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There are many teachings regarding the Apostolic, and I would like to share what I have learned on this popular subject. My desire here is to make this simple and not complicated for all to understand. I would like to share what I have learned about this subject while in ministry training.
Below are some signs to look for in an Apostle. Having these signs in your life does not make you an Apostle, that is for the Lord to decide.
An Apostle is a pioneer. They receive a plan/blueprint from the Lord, much like Moses did and they begin to execute that plan.
An Apostle is set apart and sent by God, unlike missionaries where they are sent by an organization. They receive a direct call from God and execute that plan. Many times he or she is a loner and viewed by many as odd, or off in the wrong path.
Romans 1:1 says Romans 1:1 Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God(NKJ)
An Apostle leaves the visible church system to receive training from God. We have the example of Jesus, King David, Moses and John the Baptist.
An Apostle builds the church. But what is the church? The church are the people, not a building. They begin by setting a new foundation in the hearts of the people, doing away with old mindsets and teaching them new truths and revelation from the word.
An Apostle can function in all the five fold ministries. They may have a stronger emphasis in two to three areas, but they are able to function in all five at any given moment as the Lord requires.
An Apostle faces death to the flesh constantly and to things that just don’t go right. They learn quickly to die already, and move on.
An Apostle is a servant and receives the call from the womb. We have Jesus as the example.
Galatians 1:15 – 16 says: But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood
An Apostle does not build on other men’s foundation, they receive their own blueprint from the Lord. 1 Corinthians 3:11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Can anyone be an Apostle? The answer is no. I have written an article titled “Are you Called or Chosen” that answers this question. We need to understand that being called as an Apostle carries with it a heavy price.
Can women be Apostles? Yes, because the scripture does not give reference to gender when distributing the gifts of the spirit. The Lord is looking for willing vessels, ready to carry out His plan upon the earth. Colossians 3:11 where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.
An Apostle does not produce new scripture. So run fast from those that say otherwise.
Apostles are called to leadership, they are not followers.
Romans 11:13 Romans 11:13 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles I magnify mine office (KJV)
An Apostle will have a face to face relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and excellent communication.
This is just a very small overview of what being an Apostle is about. As the Lord leads, I will add new articles on this subject.
“An Apostle does not build on other men’s foundation, they receive their own blueprint from the Lord.”
Amen! Preach it.
I get to see many people trying to model their ministry, and everything that they do–according to what GOD has told someone else to do. They seem to ignore consulting GOD about, what HE would like to have them really do. Its a root of pride. They may be like,
“Well, we’re doing it for GOD. And, people are going to hell. So, we’ll build this hospital. And, we’ll build this prayer house. We’ll go see how other prayer houses function, and model it according to how they run… We’re doing it all for GOD, We’re doing it all for GOD! Let’s build this stadium-sized church too.”
They may get the stadium-sized church, but it may be silent as a grave-yard. Because, that was not a part of divine agenda. If GOD did not tell you to build a prayer house, you sit down. You do what GOD has called you to do. There is a greater call for discernment in these end-times for the children of GOD. To be honest, the only element that seems to be delaying a revival breaking out across the nations–is a lack of discernment. Contemplate the magnitude, and the intensity of the glory of GOD–sweeping across the nations, and breezing through the entire universe; if only every child of GOD did, what he/she was called to do–before the foundations of the world…
3 Thus says the Lord God: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit [and things they have not seen] and have seen nothing! – Ezekiel 13:3 (AMP)
Thank you for posting this sister. Hoping to get to know you better. GOD bless you.
You hit it on the nail. We are to do what God has called us to do. It may be different, our unique style, and that is what our good Lord is seeking. Those who hunger and thirst after Him, and seek to do His will, not their own agenda.
Blessings to you, and thank you for the comment!
Good post
Encouraging
Good Morning Yvette,
This was awesome. You explained what an apostle is in such a way I’ve never heard before. You broke it down beautifully. I meditated on this and found myself again. I have been on sabbatical in ministry because I found myself pouring out so much, that I was drained. I found myself in a state of depression for some reason. I know that I was under attack, however, these attacks were different. Almost calm attacks. Then one day I blew off the handle… Those calm attacks were the beginning of stress that I did not decern. Now what I am doing is letting God minister to me again so that I can be rejuvenated… I did not know that you needed time off in ministry… However, don’t stay there…
Thank you,
Mengeway
Hi Yvette! Interesting topic…I see there is no fear in you! It is time the Body become aware of what the Lord gives and has given to us without the filter that is religion! Enjoyed it!
I enjoyed reading the post. I posted it to my webpage.
Praise the Lord! Thnk u very much for discussion I’ve learn a lot about the subject,as our theme of this year in our ministry. I believe det I will learn about the Role of the Apostles. God bless u!
I was looking for something online to soothe my spirit. Your original entry here describes my journey. I even believe that God has told me that I am an apostle- and yet I can not rectify that with my Earthly understanding of what is going on in my life. Since reading this, I have decided to just submit to God – because he has taken me out of my beloved church and is sending me to learn about things that I don’t understand exactly.
I questioned WHAT I was supposed to do with all of these odds and ends, because I feel useless and I feel like I am wasting time.
I want to be useful.
This all reminds me think there is a bigger purpose to my life and it will come at God’s time.
Thanks for this discussion.
Wow, this is great! Now my life makes sense to me, you gave an explanation for all the things going on in my life. Now I know why I am alone, Called out of the church system 13 years ago and given a ministry caring for the poor in Christ, most people don’t want to hear the words I preach, they don’t want truth! Now I know I am not the odd one! I just wrote a blog today about being whatever God wants me to be when He needs me to be it! I didn’t understand why most of the believers I know don’t feel this way. Will tell you quick, that is not my ministry. I have never been a follower and I just described myself to a friend in every way you wrote about in your article. I was looking for some kind of way to understand myself, what was going on with me, and now I have found it. Thank you!
Certainly I fit the apostle category as I am alone, perceived as odd, and have a close relationship with Christ. He set me apart to leave organized ‘religion’ and He gave me the Holy Spirit to teach me directly from the Scripture. As a result I have been able to relay truth to sundry people who will not listen to and/or go to a ‘church’ in this day of apostasy.
One other thing that is largely unknown: Sripturally, apostles saw Christ visually, as they walked with Him. Paul, while he did not actaully walk with Christ, was saved by a direct approach from Christ…he heard His voice and was blinded and restored to confirm that it was indeed the Christ that chose him.
I was saved in a very unusual, yet Scriptural fashion. Christ appeared to me and spoke to me in a vision; while I did not see His face as it was obscured by light, He convicted me of sin, righteousness and judgment. I did see His glorious resurrection Body. I am an apostle. My gifts are teaching, healing, and a very down-to-earth ability to tlk with people and have them understand Biblical tenets that previously eluded them.
Glory to Israel’s God. He elected me, an unregenerate Jewess, and blessed me with a glimpse of the glory we shall see when He returns for us.
Grace and peace unto the true saints.
Hi, I am new to this web site, but i fnd it quite interesting. i have been or should i say had been in doubt about my own ministerial calling, but no more. The bible tells us that we as the body of christ have the ministry of reconciliation, and instead of so much of the heirarchy and political debates over who can and who cant, who should and who shouldnt, maybe if we kept our focus on the life of Christ and lived as He lived, seeking and saving that which was lost, I believe we could accomplish so much more. I am by no means overlooking the fact that we must do things decent and in order. I believe that we have been so overcome by the workings of the “church” , that we have begun to overlook the work of the church. When Jesus arose from the tomb, Im sure that He knew that He would first reveal Himself to a woman, and Mary Magdelene at that, then he sent her to tell His disciples. He first revealed Himself as the Messiah, by His own confession, to a samaritan woman at the well who also had a similar lifestyle. There is but one spirit, and one Lord. In all of the “hoopla” if thats even a word, I think we each must ask ourselves “whom have I lead to Christ?” ” Am I walking a walk that doesnt cause others to stumble?” If I am a man or a woman, “am I teaching the young ones to grow into maturity in Christ?” “am I taking up my cross daily to follow Christ?”. The bible says that heaven rejoices over one sinner that comes to repentance. Let’s give heaven something to shout about, and not make this more difficult than it has to be.
Many say that there are no such things as Apostles or Prophets today. But Ephesians 4 clearly disagrees. Eph 4:11 states, “He gave some apostles, some evangelist, some prophets, some pastor’s and teacher for the perfecting(equipping) of the saints for the work of the ministry..TILL WE ALL COME TO THE UNITY OF THE FAITH,” Is the church walking in unified faith? Of course not….so these gifts HAVE to be in operation today!
God bless you Yvette,
Thank you so much for allowing the Lord to use you to write about this topic!!! It has come at a perfecting timing for me. God has been strongly dealing with me abt. the Apostlic office and this teaching has really settled somethings in my heart about my call. As I read this article I could feel the peace of God settling in on the inside! I am also about to teach a series of lessons on the 5-fold ministry offices and wanted just a little more insight on the office of the Apostle and this is how I stumbled upon you website. You have surely provided me with what I needed. Thanks again and continue to stand in the assurance that God has given you!!!!! Be blessed and be a blessing!!!
Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable glory. I love the comments, God does use women as apostles. We are not to listen to what the world says, we only listen to what God tells us through the Holy Spirit. When God wants us to know something , He sends us to His word to confirm it as well as confirmation through others that are led by the Holy Spirit. A great scripture for an apostle is found in Jeremiah 1: 4-10. Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Before i formed thee in the belly I knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then sais I, Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child, But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord. Then the Lord put forth His hand, and touched my mouth, And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.
Many people think the Old Testament does not apply to our time, but it does. God says that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. When God sends you to a scripture that He has meant for you you feel drawn by the Holy Spirit and the word begins to have meaning for you as it did for them back then. That is what I call a devine appointment with God(a revelation) meaning He will reveal to you what He wants you to know. AmenBe blessed by God, and always study the word. II Tim 2: 15 Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Approved unto God, not man!
I greatly appreciate this writing. At a time when the Lord is developing this Ministry in me. Praying God’s Blessings upon you.
May the Lord bless you in your ministry!
Blessings to you Michael as you continue your growth in the Lord
You stated that there are no gender differences when we discuss the distribution of the gifts of the Spirit. This is true. However, an apostle is not a I Cor. 12 gift of the Spirit. An apostle is a Eph. 4:11 headship gift or five-fold office. What does the verse mean that states “God is the head of Christ…Christ is the head of man…and man is the head of woman?” Where do you stand on this doctrine of headship? And does a women claiming to be an apostle violate the doctrine of headship? In other words, can a women be the head of a man? Just curious.
staff-dcm
Good question and I appreciate you asking.
1 Corinthians 11:3 But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
What did the word head mean in first century Corinthians? in Greek it is Kephale. Some greek experts believe it means authority over, others believe it means source or origin. Over time words change dramatically, the perfect example is the word gay. It’s origin means happy or carefree, but it is used differently today.
If we use the word source or origin is the above passage, it would read like this. The source/origin of every man is Christ, the source/origin of woman is man, and the source/origin of Christ is God. The word head is believed to be source/origin, and not authority. Some clues are:
If Paul wanted to use the word authority, we see that the word submission was never used.
Authority appears only once in these passages, and it speaks of the authority a woman has over her own head.
There is much more information on this subject and I just pointed out a few things. I am quoting this information from the book titled, “Why Not Women” by Loren Cunningham and David Joel Hamilton. I had to search out information that would give me peace about the calling the Lord had placed upon my life, since I did not want to be out of order or go against the scriptures. This book has helped me tremendously and confirmed certain areas of my life.
I do appreciate you asking, and if you have a chance to obtain the book it would help with these and other passages. This books explains 1st century customs and origins of the words.
Blessings
Yvette
The chosen will sacrifice everything with heart intuition to place the passion of Christ from the spiritual and prophetical realm in the hearts of people, like tough love from a father to hes son, Lead by example- Thy shall love One God Yahweh Eloiheano Adonai and no other- love thy neighbor as thy love himself. Jesus lived that example.
It is not what goes in the body that defiles you but what comes from the heart. Mark7:14
It should be a debate forum Yvette. There is nothing wrong with debate. Greg’s comments are solid with the exception that he is forgetting that Paul lists apostles in the spiritual gifts of the church body. This means of course that Paul’s application of the word is broader than just the 12 disciples and himself. As far as his view on women, I”m glad nobody told my mom that. She taught me a lot in church. From sitting still and respecting elders, to forgiveness and a passion for the Word of God. Perhaps Greg never had a mom because his interpretation of that passage is bizarre in it’s application.
I would like to recommend a book that I plan on purchasing that is highly recommened titled, Why Not Women by Loren Cunningham, Janice Rogers and David Joel Hamilton. Women are very essential in the church, and because of mis-interpreation of the scripture it is still heavily debated today.
I appreciate your comments, and blessings
Yvette
hi, Yvette, I agree with you. i am in your website for the very 1st time.
Greg who wrote to you in january, The Word without the Holy Spirit kills.
thanks again Yvette for the revelations on your site, God bless you.
Blessings back!
Thanks so much for this. This is extremely helpful! God bless
your’e welcome!
Hi Yvette,
very good teaching I’m going to put a link to this on face book where I seem to live all the time now … LOL
I just did a note my self on this subject today and saw a couple of other posts on the same subject. I really did need this insight today it’s cleared some things up in my own mind about my own call. Thanks again
Though there are many who will today and in days past claim to be apostles (special messengers of God), it is clear from the Scriptures that there will only be 12 men recognized and rewarded as apostles when we get to heaven (see Rev. 21:14). These are the men who fit the true qualifications of an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. They saw Jesus in the flesh and were eye witnesses of His resurrection. Paul was the last apostle to see Jesus after His resurrection and he was the only exception to the rule of seeing Jesus during His earthly ministry. Paul plainly states in the Scriptures: “…And that He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve…After that, He was seen of James, then of all the apostles. And last of all He was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.” I Corin. 15:4-9 The Bible states that God did many “wonders and signs” through the apostles (Acts 2:43). Jesus did not choose any female apostles. The apostle clearly stated that it was a “shame” for women to preach or teach the word of God during church worship meetings (see I Corin. 14:33-40) It is also clear that there was and is many false prophets and apostles in the world who are vainly seeking self gratification and exaltation in the sight of men and want to be thought of as being more important in the church than what they really are (see II Corin. 11:13). God chooses who His apostles are and not men (see Galatians 1:1). Sadly, many who think they are apostles will come to realize they were not when the Lord returns for His own. We would do well to pay attention to what the Lord said in His letters to the 7 churches: “I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars…” Rev. 2:2 “Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce My servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.” Rev. 2:20
The only thing I agree about your comment is that the Lord is the one that appoints apostles, not man, and many believe they are apostle but are not.
I respectfully disagree with the rest, but this is not a debate forum.
Blessings
How can I get the article “Are you called or chosen” please?
Thank you Yvette, for giving me a clearer understanding of my Prophetic calling. I have been trying to hide away from this Prophetic move of God in my life for some time now, because I thought women could not be apostles and I kept telling God that this could not be what He wanted me to do. However, I have been Fasting this week and focusing on St John and God has drawn me to the understanding and acceptance that I have to submit myself to His will just as Jesus did and that He, God will honour me with His presence. Thank you and God Bless.
Thanks for the wisdom. I would also like to point out that their are 4 classes of Apostles mentioned in the bible. The first Apostle is our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ Heb. 3:1. Secondly there are the 12 apostles of the lamb who were eye witnesses of the earthy ministry of Jesus who were personally trained by him. Matt. 10:2. Thirdly you have the foundational Apostles who were inspired to write the new testament. Paul would fall under this category. Fourthly there are the non-foundational Apostle men and women who did not canonize the scripture but are commissioned by the Holy Ghost to do a work in the earth. The Apostle is the highest ranking office in the Word of God.1Cor.12:28.
Thank you for your insight Filmore!
The things that mark an apostle—signs, wonders and miracles—were done among you with great perseverance. [2 Cor12:12]
Greet Andronicus and Junias, my relatives who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was. [Romans 16:7]
Here Junia is a latin feminine name that means “youthful”. So women can and did have apostolic callings.
Sidharth
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Thank you Arabelle for your comment.
The early apostles paved the way, much like with all the other ministries. Thank you for the reminder of this passage.
Yvette
to be an apostle :
…I have worked much harder , been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severly, and been exposed to death again and again.
Five times I received from the jews forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move, I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from gentiles, in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have laboured and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches… I have made a fool of myself. ( 2 Cor 11 )