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STAND & COMFORT Newsletter March 7, 2002 The Prophets And The "Other" Prophets Today, there's a move to restore the offices of apostles and prophets to the Church. The people pursuing this restoration say that this is necessary in order to bring true maturity and unity within the body of Christ and to enable it to function properly. They say that the apostles would be the spiritual covering and protection of pastors and churches, and all of their work, in every nation of the world. The apostles would have responsibility for church planting and for establishing the five-fold ministry within churches and governing boards. Once established, the churches would remain under the apostles' anointing and protection. The apostolic teams would subdue cities and communities, until the entire world was conquered for Christ. The claim is that these apostles would be imbued with tremendous power and that wondrous things will happen, even because of their mere presence. Even now, they say, powerful revelations and signs and wonders not matched since the time of Christ are coming forth. The one problem with all of this is this: There is no Scriptural mention or prophecy of a restoration of apostles like the Twelve, or their accompanying prophets, for the purpose of world dominion. Yet there is an insistence that this is a move of God, and that the offices of apostles and prophets must be brought back and joined to the present three-fold ministry of the modern Church ("evangelists, pastors, teachers"). Otherwise, these people claim, the Church can never come into its full potential. The verse used to justify this restoration of the 5-fold ministry named in Ephesians 4:11 is this: Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; But the true meaning of this verse is that Jesus Christ will restore everything when He personally and visibly returns from heaven, not that the newly restored apostles and prophets must restore everything SO THAT He can return. Why all this controversy now over apostles and prophets? Who brought all of this up, and how did the Church become divided over the issue? I imagine that, rightly or wrongly, the terms "apostle" and "prophet" have been applied to various individuals throughout the history of the Church, but those using them nowadays usually infer that the one referred to is part of a global network or system of apostles and prophets. Restoration of apostles and prophets basically stands for redefining the Church for world conquest. It is hard to use the words today, because they're no longer generic terms for someone sent, or as a tag of honor and respect for a spiritual person, or to help describe the characteristics of the ministry of an individual. There's another group of apostles and prophets today who are not associated with the "formal" restoration movement. These can be found on the Christian and not-so-Christian forums and message boards and some web sites, and it's amazing what they say. The words "apostle" and "prophet" have totally been swallowed up by many, some of whom seem sincere and loving and kind, some who radiate a spirit of ambition, and others who are filled with the idea that they are absolutely invaluable to the body of Christ and must be listened to. Many of these people require submission to what they say. On one forum, I ran across a group of three apostles who said they were not associated with the organized restoration process, and that they had come on the forum to teach everybody the truth as it should be understood. Their doctrine was a subtle mixture of Scripture and New Age. Without going into detail, the entire group of people on the forum stood against them, and eventually the "apostles" left. Many claim to be Elijah-like or Jeremiah-like, even John the Baptist-like. One wonders why no one ever claims the likeness of Hosea or Obadiah or Isaiah. I guess it's because they need to be the fiery-type prophet that these three figures represent. On one discussion board, a person was trying to get one set of "the two witnesses" of Revelation to debate another set of "two witnesses." On another board, I encountered a third set of the "two witnesses." Then there was a seventh person claiming to be one-half of the two witnesses. The person was still unsure about who the other witness was, but was suggesting whom it might be. This "witness" prophesied the date of the Lord's return, and when He didn't arrive as prophesied, excused it by saying the Lord withheld His hand because the people repented. What people? What did they repent of? How did they know to repent? What an opportunity for a powerful testimony of holding back the Lord's wrath (of course, I don't believe it), yet the false prophecy was simply excused and brushed aside. It is sad what is happening in the body of Christ. The endtimes fever has brought forth a perversion of ministries, and the prophetic word is suffering greatly. Yet, through it all, God's people are told to persevere in hope because: 2 Pet 1:19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: What this means is that the Old Testament prophecies concerning Christ's first coming were fulfilled; therefore, we are more sure of the fulfillment of Scriptures regarding His second coming. The Transfiguration, which Peter saw, backs this up. The glorious Transfiguration was not only revelatory, it was prophetic. If Christ came the first time to die, how much more should we be sure that He will return and fulfill the remaining prophecies of glory. He said He would. He will. Seeing this coming forth of all kinds of false apostles and prophets can be frustrating to some, confusing to others, and overwhelming and discouraging. But we can actually be encouraged at the sight of it, because God's word says this is a sign of the last days. I am not saying that we should rejoice that there are false apostles and prophets and teachers, but to rejoice that these point to the fulfillment of our one hope: we are much closer now to the return of Christ, though we have a ways to go. Surely, this testing of our faith makes us stronger in it as well. New Testament Scriptures mention the phrase "apostles and prophets" three times. In Ephesians 3:3-6, Paul states that before then, God had hidden a mystery, but that now He'd revealed the mystery, not just to the Twelve apostles and himself, but to chosen prophets as well. This mystery was that all who believed now, whether Jew or Gentile, would be built into one, holy temple in the Lord: Eph 3:3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Earlier, Paul had said that these apostles AND prophets were the very foundation on which this holy temple would be built: Eph 2:19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; The third scripture which mentions the phrase "apostles and prophets" is in Revelation. This verse has nothing to do with the establishment of the Church, but rather with the victorious end for which it works. Included, say the commentators, are the saints in heaven and the apostles and prophets from both the Old and New Testaments: Rev 18:20 Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her. The prophets of the New Testament were associated with the Twelve Apostles, and expounded the mystery of God along with them. They were probably placed second in importance concerning the laying of the foundation of the Church (1 Corinthians 12:28, though Paul is speaking of the local church here). Scripture does not say that this particular group of prophets had to have seen the risen Lord, as was the case with the Twelve Apostles. Speculatively, I personally believe it is logical that they did, and that their seeing Him was necessary to their call. Also, there is no list of the prophets as there is with the Twelve. The verses from Ephesians, however, are of PRIMARY IMPORTANCE in defining these prophets: they spoke to the people for God because they had received revelation of His mystery which was founded in Christ, and their message was the foundation on which the Church would be built. This does appear to be the criteria for being one of these prophets. The same rule which applies to the apostles applies also to these particular prophets: once the foundation is laid, it is final and set. You cannot redefine the purpose or the message of the prophets without first tearing down the building already built on the foundation. You cannot restore that which was given for a singular, stated, completed purpose (Ephesians 2:20-22). The Church in our days is being built upon this one foundation just as the first Christians were, not by the "new" revelations of restored apostles and prophets, but by the message once for all delivered to the Church by the original Twelve and the prophets found in the Scriptures. Jesus told the Jews that He would send them apostles, prophets, wise men, and scribes, whom they would kill and persecute, showing that the ministry of the Twelve and the prophets was first to the Jews. The New Testament epistles and the book of Acts mention the Old Testament prophets 38 times in the attempt to reach the Jews of Paul's time. The gospel, after all, was to be taken to the Jews first, and then Paul would be called to take the message to both Jews and Gentiles. Jesus Himself had said, Luke 11:49 Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute: 50 That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; The calling of the Twelve and the prophets associated with them seems not only to have been to lay the foundation for the Church as we would know it, but also as a final witness against those Jews in authority who rejected Christ. He addressed His words to the scribes and Pharisees, and they did just as Jesus said they would (Acts 4:5; 6:12; 7). Although they'd built tombs to honor the Old Testament prophets whom they had not known, they would persecute and kill the New Testament prophets they did know, the ones whom the Lord would send. They would be seen as not honoring the words of the prophets at all. First, Christ came to them personally, then He sent His apostles and prophets, who later turned to the Gentiles. There are five prophet-teachers mentioned in Acts 13 who fasted and prayed and received the confirmation of the Holy Spirit that Saul (Paul) and Barnabas, called apostles elsewhere, were to go out together to spread the gospel: Acts 13:1 Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers ["inspired teachers"-Ed]; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul [Paul]. Paul prophesied in his first epistle to Timothy: 1 Tim 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; This "crossover" of ministries occurs in other places in the New Testament, as in 2 Peter 2:1-2 and in the entirely prophetic book of Revelation, written by the Apostle John. Prophets could be predictive. The one obvious example given in the New Testament was Agabus (Acts 11:28; 21:10). He was a prophet of the Jerusalem church and not necessarily one of "the apostles and prophets." Scripture is unclear about that. But he is the only prophet mentioned who prophesied future events, once concerning the care of the brethren and another time concerning Paul. In Acts 11, he prophesied a famine that would come ten years later, and in Acts 21, he warned Paul about going to Jerusalem. Usually we hear the emphasis placed on prophets as being predictors of the future, but the New Testament only gives the two definite examples concerning this aspect. Scripturally, the emphasis was primarily placed on spiritual and prophetic truth, with the prophets relating the truth and maturing the body in that truth. In Acts 15, we see two prophets who did just that, exhorting the brothers and confirming them in the faith after a dispute with the Judaisers: Acts 15:32 And Judas [Barnabas] and Silas, being prophets also themselves, exhorted the brethren with many words, and confirmed them. 33 And after they had tarried there a space, they were let go in peace from the brethren unto the apostles. Paul wrote about the prophets within the church meetings in Corinth: 1 Cor 14:29 Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge. 30 If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace. 31 For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted. 32 And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. Mention of the prophets in the early churches points to inspired teaching, comforting and exhorting the Church while encouraging it to hold fast to the once revealed faith, Eph 3:5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; 6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: Verse 6 relates the main work of the apostles and prophets, but they were also to give direction to the rising Church in order to establish and further the foundation for the faith: Eph 4:11 And he gave . . . some, prophets; . . . 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: At Pentecost, Peter said, Acts 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: These verses seem to have been fulfilled in the local body and in the lives of its members. These were the "other prophets" who prophesied within the separate churches, such as Philip the evangelist's four daughters (Acts 21:8-9). Paul lists prophecy as one of the gifts of the Spirit distributed in the local church body as the Spirit wills, with those prophesying being called prophets (1 Cor 12:28-29; 14:29-32). These local prophets, however, were not appointed by the Lord to work intimately with the original Twelve in laying the foundation for the Church. Rather, they were the result of the work of the apostles in building up the body to a point where it ministered to itself, watched by the elders and the congregation, and were a sign of the success of the Twelve's work. The prophets in the churches prophesied as moved by the Holy Spirit for the edification, exhortation, and comfort of believers (1 Corinthians 14:3) and were subjected to scrutiny (1 Corinthians 14:29). Revelation 11:10 tells us about two future prophets who will prophesy just before the return of Christ. The last mention of "prophets" in the New Testament is found in Revelation 22:9, where the angel says he is John's fellowservant, and fellowservant of the prophets and of those who keep the words of the book. We can see that there were primary apostles and prophets who were not replaced as the Church grew and became secure on the once-laid foundation. They cannot be restored because they completely accomplished the purpose for which the Lord established them. One of their purposes was to bring the newly-established churches to such a maturity in Christ that it could take care of itself. It is important to know that those who were living in the time of the Twelve were to become "perfect" in their time, meaning that all would have something to contribute to the body: Eph 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: The next verse tells us what the goal of "perfecting" is: Eph 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: The reason they were to be mature in these things is given in verses 14-16: Eph 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But the modern move to restore apostles and prophets changes the meaning of this. Within the restoration movement, the Church is seen as evolutionary, meaning that over time it becomes more mature until it reaches the status described in verse 13. They define the Church of 2000 years ago as being in its infant stage, and say that it had to evolve over the centuries into the powerful entity that is being prophesied today for the purpose of world dominion. They say that the Church has finally approached that stage of maturity and is now being equipped and empowered to fulfill its destiny. The restored apostles and prophets are those who will form it into an army which will bring in the kingdom of God. The truth, however, is that the Church didn't need 2,000 years to come to the maturity described in Ephesians. Every generation of Christians since the time of Paul was and is expected to grow into that maturity in their own generation. In addition, although Scripture says the faith has been once delivered, the "new move" points to an evolution of truth as well as maturity. As a result, this insinuated evolutionary process only opens the door for "new" revelations, said to be needed to establish the final purpose for the Church and usher it into victory once and for all. Today, there are evangelists and pastor-teachers, but are there apostles and prophets? Not like the Twelve and Paul, and not like the prophets who worked alongside of them. What about prophets in the local churches? I cannot say that the Holy Spirit would not give any of His gifts to people today if He so desires, but to balance that, I have not seen or heard of prophecy that I believe could be accepted as a word from the Lord. Yet we cannot discount the fact that in our day, the Holy Spirit has given people words of wisdom, knowledge, understanding and faith. Scripture has proven adequate for 2,000 years. If prophecy includes "inspired teaching or preaching," that is supported by the word of God, and I would have to say there are "other prophets" today. One aspect of the word of God is that it was definitely prophetic in the past, and continues to be as we look to the end of the age: Rev 19:10 . . . . for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. But I have seen many, many lives damaged because of prophecy, both in a personal setting and in the church setting as well. With the overwhelming number of prophecies flooding the church today, EXTREME caution and discernment, and an absolute reliance on the written word of God, is a must. Gifts such as teaching, exhortation, correction, encouragement, strengthening, exposition of the word, comforting, etc, are all things that are to be done for the body of Christ, but one does not have to be labeled a prophet or apostle to manifest them. These are all parts of loving one another as Christ loved us - footwashing, if you will - by the keeping of His Scriptural commands towards one another. All of these good things are plainly stated in the word of God: 2 Tim 3:15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Verses 16 clearly state that the Scriptures alone are absolutely capable of making a man of God PERFECT ("complete" G739) whether there is an apostle or prophet around or not. Concerning apostles today, the same EXTREME caution and discernment are a must. The Twelve and Paul were "apostles of Christ" (1 Corinthians 1:1), but there were also apostles of, if I may use the term, a generic nature: 2 Cor 8:23 Whether any do inquire of Titus, he is my partner and fellowhelper concerning you: or our brethren be inquired of, they are the messengers (apostolos) of the churches, and the glory of Christ. Epaphroditus was another apostle sent by the Philippian church to take care of the needs of Paul (Phil. 2:25;4:18). "Apostle" is used here and elsewhere in a generic sense, usually meaning something on the order of a representative, messenger, or ambassador sent for a particular reason. But as I wrote in the opening paragraph, the word "apostle" has now come to mean being part of a global, authorative network that is challenging the ministry of the original Twelve and the written word and prophecies concerning Christ that they gave to the Church. The pursuit of a global Church which would establish the kingdom of God so Christ can return is in direct confrontation with and antagonistic towards the prophetic word of the original Twelve and the prophets concerning Christ. Who is it that appointed them? Surely not the Lord. He never said a word about a future restoration in spite of all the prophets He'd appointed in Paul's time. How could we possibly know they have those "credentials"? In over 2,000 years, the Holy Spirit has not been lax in providing the Church all it needs, and He never said a word about such a future GLOBAL move or the one-day restoration of apostles and prophets: John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. Unfortunately, saying that there are no apostles today causes confusion, because the Church is a spiritual, apostolic ("sent") entity. The Great Commission still stands, and it finds its ultimate fulfillment in Ephesians 4, where the end result is bringing forth new converts and mature Christians who can then "reproduce" the same by converting and maturing others, just as they were converted. That can only happen if people are sent to do that. In the early Church, it was the apostles and prophets and their "others" who went out to create new churches and to grow them up to place of maturity. Today, the apostolic work of the Church is carried on by missionaries, a word not found in Scripture but it is largely used to describe Paul and others in their journeys. "Missionary" is a term that closely describes the work of an apostle (generic). Webster-Mirriam defines it as follows: 1 obsolete : the act or an instance of sending If you wonder how we came to use the word "missionary" instead of apostle (generic), I read one article that said it was Jerome who translated the Greek "apostolos" to the Latin "missio." Surely, there are those "sent" out today to preach the gospel and start churches and mature new believers so they can do the same. Such "sent" ones could be called "apostles" in the "other" or generic sense. Their work is to build on the foundation laid by the original Twelve fully explained in the word of God. They are not to reconstruct the foundation, the word or the Church by restoring apostles and prophets as authorative offices, not to form cells for the transformation of society, and not to bring in the Kingdom so Jesus can come back. In my opinion, the use of the word "missionary" instead of the word "apostle" to describe these men greatly reduces the unbelievable restorationist proposals and claims of redefining the Church and implementing a "new" agenda headed by restored "apostles and prophets." It seems much safer to continue to use "missionary" instead. I will close with the one Apostle and Prophet I have yet to mention: Heb 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; This Prophet is the one Moses spoke of: Acts 3:22 For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. 23 And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. Jesus Christ has come. He has spoken. He has given men as gifts for the laying of the foundation of the Church, to spread the gospel, to bring in the sheaves, if you will. When the sheaves are brought in, they are "complete in Him": Col 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. 10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: Men have been given to serve the body and they are given labels to avoid confusion as to who is who and who does what. But the reason they are given is to make us realize how complete we are in Jesus and to bring us to a place of maturity and holiness that we too can be of service to Him. In other words, to bring Christians to a place where they walk in that "perfection" (maturity, completeness). This hasn't changed in any generation for 2,000 years, and we don't need to be redefined to accomplish the task at hand: Heb 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. 9 Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. . . . The plan of the restoration of apostles and prophets is to unite the human resources of the body of Christ as a powerful entity, and this body would conquer the world for Christ SO He can come back. But the plan, if you will, of the original Twelve and their prophets was to lay a foundation that would remain intact until Jesus returns. In that way, the Church in every generation would be equipped to minister to itself so they could reach others of their generation, so all who believe would be ready when He returns to establish global dominion. How did each generation do it without apostles and prophets? "They devoted themselves to the Apostles' teaching" (Acts 2:42). Our generation can be no different. The apostles' teaching is still with us in the completed canon, the written word of God. ============== This newsletter will be sent out whenever I think there is something the body of Christ needs to consider, to build it up, to give it encouragement or comfort in hard times. 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