Apostolic Mission (Page 6)
9. Leaders are fearlessly spreading and defending the gospel like the early apostles did.
In Philippians 1:7, “Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; in as much as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace.”
Not in flesh and blood but by spirit warfare. Defending the righ1t teaching and doctrine in public, to debate cults, Acts 18:28, “For with his strong arguments he defeated the Jews in public debates by proving from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah.”
2 Timothy 2:14 (Todays English Version), “Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers.” Face the cults in public and defeat them.
Now in the End-Time, can we expect the Apostolic Ministry without divine intervention? Yet it was prophesied that before the coming of Christ there will be a restoration in the people of God. We read this in Acts 3:21, “Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” At the second coming of Christ this verse, there will be restoration of all things. Let us see what has the church in the 1st Century of the Christian Era. We find the record in 1 Corinthians 1:7,
“So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:” They were not lacking in any of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. What are the gifts of the Holy Spirit? Ephesians 4:11, “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;” The gifts of operation, 1 Corinthians 12:5-10, “And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:” Restoration of all things. They did not lack in any way about the gifts of the Holy Spirit much more they were noted in their lives of service and in their lives of living. In Revelation 14:12, “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Can we say again that the churches today are doing the same service as they are doing before in obeying the commandments of the Lord, in observing and having patience in the faith? For example, are we preaching daily the Word of God in all places where people are congregating, like ports, bus stations and market place as Paul did? Are we the ones being harassed because of our public preaching or are now becoming persecutors of people whom we see in market places that are preaching and receiving offering from those who want to share in God’s mission? Are we still being patient in observing the faith and the commandments? Now, the promise of God is, there will be a restitution, it means that all those things that are found in the book of Acts in the lives and services of the believers must be restored today. The Apostolic Ministry must be restored. What is this? It is the Apostolic Ministry, and it is being done as in the days of old where God is sending prophets from the book of Genesis to the last book of the Old Testament in the book of Malachi. In the conclusion, the Apostolic Ministry can only be done when God restores all the gifts and one of these gifts is the office of apostleship. The apostles have the sufficient authority as they have the sufficient revelation of the truth. They have the seal of the Holy Spirit, the same revelation, the same power, the same seal, and so therefore, there will be restoration of the Apostolic Ministry because the church is to stand more than conquerors, Romans 8:37, “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” We cannot just be more than conquerors by sitting idly in our churches and seeing the cults are advancing. Can you challenge the cult, much more defeat them in public debates? What is your stand? Not to debate them? They have Satan, but you have God. Can you not defeat the servants of Satan? Not in flesh of course, but in the Spirit. Your seal is to make alibis. Your alibi is proof of your cowardice by hiding and pretending you are doing the will of God by hiding from the cults. We say that formal debate is not in the Scriptures, consider this verse, Acts 18:28, “For with his strong arguments he defeated the Jews in public debates by proving from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah.” (Todays English Version)
We are calling ourselves ministers but by working for six days and only one day in preaching the Word of God in a very few congregation is not an Apostolic Ministry because they are bound by old practice. Only the evangelist are getting rich for having all the people in the congregation so called believers because they are enthusiastic and emotional. Nations around them are not saved, unreached by the gospel.
Religions of the world are willing to die. Exploding bombs in the midst of people because that is how they operate for the success of their belief. The cults are doing everything and they seem to be more active than us and while we say that we are the evangelicals. Are we contended that we stay the same as before and never change?
We must change from our backsliding state to return to what the Bible says. Return unto the Lord. How can we return if we do not know where we begun? Without the prophet in the Old Testament they could not return. How about in the New Testament if the church is lacking in many gifts of offices and operations of the Holy Spirit? The only way to return is for us to acknowledge that God has promised restoration, and restoration is possible thru restoration of the gifts.
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