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Offices of
the Holy Spirit 2
The Apostle
by Pastor John Hamel
“And he gave some,
APOSTLES; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and
teachers;” (Ephesians 4:11)
Paul started with
the Apostle so we will, too. This office is still in operation
because it is for the perfecting, edifying, unifying and maturing of the
saints. (Ephesians 4:12-14) We are not yet all of the above.
Not completely. So the Apostle’s office and all other offices are still
in the Earth, plowing and planting!
The Greek word for
Apostle is “apostolos.”
It means, “One who is sent forth. A delegate. One who has power
of attorney to speak on behalf of another, the sender remaining behind to
back up the one who is sent.” Now, that’s a
happy mouthful!
Jesus stood in this
office more powerfully than anyone ever will again. (John 3:34) He alone stands in
this first Apostolic class. The Bible calls
Him, “The Apostle and High Priest of our Profession.” (Hebrews 3:1)
He stands in a class of His own because He is actually God the
Apostle! Heaven’s Sent One! There is no need for another
Redeemer so this will never happen again.
Jesus’ original
disciples are called “…the 12 Apostles of the Lamb.” (Revelation
21:14) This is the second class of the Apostolic office. To be an “Apostle of the Lamb” one had to walk with Jesus
while He was here and to witness His resurrection. (Acts 1:21-22, 25-26) This class of Apostle has passed
away.
Even the Apostle Paul lacked these qualifications. He
didn’t walk with Jesus, neither did he witness His
resurrection.
There is another
class of Apostle, which is referred to as “Foundational Apostles.”
This is the third class of the Apostolic Office. Foundational Apostles shared in the founding, or the writing, of the New
Testament. Some, not all, of the Apostles of the Lamb were also Foundational
Apostles.
“…ye are…fellow
citizens…and are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets …”
(Ephesians 2:19,20)
Paul was indeed a
Foundational Apostle. He wrote somewhere around two-thirds or
three-quarters of the New Testament. It all depends upon whether you
believe he wrote the Book of Hebrews or not. I believe he did.
There are no more Foundational Apostles, either. We don’t need them
because the Book is complete. However, we do still
have “Non-foundational” Apostles in existence today.
As a matter
of fact, there are no
less than eleven individuals of this fourth Apostolic class mentioned in the New Testament. These men
and women did not and do not write Scripture. However, they do have
outstanding credentials that show us who they are. (Acts 14:14; Romans 16:7; 1Corinthians 4:4-9;
2Corinthians 8:23; Philippians 2:25; 1Thessalonians 1:1; 2:6)
In order to qualify
for Non-foundational Apostleship today one must have had a dramatic, supernatural
conversion experience, even as the Apostle Paul did. (Acts 9:1-19)
One must also have
had at least one personal visitation of
Christ. (1Corinthians 9:1)
The Apostle must
also be an excellent Bible Preacher or a Teacher or both, first and
foremost. (1Timothy 2:7; 2Timothy 1:11)
Signs, wonders and miracles also confirm
the Apostle’s preaching and teaching. (Romans 15:19; 1Corinthians
2:4,5) You cannot properly establish Churches if you cannot draw
people to Christ through signs, wonders and miracles. Even if you
were able to draw 10,000 people without signs, wonders and miracles, you
would have been able to draw 100,000 or more with them. All true New
Testament Apostles have a consistent operation of the Power Gifts of the
Spirit in operation when they preach and teach.
You are at the JHM
Online Bible Training Centre of this website. You are reading under the topic
of “Holy Spirit: 5-Fold Ministry Offices.” You will also find ten
messages under the topic of "Holy Spirit: 9 Spiritual Gifts." There you will read of the Gift of Faith, the Working of Miracles and the Gifts of Healings. These three
Gifts are commonly referred to as the Power Gifts. These Gifts must
accompany the Office of the Apostle on a consistent basis.
Apostles are also
anointed to go where the Gospel has not been, to preach, to teach and to
establish Churches. (Romans 15:20; Hebrews 6:1-3) This takes special
skills. (1Corinthians 12:28) Once the
Apostle establishes people in the faith, he or she will hand the work over
to an anointed Pastor. The Pastor will continue the Apostle’s work
from there. (1Corinthians 3:10) Without the
power to establish and organize Churches, it is absolutely impossible to be
a New Testament Apostle.
If
one has not had a dramatic, supernatural conversion experience, at least one
personal visitation of Jesus Christ, is unable to preach or teach on the Foundational Doctrines of Christ and Major Bible Doctrines, lacks a
consistent operation of the Power Gifts and is unable to establish and
organize local churches, one is simply not a New Testament, non-foundational
Apostle of the highest degree.
One
may be a "sent one" with a very specific message to the Body of
Christ but without these New Testament criteria it is highly doubtful
one is a New Testament, Five-fold Ministry Apostle. ( Ephesians
4:11)
This
does not mean you should stop preaching or teaching if you have been billing
yourself as an Apostle and have discovered that you lack the proper
criteria. You should continue preaching and teaching, for that is
always right. You should simply stop referring to yourself as an
"Apostle."
Also, Apostles have
NO authority in Churches they did not establish. No Pastor should
ever be afraid of withstanding an “Apostle” who attempts to usurp authority
in his Church, if that Apostle did not establish that Church. (1Corinthians
9:1,2,11,12)
It is not unusual
for an Apostle to stand in all Five-fold Ministry Offices. This is
because it takes the anointings of an Evangelist,
Teacher, Prophet and Pastor to get things up and running
supernaturally. Therefore, any or all of these anointings
can rest upon the true Apostle of God. The Apostle Paul is a perfect example
of this truth.
So,
we have seen from the Word of the Living God that it is wrong to say,
"There are no more Apostles today."
It is wrong to say,
"The only Apostles were the original 12 Apostles and those they
personally appointed to an Apostleship." That is fiction,
not fact. There
are many more Apostles in Scripture then first meets the untrained eye.
As
previously stated, the Apostle Paul was never set apart as an Apostle by any
of the original twelve, neither did he walk with Jesus. Nor did he witness
His resurrection and ascension as the original twelve did. (Acts 1:22, 25,
26)
Yet, this man who authored three quarters of the New Testament continued
to refer to himself an an "Apostle" sent of God throughout his
epistles. (1 Timothy 2:7; 2 Timothy 1:1; Titus 1:1, etc.)
It
is also wrong to lay claim to the title "Apostle" when one does
not have the New Testament criteria.
Are
the Saints of God perfected yet? Of course not!
The
Apostle Paul said all five Ministry Offices, the Apostle, Prophet,
Evangelist, Pastor & Teacher are given for "...the perfection of
the Saints." (Ephesians 4:12)
As
long as we are in need of perfection and maturity all five of these Offices will be in
operation.
That's
the inspired Word of God, not the misinformed Word of man.
For
more in-depth teaching on the Offices of the Apostle and Pastor see
the book, "He Gave Gifts Unto Men" by Dr. Kenneth E. Hagin.
Be Blessed … John and Barbara Hamel
How
to Be Born Again (Receive Christ as Your Savior)
How
to Receive The Holy Spirit & Power
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