subject of the charismata in their members or assemblies.5 It has been the source of many disagreements, arguments, divisions, etc. It is perhaps the most misunderstood and misused portion of the Christian Church. Today, this group that began with this open embrace of the charismata in the early 1900’s is generally categorized as the Pentecostal movement.6 One of the most striking

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developments in twentieth century church history has been the growth of Pentecostalism. This movement appeared as a few small sects in the 1910s and 1920s, but by the 1950s, it had grown to become the “third force” in Christianity.7 From its unpretentious beginnings this Pentecostal or charismatic, movement has emerged as the largest branch of Protestantism, even perhaps the largest active branch of Christianity with estimates of more than 700 million adherents world-wide. The advent of the Pentecostal experience brought a plethora of “spirit-filled” ministers who began a disjointed effort to revisit their understanding of a variety of Scriptural interpretations.8

On January 1st, 1901 a prayer meeting at the Bethel Bible School began a new Era in

the Christian world. In 1904 the Welsh Revival united more than 100,000 believers. In

1905 the Azusa Street revival ignited global interest in Pentecostalism. It has been

more than 100 years since the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Azusa Street launched

the greatest revival in the history of the world (See the map above to note the impact).

It is our expectation that what God has done in the past He will do again. Jesus told us,

“Greater things that these you WILL do!” It is evident that we are destined to see the

glory of the latter house be greater than the glory of the former house.

At this writing there are 75 million people added to the earth’s population every year.

Every three years, world population grows by the number who lives in the United States.

Every six years, a new Europe is added. Asia alone is adding a new Japan every two

years. We will need to triple food production in the next 25 years. Mexico City grows by

80,000 monthly. It will be the largest city in the world by the year 2020 with 31 million.

By the year 2030 no city in the United States will be in the top 10 in population, seven

will be in Asia, three in Latin America. Most of these will be in Hindu, Buddhist and

Muslim worlds.

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CHAPTER ONE

RESTORATION BEGINS

“A policy is a temporary creed liable to be changed, but while it holds good it has got to be pursued with apostolic zeal.”

Mahatma Gandhi

http://thinkexist.com/quotation/a_policy_is_a_temporary_creed_liable_to_be/325650.html

http://thinkexist.com/quotation/a_policy_is_a_temporary_creed_liable_to_be/325650.html

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In order to restore something you must first have possession or control of what is to be

restored. In the case of the charismata there are some who claim the charismata was

never completely lost but rather was held in small groups throughout history. These cite

historic manifestations of the spirit through many and diverse groups. There is

considerable historic evidence that these people are correct and we know that there are

repeated manifestations of the Holy Spirit in divers places. We are not refuting this

premise. It is certainly Scriptural that no matter how unpopular or wide spread the gifts,

manner and operation of the Holy Spirit were or were not, they had to remain with the

true believers and the body of Christ and there certainly is no spiritual premise for their

demise. However, the widespread recognition (pro or con) of the charismata was

definitely reactivated or restored by the events of those revival movements of the early

1900’s.

Regardless of your viewpoint, the charismata were catapulted in the forefront of

Christian through and service by these revivals. This recovery began a movement of

restoration of the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in the lives of individual believers and

in the body of Christ in general. This recovery has historically impacted more people

than any other single event since the advent of Christ and the subsequent events

surrounding the New Testament Church.

The catalyst for the Pentecostal movement is generally

credited to an Independent Holiness preacher with a Methodist

background. By 1901, American Methodism had been the

source of similar unofficial manifestations for more than fifty

years. “By September 1900, Parham had found Stones Folly.

It was a castle with two towers that had been built and then

abandoned. It had been sitting vacant for about 10 years.

Parham and a group of about 40 students, their spouses and

children lived and worked in the school. They set up one of the

two towers as their prayer tower, and prayed 24 hours a day.

The building was leaky and drafty and living conditions were

difficult. In 1901 Parham went on a trip and encouraged his students to search the

scriptures for evidence of the Holy Spirit.

When Parham returned the students had decided that speaking in tongues was the

evidence of the Holy Spirit, but none of them had ever experienced such a

phenomenon. These bible school students began to seek God for such an outpouring

using the book of Acts as their guide. On New Year’s Eve 1901 they experienced the

charismata. One student, Agnes Ozman, spoke in what was believed to be Chinese for

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three days. Word traveled fast and several area ministers were prayed for and received

this gift.”9 Many consider Stones Folly the ‘Birthplace of Pentecostalism’.10 11

“Pentecostalism thus had its birthday (or rebirth), but the movement, meeting with

skepticism at every turn, had a hard time getting out of the nursery. It was not until late

1903 at a revival in Galena, Kansas, that Parham and his teachings gained notoriety.

Soon Parham could boast of up to 25,000 followers, but an even stronger Pentecostal

movement was taking place in Wales in 1904-1905 under the leadership of Evan

Roberts. It seems to be a little known fact to many modern heralds of revival that the

"Welsh Revival" was not a movement of God similar to the Great Awakening, but was

actually the European counterpart to the rise of American Pentecostalism. Actually, in

many ways the Welsh Revival was a strong catalyst for this side of the ocean. If God

was performing these signs and wonders in Wales, so the reasoning went, He could do

it in the Americas as well and Evan Roberts would have a direct impact on the events in

America.

We discover the next important chapter in Pentecostalism in Texas, where in 1905

Parham opened a Bible school and began publishing a newspaper entitled The

Apostolic Faith. Out of the Bible school emerged the next great luminary in the

Pentecostal movement, William J. Seymour, a southern black Holiness preacher.

Seymour soon moved to Los Angeles, where, after several turns of events, he spear

headed a revival at what would be called the Azusa Street Mission. It was here that a

Times reporter claimed that "colored people and a sprinkling of whites practice the most

fanatical rites, preach the wildest theories, and work themselves into a state of mad

excitement in their peculiar zeal" (Ibid. p. 15).

Regardless of such criticism, by September 1906 the church reported about 13,000

people had received the "baptism of the Holy Spirit." Although Seymour would seldom

preach, meetings would often begin at 10:00 A.M. and continue until two or three the

following morning. Thousands of pilgrims, curious about and hungry for what Seymour

claimed to offer, poured down Azusa Street between 1906 and 1909. But while the

Azusa Street Revival weathered the external storm of criticism, it soon began to unravel

internally. Perhaps the handwriting was on the wall as early as October 1906, when

Parham came to preach. He was shocked by many manifestations being portrayed as

from the Holy Spirit, but were really, he believed, of the flesh or demonic. Because of

this, Parham and Seymour split and never reconciled. Seymour, from that time forward,

eclipsed Parham as the dominant personality in the movement.

Shockwaves also came over racial tension. In the early months of Azusa Street, blacks

and whites, men and women, shared leadership, although blacks were predominate.

But soon Seymour asked all the Hispanics to leave, and eventually wrote by-laws that

prevented anyone except African-Americans from holding office in the Mission. By

http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/Psychology/revival.htm

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1909, the revival was spent, and eventually faded into history. Even the mission building

was razed after Seymour’s death.12 However, even as the Azusa Street Revival’s fires

died out, a movement had ignited that would not die. Pentecostalism had spread all

over the world. Denominations such as the Assemblies of God and the Pentecostal

Assemblies of Jesus Christ had been formed, and a large segment of the American

church would forever view Azusa Street as the high water mark of modern

Christianity.”13

“This historic growth did not occur without opposition. Historically, Pentecostalism

provoked controversy at almost every stage of its development. This has been true not

merely because of its tradition breaking forms of worship and practice, but because the

emergence of Pentecostalism was a tangible challenge to a theological position

maintained in the church for centuries: that the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit had

ceased. Against this, the salient characteristic of Pentecostalism is its belief in the

present-day manifestation of spiritual gifts, such as miraculous healing, prophecy, and

most distinctively, glossolalia. Pentecostals affirm that these spiritual gifts (charismata)

are granted by the Holy Spirit and are normative in contemporary church life and

ministry.”14

“The cessationist polemic, which was often directed against persons or groups claiming

religious authority via any exhibition of divine healings, prophecies or miracles, recurs

consistently from within such conflict settings throughout the history of the Church and

even within rabbinic Judaism. But it emerged in its modern form most prominently in the

conflicts between Rome and the Protestant reformers, notably Calvin, then again during

the Enlightenment in “the great debate on miracles,” and presently in the twentieth-

century opposition to the Pentecostal-charismatic movement.”15 “The mainline

churches… have always, in protection of their own interests, discouraged the entry of

new religious bodies into their stronghold.”16 “In a bid to stop the further defection of

members to the Pentecostal Churches, the mainline churches have started to introduce

liturgical changes and have incorporated some Pentecostal beliefs and practices into

their worship. Singing accompanied by clapping and dancing, a practice little used

earlier by the mainline churches but a part of Pentecostal worship, is a good example.

The mainline churches have incorporated such practices into their own mode of worship

to make them equally lively and attractive.”17 “The mainline churches are dominated by

the older generation and the leadership is most often monopolized by this generation in

a bid to keep the young people in their place.”18

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CHAPTER TWO

CESSASTION

“The traditional argument for the Cessation of the Gifts is that the Canon of Scripture is the "perfect" thing that has come. Once the perfect has come, there

is no need for the gifts of the Spirit, miracles, healings, or tongues.” “The problem with this position is that if the "perfect" were the scriptures which has already come, there would also be no need of knowledge — no need of study of scriptures, no need of translations, no need of pastors or teachers, for: "For our

knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away Now we see but a poor reflection as in a

mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."

1 Corinthians 13:12, NIV.”19

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“Spiritual gifts (or charismata), according to Christianity, are gifts that are bestowed on

Christians, each having his or her own proper gift (or gifts) to strengthen the Church.

They are described in the New Testament, primarily in First Corinthians 12, Romans 12,

and Ephesians 4. Some believe their operation was limited to early

Christianity. According to some Protestant denominations parts of

the Charismata gifts like speaking in tongues and the interpretation

of tongues were enjoyed only for a short time and were suited to the

Church's infancy, not to later times. This view is known as

Cessationism. This opinion is held by prominent ministers such

as John F. MacArthur, Jr., Robert L. Thomas and other

conservative mainline Protestants.”20

Cessationism21, is the belief the gifts of the Spirit and with it the fivefold ministry

ceased at the end of the New Testament era. Those who hold this belief do not belief

miracles, healing, the operation of any of the gifts of the Spirit, or the fivefold ministry

are for the Church today. Some Cessationist hold that not only has tongues ceased

(both the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues and the divers

tongues of the gift of the Spirit) but that anyone who speaks in tongues is of Satan. It is

common for those who hold this position to claim that all Pentecostals and other like

minded followers of Christ are of Satan. Many of those who hold these extreme views

on the charismata are articulate and well placed in the Church.

This teaching of the arrival at the point where we no longer need the charismata comes

from those who teach that many components of the New Testament Church are no

longer relevant. Perhaps this should not surprise us as many people also believe that

the New Testament Church and with it all of Christianity is evil. These teach, among

other things that water baptism is not necessary, the gift of tongues has ended22, there

is no gift of healing23, no miracles, and a variety of other like dogmas. These teach that

there is no need for Apostles and Prophets because the pastoral role has ‘matured’ to

the point where they are no longer needed. However, as they ‘pick and chose’ what

portions of Scripture they believe these have decided that they do believe in Pastors,

possibly even teachers and evangelists.

These wrest the Scripture with positions such as “tongues have ceased because they

are not mentioned in some of the Pauline epistles”. However, they ignore that the

general audience of the Pauline epistles were people who already spoke in tongues and

instruction in the Pauline epistles is instruction toward addressing issues that these

would not be certain of or familiar, not issues that were already generally believed

among them. The logic used in taking this position is like saying that people in

American Colleges cannot read because there is no instruction in their curriculum on

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecclesia_(Church)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Testament

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Corinthians

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistle_to_the_Romans

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephesians

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Christianity

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Christianity

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestantism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denomination

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossolalia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpretation_of_tongues

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpretation_of_tongues

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cessationism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._MacArthur,_Jr.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainline_Protestants

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how to read. We understand that American College students are expected to already

know how to read. Likewise, those to whom the Pauline Epistles are written were

people who were already part of the New Testament Church. Even Cessationalists

concur that these had already complied with the direction of the Apostles. These had

already repented, been baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit.

There is great danger in the approach of cessation. Once you begin this type of

dissection of the word of God where do you stop? Who gets to decide what has ceased

and what is relevant for today? One could pick and choose anything based on likes or

dislikes, current trends, polls or any criteria they choose. In order to reach the

Cessationist position we would have to conclude that the Apostles failed to their charge

from Jesus and even were not true to their own imprimatur.

Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore into all nations teaching and baptizing in the name

of the father, and of the son and of the Holy Ghost.

Acts 2:38 Repent and be baptized, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ

for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Of course there are people who believe and teach that Jesus and the Apostles failed in

their mission, Sun Yung Moon being among the most notable. According to John

MacArthur, who seems quite unsure about his position on gifts, and attempts to pick

and choose what has ceased and what has not "The temporary sign gifts were limited to

the apostolic age and therefore ceased after that time. Those gifts included miracles,

healing, languages, and the interpretation of languages. The purpose of temporary sign

gifts was to authenticate the apostolic message as the Word of God, until the time when

the Scriptures, His written Word were completed and became self-authenticating."

John, this is a great theory, but what do we have in the bible to support this notion?

“The scripture does not say or give indication that some of these gifts are temporary and

some are long lasting. If one believes that these gifts are no longer genuine gifts to the

Body of Christ, one must find the teaching in scripture itself, not in a doctrine about

scripture, lest "for the sake of your tradition make void the word of God," [Matt. 15:6]. In

addition, nowhere in scripture does it say that the sign gifts were merely given to

confirm the apostolic witness.”24 Even if this is true why would we not desire for the

same type of confirmation in the modern church? “It is never written that the gifts of the

Spirit are given simply to confirm the Canon of Scripture. This teaching is an extra-

biblical doctrine, a tradition of man, imposed upon the scripture. Scripture itself does

not teach it. In fact, Scripture teaches the gifts have particular purposes, and only one of

them is to confirm the apostolic ministry.”25

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In spite of the fact that there is no evidence in the entire New Testament of the

cessation of the charismata people have chosen to believe it anyway. While this may

be surprising to some it is all too common. There are many things that are held as

‘sincere beliefs” in the manuals and bylaws of many Christian denomination and

organizations that are not in the Word of God. By all means, people can believe

whatever they wish, but the problem comes when they teach these ideas or opinions as

‘bible doctrine’. Bible doctrine is “truth lifted from Scripture and dedicated to

purpose”. Our Cessation friends have forgotten the key component of bible doctrine –

TRUTH.

The Catholic Church has decided that the charismata are resident in their leadership

through Apostolic Succession and thus the local body of believers doesn’t need these

gifts. The Roman Church has decided to institutionalize the concept of the fivefold

rather than to claim it ended. The active fivefold ministry is not part of their corporate

approach to ministry and since they hold that the fivefold is resident not in the body of

Christ but in their clergy there really is no need for a fivefold ministry. This establishes a

system of clergy that is used by denominations around the world. This corporate

approach to the Church has been the controlled by European Kings and autocratic

rulers and has it one system of codes, creeds and color. This great display of man

made ideas is widely received in the modern church. Yet, it is like King David putting

the Ark of the Covenant on a new cart. It looks and sounds like a great idea, but it is not

in the plan of God. In the interest of control a Roman Catholic parish has a pastor who

serves the parish as the corporate CEO of the parish and holds the title of pastor. The

parish could have more than one priest but usually only one pastor. This pastor is the

head of the parish. Almost all Protestant churches use this same corporate model. In

churches that have more than one minister, instead of calling one man the pastor they

call them all pastor with one man being designated the Senior Pastor or Lead Pastor.

Not only have Protestant Churches adopted this model those that are liturgical have

adopted the much of the Roman system of clergy down to the type and colors of

vestures.

When the Protestant Reformation began men such as Martin Luther brought with them

many of the traditions of men that they had learned in the Roman Church. One of the

things they brought with them was the Shepherding model that installs the pastor as the

head of the local parish. Other Protestant Reformers (most of whom held the title of

pastor) who were disillusioned with the group they belonged continued the Shepherding

model of the pastor as the head of the church or local assembly. Today this model

continues. Large churches may have dozens of pastors with titles such as pastor of

________ (fill in the blank). Missing from this parade of pastor are teachers,

evangelists, prophets and apostles. While most churches hold in their statement of faith

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belief in fivefold ministry, in practical application there is no place for these other

members of the fivefold ministry nor is there mechanism within these religious bodies

for the implementation of the true fivefold. Thus, faced with the embarrassment of being

exposed to the inadequacies by an ever maturing body of believers, they have adopted

the stance that fivefold has no place in the Church or that is is contained within their .

The Roman Catholic Church teaches that there is a continual succession (which they

call Apostolic Succession) from Apostle Peter (whom they claim as their first Pope an

erroneous claim since it was James and not Peter who was the Bishop of the Jerusalem

Church and Apostle Paul who became Apostle to the Gentiles) to their current

leadership. During the Protestant Reformation these claims were rightfully rejected by

the Reformers. Because of the abuses of the Roman Church the Reformers rejected

the proper role of the gifts of God. However, they “threw the baby out with the bath

water”. While we understand that there is not a physical continuous succession from

the Apostles to modern day, to take the position that there is no longer some of the

fivefold ministry is equally error. Remember: “All roads have two ditches”. To explain

away the Word of God because of the work of this corporate entity that masquerades as

the universal church compounds the error rather than corrects.

Over the decades, ‘The largest theological support for the idea of Cessation has been

from those who have been influenced either by Dispensationalism or by Benjamin

Warfield, the Princeton theologian. Warfield taught that supernatural signs, wonders,

and healings had ceased in the ministry of the Church with the end of the apostolic age

and the close of the canon of Scripture.”26 “Dispensational thought has provided a

suitable foundation for those who wish to discount the present move of God in power on

the earth. Not only do Dispensationalists hold that the miracles ceased with the close of

the canon, but Dispensational thought also holds to a doctrine that the Last Days

Church will be Laodicean - a weak, powerless, compromised, and deceived Body out of

which a true remnant will be rescued by the rapture.”27 “Hence, any sign of God's

power in the Church in the present is not a sign of the Holy Spirit, but a sign of the anti-

Christ (This keeps the body of Christ focused on escaping this life rather than bringing

the body of Christ to maturity). Neither of those doctrines is strictly outlined in the Bible,

but is a matter of human interpretation imposed upon the text. With such doctrines it is

easy to excuse the present ineffectual witness of the Church in the world, and we also

give the modern scientific community reason to question the validity of the Bible as a

whole. Since the miraculous element of the Word is not present, the scriptural texts that

record these miracles can be dismissed as primitive superstition.

Dispensational theology is predicated upon a type of fatalism that assumes that most of

the Church will commit apostasy, become exceedingly weak during the last days, and

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will be defeated by a world-wide government headed by an anti-Christ. The

Dispensationalist believes we are in the last days. Therefore, any sign of the Church's

present strength or miraculous power in bringing testimony to Jesus is only part of a

strong delusion sent to lead believers astray. ”28 This is certainly a different thought

than what we find in the pages of Scripture.

JEWISH VIEWPOINT

Judaism concluded that Prophets had already ceased

before the advent of Christ. Thus, when Jesus Christ

arrived on the scene the demonstration and power with

which He manifested the presence of God challenged the

very core of the religious leaders of the day. “Cessationism

did not originate within orthodox Christianity, but was

conceived within contemporary paganism, normative

Judaism and in Christian sects during the first three

centuries of the Common Era.”29

“First, from the Maccabean era onward, Judaism harbored ambivalence about prophecy

and miracles: lamenting, on the one hand, the loss of prophets and God’s miraculous

interventions, and on the other, a readiness to accept reports of such activity when it

appeared. Hence, a compromise: there was a tendency to view prophecy and miracles

on a two-tier level: 1) the classical prophets and miraculous events described in the

scriptures, and, 2) the various attenuated forms of prophecy and miracles, such as the

bath qol and miracle accounts of early rabbis.”

“In reaction against the radical charismatic Messianic pretenders of the revolts against

Rome and against the rapidly growing charismatic Christian movement, Judaism

became a religion based on the one, true God, the written Torah, and its scholastic

interpretation. Because of that, miracles and prophecies, perforce, had ceased.”30

“An early form of Cessationism was directed at Jesus. One of the accusations which

led to his execution was that he had violated the commands of Deuteronomy 13 and 18,

which forbid performing a sign or a wonder to lead the people astray after false gods.”31

“The Jewish admission that prophecy and miracles had ceased among them, however,

proved an irresistible target for Christian polemics. Apologists such as Justin (ca. 100-

ca.165), Origen (ca. 185-ca. 254) and Cyril (315-386), argued that God had withdrawn

the Spirit of prophecy and miracles from the Jews and transferred it to the Church as

proof of her continued divine favor. Thus the church moved toward the Jewish aberrant

view of miracle: evidentialism. That is, the primary, if not exclusive, function of miracles

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is to accredit and vindicate a doctrinal system or its bearers.”32 So, we find that the idea

of cessation was the view of the Pharisees of the time of Christ. It should be little

wonder that the modern day “Pharisees” would adopt a similar position.

While it is a fashionable notion to claim that the Charismata died and that is the end.

Cessationism is merely a theory or a doctrine of men. It is like the ‘Theory of Evolution’.

We should refer to cessation as the ‘Theory of Cessation’. Like the ‘Theory of

Evolution’, the ‘Theory of Cessation’ simply will not hold up to time and truth. Evolution

has become main stream. However, the development of DNA evidence has disproved

the Theory of Evolution entirely. Today, even critics agree that there is more DNA

differences in one group of monkeys than there is in the entire history of the human

race. Likewise, while the idea of the death of the Charismata became the theoretic

position of mainstream denominations, undeniable events of the last hundred years

have and continue to prove that the ‘Theory of Cessation is wrong.

Like the theory of cessation there is another popular theory among theologians. This

one is the theory of Dispensationalism — adherents claims that miraculous gifts of the

Holy Spirit passed away — dominates traditional Christianity. Jesus said there would

be no such change. Hear His words: “All authority has been given to me in heaven and

on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name

of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things

that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Amen. (Matthew 28:20). Jesus fully expected the church “at the end of the age” to

believe and teach “all things” that He had commanded the original disciples.

The Apostle Jude did not believe the cessationist claim. Instead, he presented one of

the New Testament’s strongest defenses for the gospel’s inalterability. He said, “I found

it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was

once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). The “once for all” in our English Bibles

comes from a valuable little Greek word, “hap ax.” In spite of its small size hapax carries

significant authority. It means: “one, a single time, conclusively, absolutely all, every

one.”

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CHAPTER THREE

RESTORATION

To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another

the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the

same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of

miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between

spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of

tongues. All these are inspired by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to

each one individually as he wills."

1 Corinthians 12:8-11, RSV.

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“Modern Christianity has convinced itself that Jesus provided two distinct gospels and two distinct faiths — one for the first century church and one for those who followed after. The first was miraculously empowered; the second was not. The first had the baptismal gift of the Holy Spirit; the second was merely given a book telling what the Holy Spirit had achieved in the past.”33 This approach to the New Testament gives the modern apologists license to make any change that they want to the doctrine of the New Testament Church. Under this premise grievous wolves have come into the Church teaching a variety of man-made and hell inspired ideas. Even among those who believe the New Testament and understand that there is no Scriptural basis for the premise that the Charismata has ended there is misdirection and confusion. All of this is contrary to the mandate of Jesus Christ that He transferred to His apostles to whom He gave oversight of the Church. This is no authority given in Scripture to make such a radical change to the plan of God, but modern organizations have taken the objective to explain away the plan of God for His people. According to one American denomination, “With the restoration of the miraculous gifts to the Church has also come the question of whether God is restoring the fivefold ministry of Ephesians 4:11: “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers.” Bible scholars differ on whether the gifts of pastor and teacher are separate in Ephesians 4 (yielding a total of five), or whether a better translation might be “. . . and some to be pastor-teachers” (yielding a total of four). Greek grammar would seem to dictate four, but the New Testament often discusses pastoral and teaching roles separately. However, the best designation for ministry is neither fivefold nor fourfold but manifold. Ephesians 4:12 gives to all saints the work of ministry, while 1 Corinthians 12:28–30 and Romans 12:6–8 provide aspects of ministry beyond the designations in Ephesians 4:11,12. Relatively few questions are raised about the validity of contemporary evangelists, pastors, and teachers.34 So, the position of this denomination is that there is no challenge to Pastors, teachers and evangelists, but they are not sure about Apostles and Prophets. There is also a definite that god has restored the miraculous gifts but he might have decided to hold back on fivefold ministry. Is there really a doubt that the fivefold ministry was given by God to His body? Did the New Testament Church hold this position? This is the exact problem dealt with by Apostle Paul is addressing those who did not believe.

For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.35 Organizations are the work of men. Yet, the concept of being organized and having direction and purpose is certainly good and by no means contrary to the Word of God. However, organizations or denominations often fail to realize that they are merely a vehicle that God is using. No organization or denomination has the authority to rewrite the Word of God. Let God be true and all men be liars. These organizations take the place of God when they attempt to decide how and to what extent God Spirit is permitted to operate or to claim part is operational and part was only for those in the -

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past. Thankfully, God did not appoint a committee of preachers to decide how His body would function. It is to this very idea that Apostle John writes:

If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: (Rev. 22:19-20) And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, an out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

The line of reasoning offered by these self autonomous denominations would lead to many questions. If the church is truly Spirit led would it not already have the gifts of God? Where in Scripture is it documented that the fivefold has been negated or

surrendered? Now we don’t doubt that this is territory that spiritually has been surrendered by men to the enemies of the cross. However, this is not because of the will or plan of God, but because of the work of men.

Are we talking about the Church or just some denominations that are claiming to speak for all the Church? And who are these who claim to speak for all the church?

Where is their apostolic authority to make such a radical change to impose their will on the body of Christ?

What prophets confirmed this change of direction? Were these also part of their denomination flow of self autonomy or was this a work of the body of Christ.

Why would they teach a three tiered ministry if they really don’t believe that pastors and teachers are different roles?

Would that not then conclude that they only believe in a two-tiered ministry rather than a fivefold one?

Why would a group that only believes in a two-tiered ministry have such a strong opposition to true fivefold and offer a new revelation of a “manifold” ministry? Which one is it?

How could you have the true miraculous without the fivefold? How could a denomination claim to be the continuation of the New Testament

Church if it did not believe what the New Testament taught including the active fivefold ministry?

“The historical evidence indicates that the existence of spiritual gifts was widely accepted in the church certainly well into the second century. The Didache, estimated to have been written in the very late first or early second century, makes reference to prophets who spoke by the Spirit traveling from church to church. Ireneaus, late in the second century, wrote of the brethren with gifts of tongues, foreknowledge, and various other supernatural gifts in his own day. Justin Martyr argued in his Dialogue with Trypho that prophets were not found among the Jews, but that the church had prophets.”

36 It would be a moot point to offer in debate that

the Christians had prophets and the Jews didn’t if the Christian prophets were getting ready to cease. “The Shepherd of Hermas was a popular book among Christians, read in some churches, in the second century. This book purports to

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contain revelation, and has a section describing the operation of prophecy in the church.”

37

Even the Catholic Church, despite edicts to the contrary, has not taken the harsh stance against the operation of the fivefold found so prevalent in protestant and Pentecostal groups. In fact, even in the Roman Church we find support for the role of the apostle. “Since the authority with which the Lord endowed the Apostles was given them for the entire Church it is natural that this authority should endure after their death, in other words, pass to successors established by the Apostles.”38

OBJECTIONS

Because it seemed to be blatantly obvious that the Protestant Reformers were not the continuation of the apostles as outlined by the Roman Church, the Reformers adopted the stance that to be an Apostle one had to meet these criteria:

(1) Apostles had to have had a personal post resurrection interview with Christ. Since clearly none fulfill these criteria, there are no Apostles in this sense today.

(2) The Prophetic gift was used to bridge the gap until the formation and completion of the NT. Because the NT scriptures are complete there is no more need for the direct revelations from God.

There is no Scriptural support for these notions but at the time of the Reformation the poorly educated followers were in little position to question the legitimacy of the claims that the role of the apostle (and with it the prophet and other spiritual gifts) had ended. Those who receive the gifts given to the church know that in order for such a condition as the cessation of anything to happen it would first have to be revealed to those in the role of apostle, confirmed by the prophet and taught to the body of Christ through pastors, teachers and evangelists. It cannot be enacted by royal edict, papal edict or the will of some Church counsel, creed or document. God did not appoint a committee to lead His church. He gave us the gift of the fivefold ministry to minister to His Church.

To support the theory of cessation, adherents claim that there are no apostles because no one could meet the criteria to be an apostle. These criteria they have wrested from Scripture to prop up their weak theological position. It is evident that if you already know the outcome you can take Scripture and make it seem to support nearly any position. “The argument that in order to be an apostle, one had to have seen the Lord personally rests on a rather weak basis. In I Corinthians 9, Paul asks "Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen the Lord?" Here, Paul is building a case for his right to earn a living from his ministry labors, a right he refuses to exercise on the Corinthians. It would seem rather unlikely that Paul is arguing that in order to be an apostle, one has to be free, and one has to have seen the Lord. Based on Apostle Paul’s criteria anyone who has had a post ascension encounter with Jesus Christ similar to Apostle Paul’s would meet these qualifications.39 If we impose these criteria on all apostles then it Apostle Paul would not qualify as he did not see the Lord. To use

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03744a.htm

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this as proof text of bible doctrine is error. Bible doctrines must be confirmed by two or three witnesses. Proper biblical exegesis demands that doctrine is derived from the collaboration of the various texts not based on one verse.

Cessation is a dogma of men’s opinion. Cessation is not a bible doctrine. Jesus classed such theories as cessation of the charismata as “doctrine of men and devils”. Cessation like most manmade ideas raises many more questions that it has answers. Apostle John was imprisoned on Patmos. When John was no longer free, would he cease to have been an apostle? Was Paul no longer an apostle in prison? If one of the apostles had been sold as a slave, would he have lost his apostleship? It is hard to argue that Paul was arguing that freedom is a prerequisite for apostleship. Rather, the fact that Paul was free and not a slave supports his argument that he was entitled to earn a living from his ministry. The fact that he had seen the Lord was a further qualification that should entitle him to 'live off the Gospel.'40

“Paul did write in I Corinthians 15 that the Lord appeared to the 12, and then all the apostles, and last of all to him also, as one born out of due time.”41 The Cessationist claims that this means that there were no Apostles after Apostle Paul. Does this mean that there would be no more apostles after Paul?42 Or does it simply mean that Apostle Paul also (and chronologically after the 12) had the Lord appear to him? Does it mean that God never again appeared to anyone else either in visions or dreams? No. I Thessalonians 1:1 and 2:6 indicate that Silas and Timothy, Paul's co-workers, were apostles as well. Acts 14:4,14 call both Saul (Paul) and Barnabas 'apostles.' Barnabas was obviously an apostle outside of the original 12 and Pauls spiritual father giving him proper connection to the imprimatur given to Apostles by Christ. Mathias is the Apostle chosen by the remaining 11 to take the bishopric of Judas. While cessationists desire to negate the apostleship of Mathias claiming he was replaced by Apostle Paul, there is no Scriptural evidence of such a replacement. It is evident that at the time of Apostle Paul’s conversion the Apostles in Jerusalem were quite satisfied with their choice of Mathias and not overly impressed with the conversion of Paul. Paul would not be seen by the Church at Jerusalem as an Apostle for some time and it could even be argued that some of the original 12 never recognized Paul as an Apostle. Yet, no one would question the legitimacy of the apostleship of Paul. When Apostle Paul refers to himself as 'one born out of due time' is a translation of a word that refers to a premature baby, a baby born too early, not too late.”43 This gives more - not less - credence to the role of the Spirit of God to birth more and future Apostles and other fivefold minister.

What Apostle Paul’s example gives us is a hope that those who have not always been part of the Church can through conversion and calling become not just part of the body of Christ but even be called to the fivefold ministry. “Notice that Paul saw the Lord after the ascension of Christ, not before the ascension. If one allows for supernatural spiritual gifts, then the requirement to see the Lord does not preclude the existence of modern-day apostles. Many people throughout history and to this very day have reported seeing Christ in supernatural manifestations. Paul is not alone in this. If a modern apostle has to see the Lord to receive his apostleship, the Lord could appear to someone today.”44 It is worthy of note that not only do modern denominations reject the imprimatur of apostle and prophets they have exchanged the selection of the parts of the fivefold that the still recognize from being appointed by qualified men of God to

21


being processed through their denominational educational institutions and systems. Pastors are selected based on academic prowess and not on the imprimatur of the fivefold ministry.

“The New Testament gospel is powerful, eternal, and perpetually true. Two thousand

years after its presentation to the world it is still relevant, unabridged, and

unchallengeable. When Charles Spurgeon was asked how he defended the gospel, he

replied, “I don’t defend the gospel any more than I would defend a lion. I just open the

cage and let it out.” Jesus called His message the “gospel of the Kingdom.” That

message has never been, nor will ever be changed. Nor will it become a gospel of the

church. The Kingdom knows no failure. The Kingdom is triumphant, victorious, and all-

conquering. The Kingdom is permanent, unchanging. The Kingdom needs no such

excuse to absolve herself of blame.”45 It is evident that cessation has become the

doctrine of the modern church. However, Scripture makes it clear it is not the gospel of

the Kingdom of God or the Gospel of Jesus Christ or any of His apostles.

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CHAPTER FOUR

FIVEFOLD MINISTRY

“These people assume that the "fivefold" went somewhere, to be replaced by people like themselves. This is easy when you try to define the "fivefold" as "gifts given to people", rather than "people given as gifts". Why do they think that people hadn't been sent of God (apostles)? Or that no one has been making bold declarations, contrary to the world (prophets)? People have always been preaching the Gospel faithfully (evangelists), loving their flocks sacrificially, by example (pastors), and regarding teachers, need I say more?”

JACK DEERE

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Apostles: Government Prophets: Guidance

Evangelists: Gathering Pastors: Guarding Teachers: Growing

You have heard about the fivefold ministry as found in Ephesians 4:11-13, but have you seen it in operation? The chances are that you may have seen twofold or threefold ministry in the church. In most churches, the pastors are the ones who usually serve as evangelists and teachers. On some rare occasions, they might even take on the prophetic role and utter some prophecies. Once a year, they might lead mission teams to plant churches in other countries and thus take the role of an apostle.”46

“We have to appreciate these pastors for being versatile enough to do the fivefold ministry. However, they are not the fivefold ministry in and of themselves and” in the biblical sense this is not ideal.”47 The Lord has never placed all the gifts in one person but wants the fivefold ministry to be shared among the leaders of the church. The church grows stronger when these ministers cooperate and serve the people, building them to become matured in their faith. The end result will be an effective congregation united in Agape love and at the same time doing the "works of service" by reaching out to the community.”48 The reality is that while almost all Christian Churches claim to believe in the biblical fivefold ministry, few if any of them practice fivefold ministry in the actual operation of their church. To some fivefold is not understood and to others it is a quaint or outdated notion that has been lost in their corporate approach to the ministry a ministry that no longer believes in the call of God but looks to the ministry as an occupation or appointment.

Fivefold Ministry is a Christian belief that the five gifts referred to in the Bible in the Ephesians chapter four verse eleven, are current today.49 “It was he [Christ] who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." These are: Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher.50

In 1949 at the General Council of the Assemblies of God held in Seattle, the Council overwhelmingly approved a resolution that was prepared by a committee. The

24


resolution was adopted as the official position of the AG and disapproved of the over emphasis relative to imparting, identifying, bestowing, or confirming of gifts by the laying on of hands and prophecy and called teaching that the Church is built on the foundation of present-day apostles and prophets erroneous. The Assemblies of God adopted the position, like the Roman Catholic Church, that the role of Apostles and Prophets had ended with the New Testament Church. To the trained theologian the previous paragraph should seem peculiar. One would be compelled to ask why would the part of the Christian Church take the posture that anything connected to or part of the ministry of Christ and his disciples EVER be considered to not be contemporary and applicable today. Further, one would ask, where is the Scriptural reference for such a philosophy or idea? If these imperative offices that have been components of the ministry of the people of God long before the advent of Christ have been eliminated shouldn’t we know what replaced these gifts and what other segments of Scripture should be considered provisional? It seems evident that we don’t need to convene a church council or committee to decide whether the plan of God is sufficient. To accept the concept that something Jesus gave to his Church has vanished would lend question to the validity of the whole Word of God in general and particularly the New Testament. How can we teach that ‘the blood of Jesus Christ will NEVER lose its power’ and at the same time teach that there is a cessation of the power given by Jesus to his disciples who became the first of the New Testament apostles. Jesus spent the whole of His earthly mission, an objective to transcend heaven and earth to “turn the heart of the children to the fathers” as prophesied by the prophet Malachi. 6And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. Theologians contend that the blood that will NEVER lose its power is conditional and fully powerful only while the Apostles were living. Jesus spent His entire earthly mission preparing his disciples, which were his closest followers, thus, His emphasis on teaching. To these trusted and hand-picked followers He turned over the operation of His Church. His mission was so important that God robed Himself in flesh and came and gave Himself as the sacrifice to end all sacrifice.

“And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.”51

Then, He (Jesus) gave the continuation of this mission to His disciples who became the original Apostles of the New Testament Church. “In Luke 24:45, it is said that he opened their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures; and in John 20:22, that he breathed on them, and said, receive ye the Holy Ghost. Previously to this, we may suppose that the disciples were only on particular occasions made partakers of the Holy Spirit; but from this time it is probable that they had a measure of this supernatural light and power constantly resident in them. By this they were not only

25


able to proclaim the truth, but to discern the meaning of all the Old Testament Scriptures which referred to Christ; and to appoint whatever rites or ordinances were necessary for the establishment of his Church. There were many things which the apostles said, did, and decreed, for which they had no verbal instructions from our Lord, at least, none that are recorded in the Gospels; we may therefore conclude that these were suggested to them by that Holy Spirit which now became resident in them, and that it is to this that St. Luke refers in this verse, After that he, through the Holy Ghost, had given commandments unto the apostles.”52 What some would persuade us to believe is that this important mission designed by God in His Master plan for the ages, as the culmination of all the Old Testament and then entrusted to His Apostles (who saw the fivefold ministry as the perfect gift to continue this mission) was then eliminated on some technicality barely discernable. Even the best of theologians ‘strain at a gnat’ to prove their hypothesis of cessation on this subject. “Early in its history, the church viewed itself as a spiritual society that replaced Israel as the people of God. The church also saw itself as the repository of true Christian doctrine and teaching. Ecclesiology was not a major issue in the early church. Issues such as apologetics, the person of Christ, and the canon were more pressing concerns. The lack of interest in ecclesiology changed after Constantine became the emperor of Rome. Persecution ended and a merger between the church and state began.”53 Those who expect the cessation of the gifts of God totally miss what the Word of God says. They ignore that Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone of the plan God that put in place ‘before the foundation of the world’. Attempts to negate the true for this error interfere with God’s entire plan for the ages. “Since the authority with which the Lord endowed the Apostles was given them for the entire Church it is natural that this authority should endure after their death, in other words, pass to successors established by the Apostles.”54 In the oldest Christian

documents concerning the primitive Churches we find ministers established, some of them, at least, by the usual rite of the imposition of hands (the laying on of hands). These bear various names: priests (presbyteroi, Acts 11:30; 14:22; 15:2, 4, 6, 22, 23; 16:4; 20:17; 21:18; 1 Timothy 5:17, 19; Titus1:5); bishops (episkopoi, Acts 20:28; Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:2;Titus 1:7); presidents (proistamenoi, 1 Thessalonians 5:12, Romans 12, etc.); heads (hegoumenoi, Hebrews 13:7, 17, 24, etc.); shepherds (poimenes, Ephesians 4:11); teachers (didaskaloi, Acts 13:1; 1 Corinthians 12:28 sq. etc.); prophets (prophetai, Acts 13:1; 15:32; 1 Corinthians 12:28-29, etc.), and some others. Besides them, there are Apostolic delegates, such as Timothy and Titus.”55 While most conversation has been given to the whole idea of the fivefold, it is evident that the place to start the discussion is with the beginning of the concept and the defining of exactly what we mean when we refer to fivefold, the apostolic ministry and any subject related to the same. Just because some denominations seem to feel like






http://www.newadvent.org/bible/act011.htm#vrs30







http://www.newadvent.org/bible/1ti005.htm#vrs17

http://www.newadvent.org/bible/tit001.htm#vrs5

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02581b.htm


http://www.newadvent.org/bible/phi001.htm#vrs1



http://www.newadvent.org/bible/tit001.htm#vrs7

http://www.newadvent.org/bible/1th005.htm#vrs12

http://www.newadvent.org/bible/1th005.htm#vrs12

http://www.newadvent.org/bible/rom012.htm

http://www.newadvent.org/bible/heb013.htm#vrs7

http://www.newadvent.org/bible/eph004.htm#vrs11


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they must deny the role of the five fold, explain it away, or redefine its importance we should not be deterred from this as part of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the doctrines of the bible. Notice this is not a new problem. Adam Clarke the British Theologian56 dealt with the same problem over two centuries ago: “All these various officers, and the gifts and graces conferred upon them, were judged necessary, by the great Head of the Church, for its full instruction in the important doctrines of Christianity. The same officers and gifts are still necessary, and God gives them; but they do not know their places. In most Christian Churches there appears to be but one office that of preacher; and one gift, that by which he professes to preach. The apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, are all compounded in the class preachers; and many, to whom God has given nothing but the gift of exhortation, take texts to explain them; and thus lose their time, and mar their ministry.”57 Today, as in Adam Clarke’s day, it is the dominate policy of many denominations and Christian organizations that the office of Apostles and Prophets are no longer relevant to the Church. It is the stated policy of the Roman Church and many others that the abuses that Apostles and Prophets bring to the body are too numerous. However, it is evident that they have ignored the abuses of their pastors and priests in order to protect their organizations and hierarchy. While these often claim to believe in the fivefold ministry it is evident that they do not believe in fivefold in actual practice but give ‘lip service’ to fivefold choosing rather belief in a three tier ministry (or in some cases twofold) with the Pastor being the ‘golden throne’ and the evangelist is the laborer and the teacher is sometimes tolerated. Ministers and groups who desire to recognize the true fivefold and give proper recognition (“give honor to whom honor is due”) to those various roles find themselves persona non grata by others in their same group.58 According to BibleStudy.com, “Both the Roman Catholic Church and most Protestant groups have always had the three roles of evangelist, pastor, and teacher as part of their systems. But it was typical for them to consider that the roles of apostle and prophet ceased in the first century. The usual reasoning was that these roles were necessary for the establishment of the Church, but once it was established, they were no longer needed. This is a great theory but the New Testament church finds it’s doctrine in the bible not in the wide halls of contemporary theologians or church organizations. There have been a number of movements in the past 100+ years that have insisted that the assumption of the Roman Church and mainline Protestant movement is incorrect. To function fully as the Body of Christ, the Church at large needs active, contemporary prophets and apostles, restoring the "fivefold" nature of leadership in the Church. In recent decades, this notion has become very prominent in some circles.”

And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;59

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It would seem that because the Papacy so dictated and because Protestant denominations have complied with the Papal edicts or with the desire of their corporate leaders that we are to conclude that God no longer uses the fivefold ministry (All of this without biblical precedent). It would be no different if we were to conjecture that we no longer need to read the bible because it was written thousands of years ago and could not possibly have been intended to relevant to the church today. In fact, there are some who believe that the later is also true. It is evident that most Protestants reject the Roman Catholic dogmas. Ideas such as the infallibility of the Pope, Purgatory, papal edicts and other like doctrines of men have long been rejected by most in the Protestant movement and for the most part by the Pentecostal movement. Yet, these have generally continued to be held captive to the three tiered system of the Roman Church. This they do based on longevity and established dogma and NOT based on established bible doctrine. Any attempt to restore the doctrine of the apostles has been thwarted by the ‘established’ church system. Someone asked, “Would you argue against a thousand years of church history? Yes, and in good company. All of the Protestant Reformers took a stand against the established position of the mainline churches of their day. Some Pentecostal groups have taken opposition stances on the restoration of the fivefold ministry citing opinion or religious tradition making evident their desire not to bring the unity of the faith but rather to hold onto their standing. While we can find common ground with those who may not have an active fivefold ministry in their group, there is little common ground with those who stand in opposition to the Word of God, It is plausible that some pastor may operate in roles other than the title of pastor they hold. So a pastor may operate the role of the apostle. If this was the practical application then there would be little argument other than why did Jesus give us these other roles of the fivefold if all we need are pastors? This is not a discussion about titles. It is about roles or offices and allowing the gifts that God has given his Church to take the role that God intended. Whether or not a person is actually called Apostle or Prophet is irrelevant. How the gifts are allowed to function in the body is the key. A man may call himself Apostle and not be so, just as a man may call himself (or be called by others) pastor and actually be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. While it may be explained in different manners the application of the fivefold is not merely a debate about what to title the leadership of the church. Whether a man (or woman) is called teacher or apostle is not the most important thing. What is important is the function of the fivefold and its importance as gift to the body of Christ. In the Old Testament, God entrusted His people to be led by His ministers. In the Exodus Moses typified the Apostle, Aaron the Prophet and the remainder of the Levitical priesthood served the pastoral, evangelist and teaching roles. In the New Testament God did not abolish the Old Testament but rather he fulfilled the Old Testament. Jesus Christ was the manifestation of the fivefold. When He left His earthly ministry he gave Himself to His own body in the form of the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit and the fivefold ministry.

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What is important is that the checks and balances that God put in place when he gave the gift of the fivefold to His church are about giving continuity to the body of Christ for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 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; 14 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, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ-- from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. No man could hold the fivefold or the ministry in and of himself. This was the error that caused Lucifer to exalt himself. To keep men from repeating this error, God, in His infinite wisdom divided the ministry into five equal roles. When men misuse the ministry and teach that the entire fivefold is held in the office of pastor the abuse gives rise to men like Jim Jones. Opponents of fivefold ministry are quick to claim that fivefold leads to spiritual abuse, but in reality graveyards both spiritually and naturally are littered with those who have suffered abuse at the hands of men with the title pastor: Men like Swaggart`1, Bakker, Paulk, a plethora of Catholic priests and the list is endless. This does not mean that pastors are abusive but rather that a pastor without the balance of the remainder of the fivefold ministry has no system of checks and balances. In a pastoral oriented ministry the pastor is free to become as authoritarian or legalistic as his congregation will endure. And as the saying goes, “Power corrupts and ultimate power corrupts ultimately.” One should note that the fivefold ministry is somewhat like a parliamentary model of government for the church with five different branches. The Apostle operates much like the Prime Minister or President would. His role is to cast vision and bring governance but he cannot do this effectively without the support of the rest of the body of ministers. It is small wonder that the modern church is plagued with ill equipped saints, who follow every wave of pop Christianity rather than being rooted and grounded in the Word of God and led to maturity by a complete well rounded ministry led by a the balance of the fivefold gift. It is little wonder that the headlines of our news features stories of the deceitfulness of ministers who answer only to some ecclesiastical authority rather than a ministry that has been led by the apostolic, confirmed by the prophetic, taught biblical doctrine, encouraged and brought to spiritual maturity. What is sadly obvious is that the modern church has NO ability to deal with its internal disruptions. Unlike the manner in which Ananias and Saphira were dealt with by the Holy Spirit through Apostle Peter, modern church members and pastors pillage, lie, deceive, rape and plunder in the name of God and an immature church can only be embarrassed by their actions. When ecclesiastical courts or bodies attempt to bring these pretenders into subjection their anemic ministries are exposed. The sins of “self autonomous religious groups” will continue to be the earmarks of a ministry that will only recognize part of the fivefold ministry.

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Make no mistake, while we need the restoration of the fivefold, replacing the pastoral role with men calling themselves Apostles will only create a different administration. It will not restore the fivefold. As has been witnessed in recent events the Apostle alone (without the rest of the fivefold) will produce error and embarrassment. When these events take place there are always voices that have been in the minority opinion. These are usually part of the five-fold that has been simply ignored while ‘men of names’ enact their will on the people. This is NOT the fivefold that Christ intended for His body. Further, this fivefold will come about just like it did in the days of the first apostles. Those with apostolic anointing will not only be the catalyst for the establishment of fivefold but through set men just like Apostle Paul instructed Titus and Timothy to set men in place. These spiritual sons continue and duplicate themselves for another generation of ministers.

Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of

the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. Acts 6:3

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CHAPTER FIVE

APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY

“When the solution is simple, God is answering.”

ALBERT EINSTEIN

http://thinkexist.com/quotation/when_the_solution_is_simple-god_is_answering/15646.html

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“Pentecostalism accepts the literal interpretation of the Bible. Such literalism is carried one step farther in that, unlike Fundamentalists, Pentecostals also literally expect the same manifestations of the Spirit of God today as were evident in the New Testament Church. If miracles are indeed part and parcel of the evidences of God on the earth and are to be accepted as historical, then why should they also not be expected to occur today? Pentecostalism is simply insistent that the Scriptural record be consistent with present experience. After all God is the same "yesterday, today, and forever," and if he worked miracles in the past, and he is the same as yesterday, will he not do so today?”60

Apostle a·pos·tle [uh-pos-uh l] –noun61

Any of the early followers of Jesus who carried the Christian message into the world.

Any of the original 12 disciples called by Jesus to preach the Gospel The first or the best known Christian missionary in any region or country One of the 70 disciples of Jesus. The title of the highest ecclesiastical official in certain Protestant sects. A title borne by persons sent on foreign missions. A pioneer of any reform movement.

“The Webster's definition of Apostle would include anyone who was a

Christian and set up churches, etc. 1: one sent on a mission: as a: one of

an authoritative New Testament group sent out to preach the gospel and

made up especially of Christ's 12 original disciples and Paul b: the first

prominent Christian missionary to a region or group.

It is evident that apostles and prophets were not the afterthought of God

but were his plan from the beginning or before the foundation of the world. Jesus gives

no doubt in Luke (11:49-51) that the apostolic and prophetic were in operation in the Old

Testament

“Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute: That the blood of all the

prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be

required of this generation.”

The concept of the specialized role of an apostle is best understood as it was used at

the time that Jesus applies the term to his disciples. The power that was Rome

remained the dominant military and political force in the world. God has manifested

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himself as Jesus Christ in the midst of this Empire and uses words from their structure

in the explanation of the role of the body ministry and the fivefold in general and the

specialization of these disciples which He called apostles in particular. In the Roman

army, an Apostle was a military officer who enforced Roman cultural standards and

practices in cities where the Romans had recently conquered. A modern equivalent

would be someone like General Douglas McArthur.

It is evident that as Christ manifested the true and birthed His vision for His Kingdom

that He expected His Apostles to fill the same role in molding the standards of His

Church and instructing overseeing the general direction of His Church. The popular

Charismatic view is that Apostles are leaders with "Heaven's blueprint for the Church."62

This most accurate definition shows the authority (through Christ) that an Apostle is

entrusted. He is like a military governor. Jesus told us:

And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds,

and said unto them, Occupy till I come.

Occupy is a military term giving much credence to the Spiritual battle that the Church

faces as we war against principalities. Both in the natural and spiritual application of the

word occupy we find the expectation that apostles would be the generals who would

give oversight to enacting the will and imprimatur of those whom they represent. In the

case of the Church the Apostles role is to bring heaven’s plan to territory that has first

been liberated from the clutches of Satan and then occupied by the victorious and

conquering church. As it is written, “we are more than conquerors through him that

loved us.”

“The Old Testament Prophets were used for writing the Word of God. There is a

misconception that the role of Apostle and prophet was a new idea found only in the

New Testament. Yet, the role of the Apostolic is found throughout the Old Testament

as well. Abraham was a man that God chose to bless. The promised blessings were

‘hand delivered’ by the laying on of hands by a man who signified the type of anointing

that would foreshadow the Apostolic. Melchizadec (King of righteousness, the king of

Salem (q.v.). All we know of him is recorded in Genesis 14:18-20. He is subsequently

mentioned only once in the Old Testament, in Psalms 110:4).63 Psalms 110 is

prophetic of Jesus Christ and refers to His coming and affirms what Apostle Paul would

write that He is a priest forever after the order of Melchizadec. This is a ‘like as’

principal of the bible. Jesus is ‘like as’ Melchizadec. It is of note that Melchizadec is not

‘like as’ Jesus, but it is the other way around.

The typical significance of this history is set forth in detail in the Epistle to the Hebrews,

7:1-28, The Apostle there points out the superiority of His priesthood to that of Aaron in

these several respects:

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1. Abraham paid him tithes. Notice it is to this superior priesthood that Abraham

pays his tithe. Abraham has many promises from God but he is not in receipt of them

until after he has an encounter with God. This is the patter of a precedent that in the

New Testament the tithe is also brought to Apostles not to the Levites. In the New

Testament we find that the people brought everything to the apostles and laid it at the

apostles’ feet.

2. Melchizadec blessed Abraham. Abraham has been given the promise from

God of great blessings on his life, his posterity and more. God tells Abraham, “I will

bless you.” Notice that God tells Abraham “I” will bless you. Not, I will send someone to

bless you but “I will bless you”. Yet, at this point in his life Abraham has not received

the blessing. As a result, the manifestation of the promise has not begun in his life. It is

at this encounter with Melchizadec that Abraham is blessed by God as Melchizadec

lays his hands on him. This would start a transference that would continue from father

to son as Abraham would lay his hands on Isaac, Isaac on Jacob and so on. In the

laying on of hands there is a pattern that is consistent throughout Scripture and

establishes the transference of the promise. Remember, the promise is just that – a

promise.

3. Melshizadec is the type of a Priest who lives forever and represents the flow

of anointing from God though his representative. In the New Testament like in the Old

Testament this is manifested by the appearance of God passed through the apostolic to

the ministry. This flow does not end the ministry but rather continues the pattern that

God has set in place. This flow by apostolic direction becomes the fivefold and like all

the gifts of God is without repentance. God does not give something and then take it

away. He does not offer the temporary, He is the eternal. His ministry plan has been

from the beginning to connect His people to Himself, to connect the creature with the

Creator. He has chosen to use human representatives to continue His message to His

people. Remember, God is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. He

confirmed the end from the beginning. Only one with this amazing viewpoint could have

enacted the pattern before the true was manifested.

4. Levi, yet unborn, paid him tithes in the person of Abraham. How could Levi

have paid tithes before he was born? Easy, Abraham was in the pattern of God. He

was not the true but in the pattern. Levi was also in the pattern. Abraham’s investment

in his future was started by the imprimatur of this apostolic figure Melchizadec who then

passes the blessing and the priesthood through his posterity down to future generations

and to Levi. While this seems to be a miracle, this transference, and it is a miracle.

However, the real miracle here is that God has already confirmed that the end result of

all this transference would be the manifestation of Christ. This was done because it

was the plan of God from the beginning. Under the tutelage of Moses (representing the

apostolic) and the oversight of Aaron (the prophet) the same fivefold role of ministry is

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implemented through the sons of Aaron and the Levitical priesthood. This is God’s

order. Notice also the flow of the ministry from father to son. Whether this son ship is

natural as in the example of Aaron to his sons or spiritual as in the example of Elijah to

Elisha it sets a pattern of father - son relationships that dominates the flow of God in the

Old Testament and is the purpose of the New Testament. The prophet Malachi

understands this perfectly when he foretells the coming of the Christ:

“I will turn the heart of the father to the children

and the heart of the children to the Father”

5. The permanence of His priesthood in Christ implied the abrogation of the

Levitical system which was a schoolmaster (servant) to bring us to Christ. Yet,

remember Christ makes His mission very clear when He tells us that he did not come to

destroy the law but rather He came to fulfill the law. Thus, the Levitical system is the

pattern that God had already revealed through His prophets but only the pattern not the

true from which the pattern was made. The Levitical priesthood was made in a pattern

not yet manifested. Jesus makes it very clear that he didn’t abolish His plan but that all

that was made before was in the pattern. Even in Genesis (Chapter one) we find, “Let

us make man in our image…” What image? God doesn’t have an image? Does God

look like a man? No! God in His infinite capability made man in the image that He

would manifest Himself when He robed Himself in flesh and came to walk among

mankind. So the pattern of what would be came first then came that from which the

pattern was made.

The Levitical priesthood is in the pattern. It is in the pattern that God has had through

the ages. Like the encounter with Melchizadec, the Levitical priesthood is implemented

with the apostolic anointing that flowed through Moses, was confirmed in the office of

the prophetic through Aaron and into those who completed the ministry the sons of

Aaron (evangelist, pastor and teacher).

6. He was made priest not without an oath; and His priesthood can neither be

transmitted nor interrupted by death: "this man, because he continueth ever, hath an

unchangeable priesthood." Melschizadec comes to Abraham to bring the approval of

heaven to the earth and to reset the pattern of God (that men continually stray from) in

the lives of men (much like God had previously done with Adam, Noah and others). In

the New Testament God takes the pattern and reveals the perfect. Not the other way

around. The way the New Testament is often taught is completely backwards. The

New Testament is the perfect, it is the true it is the fulfillment, the plan from which in the

infinite mind of God the pattern for the old was made. Small wonder that Apostle Paul

would point out that natural Israel was but a slave (schoolmaster) to bring us to Christ.

A slave that is represented allegorically the Hagar as slave, but this is not the pattern of

the true! The pattern of the true is reflected in Isaac, the child of promise. We should

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ask, Promise of what? The promise that the true from which the pattern of the old was

drawn would come!

The pattern of the Old Testament is based on the New. In the Old Testament they

could not see the plan of God from the vantage point of heaven. However, God knew

His plan and His pattern and sets everything in order patterned on His ultimate plan for

redemption. So, when men would fall away from His plan and pattern He would

reestablish the pattern until he manifests himself in flesh and comes to present to the

world the perfect plan on which the pattern was based. From our earthly and carnal

view it seems strange that the perfect would come after the pattern because the pattern

is based on the real and true. Indeed with men this is impossible.

It is in this manner that the prophet tells of the foundation laid by Zerubbabel.

Prophetically, this seems to the prophet to true. And it is true because it is part of the

pattern even though the true has not yet come. It is the view from the Old Testament

but we understand that this is prophetic of Christ. However, what is impossible with

men is easy for God. God reveals his pattern to men throughout the annals of history.

These revelations of his plan give men the pattern of his perfect will. If we allow the

cessation of the true then the pattern of the former has to be altered. This simply is not

possible. It is not in the will, pattern or plan of God. If there were to be an alteration or

cessation of the Apostle or Prophet then we would not have the Old Testament.

However, we know that there is a perfect plan of God that was made clearly visible

(manifested in the flesh) to men through Christ Jesus. This implementation of the true

and perfect would fulfill the prophet Zacharias words that the when the perfect was

implemented it would fulfill everything that was established under the pattern and

continue as long as men would call on the name of the Lord.

And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer

and in winter shall it be. And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one. Zechariah 14:8-9

The body of Christ is the continuation of His earthly ministry and is eternal. The gifts

that He has given to His body have not lost their power if they had we would not have a

precedent to establish the pattern for the entire Old Testament. Notice that the

priesthood of God continues FOREVER! To claim that some part of the priesthood of

Christ has ceased is a challenge to the entire priesthood of Jesus Christ. There is no

schism in Christ Jesus there is no variance or shadow of turning. It could be argued

that the pattern of something might be altered but never that on which the pattern is

based. The New Testament is not the pattern but the true and as such sets precedent

for the entire plan of God for to redeem mankind from His sin.

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That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ;

that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

THE PATTERN FOR THE APOSTLE IS SET IN THE TRUE

In New Testament times, in the Roman army, an Apostle was a military officer who enforced Roman cultural standards and practices in cities where the Romans had recently conquered. In applying this word, Apostle, to the role of the ministry Jesus extends His authority to the disciples. This authority and power is unprecedented and manifested throughout the New Testament. The popular view is that Apostles are leaders with "Heaven's blueprint for the Church." The word "Apostle", from the Greek apostello "to send forth", "to dispatch", has etymologically a very general sense. Apostolos (Apostle) means one who is sent forth, dispatched--in other words, who is entrusted with a mission, rather, a foreign mission. It has, however, a stronger sense than the word messenger, and means as much as a delegate. In the classical writers the word is not frequent.

In the Greek version of the Old Testament it occurs once, in 1 Kings 14:6 (cf. 1 Kings 12:24). In the New Testament, it occurs, according to Bruder's Concordance, about eighty times, and denotes often not all the disciples of the Lord, but some of them specially called. It is obvious that our Lord, who spoke an Aramaic dialect, gave to some of his disciples an Aramaic title, the Greek equivalent of which was "Apostle". It seems to us that there is no reasonable doubt about the Aramaic word being seliah, by which also the later Jews, and probably already the Jews before Christ, denoted "those who were dispatched from the mother city by the rulers of the race on any foreign mission, especially such as were charged with collecting the tribute paid to the temple service"64 The word apostle would be an exact rendering of the root of the word seliah, - apostello.65 It is at once evident that in a Christian sense, everyone who had received a mission from God, or Christ, to man could be called "Apostle".66

While the concept of the apostle is found throughout Scripture, the biblical use of the term "apostle" is almost entirely confined to the NT, where it occurs seventy-nine times: ten in the Gospels, twenty-eight in Acts, thirty-eight in the epistles, and three in the Apocalypse. Our English word is a transliteration of the Greek apostolos, which is derived from apostellein, to send. Whereas several words for send are used in the NT, expressing such ideas as dispatch, release, or dismiss, apostellein emphasizes the elements of commission, authority of and responsibility to the sender. So an apostle is properly one sent on a definite mission, in which he acts with full authority on behalf of the sender and is accountable to him.

The noun occurs only once in the LXX. When the wife of Jeroboam came to Ahijah seeking information about the health of her son, the prophet answered, "I am sent unto


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thee with heavy tidings" (I Kings 14:6). Here apostolos renders the Hebrew saluah, which became a somewhat technical term in Judaism. A saluah could be one who led the synagogue congregation in worship and thus represented it, or a representative of the Sanhedrin sent on official business. The priesthood was included under this term also, and a few outstanding personalities of OT story who acted strikingly on God's behalf. But in no case did the saluah operate beyond the confines of the Jewish community. So there is no anticipation in the Saluah of the missionary emphasis associated with the NT apostolos. Modern application of the word apostle makes it like a seldom used word that has now become extinct. Yet, this is far from the truth. The word apostle was a fairly common word that was generally understood by the people at the time of Christ. Because of its general application it was used to explain the role of those to whom Christ was empowering to lead His Church.

MOSES AS APOSTLE

“Now to understand how Moses is a picture of the apostle, we need to just look at a couple of basic principles. Firstly we need to understand the concept of types and shadows. The Bible tells us that the Old Testament events and what took place and what was said and taught in it, a lot of it was given to us as a picture of things that were to happen in the future.”67 A picture of the true from which the picture was taken or the pattern was made - not the true but the pattern. “And so as you read in the New Testament of the fulfillment of the coming of Christ and of Calvary and of all the things that took place, you can go back into the Old Testament and you can find pictures, types and shadows.”68 The true type would come in Christ. All that came before Christ was pointing toward the advent of Christ. Christ is the purpose for the whole plan of God. God’s plan is to redeem mankind from the sin that he committed in the garden and everything in God’s redemptive plan points to the coming of Christ to redeem man from sin which had separated him from his God. “Those of you who have been in the prophetic ministry will understand types and shadows. You understand dark speech. You understand symbols that are given in dreams and visions. Well, the Bible is set up in such a way that the Old Testament is filled with pictures that can be illustrated and used to illustrate clear principles in the New Testament.”69

When we look at the concept of the Apostle being from the Roman culture where the Apostle was a military general sent to occupy a territory that had previously been liberated by an army. Moses, before his time as a shepherd held a similar role for the Egyptian Army. “Prior to Moses leaving Egypt, the Jewish historian Josephus points out that he had been a great general who led Pharaoh's army to victory over the kingdom of Ethiopia, which had conquered most of Egypt. While attacking the Ethiopian capital city, Tharbis, the daughter of the king of Ethiopia, became enamored of Moses, seeing his valiant exploits, and bargained to deliver the city into his hands if he would but marry her. Moses agreed, and she fulfilled her promise -- and Moses married her, and fulfilled the obligation of a husband to her, causing her to become pregnant.70 This occurred sometime before 1532 B.C., when Moses was driven out of Egypt for slaying an Egyptian (Exodus 2: 11-150. The vitally important royal city where this conflict culminated was "Saba." Josephus relates:

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"...he came upon the Ethiopians before they expected him; and, joining battle with them, he beat them, and deprived them of the hopes they had of success against the Egyptians, and went on in overthrowing their cities, and indeed made a great slaughter of these Ethiopians... the Ethiopians were in danger of being reduced to slavery, and all sorts of destruction; and at length they retired to SABA, which was a royal city of Ethiopia, which Cambyses afterward named MEROE, after the name of his own sister. The place was to be besieged with very great difficulty, since it was both encompassed by the Nile quite round and the other rivers..." (Ant., II, X, 2).

Moses who filled the role of an Apostle both in the natural and the spiritual long before the advent of Christ was, without a doubt the most incredible figure in the Bible other than Jesus Christ. The apostolic nature of his role can only be denied by a manmade limitation of the criteria for an apostle. Yet, one should ask, if there was not an Old Testament criteria for the role of the Apostle, then on what basis did we arrive at New Testament apostles? Could we deny that Noah is among others who meet the criteria of an Apostle?

JOSHUA When Joshua takes the role of leader of the Children of Israel, he has been duly trained by Moses who like the New Testament Apostles labored to organize, motivate and train leaders. It is in the pattern of God of His continuing the power of His Majesty and Might from a Spiritual father to his son. The apostolic role of Joshua is evident and when Moses is praying on the mountain he is supported on the one side by Joshua (apostolic) and Caleb (prophetic). Moses with his apostolic authority has trained his successor. In the case of Joshua he has spent a life time mentoring Joshua. Joshua continues the apostolic mission that had begun through the life of Moses. Perhaps no man better represents the role of an apostle in all of Scripture. Joshua, trained by Moses becomes the spiritual leader and military general rolled into one. It is this type of individual that the Romans had in mind when they used the term apostle. In like manner, the New Testament Apostles would be spiritual leaders and generals in the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. These also focus their attention and energy to training, organizing and placing set men in every area so that the work and mission of the fivefold ministry would continue.

CHRIST AS APOSTLE

In Heb. 3:1 Jesus is referenced as our High Priest so that we would understand that this was the Great High Priest (Melchizadec) who had imparted the pattern on the Patriarch Abraham. This same High Priest he called "the apostle...of our confession," in conscious contrast to Moses, to whom Judaism ascribed the term saluah. Jesus as the manifestation of God spoke more directly from God than Moses was able. Repeatedly Jesus made the claim of being sent by the Father. When he declared that he was sending his chosen disciples into the world even as the Father had sent him, our Lord

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was bestowing on apostleship its highest dignity (John 17:18).71 This commission given to his Apostles is never relinquished. "Wherefore" (3:1), the writer calls upon his readers to "consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, even Jesus". He wants them to fix their attention on Jesus and come to understand some important things about Him. This is the only place where Jesus is referred directly to as being an Apostle yet His apostleship is undeniable in a plethora of references, acts and impartations in this life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Jesus was the only bodily fulfillment of the entire fivefold ministry.

An apostle literally is "one who is sent forth." By considering the apostles of Jesus we can understand some things about His being an apostle. First, none of them chose to be apostles, but rather were chosen to be such by Jesus (Jn.15:16; Lk.6:13).”72 They were "sent forth" by the one who chose them. In the same way Jesus did not choose to become an apostle but was appointed such (3:2; cf.1 Jn.4:14). Second, none of the apostles of Jesus chose for himself the work he would do or the message he would proclaim. They were "sent forth" with a particular work and message (cf.Mk.16:15). Likewise Jesus was "sent forth" from the Father with a particular work and message (Jn.6:38-40). Truly Jesus was an apostle. Moses also was an apostle of God (cf.3:2). He was never called an apostle but was referred to as "one sent" (Ex.3:10, 13,15; 4:28; 5:22; 7:16).”73

Apostle (Greek ἀπόστολοσ, from ἀποστήλλειν, "to send"), a person delegated for a certain purpose; the same as sheliaḦ or sheluaḦ in Hebrew, one invested with representative power. "Apostoloi" was the official name given to the men sent by the rulers of Jerusalem to collect the half-shekel tax for the Temple, the tax itself being called "apostolé."74 Eusebius is quoted as saying: "It is even yet a custom among the Jews to call those who carry about circular letters from their rulers by the name of apostles".75 "The so-called apostoloi are next in rank to the patriarchs, with whom they sit in the Sanhedrin, deciding questions of the Law with them." The emperor Honorius, in his edict of 399, mentions "the arch synagogues, the elders and those whom the Jews call apostoloi, who are sent forth by the patriarch at a certain season of the year to collect silver and gold from the various synagogues"76

The apostles, known as such from the New Testament, are declared to have derived name and authority from Jesus, who sent them forth as his witnesses (see Luke, vi. 13; Herzog and Hastings, s.v. "Apostles"). But they were also originally delegated by the Holy Spirit and by the laying on of hands (Acts xiii. 3) to do charity work for the community (see II Cor. viii. 23). "At the feet of the apostles" were laid the contributions of the early Christians to their common treasury, exactly as was done in the year of release in every city (Tos. Shebiit, viii. 1) And in every Essene community (Josephus, "B. J." ii. 8, § 3). "Two and two" the apostles were enjoined to travel (Mark vi. 7; Luke x. 2), exactly as was the rule among the charity-workers (B. B. 8b), and exactly as the Essene delegates are described as traveling, carrying neither money nor change of shoes with them.77

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Thus Paul always traveled in the company of either Barnabas or Silas (Acts xi. 30; xii. 25; xv. 25, 30), and was entrusted with the charitable gifts collected for the brethren in Jerusalem (see also I Cor. xvi. 1; II Cor. viii. 4, ix. 5; Rom. xv. 25; Gal. ii. 10); while Barnabas traveled also with Mark (Acts xv. 39, 40). Paul even mentions as "noted apostles who joined the Church of Christ before him his kinsmen and fellow-prisoners, Andronicus and Junia" (Rom. xvi. 7), persons otherwise unknown to us, but who in all likelihood had received no other mission or Apostleship than that of working in the field of philanthropy among the Jewish community of Rome. The meaning of the term "Apostle," still used in its old sense (Phil. ii. 25) of "Epaphroditus, your apostle [delegate] who ministers to my wants," was, however, already changed in the Christian Church during Paul's time. It became the specific term for the one sent forth "to preach the kingdom of God" either to the Jews, or, as Paul and his disciples, to the heathen world (Mark iii. 14, vi. 7; Luke vi. 13; Rom. xi. 13). "

Some claim that “The gospel of the circumcision gave Peter the chief-apostleship of the Jews, the gospel of the uncircumcision gave Paul the apostleship of the Gentiles,"78 However, this is simply religious tradition and has little bearing on the facts. Peter is obviously not the chief apostle to the Jews as he is not the man to whom the entire church (both Jew and Gentile) turns to for a final judgment on the most important of matters. As in Acts Chapter 15, where Apostle James (who history records as the Bishop of Jerusalem and Scripture shows has the final answer on matters concerning the New Testament Church) is the man who is respected as the highest authority on the matter.

“According to Gal. ii. 7, 8; Paul calls himself an Apostle not of men but of Jesus Christ (Gal. i. 1). So the term "apostles of Christ" became a standing designation (I Thess. ii. 6),”79 It is evident from this that Apostle Paul called himself an apostle. Apostle Paul also understood that his calling was not something that came from men. This would become an historic problem as many people, religious organizations, politicians and rulers felt they were worthy to appoint men whom they would call by various ecclesiastical titles. However, Apostle Paul makes it clear that one cannot simply become an apostle by will but must first be called of God and then be appointed and anointed by the laying on of hands. Not the work of men but of God.

Some claim that the role of apostles “was confined to those who "saw Christ" (I Cor. ix. 1).”80 There is no scriptural support for this theory. Yes, those who saw Christ lived in a special time, but we also live in a special time. There were many who saw Christ who were not Apostles. Many who saw Christ did not even become followers of Christ. Jesus himself in addressing this type of thinking said of those who had not seen Him in the flesh that they were more blessed because they did not see him but believed anyway. That would make the generations of people, including today, more special than those at the time of Christ. This is the opposite of receiving less or being victims of cessation as taught in the cessation theory. And the promise from Christ, “Greater things than these shall you do!”

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Some would like us to believe that “the number twelve, corresponding with the twelve tribes of Israel, was fixed in the Gospel records (Matt. x. 2; Mark iii. 14; Luke ix. 1; Acts i. 25).81 While the number is truly 12 it is symbolic of the New Testament Church and a figurative number of the body of Christ, this is not to be understood as a fixed number as there were many more than 12 Apostles. Even if you hold to the original 12 one of them is Judas. Then he is replaced by Mathias. Then we have included Apostle Paul in the number. That gives us at least 13 disciples (14 if you count Judas) and if we are going lay claim to this literalism then how could we not count Judas as having been an Apostle. The number 12 is the original group to which many more are added including the 70.

APOSTOLIC ERRORS The common rationale for the reasons why we no longer have or need apostles is filled with misinformation, opinion and conjecture. Here are some of these errors: ERROR #1 - These roles were necessary for the establishment of the Church but once it was established, they were no longer needed.

Response This is an interesting concept but where do we find such an idea in the word of God? All bible doctrine must be established by the mouth of two or three witnesses. This is the biblical guideline for every word. Why would God give the church such a powerful tool and then recall it? There is no precedent in Scripture for such a concept. Nor, is there scriptural support that the role of the fivefold ever would or should end until we come to the fulfillment of the things that are detailed in Scripture that would happen with the implementation of the fivefold. As the fivefold is part of the true which was manifested with the coming of God made clearly visible in the flesh the Old Testament must be true to the pattern. If we expect that the role of apostle ended then there remains no true pattern for the Old Testament and in effect we attempt to abort the entire Old Testament.

According to the Bible and referenced in Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Book of Ephesians the reason for the fivefold (that includes apostle) is for the perfecting of the saints. While we would welcome the perfecting of the saints to have already happened and for all of us who are called to be saints it is evident that this has not happened or at best is a process still in operation. The Apostles are also given for the work of the ministry. Not one theologian would be so rash as to claim that the work of the ministry is complete. Thus, the role of the Apostle could not possibly be complete. Adam Clarke summarized it quite well, “All these various officers, and the gifts and graces conferred upon them, were judged necessary, by the great Head of the Church, for its full instruction in the important doctrines of Christianity. The same officers and gifts are still necessary, and God gives them; but they do not know their places. In most Christian Churches there appears to be but one office that of preacher; and one gift, that by which

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he professes to preach. The apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, are all compounded in the class preachers; and many, to whom God has given nothing but the gift of exhortation, take texts to explain them; and thus lose their time, and mar their ministry.”82 The New Testament makes it very clear that not only did the role of the apostle not end with the 12, but that it was a focal point of the continuation of the Church that Apostle is continued as well as the rest of the fivefold. Apostle Paul makes it apparent that there were so many apostles that had been appointed that there were even some who were exceptional or noteworthy.

Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellow-prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.

ERROR #2 Apostles should be inspired, i.e., that they should be individually and severally so guided by the Spirit as to be infallible in all their instructions. That they should be authenticated as the messengers of Christ, by adherence to the true gospel, by success in preaching (Paul said to the Corinthians that they were the seal of his apostleship, 1 Cor. ix. 2); and by signs and wonders and divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost. Such were the gifts and qualifications and credentials of the original Apostles. Response While these are fair criteria for determining apostleship it cannot be concluded from these that the only ones who met such criteria were the original 12. Further, the idea of infallible in ministry is subjective. Peter who denied that he even knew Jesus becomes the messenger that delivers the first message of the New Testament Church after the Comforter is sent. In a recent poll of ministers there was only 3% who believed that the original 12 were the only apostles and this poll has a margin of error of + or – 3%. Evidently, they could find no one who is sure the apostleship was only for the original 12 that Jesus called and for good reason. The original 12 includes Judas who betrays Christ and the Apostles find it necessary to replace him with Mathias. Apostle Paul later becomes an apostle because of an initial encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus. His next encounter was with Ananias, a prophet. Remember, everything done in the apostolic role is confirmed in the prophetic. In spite of this, without the role of Apostle Barnabus, who becomes a spiritual father to Apostle Paul, he would have had little credibility with either the Jerusalem church or the Antioch Church. Paul’s call to an apostolic role does not bypass the apostles whom God had placed in charge of His church but flows from them through other set men who are themselves apostles. While a common idea offered by cessation is that Apostle Paul replaced Mathias there is no Scripture or historical evidence that this is true. In actual practice Apostle Mathias is historically called the 13 Apostle. “Who is the Apostle Matthias and why must we know and understand his contribution to early Christianity? Matthias was the one of the

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quiet followers committed to Jesus from the beginning, first as one of the 70 disciples and, then after his election as the 13th Apostle immediately after the Ascension. From his election, he spread the “Good News” for more than thirty years. He is the author of and/or contributor to a Gospel bearing his name and a document called the Traditions of Matthias. “When the Lord Jesus Christ revealed himself to the world, St Matthias believed in him as the Messiah, followed constantly after him and was numbered among the Seventy Apostles, whom the Lord "sent them two by two before His face" (Luke 10:1).”83

“Matthias’ name is mentioned exactly twice in the New Testament both times in the

story of his election through the efforts of Peter to take Judas Iscariot’s place. His

election was in Jerusalem shortly after the Ascension of Jesus Christ. His name

Matthias comes from the Hebrew, Mattithiah, meaning the "gift of God.” He was, like

most of the Apostles, born and educated in Judea. Clement of Alexander, (Died

215c.e.) a late second century Greek theologian, wrote The Traditions of Matthias,

which is the only document that allegedly contains the writings of the Apostle.”84

“Apostle Matthias preached the Gospel at Jerusalem and in Judea together with the

other Apostles (Acts 6:2, 8:14). From Jerusalem he went with Apostles Peter and

Andrew to Apostles Syrian Antioch, and was in the Cappadocian city of Tianum and

Sinope. Here the Apostle Matthias was locked into prison, from which he was

miraculously freed Apostle Andrew. The Apostle Matthias journeyed after this to

Amasea, a city on the shore of the sea. During a three year journey of the Apostle

Andrew, Matthias was with him at Edessa and Sebaste. According to Tradition, he was

preaching at Pontine Ethiopia (presently Western Georgia) and Macedonia. He was

frequently subjected to deadly peril, but the Lord preserved him to preach the Gospel.

Once, pagans forced the saint to drink a poison potion. He drank it, and not only did he

himself remain unharmed, but he also healed other prisoners who had been blinded by

the potion. When Matthias left the prison, the pagans searched for him in vain, for he

had become invisible to them. Another time, when the pagans had become enraged

intending to kill the Apostle, the earth opened up and engulfed them. The Apostle

Matthias returned to Judea and did not cease to enlighten his countrymen with the light

of Christ's teachings. He worked great miracles in the Name of the Lord Jesus and he

converted a great many to faith in Christ. The Jewish High Priest Ananias hated Christ

and earlier had commanded the Apostle James, Brother of the Lord, to be flung down

from the heights of the Temple, and now he ordered that the Apostle Matthias be

arrested and brought for judgment before the Sanhedrin at Jerusalem.

The impious Ananias uttered a speech in which he blasphemously slandered the Lord.

Using the prophecies of the Old Testament, the Apostle Matthias demonstrated that

Jesus Christ is the True God, the promised Messiah. After these words the Apostle

Matthias was sentenced to death by the Sanhedrin and stoned. When Apostle Matthias

http://orthodoxwiki.org/Jesus_Christ

http://orthodoxwiki.org/Gospel_of_Luke

http://orthodoxwiki.org/Gospel

http://orthodoxwiki.org/Apostle_James_the_Just

http://orthodoxwiki.org/Old_Testament

http://orthodoxwiki.org/God

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was already dead, the Jews, to hide their malefaction, cut off his head as an enemy of

Caesar. (According to several historians, the Apostle Matthias was crucified, and

indicate that he instead died at Colchis.) The Apostle Matthias received the martyr's

crown of glory in the year 63.

Mathias is chosen by lot. “Did not Peter then have the Apostolic authority to make the choice himself? Certainly he had the right, but he did not want to give the appearance of showing special favor to anyone. ‘And they nominated two,’ we read, ‘Joseph, who was called Barsabbas and surnamed Justus, and Matthias.’ He himself did not nominate them; all present did. But it was he who brought the issue forward, pointing out that it was not his own idea but had been suggested to him by a scriptural prophecy. And they all prayed together, saying: ‘You, Lord, know the hearts of men; make your choice known to us. You, not we.’ Appropriately they said that he knew the hearts of men, because the choice was to be made by him, not by others. They spoke with such confidence, because someone had to be appointed. They did not say choose but ‘make known to us’ the chosen one; ‘the one you choose,’ they said, fully aware that everything was being preordained by God.”85 Sadly missing from the cessation viewpoint is how we negate the role of prayer, God, the body of Christ and the authority of the Apostles in appointing this and other men of God as apostle and other roles in the fivefold. The 70 also appointed by Christ meet the criteria of Apostles. There is not one instruction from Jesus Christ or the Apostles that their role in the church should cease but rather that their role was crucial and should be continued and multiplied. The book of Acts is a compilation of hundreds of ministers of the Gospel. In this one book the New Testament Church shows manifestation and power of the Holy Spirit through hundreds of individuals. Some of these were Apostles. Some were called such and others demonstrated their apostleship by the obvious anointing and power that is manifested in their lives. While we are introduced to Stephen as one of the hand-picked and appointed men set over the administration of the kitchen ministry of the New Testament Church, his apostolic role cannot be denied. The comments attributed to Stephen’s ministry are unsurpassed by any of the Apostles. Even by the most scrutinized guidelines Stephen is a man of God who is among the first to bring the Gospel to a new area. He is given compliments that are not given even to the other Apostles about his wisdom, faith and the demonstration of the power of God manifest in his life. How did Stephen get to his apostleship? First, through prayer and fasting and then by appointment. This manifestation of the true would follow the pattern set in the Old Testament. Apostle Paul makes it clear that he was ‘born out of season’, yet we acknowledge his apostleship. How could we then jump to the conclusion that this apostleship must be limited to only one man?

http://orthodoxwiki.org/Martyr

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ERROR #3 Jesus hand-picked the twelve apostles and that is all the apostles.

Response Yes. Jesus did hand pick 12 apostles, but these were not the only ones he handpicked. Yet, even by these difficult criteria, there are at least 14 Apostles that theologians recognize as part of the 12, the original 12 plus Apostle Mathias and Apostle Paul. If we hold this view to just the hand-picked twelve of Jesus then we are claiming that Apostle Paul was not an Apostle, Mathias was not an apostle and we need to be celebrating the Apostleship of Judas. If we hold that Mathias was not an Apostle, even though the other Apostles appointed him to that role we negate the authority of the Apostles setting a dangerous precedent that would hold over to the role of Apostle Paul and his authority, role, mission and accomplishments. Where is the Scriptural support for this position? In our informal survey, we could not find even one theologian who would claim that Apostle Paul was not an Apostle. Nor, could we find one that would say that even though Judas was replaced that he was not originally an apostle. Even the prepositional phrase, “Whom he had chosen” is suspect. If these apostles are qualified as the ones specifically hand-picked by Jesus Christ this would set them apart and make them somewhat unique. Yet, by the same measure it also makes it evident that there must be other apostles (not false apostles). Legitimate apostles, just not those who were directly chosen by Christ but also others appointed by the original apostles. Mathias being the first of that number who would continue the role or office of apostle and while Mathias was not one of the original 12 he certainly was among those who was part of the ministry of Christ while He was on earth. Notice that Simeon the Sorcerer offers to buy the power of the Apostles (Acts Chapter 8). Peter doesn’t say, “It is impossible because you were not appointed by Jesus!”. Rather, he tells him that the gifts of God cannot be purchased with money!

Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now

revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit Most of Christianity agrees that the New Testament is the origin or the beginning of the Apostle or Apostolic authority. In order to hold consistent biblical exegesis one would have to hold a position that the fivefold ministry of the New Testament is unconnected to the pattern of the Old Testament. Of course this is simply not possible. There is no precedent for the Old Testament being annulled but rather it is clear that the Old Testament was fulfilled by the events of the New Testament. The prophet, teacher and pastor are undeniably part of the Old Testament plan, and using the definition of the role of the Apostle shows that there certainly are a plethora of others who filled the same role.

In order to fulfill the agenda for the destruction (cessation) of the power of the Apostle there is a concerted effort to limit the impact or definition of what it means to be Apostolic. How could one deny that the power of the Apostolic and/or prophetic was

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resident with great men of the Old Testament such as Moses or Elijah? Was it not even evident to the Apostles and in fact a supernatural connection of God’s representative church both Old and New Covenant when these great men of God appeared to Jesus with Peter, James and John on the mount of transfiguration?

“And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only. And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead. (Matthew 17:1-9 KJV). It is evident that this interaction was to give continuity to the operation of the Holy Spirit in not ending the work of God through the lives of men but rather impacting these disciples of Jesus by the manifestation of two of the greatest men of God. Here on the mount God has assembled his apostolic and prophetic ministry from both the Old and New Testaments. Why does this event happen if not to show the continuation of this power of God through His appointed men and that the power of the fivefold in general and the Apostolic and Prophetic in particular was in full force? To deny that these men flowed in Apostolic anointing would be to ignore many key precedents of Scripture. Moses is present representing the apostle, Elijah is present representing the prophet, both are representative of the fivefold. Jesus of course is the embodiment of all five of the roles of the fivefold ministry and the reason why we have fivefold ministry. Peter (another apostle) is present as is John who represents the (prophet) and James is present representing the pastor or it could be said as another apostle. In either case, James would become Bishop of Jerusalem. Notice there is five present, not four, not a manifold ministry but five – fivefold. God’s order is always perfect. The cornerstone of the OT is the Torah. The torah is five books. Moses a symbol of apostolic anointing and authority gives us God’s blueprint for creation, the commandments or God and more in these five books. This shadow of the old is a reflection of the true. The true being Jesus Christ and his ministry which is embodied in His fivefold ministry. The bible is the plan of God since creation for the redemption of mankind who chose to violate the law of God. God’s plan is concise, direct and in order. God did not chose a tiered or manifold ministry to serve His body. His plan is a fivefold ministry.

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In writing this I know how those who heard Chicken Little felt in getting his following together. After so many proclamations against the fivefold ministry by the organized and institutional church it starts to feel like maybe you are the one missing the point. Poor Chicken Little one little bump on the head and he was convinced that the ‘Sky was falling’ and many were convinced by his message! Thankfully, the sky is not falling and the gifts of God are without repentance.86 The Holy Spirit is also alive and well working in His Church. “There have been many restoration movements over the centuries. Often these are splinter groups of existing church bodies with small groups meeting in private homes. The Baptist Churches, The Congregational Churches, The Quakers, The Methodist Churches and the Plymouth Brethren Assemblies are notable examples.

The Evangelical Revivals which swept the UK and America over the last 300 years produced a growth in independent Evangelical churches - the free-church movement, now known as Evangelicalism. Pioneer Christians in America, now free of a state imposed orthodoxy began the quest for a return to New Testament practice and faith. The outgrowth of this took a number of diverse directions. In the UK and later in America there became an interest in the "gifts of the spirit", along with various groups of general and independent Baptists, and began hybrid theologies with Pentecostal influences.

The work of finishing the reformation in the context of religious freedom found in America has long been a dream of many who have come to this country, beginning with the earliest pilgrims at Plymouth Rock. The shapes, forms, and expressions of this freedom and this question have led free Americans to a diverse set of answers. This diversity is often scorned and scoffed by critics of restoration who prefer the settled State-Churches from Europe's middle Ages.

All branches of Charismatic Christianity embrace the prophetic as a gift already and many are moving toward full acceptance of the role of both prophet and apostle within the community of faith. The African-American church has been notably pro-active in this regard for a number of years. Kansas City Fellowship was the feature article of a Christianity Today cover-story on the subject a few years ago as a result of this debate entering into the mainstream in American Evangelicalism. The internationally renowned church leader John Wimber had been a particularly strong advocate of recognizing the role of prophet in the local Church. Wimber himself has often been considered an apostolic figure.

Over a hundred years ago a series of well publicized revivals became the catalyst to what most call the greatest revival or movement in the history of the Church. Those who support the movement consider it a move of God to restore the operation of the gifts to the body of Christ. The opponents of that outpouring were the established church of that day. The Pentecostal movement in 1906 believed: “Pentecostals emphasize the teaching of the "full gospel" or "foursquare gospel". The term foursquare refers to the four fundamental beliefs of Pentecostalism: Jesus saves according to John 3:16, baptizes with the Holy Spirit according to Acts 2:4, heals bodily according to James 5:15, and is coming again to receive those who are saved according to 1Thessalonians 4:16-17.[5] It is evangelical, emphasizing the reliability of the Bible and the need for the transformation of an individual's life through faith in Jesus.[6]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptist

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congregational

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quakers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methodist

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plymouth_Brethren

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wimber

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentecostalism#cite_note-RootsPent-4

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evangelicalism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentecostalism#cite_note-PentecoReformedroots-5

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Pentecostals generally adhere to the doctrine of biblical inerrancy, believing that the Bible has definitive authority in matters of faith and adopt a literalist approach to its interpretation. However, they have traditionally differed from other evangelicals by rejecting cessationist teachings.[7] Pentecostals believe that spiritual gifts, such as speaking in tongues and prophecy, did not cease after New Testament times and are still available for modern Christians.”87

Since the outpouring at Azusa Street there have been numerous efforts to continue to restore the operation of the gifts to the body. One thing has not changed. Those who lead the previous movement usually are the most outspoken opponents of the next. Today the opponents of this continued effort to see move of the Spirit of God operate through His Church have been led by those who supported or are decendents of the participants in the outpouring a Century ago. While they may not say it this way, it is evident that they believe that God only needed to restore speaking in tongues to His body and the rest of the Charismata is not needed. While they continue to give lip service to their “Pentecostal heritage” they repeat the same tactics of those who opposed the Azusa Street and Wales Revivals. These have contrived to ignore, eliminate, discredit or explain away the role of the fivefold. This has created a great deal of misinformation about the fivefold. Whether on purpose or accident this author cannot tell. Yet, we know that God will have His way in His Church. God did not appoint denominations to decide what He would bless. Rather, He appointed His body to come forth like ‘gold tried in the fire’.

These ignore that the ONLY way for the body of Christ to come to Spiritual maturity is through the gifts that He gave to His bride; the fivefold ministry and the nine spiritual gifts. In a 2000 position piece the General Counsel of the Assemblies of God made numerous claims. Here are some of their conclusions:

A. Since the New Testament does not provide guidance for the appointment of future apostles, such contemporary offices are not essential to the health and growth of the church, nor its apostolic nature.88

Response We have clearly demonstrated that the Scripture has supplied a clear instruction on how to replace an apostle. It is merely the conjecture of this organization that the bible falls short. Further, to contend that these offices of the fivefold ministry are not essential is to take the role that they know more than God. This is merely a 20th Century presentation similar to a Papal edict and in fact in compliance with Papal edicts.

B. The function of apostle occurs whenever the church of Jesus Christ is being established among the unevangelized. As Pentecostals, we fervently desire a generation of men and women who will function apostolically: to take the gospel with signs following to people at home and abroad who have not yet heard or understood that “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).”89 Response

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_inerrancy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cessationist

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentecostalism#cite_note-varcon32-6

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaking_in_tongues

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prophecy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Testament

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While we would concur that there is a need for apostles among the unevangelized, the conjecture of this position piece attempts to first explain away Apostles and then make allowance for the function in places where the hierarchy of the US based Assemblies of God will not fill threatened. This read like something out of 1984. “Some of us are more equal than others”. George Orwell would be proud. The answer is simple: Either there are or there are not modern day apostles. We contend that there are modern day apostles and they are not limited by the imprimatur of any denomination or hierarchy. The effort to regulate the role of the apostle to only the unevangelized is unscriptural. The original 12 apostles did not believe this and neither do apostles today. This is simply denominational politics. Question: Does the Assemblies of God recognize present-day apostles and prophets? Answer according to the AG “The Assemblies of God recognizes ministers as certified, licensed, or ordained. The work of district councils and the General Council is overseen by presbyters and superintendents. Local churches appoint deacons. The Assemblies of God believes this practice is consistent with apostolic practice provided in the pastoral letters of 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. The pastoral letters do not make provision for the appointment of apostles or prophets, nor does the Book of Acts indicate that provision for such was given in the churches established on the missionary journeys. The apostles appointed not apostles or prophets but elders (Acts 14:23). At the conclusion of the missionary journeys, Paul met with the elders of the Ephesians church (Acts 20:17–38). Clearly, elders are also given the functions of bishop (“overseer”) and shepherd (“pastor”) (Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:2).” The simple answer here is NO. The Assemblies of God only recognizes ministers that they have certified, licensed or ordained. They do not consider others (any others) to be suitable to preach in their churches. The Assemblies of God is self autonomous and independent of the rest of the body of Christ. Ministers are encouraged to only use ministers who are also controlled by the Assemblies of God. This keeps the apostle and prophet from being active in their ministry. This practice is about a religious institution and control. Further it is a about a group whose leadership has lost their way becoming self autonomous. Throughout the Scripture there is precedent for apostolic authority and appointment. When men had forgotten their connectivity to their God or had strayed away from the direction and plan of God, He would raise up a leader. Such is the case with Abraham, Moses, Gideon and others. These men functioned in apostolic authority and recruited and appointed other like minded men to expand and continue the mission. These appointments are made by men of God who are led by the Holy Spirit and are manifested in spiritual relationships as spiritual father and son. Moses and Joshua, Elijah and Elisha, Aaron and his sons and the list goes on. This trend continued into the New Testament. There is no distinguishable difference in appointing a minister than appointing a prophet or apostle they are all part of the fivefold ministry. Some just

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choose to attempt to make the Word of God fit their will and imprimatur. There are many denominations who use this tactic in this and other matters of doctrine. In the New Testament Jesus appoints the 12 disciples, the 70 disciples and others. His disciples (apostles) in turn also appointed people others.

And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas,

who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. 90

Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this

business.91

Notice that there were men who were considered candidates for the bishopric and/or the apostleship. Both Barsabas and Matthias are appointed for consideration to replace Judas. Only Matthias is chosen. How were these two men selected? “It would appear to be an inexplicable choice made by Peter among the assembled adelphoi.”92 Yet, it was not questioned by the other apostles. Why? Apostle Peter’s apostolic authority was not in question. Neither was his role in appointing men as set men. What was not appointed was this key role as representative of one of the apostles that Jesus had appointed so once they had narrowed down their choices they cast lots. Yet, even Barsabas would hold a key role in the New Testament church. While not chosen as the Apostle to fill the bishopric of Judas, he does find his place among the leaders of the New Testament church and becomes bishop of Eleutheropolis.93 Not only did the apostles appoint their successors but they instructed their successors and peers to also appoint Godly men:

For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the

things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee94 What is the implication for the local church in the current emphasis on apostles and prophets?

The Pentecostal and charismatic movements have witnessed various excessive or misplaced theological emphases over the years. We look with grave concern on those who do not believe in congregational church government, who do not trust the maturity of local church bodies to govern themselves under Scripture and the Spirit. Such leaders prefer more authoritarian structures where their own word or decrees are unchallenged. The pastor controlled church is a near perfect forum for this authoritarian approach. The assumptions in this answer are many and with a certain legalistic stance fitting of a group that was born from those escaping from other legalistic groups. However, this is quite a sad testimony for a group that was born in the spirit.

Galatians 3

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1O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? 2This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the

law, or by the hearing of faith? 3Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? 4Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it

be yet in vain. 5He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of

faith?

The disappointing thing here is that the assumption one would draw from this answer is that by denying the operation of the fivefold there will be a level of maturity and perfection come to the body of Christ. Somehow the AG is of the opinion that they are in this utopian place of ministry primarily because of their size. However, what we have learned in the last 20 years is this is a group that has made headlines news because of the abuses of those who are certified, licensed or ordained who have committed various atrocities and when the hierarchy of their group attempts to bring correction there is no remedy. ERROR #4 - That they should have seen Christ after his resurrection. Only the apostles were promised before Pentecost that “you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:5). It is clear from the context that “you” refers only to “the apostles” (v.2). 2. The “they” (Acts 2:1) on whom the Holy Spirit fell refers back to the previous verse, namely, the “apostles” (1:26). 3. Likewise “they” and “them” (v.3) on whom tongues of fire fell refers to the same “apostles.” 4. Further, the crowd heard “them” (the same “apostles”) speak in tongues (v.6). 5. Also, those who spoke in tongues were “all … Galileans” (2:7), as the apostles were. Even the angel called them “men of Galilee” (1:11). While these are nice as a group of objections, the objections are filled with conjecture and opinion. “Should” is a nice word but it certainly does not make the basis of a law or commandment. Many others were present in the Upper Room that were not all Galileans; some were from Jerusalem and Judea (1:12-14).”95 The promise of Holy Spirit was given “to you, to your children and to those who are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. The context “you” certainly refers to the Apostles, but to contend that it is only for the apostles is a stretch based on opinion not biblical exegesis. The ‘they’ on whom the spirit fell included many other than those who would be considered apostles. By the reasoning of Error #4, we would conclude that Mary the mother of Jesus was also an Apostle? Now, it could be so, but if this is the case then the role or office of apostleship is not nearly as exclusive as our friends would like for us to believe. Those on whom the tongues fell certainly doesn’t only include the apostles as this same manifestations happens to those of Cornelius’ household, disciples of John the Baptist on the upper coast of Ephesus and others. All of these were part of the body of Christ and some of them were in various roles in the fivefold ministry but all of them were certainly not apostles.

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It is evident that Apostle Paul recognized a plethora of Apostles both those ‘chiefest’ apostles which were no doubt reference to perhaps Peter, James and John. This would lend credence to the point that some of the Apostles were considered ‘Chief’ or the lead apostles these would be reference perhaps to the 12 and then there was a large number of other apostles some of which were considered apostles congruently to the twelve and others who would be set aside anointed and appointed both by the original twelve as well as the thirteenth and fourteenth apostles (Mathias and Paul respectively) as well as a number of apostles appointed by those whom these apostles appointed. We would reference all of these as ‘set men’.

“I am become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled me: for I ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, though

I be nothing.

THE APOSTLES AND PENTECOST Previous to Pentecost, but after the Crucifixion, the disciples of Jesus Christ (Apostles) were committed to continuing the role of Apostleship. This is evident and there is no indication that they were thinking of their role diminishing. Rather, it is evident that they were certain that the role of Apostles was very important and worthy of their time and attention.

"So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that The Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when He was taken up from us - one of these men must become with us a witness to His resurrection." "And they put forward two, Joseph called Barabbas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, "Lord, Who knowest the hearts of all men, show which one of these two Thou hast chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside, to go to his own place." And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was enrolled with the eleven apostles." (Acts 1:12-26 RS).

WHY A REPLACEMENT APOSTLE?

Twelve is the number that God used to represent His Church. In the Old Testament it represents the 12 tribes of Israel. In the New Testament it represents the 12 Apostles. In order to continue the perfect type, the Apostles chose a man to fill the void left by Judas. This was important as the filling of this open role would set a clear precedent for replacing apostles. The Twelve Apostles served the Gospel's purpose in their human lifetime, but they also have a major role to play in the Kingdom of God:

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"You are those who have continued with me in my trials; and I assign to you, as My Father assigned to Me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel." (Luke 22:28-30 RSV). Why would those to whom God assigned His Kingdom end their assignment prematurely? Why would they surrender occupied territory to some abstract idea that the five-fold was no longer needed? These assumptions just have no basis in truth or even common sense.

"And in the Spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed; on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb." (Revelation 21:10-14 RSV).96 This is a great deal of excitement if (as some claim) the role of the apostle in the New Testament Church was nearly over.

“Although earlier trained, called, and commissioned by the Lord Jesus, the apostles needed the baptism in the Holy Spirit as the final preparation for their mission. Yet, even before this it is evident that they held position in the body of Christ. Scripture notes that the role that Judas played had to be filled. This role was the role of an Apostle and a Bishop. His betrayal of Christ leaves both of these (his bishopric and apostleship) open. The Apostles were granted spiritual gifting and empowerment required for the apostolic office.”97 It is evident the interaction between the Apostle (Moses) and the Prophet (Elijah) were the continuation of both. Why would God expend so much effort connecting the Old Testament with the New Testament if it were not important or were only for a few months or years? “The apostles began to speak as those who were “filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 4:8) and were instrumental in others receiving the gift of the Spirit (8:14–17; 10:44–46; 19:6).”98 These men, full of the Spirit of God become like their predecessors. These men spoke with great power and authority. Men like Moses and Elijah who spake to Kings, rulers and other powerful rulers of their day. Men who had authority with God to the point they would do unprecedented miracles. Miracles, like calling fire down from heaven, parting the waters of the Red Sea and numerous more. For the encore the Apostles would see the resurrection of the dead, the lame and the blind healed and whole cities impacted with the power of their ministry. This is the continuation of the apostolic and the prophetic. “When Paul was converted and called to apostolic ministry, he also received the gift of the Spirit and was similarly transformed (9:17). Barnabas was said to be “full of the Holy Spirit and faith” (11:24). Steven is recorded as “full of faith and power did great wonders and miracles among the people (evidence of his apostolic role). The Holy Spirit guided the mission activities of the apostles, sovereignty selecting Paul and Barnabas (apostle) (13:2) and sending them on their way (13:4). Later the Spirit

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prevented Paul and his companions from entering the province of Asia and Bythinia but directed them toward Troas and Macedonia (16:6–10). Paul was the recipient of prophetic guidance by Spirit-directed prophets as to his fate upon his return to Jerusalem (20:22, 23). Whatever the natural ability of these early apostles, the genius of their ministry is found in the power and wisdom of the Spirit given to them and the gift of five-fold ministry given them. So then, if we admit that the role of the Apostle continued beyond Apostle Paul then why did it end? Why didn’t the Apostles tell their followers it would end? Why would it end? What does the body gain by ending its continued association with the demonstration and power of the Holy Spirit. Sadly, those who claim there is no mechanism for the modern selection of apostles could not pass a remedial reading test. It is evident that the original 12 with the loss of Judas due to his betrayal had a system for his replacement. Nothing prohibits the same method being used today.

20For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take. 21 Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection. 23And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias 24And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen, 25That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place. 26And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

Nothing prohibits the same formula today. With this biblical mandate an apostle could be selected by prayer and then chosen by lot. Then, he would take his rightful place in the bishopric. Yes, the bishopric! When Matthias is chosen as an Apostle he takes the Bishopric of Judas proving that the Bishopric was connected to the Apostolic. at least in his case and in any case it is evident it is connected to the fivefold ministry. THE PLACE OF THE TWELVE The opening chapter of Acts reflects a concern to maintain the number of the Twelve symbolizing the original group of disciples chosen by Jesus. Peter and the other apostles, with the 120, looked to the Scriptures and determined that the vacancy created by the defection and death of Judas should be filled. It was important that the full complement of 12 be maintained for the effusion of the Spirit. Luke had previously recorded the promise of Jesus to the Twelve: “I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Luke 22:29,30). The importance of maintaining 12 apostles as a symbol of the 12 tribes of Israel is unmistakable. The

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apostolate was to be intact for the coming of the Spirit and the launching of a fully equipped church on its worldwide mission. Modern groups feel like they can operate without the imprimatur of the apostle. The way the vacancy was filled is highly instructive. Jesus had personally appeared and given “instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen” (Acts 1:2). Two qualifying issues stand out: (1) personal commissioning by the Lord, and (2) thorough familiarity with the teachings of Jesus. Careful attention was given to both in Peter’s proposal. Any candidate had to have been with them for Jesus’ entire ministry, “beginning from John’s baptism” (Acts 1:22). Two qualified candidates, “Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias,” were presented and prayer was offered. “Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles” (Acts 1:26). After Pentecost, however, there was no effort to replace any of the original 12 apostles nor to perpetuate the number 12 (cf. Acts 12:2). The representative number was not as important as the mission of the church. A mission to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the uttermost parts of the earth. The Apostolic cannot end until the body comes into His Kingdom! This is the prophetic image that the 12 projects in their completeness in the body of Christ. It is this key of the fivefold that is representative of the whole ministry of God in His body. Some make allowance for “special cases” and false apostles but not for the continuation of the true. Why would we be warned to beware of false apostles if there were no continuation of the apostles and prophet? False apostles is not a representation of all apostles, just those who do not measure up to the role of apostle. APOSTLE PAUL Is Apostle Paul’s status as an apostle is unique? Most would agree that it is indeed unusual. Does this mean that he was the only one who ever became an Apostle after the twelve or was he just a “special case”? He was neither a member of the Twelve nor present for Christ’s post-Resurrection appearance. However, rather than simply agree that the role of Apostle continued apologists claim he was the only one. Was the power of conversion that was exhibited with Apostle Paul limited to just Apostle Paul? Did visions of the risen Lord cease? A few years ago a well known minister wrote a book about a vision he had from the Lord. Part of the vision was an amazing encounter with Calvary. Should we discount the minister’s vision in the view that he could not have such a vision because he was not living to physically see Jesus?! Under the viewpoint of the apostolic role being extinct how do we explain that Jesus told Thomas (who was an Apostle) (John Chapter 20).

“Then Jesus told him, 'Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed' (John 20:26-29)”

Jesus is clear that those who had not physically seen him would be blessed while some of those like Apostle Thomas had doubts. Could we conclude that we have a vast number of doubters who would rather believe that the role of the Apostle is over than believe that those who live today could be blessed with the same (or even more)

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blessing of those early believers. With only part of the gifts of the fivefold how could we continue to expect to see “greater things than these shall ye do?” Apostle Paul’s calling as an apostle came in a later and separate vision of the risen Lord. Recorded three times in Acts (9:1–19; 22:4–16; 26:9–18) and often intimated in his letters (Galatians 1:12), the account of Paul’s conversion demonstrates the authenticity and power of his call to be an apostle of Jesus Christ. Like the Twelve, he recognized the apostolic office was conferred in the personal call of Christ through post-Resurrection appearances (1 Corinthians 15:5–7). Paul acknowledged he was “as . . . one abnormally born [ektroma]” (1 Corinthians 15:8). The word is usually used for miscarriages. But rather than Paul saying he was “born” unnaturally early, he is saying that as a witness to the Resurrection and as an apostle he was “born” unnaturally late. His apostolic calling was thus without parallel and made his credentials vulnerable to attack from enemies who sought to discredit him (1 Corinthians 9:1,2; 2 Corinthians 12:11,12). Despite the unusual nature of his encounter with Christ, Paul did not consider his apostolic status to be less than that of the other apostles. They had seen the resurrected Lord; so had he. He regularly appealed to his having seen “Jesus our Lord” (1 Corinthians 9:1). While he referred to himself as “the least of the Apostles,” apparently because of his earlier persecution of the Church, he “worked harder than all of them” (1 Corinthians 15:9, 10). Though insisting on a continuity of the message (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:3), he nonetheless distinguished his apostolic authority from the other apostles, even to the point of a public rebuke to Peter (Galatians 1:11–2:21). To his critics at Corinth he pointed out, “I do not think I am in the least inferior to those ‘super-apostles’” (2 Corinthians 11:5; 12:11) and rehearsed his Jewish heritage (11:22), hardships (11:23–33), and his “surpassingly great revelations” (12:1–7). He reminded the Corinthians, “The things that mark an apostle—signs, wonders and miracles—were done among you with great perseverance” (2 Corinthians 12:12). Paul’s challenge to the mode and method of the calling of apostles is not a challenge of apostolic authority or of the apostles role in placing ‘set men’. These were things that Apostle Paul did himself and instructed his disciples to do likewise. His challenge to the apostleship was that somehow those 12 (obviously including Matthias as Judas was dead) were somehow superior to other Apostles. Paul’s contention that he was an equal to the Apostles was, no doubt, a challenge to these men who were focusing some of their energy on the preservation of the 12 and satisfied with keeping the movement to a predominately Jewish audience while Apostle Paul challenges all the norms and takes the Gospel of the Kingdom to the Gentiles. Thus, Paul says, “I did not see Jesus, nor follow Him around while He performed miracles, but my call to as a minister of Jesus Christ and an Apostle of His grace is definite”. There was great contention between Jew and Gentile and Apostle Paul spends much of his writing on pointing out that the Jew has no monopoly on the Gospel, or on being an apostle. He challenges this as well as many other ideas held by the original 12. Apostle Paul does not find himself part of the ‘brotherhood’ of apostles. His conversion is not readily accepted by the 12 and as with Peter, they are not excited about the conversion of the Gentiles. It is Barnabas who sees Paul’s potential and works with him. Barnabas becomes spiritual father to

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Apostle Paul and is the reason for Paul’s eventual move to the Church at Antioch where the Apostle Barnabas has become bishop of the predominately gentile church. Paul’s sense of his own calling is reflected in the introduction to most of his letters: “Paul . . . an apostle of Christ Jesus” (1 Corinthians 1:1; cf. 2 Corinthians 1:1; Galatians 1:1; Ephesians 1:1; Colossians 1:1, et al.). The letters of Peter begin similarly: “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:1; cf. 2 Peter 1:1). Paul used this designation in the text of 1 Thessalonians: “As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you . . . ” (2:6). Jude 17 refers to what “the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold.” These references make it appear that the title “apostle of Christ (Jesus Christ/Lord Jesus Christ/Christ Jesus)” was standard nomenclature for all the apostles Christ had personally appeared to and appointed. It is almost always this group to whom the title “apostle” is applied in the New Testament. Scholars occasionally point out a distinction between the “Apostles of Christ” and the “Apostles of the Churches.” Paul spoke of unnamed “brothers” who are “representative [apostoloi] of the churches and an honor to Christ” (2 Corinthians 8:23). He also wrote to the Philippians about “Epaphroditus . . . who is also your messenger [apostolon], whom you sent to take care of my needs” (2:25). These references provide ample evidence the early churches did use the word apostle from time to time for other than those who had witnessed the Resurrection. However, the term is used in these cases in its generic sense of dispatching representatives on an official mission on behalf of the senders. For that reason, English translations of the Bible normally render the word apostolos in the two instances above as “messenger” or “representative.” FALSE APOSTLES Not all persons in the New Testament era who called themselves apostles or were accorded that status by star-struck followers were, in fact, apostles. Just as the Old Testament had its false prophets, so the New Testament had its false apostles. Much of Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians reflects this very issue. Teachers, possibly itinerant Hellenistic Jews from the church at Jerusalem, had come to Corinth apparently with letters of commendation. They seem to have boasted of equality with, or even superiority to, Paul in an effort to wrest the leadership of the church away from him. Thus his references to such issues as “letters of recommendation” (2 Corinthians 3:1), his appearance and speech (10:10), “the one who commends himself” (10:18), his Jewish heritage (11:22), his extensive suffering on behalf of the church (11:23–33), and his visions and revelations (12:7)—all seem to have been an effort to deal with the threat. It is impossible to have ‘false apostles’ if you don’t believe in apostles or prophets. The very nature of such a position would mean that ALL prophets and apostles would be false. Paul identified such people as “false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:13). Jesus himself commended the church in

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Ephesus because they “tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false” (Revelation 2:2). These references and others make it clear that many who either claimed for themselves the title of “apostle” or had the title wrongly conferred upon them by others were circulating among the early Christian churches. Discernment was necessary. Paul called for careful evaluation of spiritual phenomena: “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good” (1 Thessalonians 5:19–21). All of this would be much ado about nothing if the role of the apostle was merely temporary. APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION A crucial issue is whether the apostolic office is to be passed on as an institutionalized office of the church. It is clear from both Acts and the letters of the New Testament that certain offices were instituted and maintained. For example, the apostles led the church in the selection of seven men, often called “deacons though that noun is not in the text, to administer the charitable ministries of the church (Acts 6:3). Early in the Acts record the Church, probably operating with familiar Jewish models, is observed to have elders who are functioning in leadership roles along with the apostles (Acts 11:30; 15:2; 16:4). And it is evident that at least some of these deacons became part of the fivefold ministry. The Scripture records things about Stephen that are only said about Jesus! Stephen is more than a martyr he is a man of God who walks in apostolic power. As Paul and Silas established missionary churches, they were careful to appoint “elders” (presbyteros) for the leadership of those churches (Acts 14:23). Paul also summoned “elders” (presbyteros) of the church at Ephesus and then addressed them as “overseers” (episkopos) who were also to be “shepherds” (poimaino), or “pastors,” of the church of God (Acts 20:17,28). These positions of governance or bishops did not negate the role of the five-fold but rather created a lead man or senior man that those in fivefold ministry could expect to be led by the Holy Spirit. The Apostle giving these men the imprimatur of the apostolic authority gave these local church bodies set men as leaders. The letter to the church at Philippi indicates the presence of “overseers” (episkopos) and “deacons” (diakonos) among them. The pastoral letters, usually assumed to have been written somewhat later, reveal great concern for the appointment of carefully qualified elders/overseers and deacons (1 Timothy 3:1–12; Titus 1:3–9). As can be seen, the names for the office are somewhat flexible and interchangeable. While this is used as proof text for those who desire to diminish the role of the gift of the fivefold it is really just the opposite. These continual appointments show the role of the apostle in giving direction to the body of Christ. This operation shows the type of apostolic authority that is symbolized by that apostle that is like a military governor establishing the church in hostile environments throughout the world. It is certainly accurate to say the New Testament provides—by such names, qualifications, and selection—for the careful appointment and continuation in office of such leaders as overseers, elders, and deacons. These could be other apostles (men

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like Stephen) or evangelists like Philip, or teachers or pastors. Any of these five-fold offices could be a set man in an area. It is naïve and/or arrogant to think that only a ‘pastor’ could fill such a role. It is abundantly clear by this great cloud of witnesses that the apostles appointed their successors in all of these places that they ministered. The Apostles realized their crucial role as leaders of the fledgling church and were taking every precaution to appoint qualified leaders to continue their work. To claim that only pastors, evangelists or teachers were in their plan is the work of desperate men seeking to hold desperately to positions that they have created rather than relying on the power of the Holy Spirit. This is in the context of the Ephesians letter itself, wherein Paul had already described the church as “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:20), and the form of leadership instituted by Paul in the Ephesians church itself and the other churches he founded (Acts 14:23). Writing to Timothy at Ephesus, Paul entrusts the oversight of the church to “elders” (synonymous with bishop or pastor or overseer) and deacons, which were five-fold appointments not the insertion of political hacks as latter generations would do in the continuation of the Roman Catholic system. When Apostle Paul bids an emotional farewell to the leaders of the Ephesians church, which he himself had established, his meeting with the elders who would become his successors. These men who would continue his work who were also fivefold ministers. There is no reason to expect that a man with such a great spiritual father (the Apostle Barnabas) would not also continue what he had learned from his spiritual father and himself produce spiritual sons with apostolic authority as well as prophets, evangelists, teachers and pastors. These would continue the work that Apostle Paul had begun and spread the Pauline Gospel to places as far away as China, parts of Africa and those far away in Europe. The New Testament never betrays any understanding of the apostolate as an institutionalized church office, run by political hacks from their corporate offices in America. Rather the Word of God makes it very clear that continuation of the New Testament Church will be with the demonstration and power of the Holy Spirit through the gifts that Jesus gave His church. Namely: 1. Five-fold ministry and 2. Nine Spiritual Gifts THE AUTHORITY OF THE APOSTLES The authority of the apostles was modeled by the chief Apostle, the Lord Jesus Christ, who taught them that “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve,” (Mark 10:45). Demonstrating the type of authority he would place in His church through his apostles Jesus, on occasion, acted sharply and decisively against certain sins, such as the desecration of His Father’s house (Mark 11:15–17; John 2:13–16) and the exploitative hypocrisy of the teachers of the Law and Pharisees (Matthew 23). He carefully avoided the trappings of political and institutional power and modeled extraordinary humility and patience for His apostles. This demonstrated his pastoral characteristics.

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“The Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep.” Jesus is a prophet; He teaches and does the work of the Evangelist. Because men are so apt to be lifted up in themselves, Jesus gave these five gifts that he demonstrated to His bride in the form of the gift of the Five-fold ministry. His divine attributes were cloaked in flesh and He was the exposition and example of His Father’s word and work. Even a cursory reading of the New Testament demonstrates the apostles of Christ possessed authority. This authority was embodied in the five-fold ministry who would continue the work of these original men of God. It could be argued that the original Apostles experience a level of supernatural empowerment (beyond the normal five-fold) because of their personal interaction with Jesus. However, events by other Apostles (beyond the twelve) equal and even surpass the impact of the Apostles. Without Barnabas as an Apostle, we may not have Apostle Paul, we have a much less powerful church in Antioch and much of the New Testament may not have been written. How could we diminish his role with some modern interpretation that there were only 12 men who were ever real Apostles? The Early Church was formed around their teaching, another role of the five-fold which had been so well demonstrated by Jesus. The power of this teaching from the five-fold ministry was confirmed by the “wonders and miraculous signs” they did (Acts 2:42, 43). They were the recognized spokesmen before the rulers (Acts 4:8), and their authority was demonstrated in such events as the death of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1–11). In writing to the Corinthians, a church he founded, Paul threatened to come to them “with a whip” (1 Corinthians 4:21) and did not hesitate to give stern directions for discipline in a case of incest (1 Corinthians 5:1–5). Writing to the church in Rome, which he did not found, he stated his apostolic credentials (Romans 1:1), assumed the prerogative of imparting to them spiritual gifts (1:11), and planned to “come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ” (15:29). He laid out for their belief and practices the most systematic exposition of doctrinal and ethical truth in all of Scripture. He did not hesitate to give directions for their local ethical dilemmas such as relations between the weak and the strong (chapters 14, 15). As Jesus had done, these early apostles were imparting the power of the five-fold gifts to their converts. To make the conclusion that this is a man who would hazard his life for the gospel and yet leave no successors is lunacy! Remember, all roads have two ditches. Those who error in calling for a institutional continuation of the apostolic are in one ditch and those who teach that the five-fold has morphed into the manifold or two-tiered ministry are in the other ditch. Peter also, claiming apostolic standing, wrote authoritatively to apparently Gentile churches that he did not pioneer (1 Peter 1:1). It is evident from this that these early apostles demonstrated an inter-dependence and a counter balance that could only be perpetuated through a balanced ministry – five-fold. Some modern interpreters insist apostolic authority was merely local, not universal, and exercised only in churches the apostles founded. To be sure, apostles seem to have been aware of certain protocol in churches they did not pioneer (Romans 15:20; 1 Corinthians 3:10). It

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is evident that the power of the apostles was both local and universal. The five-fold ministry was given for the body of Christ. It was not limited in power or scope. When they worked together, one of the apostles usually took the lead, as in Peter’s early activity in Jerusalem and Paul’s direction of his missionary teams. However, in dealing with the practical and doctrinal problems of the churches, the apostles often exercised a shared leadership among themselves and with the elders, a group that appears to have been added quickly to the leadership roles. These men were those who were other five-fold office and those who were being fathered for posterity. An Assemblies of God position paper makes this point, “When the Jerusalem Council resolved the schismatic debate over whether the Gentiles should keep the Jewish law, the issue was decided by “the apostles and elders” (Acts 15:4,6,22).99 This is simply not true. This passage clearly shows that there was general fivefold agreement with representation of both the Antioch and Jerusalem church. However, the decision was made by James who was both Apostle and Bishop and more importantly considered the final authority on the matter. James gives the “final answer” and then the rest of the assembly both fivefold and the general body concur with the decision.

And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me:

14Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. 15And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, 16After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: 17That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. 18Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. 19Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: 20But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. 21For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath day. 22Then pleased it the apostles and elders with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas and Silas, chief men among the brethren: Note the inclusion here of Barsabas, while not chosen to replace Judas, still holding a key role in the fivefold ministry of the early church.

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ROLE OF THE APOSTLE

The word Apostle has also in the New Testament a larger meaning, and denotes some disciples who, under the direction of the Apostles, preached the Gospel, or contributed to its diffusion; thus Barnabas (Acts 14:4, 14), probably Andronicus and Junias (Romans 16:7), Epaphroditus (Philippians 2:25), two unknown Christians who were delegated for the collection in Corinth (2 Corinthians 7:23). Why the honorable role of Apostle is not associated to such illustrious missionaries as

Timothy, Titus, and others of equal merit points to the fact that New Testament church was far more concerned about results than they were titles.100 The authority of the Apostles proceeds from the office imposed upon them by our Lord and is based on the very explicit sayings of Christ Himself. He will be with them all days to the end of ages (Matthew 28:20), give a sanction to their preaching (Mark 16:16), send them the "promise of the Father", "virtue from above" (Luke 24:49).

We know that there are people who are called to the office of Apostleship and then there are many who have apostolic gifts. Paul the Apostle challenged those who claimed to be Apostles but who were not willing to pay the price of that esteemed office:101 Why would he make such a challenge if apostles were ending anyway? What would the point be? If everyone knew that apostles were only for that time period how could they be fooled by those who would make such a claim. Why would the criteria for being an apostle be stated as for those who were willing to pay the price? It is self evident that there was expectation that the apostles were more than just 12 and that this role of the fivefold ministry was not only active but important and expected to continue to retain an important role in the make-up of the Church.

Today, there are Christian ministers who call themselves "Apostles". There is no doubt that some of these are true Apostles but others have assumed this title as position of self elevation or had it bestowed upon them by their religious group. (Surf the Internet and you will be able to observe quite a few of these so-called Apostles). Few of them hold apostolic credentials like that of Paul and I suspect that it is their insatiable appetite for recognition and power that has resulted in this abuse.102

Some use these abuses as an excuse to discredit the role of the Apostle and Prophet and continue their call for a pastor led ministry controlled by religious organizations that refuse to give proper recognition to the fivefold ministry given to us by Jesus Christ. They claim that the number of abuses by self proclaimed Apostles and Prophets prove that these offices have been eliminated in the New Testament church. Using this logic is fine as long as one wishes to apply it to the entire fivefold ministry. However, based on the criteria offered by these religious organizations, the office of the pastor must also have ceased. Based on the number of times that pastors of one Pentecostal group in particular have made headline news in recent years because of their unprecedented abuses, or the Catholic Pastor (priest or father) that has been guilty of gross misuse and abuse we would have to conclude that the role or office of pastor also ended. The



http://www.newadvent.org/bible/rom016.htm#vrs7

http://www.newadvent.org/bible/phi002.htm#vrs25



http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08374c.htm


http://www.newadvent.org/bible/mat028.htm#vrs20

http://www.newadvent.org/bible/mar016.htm#vrs16

http://www.newadvent.org/bible/luk024.htm#vrs49

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members of other religious organizations that have made similar abuses (all while holding the title of pastor) read like a horror novel. One of the reasons why we will continue to see this type of pastoral abuse is because of the anemic role the fivefold ministry has been allowed in the modern church.

In spite of religious opposition to the biblical model for New Testament ministry the body of Christ continues to make headway. Pastor Albert Kang writes, “When I was in China, I had the privilege of traveling with an old Chinese pastor who had been imprisoned for his faith, by the Communists, for 27 years. During the journey, I observed how humble and Christ-like he was. Even at 75 years old, there was fire in his eyes whenever he talked about the Lord and the future of the Chinese churches. He was poor but was most willing to share the little money that he had with others. He had no car or even a bicycle. He dressed simply and had little possession.

For more than ten years after his release from prison, he had been traveling around Southern China to establish underground churches. After traveling with him to visit a couple of these churches and watching him counseling, correcting and even reprimanding younger pastors, I had no doubt that he was a true Apostle. In every church, he encouraged the congregation to establish more cell groups and more churches. In one church, he had to leave in the middle of a sermon because the police was after him. Even though he had never announced himself as holding the apostolic position, the people whom he served, recognized that.”

We could name other modern leaders of the church who there is no doubt that their actions and accomplishments would equal or dare we say exceed the exploits of the Apostles of ancient days. These are men who have hazarded their lives for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Men who, if they had lived in centuries past, would have had their exploits recorded in Foxes Book of Martyrs.103 From the leaders of great moves of the Holy Spirit in Ethiopia to the Philippines to China to the Ukraine and the Eastern bloc there are dedicated men and women of God who have hazarded their lives for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and their examples have opened the doors for millions (literally) to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

The people who do know their God shall be strong and do exploits.”Daniel 11:32

Again Pastor Kang writes, “Missionaries who pioneer and establish churches can be considered to be the modern Apostles because the primary task of Apostleship is planting churches. Even though I have planted more than 16 churches and a few orphanages, I can only say that I am doing the apostolic work. The emphasis is upon the word "work" rather than the word "apostolic". It is a privilege to be used by the Lord in this way and never shall it be used as a position of elevation and honor.”104

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BIBLICAL QUALIFICATIONS OF AN APOSTLE There are many opinions on what an apostle should be but what does the Word of God tell us? What objectives did the early apostles have that motivated their travels? One was evangelism. In discussing the rights of apostles, Paul referred to apostles as “those who preach the gospel” (1Co 9:14). Timothy was charged to “do the work of an evangelist” (2Ti 4:5). Even a cursory reading of Acts will show this to be an important function for apostles. Apostles also organized and strengthen the newly converted. This was partially the reason for the one or two year stays. Ephesians 4:11-13 tells us that God gave apostles “to prepare God’s people for works of service.” Paul planned a visit to Ephesus, but in case he was delayed he wrote instructions so that they would “know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household” (1Ti 3:15). Timothy’s job was to “entrust” the truth to “reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others” (2Ti 2:2). “The existence of mobile, traveling, itinerant church workers is a New Testament pattern. Virtually every church mentioned in the New Testament was started by apostolic teams, and continued on in relationship with these teams for years after their founding. Blood circulates all over the body, bringing in oxygen and taking away impurities. Itinerant church workers are to the new church as the blood is to the body. Their ministry is a part of God’s design for growing, healthy first generation churches. The New Testament pattern is for existing churches to support church planters who will start new congregations in unchurched areas. We still need the ministry of such men today. These modern apostles can also serve existing churches by helping ground them in sound doctrine and practice. In this sense they serve as seminary professors on wheels, training and equipping church leaders in their local settings (1Ti 1:3; 3:14-15; 4:1-6, 13; 2Ti 1:13; 2:1-2, 14; 4:1-5; Tit 1:5; 2:1-15). “105 “Twenty-first century apostles are to be servants of the church, not lords over it. Though they will naturally have the influential authority of an elder over the churches they begin, a modern apostle is really no higher in rank than any elder.”106 “The church always has had and will continue to have apostles in the sense that Barnabas, Timothy, Titus, and Epaphroditus were apostles.”107 CRITERIA FOR AN APOSTLE

1. Called by God 2. Appointed to their role by someone of equal or higher spiritual authority 3. Anointed by other members of the fivefold as in the example of the Antioch

Church. 4. That they should have independent plenary knowledge of the gospel. 5. Should be willing to pay the price (make the necessary sacrifice) to be an

apostle. 6. Preach or be a preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 7. Do the work of an Evangelist 8. Organize and/or strengthen the body

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9. Identify, appoint and train qualified ministers to teach others thus continuing the mission and the ministry of the fivefold and the relationship of spiritual fathers to sons.

10. Signs and wonders.

Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.

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CHAPTER FIVE

PROPHET

"Eighty and six years have I served Him, and he never did me any injury;

how then can I blaspheme my King and my Savior?"

~Polycarp

(Polycarp spoke these words to the authorities who arrested him in Smyrna before he was taken to the arena and burned alive around the year 155).

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Prophet - proph·et [prof-it] –noun108

A person who speaks for god or a deity, or by divine inspiration. A person chosen to speak for God and to guide the

people of Israel: Moses was the greatest of Old Testament prophets. One of a class of persons in the early church, next in orderafter t

he apostles, recognized as inspired to utter special revelations and predictions. 1 Cor. 12:28.

Role of the Prophet

“In Christianity a prophet (or seer — 1 Samuel 9:9 ) is one inspired by God through the Holy Spirit to deliver a message for a specific purpose. It is often associated with predicting future events, but in Biblical terms it is wider and can include those given the power to preach repentance to those who do not want to hear the message and to warn of God's wrath for disobedience. God's calling as a prophet is not considered to elevate an individual for their glory, but for the glory of God and to turn people to him. Some Christian denominations would limit that and exclude those who receive a personal message not intended for the body of believers, but in the Bible on a number of occasions prophets were called to deliver personal messages [35]. The reception of a message is termed revelation and the delivery of the message is termed prophecy.”109

“In the New Testament, the daughters of the Evangelist Philip were also well-known prophetesses. The purpose of the prophetic ministry is to guide the church. The prophets usually exercise revelation gifts such as words of knowledge, words of wisdom and discerning of the spirit in their prophecies. With the words of knowledge, they may foretell the future in specific terms. With the words of wisdom, they provide wisdom in difficult situations. Jesus displayed such gift of wisdom when He was faced with the condemned adulteress (John 8:1-12) and also during the issue about to whom should the people pay their taxes (Matthew 22:15-22). In having the gift of discernment, the Prophets are able to discern whether certain people are speaking on behalf of God's Spirit, human spirits or evil spirits.”110

While the Apostle brings the fivefold gift of casting vision or direction for the body, the Prophet confirms that the Apostle is hearing from God and moving the body in the proper direction or order. “The Prophets speak on behalf of God and reveal His will. They are important in today's church because all Christians need to know the heart of God and learn how to work together for His glory.”111 Like the apostle we find the prophet in the New Testament as part of the gifts that God gave to his bride. It is here in the true that we find the imprimatur for the prophet which was the dominate role or office in the Old Testament. God continually revealed Himself and His plan for the redemption of mankind to His prophets and through His prophets to His people.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/god

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1Samuel%209:9;&version=50;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_denomination

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prophet#cite_note-34

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revelation


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The role of the prophet has been with us according to biblical accounts since Abraham. One might make the case that it even preceded Abraham, but in either case it is evident that the prophet is one of the oldest gifts that God gave to his people. It is evident that the role of the prophetic ministry is birthed under the apostolic leadership of Moses. The LORD said to Moses: "Bring me seventy of Israel's elders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to the Tent of Meeting that they may stand there with you. 17 I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit that is on you and put the Spirit on them. They will help you carry the burden of the people so that you will not have to carry it alone.”112

The role of the prophet in the most ancient of times is revealed through individual prophets rather than a larger group (Genesis 20:7). As far as Scripture reveals the role of the prophet is held only by men. This changes when Moses becomes the apostle leading the Children of Israel in their exodus from Egypt. We find under the administration of Moses the recognition that God is using women in the role of the prophet as God uses Miriam in this role (Exodus 15:20).

And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that,

when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease.113

In the above passage we see that God begins to reveal his ministry to his body in a corporate way. 70 of the elders begin to fill the role of the prophetic. In the New Testament we find a similar event as Jesus sends out 70. Notice also that the book of Numbers makes it very clear that these did not cease to prophecy. Of course, we know that they could not end their role. This was given to them by God not by the will of men. These prophets make it evident that God moved in the general congregation not to do a new thing but to reveal to His people His plan. A plan that is based on the true and finds it pattern throughout the ages from even before this time even forevermore. The gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

Like Jesus, Moses encouraged the prophetic. The people who had been held in slavery for hundreds of years responded well to the manifestation and move of the Spirit among them. There were also those who did not appreciate this new wave of the Spirit. They were very pastorally oriented and as God begin to move in overseers under the apostolic anointing of Moses to pastor, teach and encourage the people those who did not want or understand this next wave ran to Moses to complain that the people were prophesying in the camp. Moses was not unhappy at all. Rather, Moses understood that this was a step in bringing this body of believers from their former life of slavery into maturity.

“But Moses replied, "Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the LORD's people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!"114

Moses here is portraying his apostolic role in being desirous that all would prophecy. Apostle Paul gives the same sentiment in his exhortation to the Corinthian church

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encouraging them to “covet the best gifts” and to seek to prophecy. It would seem today that the modern church is much like those who followed Moses. God gives the body gifts and they become jealous of whom He chooses to use or in some cases don’t understand what God is doing. Seemingly these would rather have the role of the prophet discarded than allow its proper function in the body of Christ.

The role of the prophet confirming the apostle is apparent in many places in the bible. It is evident in the life of Abraham, Moses and others. The prophet does not make stuff up to say or imagine the will or plan of God. We find the true in the New Testament. The whole purpose of the bible is to redeem mankind from his sin. The whole of Scripture is consumed with this theme which would have its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. The Prophets did not predict in the sense of some extra sensory perception rather as God has spoken the end from the beginning as the lamb slain before the foundation of the world the prophets were reporting on what God had revealed to them concerning the events leading up to his coming.

After the Advent of Christ we see numerous accounts of the prophets continuing their role of being the ‘watchmen on the wall’ such as the prophet Agabus prophesying to Apostle Paul. Like the rest of the fivefold the prophet finds his true in the New Testament and is in the pattern of God in the Old Testament and still today.

ABUSING THE PROPHETIC

“Today, there has been an increase in the number of so-called "Prophets" who abuse this position of gifting. Many of them have assumed the mystical aura to impress naïve Christians. Sadly, many Christians are still as superstitious as the pagans and they are taking these "Prophets" to be their personal fortune-tellers. This is a very dangerous trend because if prophecies were based on the practitioners' ability to guess and convince, then the people would not be able to distinguish between the real and false prophets. In some of the surveys done in USA, such prophets were only twenty per cent accurate. This was tantamount to guessing as those who did not have the prophetic gifts also gained similar scores. The shamans and mystics in Asia would have done better than that. In the Old Testament, the prophets had to be 100 per cent accurate or else they would be known as false prophets and be stoned to death.”115

Prophecy is NEVER about guessing. The revelations to the Old Testament prophets, while from their vantage point were revelations, from the viewpoint of God (who spoke the end from the beginning) these things were already done they were just being revealed through the prophets. A prophet who makes proclamations in the name of God that turn out to be false is operating in witchcraft not in the prophetic. This come from people who think they are the gift or who believe that they can be perfected in their flesh. The Galatian church fell into this problem and Apostle Paul rebuked them accusing them of being in witchcraft (bewitched).

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There has never been a replacement for the Word of God or a release from the criteria established by Moses for a true prophet.

1 If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, 2 and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, "Let us follow other gods" (gods you have not known) "and let us worship them," 3 you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. 5 That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he preached rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery; he has tried to turn you from the way the LORD your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you.116

The prophet is not a ‘freelance’ role in the body of Christ. It is part of the fivefold. Too often modern prophets attempt to operate outside the fivefold ministry and independent of the body. The person who abuses the flow of the Holy Spirit by uttering their own words and claiming to be speaking for God has violated a sacred trust that God has with His people. This place of speaking for God is not open for negotiation. Speak what God says and only what He says. The parade of modern self appointed ‘prophets’ that are unconnected to the rest of the five-fold are error equal to if not greater than the abuses offered through those who hold positions in the pastoral oriented religious community. All of these will answer to the King of Kings, Jesus Christ.

“Let me emphasize that we should not reject those who are called to the prophetic office but neither should we accept every utterance without using the biblical guidelines of evaluating and judging them. Let us be cautious as we weigh every prophetic word with the Scripture.”117 Prophecy must be proven. The prophet must be accountable to the fivefold ministry in particular and to the body of Christ in general as the fivefold was given to the body of Christ – not the body of Christ given to the fivefold. The Prophet as part of the fivefold is a valuable part of the fivefold plan of God.

The New Testament Prophets “Prophets” are found immediately after “apostles” in one list of ministry gifts (Ephesians 4:11). and their activity is closely linked to that of apostles throughout the New Testament.”118 In the New Testament we are given the understanding of God’s plan of ministry. This pattern is repeated throughout the Old Testament. The references to prophets in the Old Testament are many. So, many that we find there were even schools primarily or specifically for prophets. Paul had a high view of their role: “And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets . . .” (1 Corinthians 12:28). Further, the church is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:20). Along with the

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apostles, prophets were complementary gifts to the foundational era of the church.” Thankfully He continues to give His gifts to us today.”119 The role of the prophet is confirmed even in the life of Christ. The events leading up to and including the accounts of the birth of Jesus Christ the in the Gospels are confirmed by a plethora of prophets. Then, prophets again are present when Christ is taken to the temple as an infant. Here Anna, a prophetess, and Simeon both come to confirm the miraculous birth of Christ. In the life and ministry of Christ there are a plethora of references to the prophets of the past, current and future. Jesus spends a great deal of time teaching on the role of the prophets making it evident that the role of the prophet both past and future is an important part of the plan of God for the redemption of mankind. “In Acts when a group, apparently residing in Jerusalem, went to Antioch and one of their number, Agabus, accurately predicted the coming great famine (Acts 11:27–30). Antioch soon had its own group of resident prophets—Barnabas, Simeon, Lucius, Manaen, and Saul (Paul) (Acts 13:1). Two other Jerusalem leaders and prophets were chosen to bear the council letter to Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia, and along the way “said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers” (Acts 15:22, 32). On Paul’s return to Jerusalem after the third missionary journey, he stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, who “had four unmarried daughters who prophesied,” and we learn women were active and recognized as prophets. Today there are some who desire to limit, end or control the role of women in the ministry but the Scripture is very clear that God’s provision for the fivefold included men and women. “Women prophets were active in the church at Corinth (1 Corinthians 11:5, 6).”120 In Christ there is neither male nor female, Jew nor Greek, bond nor free … The prophet Agabus made his way down from Jerusalem to Caesarea and prophesied that the Jews of Jerusalem would bind Paul and hand him over to the Gentiles (Acts 21:10,11).”121 This is a very clear picture of the Apostolic being confirmed by the prophetic. “Paul’s letters, written earlier than the Book of Acts, indicate the presence of prophets in the churches he had established as well as those he did not (e.g., the church at Rome). For example, he provided instruction on their activities in Corinth (1 Corinthians 14:29–32), saying their prophecies were to be tested by apostolic doctrine (1 Corinthians 14:37).”122

If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.

Apostle Paul in this chapter deals with a plethora of issues related to the ministry. He confirms the role of the prophet while also confirming that the prophet is equally accountable to the apostle. He gives command for the women to keep silent in the Church at the same time commands not to forbid speaking in tongues. Some wrest this passage to mean that Apostle Paul is speaking against women in ministry. However, he makes no such charge and previous to the statement makes it clear that the spirit of

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the prophet is subject to the prophet not to Jewish law. To that end, when did a prophet kowtow to some Jewish law in deference to the law of God? NEVER! Adam Clarke in his commentary on 1 Corinthians tells us, “This was a Jewish ordinance; women were not permitted to teach in the assemblies, or even to ask questions. The rabbis taught that “a woman should know nothing but the use of her distaff.” And the sayings of Rabbi Eliezer, as delivered, Bammidbar Rabba, sec. 9, fol.

204, are both worthy of remark and of execration; they are these: µy•nl wrsmy law hrwt

yrbdwpr•y yisrephu dibrey torah veal yimsaru lenashim, “Let the words of the law be

burned, rather than that they should be delivered to women.” If we apply this Scripture literally then a woman cannot have ANY role in the body of Christ. This was their condition till the time of the Gospel, when, according to the prediction of Joel, the Spirit of God was to be poured out on the women as well as the men, that they might prophesy, i.e. teach. And that they did prophesy or teach is evident from what the apostle says, 1 Corinthians 11:5, where he lays down rules to regulate this part of their conduct while ministering in the church. But does not what the apostle says here contradict that statement, and show that the words in chap. 11 should be understood in another sense? For, here it is expressly said that they should keep silence in the church; for it was not permitted to a woman to speak. Both places seem perfectly consistent. It is evident from the context that the apostle refers here to asking questions, and what we call dictating in the assemblies. It was permitted to any man to ask questions, to object, altercate, attempt to refute, etc., in the synagogue; but this liberty was not allowed to any woman. St. Paul confirms this in reference also to the Christian Church; he orders them to keep silence; and, if they wished to learn anything, let them inquire of their husbands at home; because it was perfectly indecorous for women to be contending with men in public assemblies, on points of doctrine, cases of conscience, etc. But this by no means intimated that when a woman received any particular influence from God to enable her to teach, that she was not to obey that influence; on the contrary, she was to obey it, and the apostle lays down directions in chap. 11 for regulating her personal appearance when thus employed. All that the apostle opposes here is their questioning, finding fault, disputing, etc., in the Christian Church, as the Jewish men were permitted to do in their synagogues; together with the attempts to usurp any authority over the man, by setting up their judgment in opposition to them; for the apostle has in view, especially, acts of disobedience, arrogance, etc., of which no woman would be guilty who was under the influence of the Spirit of God. “But-to be under obedience, as also saith the law.— This is a reference to Genesis 3:16: Thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. From this it is evident that it was the disorderly and disobedient that the apostle had in view; and not any of those on whom God had poured out his Spirit. For it is a shame for women to speak in the church.— The Jews would not suffer a woman to read in the synagogue; though a servant or even a child, had this permission; but the apostle refers to irregular conduct, such conduct as proved that they were not under obedience, 1 Corinthians 14:34.”123

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Apostle Paul’s teaching on prophecy continues and is very explicit. “The Romans were to exercise the gift of prophecy “in proportion” to their faith (Romans 12:6). Perhaps we could apply this thought process today. Would those who do not allow the fivefold to work in their denominations concede that it is because of little or no faith? Because of Jewish Law the Thessalonians were cautioned not to “treat prophecies with contempt” (1 Thessalonians 5:20). The Ephesians letter stated Paul’s understanding that, with the apostles, the prophets were foundational to the church (Ephesians 2:20). In that capacity they were, with the apostles, recipients of divinely given revelation (Ephesians 3:5) and a ministry gift to the church (Ephesians 4:11). To Timothy, Paul noted a prophetic message had accompanied the laying on of hands by the elders (1 Timothy 4:14).”124 “The Book of Revelation is apparently to be understood as a prophecy, thus according John prophetic status (Revelation 1:3). Revelation also says the church was to be on guard against false prophets, in this case “Jezebel,” who by their teaching and conduct perverted the apostolic gospel (Revelation 2:20). These accounts make clear that (1) there were recognized groups of prophets in the early churches often closely associated with the apostles; (2) the apostles themselves (as Barnabas, Silas [both of whom on occasion appear to be recognized as apostles], Saul [Paul], and John) also functioned as prophets (Acts 13:1; 15:32; Revelation 1:3); (3) these prophets did travel on occasion from church to church; (4) both men and women were recognized as prophets; (5) prophets, while never appointed to ruling functions in their capacity as prophets like overseers/elders did exercise spiritual influence with the apostles and elders in the belief and practice of the Early Church; (6) the integrity of the prophet was maintained by authentic inspired utterance that was true to the Scriptures and apostolic doctrine; and (7) there is no provision for qualifying or appointing prophets as a part of a church leadership hierarchy for succeeding generations.”125 The Gift of Prophecy “While there were recognized prophets in the New Testament era, even more pervasive was the gift of prophecy that energized the apostolic church. The Old Testament prophet Joel moved by God, prophesied, “I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days” (Joel 2:28, 29). Significantly, Peter, when explaining the Pentecost event and its evidential tongues, identified them with Joel’s prediction of the outpouring of the Spirit and twice repeated that both sons and daughters, men and women, would prophesy (Acts 2:17, 18). Peter’s sermon was clearly a prophecy immediately inspired by the Spirit, as the verb “addressed [apophthengomai]” (Acts 2:14), which means “to speak as a prophet,” 17 denotes. When one examines closely the witness to Christ given by the early Christian leaders in Acts, the prophetic impulse is apparent—and doubtlessly intended by Luke. Peter’s words to the crippled beggar (Acts 3:6), the temple crowds (Acts 3:12ff.), the Sanhedrin (Acts 4:8), and Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1–11), to list a few, are filled with prophetic import. Stephen’s eloquence and power

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are prophetic (Acts 7). The impact of the preaching of Philip (Acts 8:4–8) and other unnamed believers (Acts 11:19–21) was likewise Spirit-enabled. And so it is throughout the Acts account.”126

The Prophet as assigned by Jesus was to edify or build up the church (Ephesians 4). Not all Prophets foretold events nor wrote about them. Prophets are best known for revelations which are closer insights to writings than others obtain.”127 Apostle Paul would not have mentioned Prophets as one of the five gifts, if it was not applicable to them. Some claim that none of the books in the New Testament were written by prophets and Ephesians does

not mention anything about prophets being a thing of the past but rather Ephesians is a reinforcement of the fact that the prophetic has NOT ceased but continues on with the Advent of Christ and the New Testament Church.

The book of the Acts of the Apostles mentions a number of prophets. The Apostle John, who wrote five books of the New Testament, most assuredly was a prophet; one has but to read Revelation and compare to either the clarifications of prophecy by Paul or to Old Testament prophets like Daniel or Isaiah to confirm the authenticity of John's Revelation. Therefore, it would be inaccurate to assert that no prophets wrote the New Testament.).”128

ERRORS ABOUT PROPHETS ERROR #1. It is not biblical to ask Prophets for a word. Response Prophets were often consulted for a word. Moreover, they were consulted on a regular basis for a wide variety of concerns by a variety of people from Kings to soldiers to widows. In Acts Chapter 8 (verse 34) we even have a man, the Ethiopian Eunuch, consulting with Phillip about the writings of an apostle. Obviously, this man (the Eunuch) was seeking a direct word. While Phillip was an evangelist Scripture shows us that the fivefold ministry is there to serve. Here God uses Phillip to give a direct word to the Eunuch. ERROR #2. Personal Prophecy was not practiced in the bible.

Response: The role of the Prophets is an obvious continuation from the Old Testament to the new. There is no implementation of a new school for prophets but rather an obvious flow and acceptance by the New Testament church that God would continue to use the prophet and the prophetic. It is evident that these prophets continued the office or role of the prophet. Now, one could argue that this was not a personal word. However, if you lived in this time and the prophet foretold of the coming famine it would

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certainly be personal to you. Yet, there role of prophets in the bible is clear and they often gave a personal word, usually correction or judgment but certainly not always. David gets a personal word from the Prophet Nathan in the OT, and Ananias give Apostle Paul a personal word in the NT. The latter at the direct instruction of God. The role of prophets in the NT church is a very present subject especially in the book of the Acts of the Apostles.

Acts 11:27 And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch. Acts 11:28 And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by

the Spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar

ERROR #3. Personal words are divination.

Acts 15:32 And Judas and Silas, being prophets also themselves, exhorted the brethren with many words, and confirmed them. 15:33 And after they had tarried there a space, they were let go in peace from the brethren unto

the apostles. 15:34 Notwithstanding it pleased Silas to abide there still.

Response There is a danger in the prophetic that the flesh will get involved. However, we must remember that prophecy should be proven and the prophet does not operate outside of the body of Christ. Self appointed prophets who answer to no one are not in the body of Christ. Prophet is one branch of the fivefold ministry and the words of the prophet will confirm (not contradict) the direction of the rest of the fivefold. This is not to mean that a prophet is a yes man. To the contrary, the prophet is a gatekeeper. If the direction is wrong it is the role of the prophet to point this out. In both the OT and the NT there were those who were using divination. This author is well aware that this familiar spirits are often brought to the body by wolves in sheep’s clothing. This makes the operation of the gifts of the spirit of the utmost importance. God has given us the spiritual gifts. Gifts such as discernment help keep the body from being led astray. Even after ministering to the general body, Silas stays to continue to minister to the people. To conclude that he avoiding personally speaking into the lives of others is ridiculous. And then we have this:

Acts 21:10 And as we tarried there many days, there came down from

Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus. 21:11 And when he was come unto us, he took Paul’s girdle, and bound

his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle,

and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.

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Here a prophet gives a personal word to Apostle Paul. This was certainly not divination. This was the fivefold ministry and the role of prophet in perfect harmony with the body of Christ. Like numerous examples from the Old Testament the prophet comes with a ready word for the people.

12:27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.

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. 12:29 Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers

of miracles? 12:30 Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all

interpret?

And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the LORD’s people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit upon them! BIBLICAL QUALIFICATIONS OF A PROPHET When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him. The role of the prophet is unique and there is no margin for error.

THE POWER TO CREATE TRUE UNITY

“In a world riddled with contempt for life, a hatred for what is right, reckless in its pursuit of pleasure and strife, there is another aspect of the prophetic that plays a critical if not defining role in this hour. The power to create unity and true love in the members of the Body of Christ. Let us look at the discourse in 1st Samuel 18:1, "And it came to pass, when he (David) had made an end of speaking to Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, AND JONATHAN LOVED HIM AS HIS OWN SOUL..."

When the prophet speaks it causes a knitting in the Spirit to take place. It causes a spontaneous increase in love and compassion in the hearts of God's people for one another. It is this kind of love that will be the overcoming factor in the days ahead. It was this kind of love that saved David's life from the wrath of Saul. It is this kind of love that will be the survival of the church in the perils to come. This is the foremost task of the prophet, or a prophetic people, "But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ." (Ephesians 4:15) It is a call of love, a project of passion. Nothing less will get the job done. "...maketh INCREASE of the body to the edifying if itself in love..." (v.14)”129

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CHAPTER SIX

EVANGELIST

“Do all the good you can,

By all the means you can,

In all the ways you can,

In all the places you can, At all the times you can,

To all the people you can,

As long as ever you can

John Wesley

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Evangelist - e·van·ge·list [ih-van-juh-list] –noun

Protestant minister or layperson who serves as an itinerator special preacher, esp. a revivalist.

A preacher of the gospel. A person marked by evangelical enthusiasm for or support of

any cause.

Role of the Evangelist

We will not spend as much time on this topic as we have with apostle and prophet as there is little dissention that this gift to the body is still relevant. The evangelist is a person who encourages the body of Christ. Thank God for this wonderful gift that He gave to His body. Sometimes, the regular minister of a church is called a preacher in a way that other groups would typically use the term pastor. The evangelist in some churches is one that travels from town to town and from church to church, spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. Many Christians of various theological perspectives would call themselves 'evangelists' because they are spreaders of the gospel. Many churches believe one of their major functions is to function as evangelists to spread the evangelist belief that Jesus is savior of humanity. Philip, one of the most powerful ministers in the New Testament was an evangelist.130

Evangelists in the fivefold application bring encouragement to the body of Christ. One man asked me to help him understand what his role was in the fivefold ministry. He was certain of his call to ministry but confused about what role he filled. Local pastors had told him he was a music minister or music pastor. He was further compounded because he could not find ‘music pastor’ in the bible. This man served to lead worship in two congregations within his local community. His role was evident as an evangelist to the local body of Christ. He was confused about his role because the body of Christ is divided because of religious politics, but God was not confused about how he set His body in order. Christ is not divided. The fact that the body in that area was fragmented into various congregations has not deterred the flow of the Spirit as it moves in His gifts. Evangelists have the specific role of bringing encouragement to the body of Christ and also to bring spiritual revival to the lukewarm.

It will be good if the church can identify those who have this gift from among their congregation and use their gifting. As not all pastors are Evangelists, it will be wise to spot some early. “For example, a pastor of a small church, who did not have the gift of an Evangelist, was constantly frustrated for years when he preached at his own annual evangelistic meetings and received little responses for salvation. Then on one occasion, he broke with his tradition and invited a gifted Evangelist to preach. The result was astounding. There were more responses for salvation in one meeting than all the meetings that the pastor had ever conducted. A Holy-Spirit empowered gift is something to be reckoned.”131

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastor

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The Lord also blesses Evangelists with signs and wonders so as to confirm the words that they preach. One of the purposes of the Evangelist is to lead seekers to Christ new. However, this is also part of the role of the entire body of Christ. Some of the greatest men in the bible were called evangelists, Timothy and Phillip to name two. Evangelists hold an important role in the five fold ministry. The evangelist is key to encouraging the body of Christ and as such is an invaluable equal to the pastor and apostle.

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CHAPTER SEVEN

PASTOR

“Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you:

and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to

Zion: / And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed

you with knowledge and understanding.”

http://thinkexist.com/quotation/turn-o_backsliding_children-saith_the_lord-for_i/280674.html




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Pastor - pas·tor pas-ter, pah-ster] –noun

A minister or priest in charge of a church.

A person having spiritual care of a number of persons.

The Role of the Pastor

Jeremiah 3:15 And I will give you pastor according to my heart which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.

Like prophets and apostles, pastors are not the invention of the New Testament Church but rather the gift of God given to His church.132 Continued from the schoolmaster of the Old Covenant the pastor continues to hold an important role in the body of Christ. These were not deleted or eliminated with the advent of the new covenant but rather continued to be important for God to communicate and guide His people. Unfortunately, like in the Old Testament, some of today’s pastors have ignored the other gifts of the five-fold and repeated the sins of the past.

The pastor has to observe, select and train lay people who have such relevant gifts. After training, these gifted people should be given clear guidelines, ministry descriptions, and the appropriate authority to serve and build God's people for other ministries. God has given us a self-perpetuating program it is up to us to obey Him and implement this in our church.133

Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD. 134

Most “are most familiar with the role of a pastor as this is the most prominent office in the church. He is the under-shepherd of the Chief Shepherd who is Jesus Christ. His gifting is in the area of caring and nurturing the believers. He has overwhelming emotional stamina, patience and also wisdom to resolve church problems and human relation issues. James, the brother of Jesus, was known as the pastor of the Jerusalem church. Even the Apostles returned to report to him and the elders in that church.”135

“Today, the churches are in a confused state because we do not recognize the call of God for ministers to serve in any one of the other four ministries, except that of a pastor. Therefore we erroneously deem anyone who has a divine call should automatically become a pastor.”136

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“I met a Christian brother who is gifted as an Evangelist but he is pastoring a church. This is frustrating him to no end. He has tried to be a full-time Evangelist but during that time, even though the ministry results were good, his family almost starved. For practical reason of getting a fixed income for his family, he became a pastor. Evangelists usually do not get a full salary and have to live from offerings to offerings. It is now time for the churches to recognize the needs of the other parts of the fivefold ministry and to accord these ministers with appropriate income so that they can concentrate on their calling and serve the Lord and His church.”137

The Bible’s Example

“The Book of Acts gives us a working model of a conscientious, godly pastor who

preached a powerless gospel. Like many today, Apollos was pastor of a small,

struggling congregation. He was faithful, loved God, served the congregation, but was

totally bereft of power. While he was away from his home at Ephesus, Paul came and

found his church of 12 male disciples with wives and children. In spite of Apollos having

excellent credentials for ministry, Paul immediately recognized powerlessness in the

man’s flock. Both Paul and Apollos were servants of God, both equally loved the

church, and each possessed vast knowledge of Scripture. Even so, a major

discrepancy existed between their ministries. Paul had power; Apollos did not. Paul

preached the gospel of the Kingdom; Apollos obviously knew nothing about it.”138

“In light of the Apostle Jude’s exhortation to “contend earnestly for the faith which was

once for all delivered to the saints,” we see how Apollos — though innocent of any evil

intent — had accepted a partial gospel and experienced partial results. The ministries

of Paul and Apollos are a parallel of pastors and churches today. I emphasize the fact

that Apollos was ignorant because he had never been taught — not because he had

knowingly rejected the truth. In our day pastors fall into two groups: Those who have

never been taught and are innocently ignorant of spiritual gifts and those who willfully

reject spiritual gifts. Carefully observe these seven facts which Scripture records about

Apollos:”139

1. He was a Jew.

2. An eloquent man.

3. Mighty in Scripture.

4. Instructed in the way of the Lord.

5. Fervent in spirit.

6. Taught accurately the things of the Lord.

7. But: He knew only the “baptism of John” — that is, he knew nothing about the

Baptism in the Spirit. He had a partial gospel and a partial faith.

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“When Paul recognized spiritual-powerlessness in the Ephesians, he asked the all-

revealing question, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They

responded, “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” This tragic

ignorance existed because Apollos knew only the “baptism of John.” He knew nothing

about the baptism in the Holy Spirit and had left his congregation in that same condition.

Paul immediately instructed the Ephesians about the Holy Spirit’s empowering and

when he “laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with

tongues and prophesied.” That event proved to be a cataclysmic change not only for

Ephesus but for the rest of the Roman world.”140 This laying on of hands was the

apostolic authority. This was power given in the true operation of the Holy Spirit in the

New Testament and reflected in a pattern going back to the laying on of hands by

Melchizadec on Abraham.

“Under Apollos’ ministry, the church at Ephesus accomplished absolutely nothing to

awaken the city. It demonstrated no Kingdom power, remained spiritually paralyzed,

and except for the local Synagogue, its presence was virtually unknown. In that state,

the congregation had no effective witness, made no impact on the people, was no threat

to “powers, principalities, rulers of the darkness of this world,” etc. Instead, the dark

cloud of paganism gripped the land with unchallenged control. The Temple of Diana —

or Artemas — already famous as the greatest of all Seven Wonders of the Ancient

World, dominated the area. It was in the shadow of this formidable enemy that this

minuscule church, ineffective and unknown, lay dormant.”141 “That changed when Paul

arrived. When he came on the scene, Ephesus experienced a “Kingdom of God”

earthquake. Paul was not the power but he was the instrument for the truth that

produced the shaking. He merely provided the window through whom the power

roared; Apollos and twelve other windows were already present in Ephesus but they

had never been opened.”142

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CHAPTER EIGHT

TEACHER

Now for a long season Israel has been without the true God and without a teaching priest and without law.

II Coronicles 15:3

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Teacher - teach·er [tee-cher] –noun

A person who teaches or instructs esp. as a profession;

instructor.

Role of the Teacher

The teacher is the person who instructs or guides the body of Christ. “The role of the teachers is vital because the spiritual and doctrinal foundations of the church depend upon them. They are the ones who do the grounding work. I can usually tell that a church is strong by seeing the number of good teachers it has. Most pastors are gifted with teaching ability and so they usually take the role of being pastor-teachers. However, the pastor alone is never enough. He must activate other gifted lay members to take on this teaching ministry.”143

“Spirit-gifted and anointed teachers are different from those who are teaching in the secular schools. This teaching gift is divinely given and special because it allows the teacher to impart divine life and at the same time reveal hidden spiritual truth. With the gift of wisdom, the teacher speaks the mind of Christ to his students and thus stirs up further hunger within them. The more the congregation understands the will of God, the better it is in serving Him. Sadly, many modern Charismatic churches are missing out on the dedicated teaching of the solid doctrines of the Scripture. The overt emphasis upon the spiritual gifts has led to neglect in the didactic ministry. No matter how many spiritual gifts that the Christian might have, nothing is more important than the consistent studying of God's Word under the guidance of an anointed and gifted teacher.”144

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CHAPTER NINE

THE NEXT WAVE

“If you don’t know where you are going…

.. Then any road will get you there.”

Dr. Bernie Wade

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RESTORATION OF THE BODY

While we have spent the largest portion of this book elaborating on the role the fivefold plays as the ministry in the body of Christ we would do a disservice if we did not take time to explain the role of the laity as the body of Christ.

The ministry has always been first part of the general body of believers. This was true in the pattern that God revealed in the Old Covenant and confirmed in the true in the Covenant. The ministry is set aside from the general body to serve the body.

And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them

He chose twelve, whom also he named apostles (Luke 6:13).

“According to the Christian New Testament, there were various supernatural manifestations in the early church. The book of Acts describes the apostles and other believers healing the sick, performing miracles, having supernatural knowledge, receiving visions and other prophetic revelations, and supernaturally praying in tongues. One of Paul's epistles, I Corinthians 12 lists various spiritual gifts (charismata) of a supernatural nature present in the church. I Corinthians 14 addresses problems with misuse of spiritual gifts and instructions on how to use them properly in a church meeting. Albeit, this is all done with the understanding that we need not and cannot manage the gifts unless they are currently in operation. Romans 12 lists several spiritual gifts including prophecy, and other gifts that seem less spectacular in nature.”145

“The historical evidence indicates that the existence of spiritual gifts was widely accepted in the church certainly well into the second century. The Didache, estimated to have been written in the very late first or early second century, makes reference to prophets who spoke by the Spirit traveling from church to church. Ireneaus, late in the second century, wrote of the brethren with gifts of tongues, foreknowledge, and various other supernatural gifts in his own day. Justin Martyr argued in his Dialogue with Trypho that prophets were not found among the Jews, but that the church had prophets. The Shepherd of Hermas was a popular book among Christians, read in some churches, in the second century. This book purports to contain revelation, and has a section describing the operation of prophecy in the church.”146 "Apostles" of the Rabbinical "Synagogue" system were a known and accepted practice and title of that day. Thus, employing the term "Apostle" to describe missionaries of the messianic persuasion would not have been as controversial.

In the New Testament, the term "Apostles" occurs in 59 verses. 27% of the total time mentioned it is phrased together "Apostles and Prophets". In Acts 15:32 it is stated Judas and Silas while called "Apostles" were simultaneously called "Prophets", thus indicating the terms may have been either used in close association with one another or possibly even nearly but not quite inter-changeably.

Every kingdom has a language. The language of the Kingdom of God was restored as a result of the outpouring that became known as the Pentecostal movement. Tongues, like knowledge, are incomplete manifestations in fallen world of the Spirit. They are needed because of our distance from the presence of God while we dwell in the body [2

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Cor. 5:8]. Therefore, the gifts will pass away when we are in the full presence of Christ and know him fully. Conversely, while we dwell in this body awaiting the glory of Christ and the eternal state of blessedness, these gifts remain and are necessary.”147

According to the Cessasionalist view not only are there no longer Apostles and Prophets but healing has ceased, water baptism has ceased, there are no miracle, no signs, no wonders, etc. “The apostle's who instructed sinners to 'believe & be baptized' (Mk.16 15&16) told these same persons to 'Follow after love; yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy'(1 Cor. 14:1).”148 Some “will demand of sinner's the obedience of baptism... but he will despise prophesying in the church (1 Thess. 5:19&20), & forbid speaking in tongues (1 Cor. 14:39)...even if it is THE HOLY SPIRIT which gives the utterance (Acts 2:4)! “149 A plethora of denominations have taken the unscriptural position of being in opposition to the operation of the spirit of God.

“Signs & wonders were never limited to the apostolic office. Miracles & spiritual gifts were given by the Sovereign Spirit to various individuals in the church for manifold purposes. Certainly, it is not denied that specialized 'powers' are clustered around the apostolic company because of their peculiar foundational function & ministry in the original church. Furthermore, the 'manifestations of the Spirit' to the early Christian communities were no doubt different in degree & intensity in comparison to that of an apostle. The original church of Christ was an effective charismatic community of baptized believers.”150

“Follow the actions of the young church & what do we find? We find a community in which signs & wonders... miracles & gifts of the Holy Spirit ... according to His own will... are manifest in every church for the purposes for which they were appointed. Special manifestations of the Spirit's power to the apostles & to the believers are referred to time & again in the letters to New Testament congregations. One will search in vain for a text in which the charismatic & supernatural ministry of the Holy Spirit that attended the expansion of the gospel, & subsequently the life & ministry of the churches that were planted, was not meant by God to continue with the expansion of the gospel into the rest of the world... & into subsequent generations of believers. “151

“The signs & wonders which were to follow Christ's believers (Mk. 16:17-20), together with the promised blessings associated with the Spirit's outpouring upon the church at Pentecost (Acts 2) set the stage for the Spirit's active presence associated with gospel proclamation & subsequent church life. Some have retired the Holy Ghost to Heaven after the establishment of the Christian church in the first century... & turned the Bible into a Sears & Roebuck catalog filled with unavailable items.”152

“New Testament evidence shows that miraculous healing, signs, wonders, manifestations, of supernatural power regularly accompanied preaching as the standard form of evangelism practiced by our Lord, by His apostles, & early church laity. Professor F .F. Bruce, the well known British New Testament scholar, considered the healing ministry of Christ an essential part of the message Jesus preached... "While the miracles served as signs, they were not done as signs only. They were as much a part & parcel of the ministry of Christ as was His preaching --- not... seals affixed to the document to certify its genuineness but an integral element in the very text of the

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document"(Bruce).”153 Apostle Paul would echo this sentiment, “I came to you NOT with the enticing words of the wisdom of men but with the demonstration and the power of the Holy Ghost.”

“Professor Gerhard Friedrich (German New Testament scholar)... insists that the New Testament of preaching the gospel is MORE THAN VERBALLY COMMUNICATING THE RATIONAL CONTENT OF THE GOSPEL - that it includes demonstrating the power of the gospel through healing ministry. These men are not wild eyed, wild fire Pentecostalists. They merely point out that the gospel of Christ was never intended to be proclaimed merely in the wisdom of words (1 Cor. 2:4). “154

“1. The church of Christ which began at Pentecost was the beginning of the fulfillment of an Old Testament hope regarding the twofold future work of the Spirit in the last days resulting in inner transformation & outward empowerment for all God's people. The term 'Last Days' is a biblical time period beginning with the first coming of Christ & extends throughout this present Age & is terminated only by the coming of Christ a second time & the events associated with that coming. The Last Days is to be characterized by an outpouring of God's Spirit upon his people in charismatic power. New Testament congregations were blessed with this ongoing supernatural ministry of God the Holy Spirit & received instructions as to their proper function in the local church. No divine discontinuance is anticipated during this age. 2. Believers are promised supernatural & specialized abilities in connection with effectual testimony to the gospel, for the blessing & edification of the spiritual community the church, & for personal enrichment (Mk 16:15-20). New Testament congregations were fully functioning charismatic communities & are the pattern, & not the exception, for the corporate worship of God through Christ in the church today. The apostle encouraged congregations to 'desire earnestly spiritual gifts', & that 'ye all can prophesy one by one, that all may be learn, & all may be exhorted' (1 Cor. 14:1, 30&31). Miracles & spiritual gifts were never a substitute for the written word of the apostles. The apostles taught the same things they later wrote. The canon of scripture as we know it was not even anticipated by the apostles of Christ. Apostolic inscripturated revelation is distinct from the 'prophetic utterance' in the church, which was never considered equal to apostolic (& prophetic) revelation whether oral or written. Hence said Paul...'all may prophecy' & let the others discern. 3. The gospel is to be proclaimed with signs & wonders to all generations... not to the first generation of believers only. What disadvantage did that generation have which required signs & wonders, miracles of healing, etc to be associated with the word of the gospel? If there was ever a generation of skeptical disbelief due to the hardness of the human heart it is NOW. Faith comes by the hearing of the Word of God (Rom. 10:17), but the same man says his preaching was not with 'persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit & power: that your faith (by the word) should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God' (1 Cor. 2:4)). Why would God not bear witness to the testimony of Jesus Christ today 'with signs & wonders, by manifold powers (miracles) & by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will'?”155

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Apostle Paul with the full force of the fivefold ministry made it clear that the Church could not come to perfection on its own. The phenomenal growth of the Pentecostal movement has made this segment the largest Christian group in the world. This is testament to the fact that God has moved in these modern times to fulfill His will in His people. Yet, Jesus Christ has not returned. The common position is that the Church is just waiting on the Lord’s return. For one moment consider that it may well be that the Lord is waiting on His church, through the five-fold ministry to come to the unity of the faith to the mature bride. American Church groups using a colonialism model for evangelism and church growth have decided that they are the ‘final answer’ in all matters regarding doctrine for this vast segment of the world. Yet, as we journey into the new century we find that this acceptance of the colonialism model is far from universal. Rather, there is widespread dissatisfaction and it is evident that the greatest revival in the world is happening with our without the approval of American Pentecostal and/or Charismatic groups or denominations. The dedicated body of Christ is ready to do the bidding of the King of Kings (Jesus Christ). They are ready to do whatever it takes and make whatever sacrifice necessary to usher in the greatest move of the Holy Spirit the world has ever known. While American denominations try to take credit for what God has done, it is evident that what has been accomplished has been done by the power of the Holy Spirit, not by anything that men can take credit. It has been and continues to be the work of the Holy Spirit. In our chapter on Cessation viewed this quote: According to John MacArthur, who seems quite unsure about his position on gifts, and attempts to pick and choose what has ceased and what has not "The temporary sign gifts were limited to the apostolic age and therefore ceased after that time. Those gifts included miracles, healing, languages, and the interpretation of languages. The purpose of temporary sign gifts was to authenticate the apostolic message as the Word of God, until the time when the Scriptures, His written Word were completed and became self-authenticating." In response to Jack Macarthur’s proclamation that the gifts were only relevant for the Apostolic age, he is correct. The impasse is that he believes that ended some 2000 years ago and we hold that we are living in the Apostolic age an age that will continue until the return of Christ for His Church.

The Apostolic Church When we speak of Apostolic it is in the same context that Wycliffe used the word meaning only those things which were believed and taught by the Apostles of Jesus Christ. “For the modern churches to be powerful and effective, they have to reactivate the ministries of the Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers. The fivefold ministry is like the five fingers of a hand. Yes, we can use the hand even

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though it has only three fingers but it is not ideal. The handicap is obvious when we want to use it for heavier task.”156 In the natural, the hand ministers to the body. We use the hand to feed us, bath us, touch us and much more. Yes, there are those that survive who have lost their hands or some of the fingers. However, these people do not go around proclaiming that that people would be better off without their fingers! Can you imagine a world where we only had a finger or two or three? This would be much less than God intended for us to have. Like as in the spiritual we are living far beneath our privileges if we limit the body of Christ to being ministered to with only one finger rather than a hand. As I work on this writing on the keyboard of this computer I know that I would be severely limited in my abilities to complete the task without my thumbs and index fingers. While I don’t type with my thumbs, they do give me the balance that my hand needs to accomplish the task at hand. I am reminded of the enslaved kings from the Old Testament who had their great toes and thumbs removed and were reduced to living like dogs fighting for scraps under another kings table. Instead of a balanced ministry coming forth with great power, we have those who seem bent on keeping the ministry anemic. “The task of churches today is heavy indeed. We therefore have to restore the complete operation of the fivefold ministry by giving the rightful positions of the Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers. We must emphasize that for the fivefold ministry to be effective we must include the lay people. It should never be reduced to a domain for only a select few.”157 We have missed the connection between people and priest, between pulpit and pew. The gift of the fivefold is to the body of Christ. The ministry is to the body – not the body to the ministry. “The maturity of the Church of Jesus Christ is at stake and the fulfilling of Christ's command to make Disciples of all nations has yet to be achieved. The churches cannot afford to play church games any more. Let's arise and make every effort to allow God to use us effectively in whichever part of the fivefold ministry that He has for us. Let's fulfill the Great Commission of the Lord without further delay.”158 It is evident that few words better describe the work of the Apostles of Jesus Christ who set in motion the work that has become the Christian Church than the word, Apostolic. The word Apostolic accurately describes that which is ‘of the apostles’. John Wycliffe was created with coining the word ‘apostolic’ when he said, “I will do only those things that are apostolic and nothing dictated by the Papacy.” Many have claimed to be the sole voice of the Apostles or the one true Apostolic church. Yet, these hold to dogmas that are in direct contradiction to the word of God. When challenged on these obvious inconsistencies they attempt to muddy the waters or explain away the fivefold ministry rather than just admit that is the word of God and for

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the church today. In spite of the fact that there is not ONE verse that gives credence to the role of Apostle or Prophets ending, these take such untenable positions. It is evident that there is equally as much conjecture for the roles of pastor, teacher and evangelist to have ended as there is to that of Apostle and Prophets. To be clear, when we speak of the role of Apostle in the church we are not talking about some attempt to trace a succession of clergy back to the original 12 apostles, as do the Catholic and Episcopal churches; neither are we speaking of any of a vast group of others who have attempted to use the word Apostolic to bring legitimacy to their movement. These groups are far removed from the Papacy, yet they yield a new kind of Papal power in enacting their agenda. The result is usually the same. Man is exalted and takes the credit for the things the Spirit has done. What we are speaking about is the simple belief that we are all disciples of those early Apostles. “Pentecostal churches believe they are apostolic because (1) they teach what the apostles taught, and (2) they share in the power of the apostles through the baptism in and fullness of the Holy Spirit, who empowers their lives and ministries. They believe what matters is not a contemporary apostolic office but apostolic doctrine and power.”159 Yet, we would hold that this apostolic doctrine and power is only the beginning or the first role of a five-fold hand that is essential to bring us all to the unity of the faith. “And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down that the rain stop thee not” “The fact is this: Whether you and I accept it or not, the original “faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” is still intact. It is unaltered. In a conclusive, unchangeable way the faith of the Apostolic Era was delivered for “all time” intact to every subsequent generation. There will never be another.”160

In all fairness, a true five-fold ministry certainly will not instantly make the body perfect. We will still be dealing with the works of the flesh for as long as we are in this body. However, let’s be clear, this is also not a proof text for the position that the apostles and prophets should be eliminated based on the imprimatur of an organization.

“The mobilization of laity is absolutely vital for the church to grow strong spiritually and also grow large numerically. The "quantity" of the churchgoers goes hand in hand with the "quality" of the church (Though the opposite may not necessary be true). Seekers respond to the Gospel when the church's lay ministers are spiritually strong and well trained enough to present it with the power of the Holy Spirit.”161 “The fivefold ministry of Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers has to be reintroduced in every church.”162

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Arguments that the fivefold has been morphed into the manifold or three-tiered ministry seem as weak as gravy made from the shadow of a starving chicken.

“It appears that the great deception falls not upon believers but upon unbelievers. Those who refuse to love the truth are the ones deceived, not the faithful Church. In any case, there is no solid evidence that the Church will lack power at the end of days, at least not until the Commission has been completed.

The Anti-Christ does not come until we, the Church, have completed our task. He is not revealed until we have finished it! So to build a doctrine of Cessation on the presumption that we are in the last days would require at the very least that we had fulfilled the Great Commission, which we have not. There are still hundreds of tribes and tongues and nations that have not had the Gospel preached to them and who have not yet been discipled.”163

The five-fold ministry is the gift that Jesus Christ gave to His Bride, the Church. It was the doctrine of the Apostle Paul and other Apostles. Those who will claim the Apostles as the source of their doctrine cannot simply claim the power of the gifts of God ceased. Regardless of religious or political posturing, one thing is certain. For more than 300 years God has been slowly inching his people toward the full restoration and power of His Spirit. Man might make a misguided effort to quell this ground swell of the Spirit of God moving in His people, but in the end the gift of the five-fold ministry will help to perfect the saints, assist in the work of the ministry and continue to edify the body of Christ…

…"That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing: but that it should be holy and without blemish".

Wilhelm, Joseph (1908). "Charismata". The Catholic Encyclopedia. III. Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved 6 July 2010. 2 Wilhelm, Joseph (1908). "Charismata". The Catholic Encyclopedia. III. Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved 6 July 2010.

3 http://oce.catholic.com/index.php?title=Charismata

4 The doctrine of apostolic succession is the belief that the 12 apostles passed on their authority to

successors, who then passed the apostolic authority on to their successors, continuing throughout the centuries, even unto today. The Roman Catholic Church sees Peter as the leader of the apostles, with the greatest authority, and therefore his successors carry on the greatest authority. The Roman Catholic Church combines this belief with the concept that Peter later became the first bishop of Rome, and that the Roman bishops that followed Peter were accepted by the early church as the central authority among all of the churches. Apostolic succession, combined with Peter’s supremacy among the apostles, results in the Roman bishop being the supreme authority of the Catholic Church – the Pope. http://www.gotquestions.org/apostolic-succession.html 5 http://www.sbc.net/aboutus/faqs.asp#8

66 Some of the best known accounts of these beginnings include: N. Bloch-Hoell, The Pentecostal Movement: Its Origin,

Development, and Distinctive Character (Oslo: Universitets forlaget, 1964); Fr. P. Damboriena, Tongues as of Fire: Pentecostalism in Contemporary Christianity (Washington, DC: Corpus Books, 1969); D. W. Dayton, Theological Roots of Pentecostalism (Metuchen, NJ: The Scarecrow Press, 1987); S. Durasoff, Bright Wind of the Spirit (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1972); M. Harper, As at the Beginning: The Twentieth Century Pentecostal Revival (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1965); D. Harrell, All Things Are Possible: The Healing and Charismatic Revivals in Modern America (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1975); K. Kendrick, A Promise Fulfilled: A History of the Modern Pentecostal Movement (Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House, 1961); W. W. Menzies, Anointed to Serve: The Story of the Assemblies of God (Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House, 1971); John T. Nichol, Pentecostalism (New York: Harper and Row, 1966); and V.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03588e.htm

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03588e.htm

http://oce.catholic.com/index.php?title=Charismata

http://www.gotquestions.org/apostolic-succession.html

http://www.sbc.net/aboutus/faqs.asp#8

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Synan’s three works: The Holiness-Pentecostal Movement in the United States (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1972); editor, Aspects of Pentecostal Charismatic Origins (Plainfield, NJ: Logos International, 1975); and In the Latter Days: The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Twentieth Century (Ann Arbor, MI: Servant Books, 1984); E. L. Waldvogel, “The ‘Overcoming Life’: A Study of the Reformed Evangelical Origins of Pentecostalism,” (Ph.D. dissertation, Harvard University, 1977). The most prominent history of worldwide Pentecostalism, however, is W. Hollenweger’s condensation and translation of his nine volume dissertation, The Pentecostals (London: SCM Press, 1972). 7 A well known phrase coined by H. P. Van Dusen, in his article, “The Third Force in Christendom,” Life 44 (9 June 1958), p. 13.

This “third force” of 20 million included: the Churches of Christ, the Church of the Nazarene, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists and the Christian and Missionary Alliance. But according to Van Dusen, the Pentecostal groups represented the largest segment, numbering 8.5 million at that time.

9 http://healingandrevival.com/BioCFParham.htm

10 http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldrevivalnetwork/2258998151/

11 http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/Psychology/char/more/pente.htm

12 Pentecostalism. Gary E. Gilley. This report has been excerpted and or adapted from an article by the same name in the

December 1999, Think on These Things, Southern View Chapel, Springfield, IL, Gary Gilley, Pastor. http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/Psychology/char/more/pente.htm 13

Pentecostalism. Gary E. Gilley. This report has been excerpted and or adapted from an article by the same name in the December 1999, Think on These Things, Southern View Chapel, Springfield, IL, Gary Gilley, Pastor. http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/Psychology/char/more/pente.htm 14

On the Cessation of the Charismata: The Protestant Polemic on Post-Biblical Miracles. Jon Mark Ruthven. Professor Emeritus. Regent University School of Divinity. 15


New Pentecostalism. Akoro Robert Mbe. African Studies Center. The Netherlands. 17

New Pentecostalism. Akoro Robert Mbe. African Studies Center. The Netherlands. 18

New Pentecostalism. Akoro Robert Mbe. African Studies Center. The Netherlands.

19 C e s s a t i o n o f t h e G i f t s o f t h e S p i r i t i n t h e C h u r c h : Why this doctrine lacks biblical warrant

by Jefferis Kent Peterson, I.

20 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritual_gift

21 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cessationism In Christian theology, Cessationism is the view that the miraculous gifts of the

Holy Spirit, such as tongues, prophecy and healing, ceased being practiced early on in Church history. 22

http://lionandlambministry.com/index.php/component/content/article/251-when-did-water-baptism-and-the-sign-gifts-cease HERE is where the gift of tongues ceased. Now we turn to the prison epistles, the four letters written shortly after the end of the Book of Acts, while the Apostle Paul was a prisoner in Rome, these are Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon and Philippians. In them we find that there is not one word about tongues, or the gift of healing. Even where we might have expected the Apostle Paul to write of tongues in the passage about being "filled with the Spirit" in Ephesians 5:17, he has nothing to say about tongues. Then, concerning the gift of healing, we read of a co-worker of the Apostle Paul's, Epaphroditus, who fell seriously ill during this time, Philippians 2:25-30, and the Apostle Paul no longer had the gift of healing, and was no longer able to heal as he did only a few years earlier in Acts 28:9 . The sign gifts were no longer operating at the time that Paul wrote the Prison Epistles. 23

http://lionandlambministry.com/index.php/component/content/article/251-when-did-water-baptism-and-the-sign-gifts-cease Today God no longer gives the GIFT of healing, and there are no "healers." But we should not think that God Himself no longer heals! LOOK, in Philippians 2 we read of a healing that God did after the gift of healing had ceased to operate, 24

C e s s a t i o n o f t h e G i f t s o f t h e S p i r i t i n t h e C h u r c h : Why this doctrine lacks biblical warrant

by Jefferis Kent Peterson, I. 25

C e s s a t i o n o f t h e G i f t s o f t h e S p i r i t i n t h e C h u r c h : Why this doctrine lacks biblical warrant by Jefferis Kent Peterson, I. 26

C e s s a t i o n o f t h e G i f t s o f t h e S p i r i t i n t h e C h u r c h : Why this doctrine lacks biblical warrant by Jefferis Kent Peterson, I. ©2000 Jefferis Kent Peterson

http://healingandrevival.com/BioCFParham.htm

http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldrevivalnetwork/2258998151/

http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/Psychology/char/more/pente.htm



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritual_gift

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cessationism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theology

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gifts_of_the_Holy_Spirit

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gifts_of_the_Holy_Spirit

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossolalia


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healing

http://lionandlambministry.com/index.php/component/content/article/251-when-did-water-baptism-and-the-sign-gifts-cease


http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/index.php?search=Ephesians+5%3A17;&version=9;&interface=print

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/index.php?search=Philippians+2%3A25-30;&version=9;&interface=print

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/index.php?search=Acts+28%3A9;&version=9;&interface=print



http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/index.php?search=Philippians+2;&version=9;&interface=print

http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/audio/flash_play.php?source=8&aid=21&book=57&chapter=2&end_chapter=2

95


27

C e s s a t i o n o f t h e G i f t s o f t h e S p i r i t i n t h e C h u r c h : Why this doctrine lacks biblical warrant by Jefferis Kent Peterson, I. ©2000 Jefferis Kent Peterson 28

C e s s a t i o n o f t h e G i f t s o f t h e S p i r i t i n t h e C h u r c h : Why this doctrine lacks biblical warrant by Jefferis Kent Peterson, I. ©2000 Jefferis Kent Peterson 29

Gene L. Green has offered an important contribution, suggesting that Peter and Paul were responding to a climate of pagan skepticism about the validity of prophecy and oracles: “‘As for Prophecies, They Will Come to an End’: 2 Peter, Paul and Plutarch on the ‘Obsolescence of Oracles.’” JSNT 82 (2001), pp. 107-22. Since early Christianity was “alive with prophetic activity” Green insists that, against pagan claims that prophecy either has ceased or “will cease” (pausontai, cf. Plutarch, De pythiae oraculis 397D; De defectu oraculorum 431E), Paul affirms a more nuanced Cessationism, that is, “only in light of a more perfect revelation, one that is eschatological (1 Cor. 13:10). A time of full knowledge is coming but until then the validity of partial revelations should be upheld. The apostle is far from embracing notions of prophetic decline but rather anticipates that day when revelation will be full and complete (13:12, ‘face to face’), a time when any form of divine inspiration will no longer be necessary . . . . due to the clarity and immediacy of communication between the divine and humankind” (p. 120). 30


Sanhedrin, 10:1. The one who will have no part in the life to come is one who “reads the heretical books, or that utters charms over a wound and says, ‘I will put none of the diseases upon thee which I put upon the Egyptians; for I am the Lord that healeth thee.’ Abba Saul says: ‘Also he that pronounces the Name with its proper letters.’” In the Mishnah and Talmud from which all anti-Christian polemics were extirpated during the middle ages, this passage may have survived. The “heretical books” could well refer to Christian writings, the healings to Christian practice and the reference to the “Lord” (Yahweh) could designate Jesus Christ, particularly in the Johannine passages. 32


KINGDOM FAITH OR KINGDOM FICTION — WHICH IS IT? By Charles Carrin 34

©General Council of the Assemblies of God 1445 North Booneville Avenue Springfield, Missouri 65802-1894 http://www.ag.org/top/beliefs/position_papers/pp_downloads/pp_4195_apostles_prophets.pdf 35

Romans 11:29. 36

Wikipedia. Five Fold Ministry. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five-Fold_Ministry 37

Wikipedia. Five Fold Ministry. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five-Fold_Ministry 38

Catholic Encyclopedia. Apostolate and Episcopate. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01626c.htm 39

Catholic Encyclopedia. Apostolate and Episcopate. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01626c.htm 40

Wikipedia. 41

Wikipedia 42

Wikipedia 43

Wikipedia. 44

Wikipedia.

45 KINGDOM FAITH OR KINGDOM FICTION — WHICH IS IT? By Charles Carrin

46 Reverend Albert Kang received his Master of Divinity in 1985 from Far East Advanced School of Theology (now known as Asia

Pacific Theological Seminary).

47 Kang. IBID

48 Reverend Albert Kang

49 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five-fold_ministry

50 Eph 4:11-13, NIV.

51 I Timothy 3:16

52 Adam Clarke. The Gospel of John. P.4.

53 Ecclesiology in Church History by Michael J. Vlach, Ph.D

54 The Catholic Encyclopedia. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01626c.htm

55 The Catholic Encyclopedia. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01626c.htm

56 Adam Clarke. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Clarke

57 Adam Clark Commentary. Galatians 6:4.

http://www.ag.org/top/beliefs/position_papers/pp_downloads/pp_4195_apostles_prophets.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five-Fold_Ministry

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five-Fold_Ministry



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five-fold_ministry



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Clarke

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58

In 1949 at the General Council of the Assemblies of God held in Seattle, the Council overwhelmingly approved a resolution that was prepared by a committee. The resolution adopted disapproved of the following practices: 1. The overemphasis relative to imparting, identifying, bestowing, or confirming of gifts by the laying on of hands and prophecy. 2. The erroneous teaching that the Church is built on the foundation of present-day apostles and prophets. 3. The extreme teaching as advocated by the “New Order,” regarding the confession of sin to man and deliverance as practiced, which claims prerogatives to human agency which belongs only to Christ. 4. The erroneous teaching concerning the impartation of the gift of languages as special equipment for missionary service. 5. The extreme and unscriptural practice of imparting or imposing personal leadings by the means of the gifts of utterance. 6. Such other wrestlings and distortions of scripture interpretations which are in opposition to teachings and practices generally accepted among us. (Anointed To Serve, William Menzies, Ph.D., Gospel Publishing House, 1971.) 59

Ephesians Chapter 2. Verse 20. 60

C e s s a t i o n o f t h e G i f t s o f t h e S p i r i t i n t h e C h u r c h : Why this doctrine lacks biblical warrant by Jefferis Kent Peterson, I. 61

Dictionary.com 62

Mariam Websters Dictionary. Apostle. 63

Easton Bible Dictionary. Melchizadec. 64

(Lightfoot, "Galatians", London, 1896, p. 93). 65

The Catholic Encyclopedia. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01626c.htm 66

The Catholic Encyclopedia. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01626c.htm 67

http://www.apostles-prophets.com/apostle_moses.php?format= 68



Josephus, Antiquities, II, x 71

Kaufmann Kohler. Jewish Encyclopedia, published between 1901-1906. This page - - Apostle - - is at http://mb-soft.com/believe/txn/apostle.htm 72

http://www.bible.ca/ef/expository-hebrews-3-1-6-8.htm 73

http://www.bible.ca/ef/expository-hebrews-3-1-6-8.htm 74

See Theod. Reinach, "Textes Grecs et Romains, etc.," 1895, p. 208, and also Grätz, "Gesch. der Juden," iv. 476, note 21 75

Epiphanius, "Hæreses," i. 128: 76

("Cod. Theodos." xvi. 8, 14, 29. Compare Mommsen, "Corpus Inscr. Lat." ix. 648. See Apostolé). 77

(Josephus, "B. J." ii. 3, § 4; comp. Matt. x. 9, 10; Luke ix. 3, x. 4, xxii. 35; bemaḳḳel we-tarmil, Yeb. 122a) 78

Kaufmann Kohler. Jewish Encyclopedia, published between 1901-1906. This page - - Apostle - - is at http://mb-soft.com/believe/txn/apostle.htm This subject presentation was last updated on Thu, 28 Jan 2010 19:58:48 GM 79




Adam Clarke Commentary. Ephesians. Verse 14. 83

http://orthodoxwiki.org/Apostle_Matthias 84

Mathias. By John P. Chase. Webmaster All Saints Church.

http://www.allsaintssanfran.org/Twelve%20Apostles/Matthias/matthias_apostle_.htm

85 Mathias. By John P. Chase. Webmaster All Saints Church. http://www.allsaintssanfran.org/Twelve%20Apostles/Matthias/matthias_apostle_.htm

86 Romans Chapter 11.

87 Wikipedia. Pentecostalism. Beliefs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentecostalism

88 ©General Council of the Assemblies of God 1445 North Booneville Avenue Springfield, Missouri 65802-1894

http://www.ag.org/top/beliefs/position_papers/pp_downloads/pp_4195_apostles_prophets.pdf 89


Acts 1:23 91

Acts 6:3 92

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Barsabbas 93

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Barsabbas 94

Titus 1:5 95

Norman Geisler, Systematic Theology vol.4: Church Last Things (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 2005), 674.



http://www.apostles-prophets.com/apostle_moses.php?format=



http://mb-soft.com/believe/txn/apostle.htm


http://www.bible.ca/ef/expository-hebrews-3-1-6-8.htm

http://www.bible.ca/ef/expository-hebrews-3-1-6-8.htm









http://orthodoxwiki.org/Apostle_Matthias



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentecostalism



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Barsabbas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Barsabbas

97


96 The Man Who Replaced Judas Wayne Blank http://www.keyway.ca/htm2002/20020219.htm






Reverend Albert Kang 102


http://www.ccel.org/f/foxe/martyrs/home.html 104

Reverend Albert Kang

105 The Ministry of Apostles by Steve Atkerson http://www.ntrf.org/articles/article_detail.php?PRKey=1



108 Dictionary.com

109 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prophet

110 Reverend Albert Kang.


112112 Numbers 11:16

113 Numbers 11:25

114 Numbers 11:29


116 Deuteronomy Chapter 13.





©General Council of the Assemblies of God 1445 North Booneville Avenue Springfield, Missouri 65802-1894



IBID 123

Adam Clarke Commentary. I Corinthians. 124




Wikipedia. Five Fold Ministry. 128

Wikipedia. Five Fold Ministry.

129 QUALIFICATIONS OF A PROPHET By Chad Taylor

130 Acts 21:8 On the next day we departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of [Acts 6:5; 8:5] Philip

[Eph 4:11; 2 Tim 4:5] the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. 131


And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. Jeremiah 3:15. 133

Reverend Albert Kang

http://www.keyway.ca/htm2002/roadsign.htm

http://www.keyway.ca/htm2002/20020219.htm





http://www.ccel.org/f/foxe/martyrs/home.html

http://www.ntrf.org/articles/article_detail.php?PRKey=1



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prophet








http://bibleresources.bible.com/passagesearchresults.php?passage1=Acts+21:8&version=47

98


134

Jeremiah 23:2 135

Reverend Albert Kang. 136










Wikipedia. Five Fold Ministry. 146

Wikipedia. Five Fold Ministry.

147 C e s s a t i o n o f t h e G i f t s o f t h e S p i r i t i n t h e C h u r c h : Why this doctrine lacks biblical warrant

by Jefferis Kent Peterson, I

148 Jackson- V - Preston Formal Written Debate. Topic: The Cessation of the Charismata. Richard Jackson’s First Affirmation.

149 IBID

150 Jackson- V - Preston Formal Written Debate. Topic: The Cessation of the Charismata. Richard Jackson’s First Affirmative.


152 The signs & wonders which were to follow Christ's believers (Mk. 16:17-20), together with the promised blessings associated

with the Spirit's outpouring upon the church at Pentecost (Acts 2) set the stage for the Spirit's active presence associated with

gospel proclamation & subsequent church life. Mr. Preston retired the Holy Ghost to Heaven after the establishment of the

Christian church in the first century...& turned the Bible into a Sears & Roebuck catalog filled with unavailable items. It is a joy

indeed to set him right...& present to this reading audience the truth about miracles & spiritual gifts relative to the church of

Christ, then & now.










Ibid. Reverend Albert Kang 162

Ibid. Reverend Albert Kang 163

C e s s a t i o n o f t h e G i f t s o f t h e S p i r i t i n t h e C h u r c h : Why this doctrine lacks biblical warrant by Jefferis Kent Peterson, I.


99


Bernie L. Wade Pastor, teacher, preacher, mentor, author, entrepreneur, and friend, Bernie L, Wade Sr. was born on June 29, 1963 in Lakewood, Ohio. Now, over 45 years later he serves the International Circle of Faith Global Network (ICOF) as President. ICOF is a 21st Century movement of God, pursuing the restoration of the apostolic message, authority, power, and anointing around the globe. This global, multiracial, multi-cultural, nondenominational fellowship has mThe ICOF is focused on Uniting Anointed Kingdom Minded New Testament Ministers, Fulfilling the Prayer that Jesus Prayed for the Church that we would ALL be ONE (John 17:21 ). Http://www.icof.net He is committed to building relationship with ministers that will produce an environment for discipleship and duplication – fatherhood and son ship. Using some unique concepts, staffed with a team of talented ministers, and focusing on tearing down man-made walls of division, ICOF continues to bring real unity to the body of Christ. In addition to uniting tens of thousands of ministers, ICOF is now focused on bringing the rest of the body into unity. ICOF has united chaplains, orphanages, Para-church ministries, humanitarian aid organizations, etc. Bernie Wade holds earned doctorates in theology, divinity, Christian education and counseling. He holds an earned master of non-profit management and faith based management as well as a plethora of honorary degrees. He is the visionary behind the vast network of colleges, universities, and bible colleges, that make up the accredited non-traditional programs offered through International Circle of Faith Colleges and Seminaries (ICOFCS) Collectively, this partnership, along with Global Evangelical Christian College (GECC), Faith Bible Colleges, and others has over 350 campuses around the world. He serves on the Board of Regents of this vast network of Colleges and Seminaries. Because of his commitment to quality education he also serves on the board of the Association of Christian Universities, Global Evangelical Accrediting Commission and more.

Because of his passion to e has created programs such as an accredited high school - Harvard High School - as an alternate to GED literacy programs with emphasis on minority education; the Sunshine Center for drug and alcohol abusers (an ODADAS certified drug and alcohol treatment center); Barberton Food Bank for temporary help for families with food stuffs; CWTI (Christian Workers Training Institute) to train people to minister in the these various areas; Safe Harbor for senior citizens; Set Free Ministries for transitional housing; Set Free magazine; and numerous other outreach programs. Future goals include Family Reformation Communities and Centers (FRC) to create a campus for helping families get another lease on life.

http://www.icof.net/



http://www.icofedu.org/

http://www.globalecc.org/

http://www.acuedu.org/

http://www.icof.net/college.html#2

http://www.icof.net/college.html#2

http://www.icof.net/setfree.html

Restoration of the Charismata

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