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Have you ever been
asked these questions:
● What
does
it
mean
that
the
Church
is to be apostolic?
●
What did the Lord Jesus
Christ understand about Who He was
and about His Mission?
● What
is
the
authentic faith Jesus Christ originally entrusted to
the apostles and revealed to us in the Scriptures?
● What
is apostolic ministry?
What
is
Apostolic?
What
does
it
mean
that
the
Church
is to be apostolic?
It
is
based
on
the
Greek
word
apostolos
(apo, "from," stello, to send");
the
act of sending another forth on special
appointment to represent
oneself.
"Apostolic
is a word of divine origin. It is Spirit breathed and inspired to
refer
to
everything
that pertains to Jesus
Christ,
the
Anointed One, the Chief
Apostle,
sent
to
earth to demonstrate God's absolute sovereignty and His
inescapable
presence. Thus,
we see Him calling out men and sending them on divine mission
as Apostles
of
the
Lamb, and the first ascension-gift apostles given to the Church.
Ascension-gift
appointments are by the Lord Jesus Himself. The 21st Century
Church is being
exponentially enlarged with these divine servants to train and
equip
the saints of God for
the work of the ministry.
Jesus Christ was
sent to the
earth to accomplish the purposes of
Father God. He and He alone is the One sent down
from heaven
from the Father. No other
religion can make this claim. All other
religions are made of the
hearts and minds of men. Jesus
Christ
succeeded in His mission! He is
ruling today, King of the Kingdom
of God
and
the Chief Apostle and High Priest of His Church.
"We will not understand true apostolic
ministry today, or the
fellowship of the apostles without understanding
that all true
apostolic ministry is
part of the Lord Jesus Christ's apostolate,
His ministry. " George Kouri
The
Gospels and
the
Letters of
the
New
Testament
of
the
eye
witness apostles and the ascension-gift apostles
(i.e. Paul, Luke
and John Mark)
give us keys that explain
who the Lord Jesus Christ
is and why He came to earth... the One sent
by the Father of
Heaven, the Father of physical and spiritual
Light. (
James
1:17
Holy
Bible)
Apostolic Mission:
What did the Lord Jesus
Christ understand about Who He was
and about His Mission?
Christ's mission to the world is
now our commission. The
Church's
ministry is to be a
continuation of His. What He came to do and
teach, He commissioned us to
continue.
What was Christ's apostolic
mission? What was His basic purpose for
coming to earth?
There is much confusion about God's eternal
plan for the Church evidenced by the existence
of organizational sects, orthodox religions
and thousands of denominations.
Confusion and lack of agreement concerning
Christ's mission and purpose
is seen in a variety
of answers such as:
"Christ's purpose was to
reveal the Father and His Kingdom"
"Christ's mission on earth was to
establish the Church,"
"He came to fulfill the law
and the prophets,"
"He came to teach man how to
live righteously,"
"His came to reveal
truth,
"He came to seek the lost."
"He came to preach the
Gospel."
"He came to demonstrate life in
the power of the Holy Spirit."
Yes, all of these are purposes and
goals of heaven, but, if we hold only to one or two of
them, we miss the Father's Big Picture for sending His Son
and then we cannot carry out
our mission... for our mission is
to be a continuation of the Lord Jesus Christ's. John 20:21-22
Peace to you! [Just] as the Father
has sent Me forth, so I am sending you.
And
having
said
this,
He
breathed
on them and said to them, Receive the
Holy Spirit! AMP
The
reason
the
contemporary
Church
of
the
21st century holds to so many
unscriptural
notions about the Great Move of
the Holy Spirit of God
today is because it has generally
limited Christ's basic mission to that of
saving the lost and
establishing His Church.
Much of the church has lost the
mission message of salvation. "You
must be Born-Again
through Christ by the Spirit!"
John
3:1-8
NKJV
There
was a
man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
2
This
man
came
to
Jesus
by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that
You are a teacher
come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do
unless God is with him."
3
Jesus
answered
and
said
to
him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again,
he
cannot
see
the
kingdom
of
God."
4
Nicodemus
said
to
Him,
"How
can a man be born when he is old? Can he
enter a second
time into his mother's womb and be born?"
5
Jesus
answered,
"Most
assuredly,
I
say to you, unless one is born
of water and the Spirit,
he
cannot
enter
the
kingdom
of
God.6 That which is born of the flesh is
flesh, and that which
is
born
of
the
Spirit
is
spirit.7 Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'
8
The
wind
blows
where
it
wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but
cannot tell where it
comes
from
and
where
it
goes.
So is everyone who is born
of the Spirit."
When Christ came to earth He also
declared
that His mission was to fulfill the law and the
prophets.
Matthew
5:17
AMP
Do not
think that I have come to do away with or undo the Law or the
Prophets;
I have come not to do away with or undo but to
complete and
fulfill them.
But, this declaration does not in
itself
reveal the nature of His nature that fulfills the Old
Testament prophecies concerning God's purpose in
the world! It is the Lord Jesus Himself
that reveals the eternal plan of
His
Father in Luke 16:16-17...
16 Until John came, there were the Law and the
Prophets; since then the good news
(the
Gospel)
of
the kingdom of
God
is being preached, and everyone strives violently to go
in [would force his own way rather than
God's way into it].
17
Yet
it
is
easier
for
heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot
of the Law to fail and
become void. AMP
It
is
the establishment of the Kingdom of God...
Kingdom of Heaven on earth
that the Lord came to
proclaim!
The proclamation of the Kingdom of God
is the central theme of the
New Testament!
Christ did not go to the Cross to delay
the
Kingdom on earth to some
future day, but to establish it! He
declares it, teaches about it, and
demonstrates it over 100 times in the Gospels!
He proclaims the Church,
but twice.
It is the message of the Kingdom that
theLord came preaching...
Mark
1:14-15 AMP
Now after John was arrested and put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee,
preaching the good
news (the Gospel) of
the kingdom of God,
15
And
saying,
The
[appointed
period
of] time is
fulfilled (completed), and the kingdom
of God
is
at hand; repent ( have a change of mind
which issues in regret for past sins and in change
of
conduct
for
the
better)
and
believe (trust
in, rely on, and adhere to) the good news (the
Gospel).
Now we are faced with another major
question... What is the Gospel?
What
is
the
authentic apostolic faith Jesus Christ originally
entrusted to the apostles and revealed to us in the Scriptures?
1. The Gospel reveals the Apostles Understanding that the promise to David
and the
father’s of Israel concerning
Messiah’s Kingdom has already
been
fulfilled
in the resurrection of Jesus.
2. The Gospel reveals the
Apostles Understanding of Kingdom Initiation...
the proper response to the Gospel of the
Apostles is to repent, be baptized,
receive
the gift of the Holy
Spirit, and be added to the Lord’s Church.
3. The Gospel reveals the Apostles' Understanding that the New
Covenant in the Blood
of
Jesus Christ Is the Promised
Blessing or Mercies of
David.
4. The Gospel reveals the Apostles'
Understanding that the church is Zion,
the promised
House of David.
5. The Gospel reveals the Apostles'
Understanding that the Jewish Age is behind the Church,
not ahead of
the
Church.
6. The Gospel reveals the Apostles'
Understanding of the Apostolic Government
(the
Apostolate) is the basis of
the church's Unity and the foundation or Key to the
Church's
Success.
7. The Gospel reveals the Apostles'
Understanding that the nations are a vital part of the
Church's Heritage.
Note: For a full study
of the scriptures as they reveal and document these seven
essentials of Christianity, visit Brother George Kouri's scholarly work
at
What
is apostolic ministry?
We
do
not
want
to
minimize
the
importance
of the Church for through
it the
Gospel is preached and discipleship is centered.
Let us
note again, however, that God's ultimate purpose in history is
not
simply to establish the
Church, but to
establish His Kingdom.
The Lord Jesus Christ is crowned as
King! He is seated at the right
hand of the Father on
David's throne which was transferred and
established in fulfillment of
God's promise concerning
the Messianic Kingdom to King David... 2 Sam 7:11-16 AMP
"so
the
Lord
declares
to
you
that He will make for you a house:
12 And
when your days are fulfilled and you sleep with your fathers, I will
set up after you
your offspring who shall be born to you, and I
will establish his kingdom.
13
He
shall
build
a
house
for My Name [and My Presence], and I will
establish the throne
of his kingdom forever.
14 I
will be his Father, and he shall be My son. When he commits iniquity, I
will chasten him
with the rod of men and with the stripes
of the sons of men.
15 But
My mercy and loving-kindness shall not depart from him, as I took
[them] from Saul,
whom I took away from before you.
16 And
your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before you; your throne
shall
be
established
forever.
Apostle
Peter preaches the APOSTOLIC MESSAGE concerning the fulfillment of the
promise
of God made to David in Acts 2:22-36.
Peter is schooled in the scriptures and quotes from
Psalm 16:9-11 And Psalm 110:1...
About the ascension and enthronement on
David's
throne at the Father's right hand in
Heaven... "The Lord (God) says to my Lord (the
Messiah), sit at My right hand, until I make
the adversaries your footstool." (se Matt.
26:64; Acts
2:34; 1Cor. 15:25; Col. 3:1; Heb. 12:2)
The Church is the Body of Christ and as such
possess the feet of Christ which crush the
serpent's head (the devil and demonic world.)
Through the Church the glory of the Lord fills
every city and nation with the Kingdom of
Righteousness, the Kingdom of Heaven...
The Light of Christ's glory... Truth, Life and
Spirit!
The Church is in the Kingdom it is not the
other way around.
The Church is not an institution or religious
organization which is to be an end in itself.
The Church is the people, the "sons and
daughters" of God called to GO
FORTH
and proclaim The Kingdom of
which they are citizens!
Do you desire dig deeper into
understanding apostolic ministry?
The
proclamation
of
the
Kingdom
of God was the commission
God gave to John the Baptist
and Jesus Christ, who in turn commissioned the
Apostles as well as the Church with the same
apostolic mission. The message of the
Kingdom constituted the foundation of the Lord's
teaching in the Sermon on the Mount and
was the basis of all His parables. He did not change
this emphasis after the resurrection! He
continued with His disciples for 40 days before His
ascension to the throne... "speaking of
things pertaining to the Kingdom of God" (Acts 1:30)
It continued to be the message of the
newly established Church.
Acts 8:5-6 AMP
Philip
[the deacon, not the apostle] went down to the city of Samaria and
proclaimed the
Christ (the Messiah) to them [the people];
6
And
great
crowds
of
people
with one accord listened to and heeded
what was said by Philip,
as they heard him and watched the miracles and wonders
which he kept performing [from time
to time].
Acts 8:12 AMP
But
when they believed the good news (the Gospel) about the kingdom of God
and the name
of
Jesus
Christ
(the
Messiah)
as
Philip preached it, they were
baptized, both men and women.
The
Kingdom
of
God
is
the
proclamation
on which the Book of Acts closes,
documenting
the foundation for all of Paul's
teaching. (Acts 28:23; 30-31) Apostolic ministry is the
full message of all that pertains to the
Kingdom of God...the Kingdom of Heaven.
Throughout the New Testament it is the
central focus of the preaching and teaching of the
Church. The Kingdom of God is the message of
the work of the Holy Spirit from the conception
of Christ to His resurrection and enthronement and
coming back from Heaven, as God the
Light of Truth, Life and Spirit to
administrate the
Church... the Father, the Son and the Spirit
are Persons but as such One God.
See the comprehensive studies of One
God: Blessed Trinity
and Marvelous
Wonders.
Let’s get some more understanding of
apostolic…
The
sending actions of God to establish the Kingdom of Heaven over the
whole earth through
Christ’s ascension gifts to the church of
apostles,
prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers.
These gifts of men set the House of the Lord
(allotments or fellowships within a city) to build
on the divine order that was entrusted to the apostles and
prophets of the 1st
century church
to expand the
Kingdom of God by bringing all nations under Christ’s reign.
Through
the apostolic functions of the church, the Body receives access to
supernatural power.
Through this authority and power in action,
the supernatural design and works of the ministry
of the Church
accomplishes the mission to establish the Father's one holy universal
church
under the spiritual Headship of Christ that the
glory of God fills the earth and ushers in His
return.
Most churches and denominations
have been guilty of limiting Christ's
mission for expanding the Kingdom. As a consequence to
shutting out
the Holy Spirit
and His divine work in the earth, they have limited and
quenched the
divine purposes of God.
As long as the church keeps
thinking in terms of establishing denominational
or
institutional
structures,
(now
counting
nearly
40,000
religious
variations,
with their 'branded"
doctrines and
creeds) instead of proclaiming the
Kingdom of God, the apostolic patterns and power
of our King Jesus as entrusted to the 1st
century apostles will be limited and quenched in each
organizational's designs and programs. There
is not a single instance in the New Testament
of a believer ever proclaiming anything
other than the Kingdom
message!
What question are we now to
ask?! It would again be:
What is apostolic
ministry?
It is teaching
the
revelation of God.
Apostolic
teaching transmits
the Light of Christ
by
the
Holy
Scriptures and Holy Spirit...
Hear
the apostolic voice of the Holy Spirit!
His
mission in
the
earth... to
disclose,
declare
and
transmit
Christ's
Kingdom culture.
Apostolic
teaching addresses
righteousness and
righteous living as it
speaks to global cultures that have surrendered to modern
philosophy
and to new
so-called Christian philosphies that rob the church of
the
truth of the Bible
that Jesus Christ entrusted to the 1st century
apostles.
Apostolic
teaching reveals how you become a citizen of the Kingdom
of Christ and a divine
"light" in the earth when
you
enter by
His order...
His order is the divine order as was entrusted to His apostles.
Apostolic
teaching provides prophetic empowerment to identify the
gifts
and callings of God upon your life and enables you to walk in
clarity
of placement and
privileges in His Kingdom.
Apostolic
teaching brings strength and help to birth what God has
given
you that you may fulfill your divine destiny filled with His glory.
You
are invited to participate in
this dynamic ministry!
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