Since you've continued here from the 1st entry of this blog you must have found or you must have already had faith in the apostolic office gift as being valid for today or you're open to it or you're just plain curious. So, again let me suggest to you that if you have not yet done so, please go to The Lord in prayer and ask for Him to substantiate to you in a way that you can understand whether or not He wants me to minister to you here with these teachings about the apostolic gift.
The apostolic gift can be very difficult and controversial for a believing Christian to stand up for as being valid for today because of (as I thoroughly described in entry 1) so many Christian's unbelief in it. So, you may not yet be ready or able to endure Satan's moves that will invariably come thru unbelieving Christians against you, if you prematurely begin moving into this gift.
When I was still a young Christian some very mature Christian practices were presented to me but I felt led to shy back from them, deciding to wait until I was further along in the faith before moving into them. I'm glad that God led me to do so because it gave me enough time to become very well grounded in my basic salvation doctrine and faith and fully ready to move on into those things.
Therefore, please pray to the Lord about how far He wants you to now venture into these teachings and then discuss it with any other Christians to whom God might lead you for counsel.
Proverbs 11:14b - in abundance of counselors there is safety.
After doing all of this, wait until you and your counselors reach complete peace about this matter before continuing on into it.
Substantiations of a true apostle from the Lord Jesus Christ.
I John 4:1 - Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God because many false (ministers) have gone out into the world.
1. Humility
To begin with, the first and foremost characteristic to look for in any apostle is that he is humble and self effacing, just as were all of the apostles described in the Bible.
James 4:6 - ...God gives grace to the humble but resists the proud.
That means that the very first test of any so-called apostle is to carefully observe his behavior for consistent, deep humility. He may be confident in his apostolic calling but he should not be in any way inflated about it. Rather he should be meek and humble and lowly among you. Any evidence that you detect of pride or self-exalting about being an apostle (or about anything else for that matter) is a warning from God to beware of that person's ministry.
Matthew 7:15 -16 - Beware of false prophets (and apostles), who come to you dressed as (outwardly humble) sheep, but inside they are devouring wolves. You will fully recognize them by their fruits (of pride and self inflation, etc.).
An apostle's great humility is required in order for him or her to appropriate God's grace (God's power and authority) by which to operate effectively within this spiritual office. If any professing apostle does not have great humility, he cannot possibly be a true apostle of the Lord because he, in his pride, will be resisted by the Lord and therefore he can have no grace to bring forth God's power in the exercise of his office. The apostle Paul, because of his great knowledge of God, was even given assistance by the Lord to stay humble!
II Corinthians 12:7b - ...to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me--to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness..."
And if a true apostle (who should always be humbly learning and growing in the Lord just as everyone should be) leaves humility at any time, he immediately falls from God's grace and loses all of his apostolic powers and authority from God because God will resist that apostle until he repents and returns to humility. Grace can only be appropriated and function to bring forth God's powers for the brethren when a person humbly reaches up to God for it.
Numbers 12:3 - 4a - Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth, and SUDDENLY THE LORD (MOVED!)...
The amazing powers and miracles brought forth by God thru Moses could only have been manifested thru him because of his extremely humble spirit. God, of course, knew His man and He picked Moses as His vessel thru whom to perform all of His miraculous works in
Exodus 4:21b - ....see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your power...
The same is true of the ministry of any true apostle from Jesus today. Apostleship is not a gift that can manifest if the so-called apostle has an attitude of pride or self-exaltation, because God will always always resist that pride.
So, always, always, always, first look for consistent humility in any so-called apostle, when putting him or her to the test.
2. Strong Faith
When any Christian's humility is firmly in place, that humility combined with their firm faith then works together to bring forth great power and miracles from God to accomplish His purposes. This principle holds true especially for His modern day apostles. Strong faith is just as important as humility, but without both working together, an apostle cannot be used by God to bring forth His powerful workings.
So the second test of the apostle is - does he have great faith in God (and in all of His Word), combined with great humility? At the end of the apostle Paul's ministry he wrote that he had kept the faith that Jesus had given to him by which to conduct his ministry and that he had fought the good fight of it and that when he died he would then deliver it back intact unto his battle captain, the Lord Jesus Christ (I Tim 4:7 - Amplified Bible). Any true apostle today needs to have the same humble and faithful attitude at all times.
Hebrews 11:6 - Without FAITH - IT IS IMPOSSIBLE to please God...
Humble faith in God and His Word is necessary to appropriate His salvation power in one's life. It is also necessary within the apostle to successfully appropriate God's authority and great miracle power by which to work all sorts of wonders for the betterment of the believers to whom he is sent. The apostle's God-given strong faith working thru his or her great humility is what appropriates miracles and signs and wonders from God. Consequently, strong faith combined with great humility must be present in the apostle's teachings and confessions in order for him or her to begin to be judged by the brethren as maybe being a true apostle from the Lord today.
For instance, after an amazing apostolic healing miracle occurred, Peter said to the incredulous onlooking crowd...
Acts 3:12 - 16 - Why are you amazed at this (healing miracle), or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk?...It is on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given this man his perfect health in the presence of you all.
Peter gave all of the glory for this amazing healing miracle (of a man lame from birth who was now walking and running and leaping for joy) to the faith which originated and came to him and the lame man from Jesus Christ and which manifested upon the lame man's legs thru Peter's bold, faith-filled use of Jesus name. Peter was totally self-effacing as he emphatically and humbly denied that his own piety had anything to do with this miracle. Here in these verses, faith and humility within an apostle are clearly displayed as Peter gives the Lord Jesus Christ all of the glory for this amazing miracle healing.
3. Biblical Love
The 3rd test of a so-called apostle is the test of Biblical love which is described fully in the passages below.
I Cor 12:31b - 13:8 - ...(these passages come right after a complete discussion of all of the supernaturally given spiritual gifts that we are to earnestly desire. Here, Paul proceeds to put these gifts into context)...
I show you A STILL MORE EXCELLENT WAY! If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have LOVE, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have LOVE, it profits me nothing.
LOVE is patient, LOVE is kind and is not jealous; LOVE does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. LOVE never fails!
But if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; etc..
The true apostle of the Lord will have this kind of enduring Biblical love for everyone to whom he ministers, even for those who reject him. He will always consider GOD'S LOVE to be the greatest gift that he can share with the brethren, considering it as being of even more importance than any of the powerful, miraculous gifts that come from God.
Apostle testers should look carefully for all of these love qualities in any so-called apostle before accepting his or her ministry as coming from God for them.
4. Truth
A true apostle from God will only teach that which is Biblically true and correct. He will teach it humbly, faithfully and lovingly so as to help each of the brethren to grow in their faith. Therefore, the 4th test of the so-called apostle is to insure that he only brings forth teachings that all of the testing brethren agree are Biblically correct and truthful.
Eph
The apostle's teaching of Biblical truth is discernible by the internal approval of the Holy Spirit of Christ within the minds and spirits of each of the testing brethren. When the apostle is truly from the Lord, the testing brethren will sense Jesus himself actually speaking truth thru him!
Luke 24:32 (the brethren) said to one another, "Were not our hearts burning within us while He (Jesus looking like another man) was speaking...explaining the Scriptures to us?"
If Jesus Christ has truly sent the apostle then He is with and in that apostle. So his teachings and interpretations of the Scriptures will be ignited within the hearts of his hearers by Jesus Christ Himself speaking thru him. When the so-called apostle lives and breathes the truths of God's Word the apostle testers will sense Christ's glory manifesting out from within him.
John 1:14 - And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
5. Substantiating signs and wonders from God
Once brethren feel that the person being presented as an apostle has passed all of the above tests, then that person is probably a legitimate, God-sent apostle. But just to be certain, the testers can expect that signs and wonders will accompany him.
However, TESTING BRETHREN SHOULD NEVER LOOK FOR SIGNS OR WONDERS to come forth to substantiate that person! What is meant by these seemingly contradictory statements? Just spend a moment pondering the following...
Matthew 16:4 - An evil and adulterous generation SEEKS AFTER A SIGN; and a sign will not be given...
The SEEKING FOR SIGNS TO BE GIVEN BY GOD thru the apostle is not the way in which God will substantiate his or her apostolic ministry to testers.
Heb 11:6b ...(God) is a rewarder of those who SEEK HIM!
Instead, testers should SEEK THE LORD HIMSELF on the matter of somehow supernaturally substantiating that apostle's authenticity for them. Never, never, never seek for any substantiating sign or wonder itself to do it!
Mark
Accompanying signs will be given by God to substantiate a person's apostolic ministry to testers ONCE THEY BELIEVE THAT GOD WILL CONFIRM OR DENY HIM IN SOME WAY TO THEM and then after they WAIT UPON THE LORD to do so.
Testers can expect for God to move somehow to substantiate any of His true apostles but again, THEY SHOULD NEVER SEEK FOR SIGNS TO SUBSTANTIATE THAT APOSTLE! Instead, they should always seek the Lord Himself and wait upon Him to move in their life in some way that they will be able to understand to authenticate or denounce the so-called apostle.
Then, should that person not be legitimately from God, Jesus will bring forth something by which to clearly show the testers that he is actually a false apostle. But if that person is truly and legitimately one of Jesus Christ's modern day apostles, God is sure to bring forth substantiating signs and wonders to confirm his or her power as an apostle to them.
Acts 4: 33 - ...and with great power the apostles were giving testimony
The following is a testimony on this principle of never seeking for signs and wonders...
One day a dear brother in our home fellowship (who is a confirmed prophet and who had experienced many, many signs and wonders almost daily from the Lord for a long time) came to me and told me that he hadn't experienced any signs from God for weeks and he could not figure out why. He said that he really missed the comfort of being given them by the Lord.
So, after a heart prayer to the Lord for guidance, I felt led to ask him if he had been seeking for signs. He said that he had. So I routed him to Matthew 16:4 and Mark
He immediately realized the truth of this teaching and his own misguidedness. So he repented of his wrong approach in this area and then he again sought the Lord on his questions and began to wait upon Him for His answers to them. Rapidly, things happened to answer one of his most important questions! He then rejoiced in the clarity of the answer that came to him in those wonderful and very welcome signs from the Lord.
This testimony well illustrates why we always should be seeking the Lord and His guidance in any matter, but we should never seek for signs and wonders themselves.
Conclusion
The testing of any so-called apostle involves careful observation by the brethren of that person's attitudes and behavior. The testing brethren should be especially watchful for
(1) deep humility
(2) strong faith
(3) sincere Biblical love
(4) that person's espousal of Biblical truths which can be substantiated by an internal movement of the Holy Spirit which gives the testers peace that these are correct interpretations of the Scriptures.
(5) Signs and wonders showing the validity or falseness of that person's apostolic ministry.
Now, before going any further, the reader might want to put this so-called apostle's feet (mine) to this 5 point fire. How do you do this? Well, since you won't actually meet me, just as you have not ever met any of the Biblical apostles, you can only go by my writings, just as you have to go by theirs. But unlike Biblical apostles, I am not claiming to write new Scriptures, only to quote those that exist already as they (and their principles) apply to my teachings.
So, do my teachings appear true to the Scriptures to you? Has God confirmed them with a burning heart in you over the explanations of each of the verses quoted? Do you feel that they are humbly presented? Do they express great faith? Do they sound like they are being lovingly presented truths?
If theses teachings pass all of these tests with you then just pray and wait upon the Lord to further confirm my apostolic ministry to you by sending you some kind of substantiating signs and wonders. You might not want to go any further in this blog until this happens for you. You might want to wait upon the Lord's guidance before proceeding any further with my teachings.
This is how I believe that any modern day apostle's ministry is substantiated to all of us by God. So, if you too believe this, then please wait upon the Lord's good pleasure to substantiate (or denounce?) my ministry.
Thank you and may God richly bless you.
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