 |
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control; against such there is no law." (Gal. 5:22-23) |
|
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control; against such there is no law." (Gal. 5:22-23) |
 |
Recent Newsletters
September 2007 Newsletter THE APOSTOLIC COMPANY The first apostolic company As we read the first chapters of the Book of
Acts we see the formation of the first apostolic
company. This company included the apostles who had been with Jesus,
“the women and Mary the mother of Jesus,
and His brothers” Acts 1:14,
as well as other believers, “about one hundred and twenty” Acts1:15b.
They were men and women who were in unity and in one accord (Acts 1:14 & 2:1); they were of “one heart and one soul” Acts 4:32.
This apostolic company was committed to prayer. It was through prayer
that Peter was led by the Holy Spirit to appoint Matthias to replace
Judas as a twelfth apostle. This first
example of an apostolic company was an
elect group of disciples in one accord, continuing in prayer and supplication;
it was to this company that God sent His Spirit, fulfilling the Feast
of Pentecost and releasing the apostolic ministry to raise the Peter was able to stand up on behalf of the eleven and preach a powerful message concerning the Messiah-ship of Jesus, leading to the call for people to “repent be baptised, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” Acts 2:38. This apostolic company was prepared and ready to receive 3000 new converts on one day! And together “they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers” Acts 2:42. The apostles that Jesus had trained were ready and prepared to receive the fullness of the Spirit of sonship and were able to minister on a level comparable to Jesus. The experience of Acts 2 for the apostolic company in the Upper Room was vastly different to the experience of the new converts [3000] who were baptised that day and received the gift of the Holy Spirit. The experience of the 120 was far different to the infilling of the Spirit that the Gentiles received in the house of Cornelius (Acts 10) or any of the other infillings [baptisms] of the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts. The Pentecostal revival that began in the early twentieth century and has continued since was the restoration of the infilling or baptism of the Holy Spirit. It was not the restoration of the fullness of the Spirit of sonship. The Spirit of sonship is being restored today! It is time for maturity, not time for Pentecost. Finally Pentecost is one of the foundations but sonship is the means by which the mature church reaches the destination, which is the glory of Christ revealed in His saints in the earth. Called to be an apostolic person · called out of the world to follow Jesus, ·
forsaking all to seek first for the ·
taking up the cross of personal self-denial and
embracing suffering for His sake, ·
going forth to witness and minister wherever
the Lord sends. Obedience to this call requires a total reorientation
of one’s lifestyle and a prioritising of all of life’s goals and practical involvements to fit
in with the call of God. The call of God is not to
be a good Christian only; is not to be successful in family life as
an end in itself; is not to be successful in business pursuits, except
it be the will of God. The call of God is to fulfil the purpose of
God: “we are
called according to His purpose”. The purpose of God is made
known to us through the knowledge of the mystery according to Ephesians 3:1-11. God is raising
apostolic companies We are called to be part of an apostolic company: to be
joined together ‘in one accord’, ‘of one heart and one soul’ as the
body of believers in Acts
1-4. In these days the Lord is raising up apostolic companies,
led by apostles, with all the five-fold ministries in place, to fully
function as a body. Each part of the body is “joined and knit together by what every
joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every
part does its share, causing growth of the body for the edifying of
itself in love” Eph.4:16. God is looking for apostolic companies to whom He can
add 3000 souls in one day! In other words He is forming companies
today who can receive the Holy Spirit in fullness to become the fully
functioning body of Christ in the earth. Apostolic companies are the vanguard that God is raising
up in these days to demonstrate to His people the victory He has given
us over the devil and Satan. As apostolic companies begin to function
in the fullness of Messiah’s authority in the earth, then a multitude
of believers will flock to embrace the apostolic and the church will
finally come to her destination: to rule and reign with Jesus the
Messiah in Zion. In the times of restoration in which we are privileged
to live, God has ordained the formation of apostolic companies around
the world. An apostolic company is: ·
a body of saints
who have been called together in commitment ·
to see the ·
these saints have
been called out of institutions and organisations into a walk of clear
obedience to Christ and the word of God. ·
in these companies
all the ministries and gifts that God has given in the New Testament
find their place and full expression. ·
these companies
stretch across nations; are led by an apostle[s]; ·
are characterised
by all the company members having a clear understanding of the call
of God and a powerful revelation of sonship. The apostolic
company is a pattern for the church In mid 2001 the Lord instructed us to form an apostolic
company and over the years He has enlightened us as to the understanding
and practice of apostolic company. The apostolic company is raised
up by the Lord to become a “pattern” people. Paul refers to this in Philippians 3:15-17 where he speaks of
those who “are mature” as having the “same mind” and walking “by
the same rule”. Earlier in 1
Corinthians 2:6-16, Paul refers to the “wisdom of God in a mystery” which
is for the mature to receive and this wisdom “God
ordained before the ages for our glory”. God has always intended for the church to come to maturity
and it is essential for the church to come to maturity to be able
to receive the revelation of the mystery and begin to experience and
walk in the glory of the Lord. In these last days the concept of ‘church’ has become very confused with
many referring to a building or a denomination or an institution as
the church. Therefore God is specifically raising apostolic companies
to model New Testament church. Notice that Paul says “we
have the mind of Christ” (1Cor.2:16)! It is a plural reality! No
one member of the body will ever have “the mind of Christ” on their own
but it is a corporate reality. It
is as a company [corporate body] that the church will overcome
Satan and demonstrate the victory of Christ in the midst of His people.
Called to be an apostolic church The apostolic church of the
New Testament was not denominational nor institutional and neither
is the apostolic church of the last days. Everywhere around us believers
and Christian leaders are settling for compromise, apparently not
comprehending the call of God as clearly set out by Jesus and the
apostles in the Bible or simply ignoring what the Bible clearly says.
Such Christians prefer the ways and traditions of men above obedience
to the word of God, mistaking loyalty to a denomination or tradition
for faithfulness to the word of God. The first apostles were challenged
by the religious authorities of their day and told “not to teach in this name. But Peter and
the apostles answered and said: ‘We ought to obey God rather than
men’” Acts 5:28-29. Likewise Jesus expects His church today
to obey God rather than men. Jesus is to have pre-eminence So often if a person testifies
to their faith in Jesus, the immediate question is, ‘what church do
you go to?’ Man’s idea and practice of church historically has been
lifted up above Jesus and yet Jesus
is always to have the pre-eminence in all things
(Col.1:18). Christians generally talk more about their
church and what is happening in their church [programs] than about
Jesus and what is happening in their walk with God. This is because
we have made the church ‘ours’ rather than being the Reaching nations through grace and apostleship In Romans 1:5,
Paul says that he and the church of his day, the body of Christ, “have received
grace and apostleship through Christ for obedience to the faith among
all nations for His name.” The Bible says it is through grace and apostleship received
from the Father through Christ that leads to the obedience of faith
among all nations.
Jesus trained and appointed
twelve apostles: to them He entrusted the birthing and formation of
the church; to them He gave the keys of the kingdom of
heaven. At the end of the age Jesus is again raising apostles to provide
a proper foundation for His church and to call forth all the ministries
and gifts that have been given and are needed for the building of
the church. The church that Jesus is building today will withstand
the gates of hell. From Pentecost
to Tabernacles It was through that first apostolic company that God brought
the fulfilment of the Feast of Pentecost and it is through the apostolic
companies that God is raising in the last days that He will bring
the fulfilment of the Feast of Tabernacles. This is the church entering
into the fullness of all that God has done in Christ, “the fullness of the Godhead dwelling bodily
in Him” (Col.2:9).
It is God’s intention for the fullness of the Godhead to now dwell
in the body of Christ. The is the Feast of Tabernacles in fulfilment:
God indwelling His people; the fullness of Christ revealed in His
church. Oversight
and Covering of the Apostolic Company The nature of an apostolic company is as follows: the
Lord has raised up the apostolic company, restoring the apostolic
ministry and gathering around the apostolic leadership ministers and
saints who are becoming of one heart and mind to serve the purposes
of God together in this day. The Lord
is gathering a growing number of other apostles, prophets, evangelists,
pastors and teachers, helpers and administrators, gifted saints, disciples
and new believers into the company.
Every leadership ministry including apostles are accountable
to each other in an eldership that is submitted to the word of God,
recognizing that everyone of us needs teaching, reproof, correction
and instruction in righteousness (2
Tim.3:16). The leadership ministries that the Lord has given, specifically
apostles, prophets and teachers (1 Cor.12:28) but often including pastors
and evangelists who are functioning as elders, exercise oversight
according to the appointment of the Holy Spirit (Acts 20:28) The Lord Jesus Christ is the only head of the church and He provides a full covering of His anointing by the Spirit and the authority of His word. No man is ever accredited with headship of the church in the Scripture. Therefore the covering does not come through a man but comes directly from the Lord when the church is set in apostolic order. Paul Galligan CALENDAR
West
Africa trip: Paul,
Janet, Helen Jervis, Nick Jackson & Don Pitkin dpt. for
Ministering in
Visiting
Attending Paul will be speaking in this
conference on Wed. evening 17th Oct. COMMUNITY SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7TH from 9.30am
& incl. lunch at ** Please note change of date** NEXT
COMMUNITY WEEKEND at
[team home from
West Africa & USA]
Fri. 26th
7pm – Worship/Seeking the Lord night
Sat. 27th - Training
Day at
sessions 10.30am – 4pm
Sun.9th - Community Sunday at
10.30 worship, communion
12.15
fellowship lunch Date
for COMMUNITY WEEKEND in November: Fri. 23rd to Sun. 25th INTERNATIONAL APOSTOLIC
TRAINING 2008 Monday 7th
- Saturday 19th January Pastors, Leaders and those called to minister
in the body of Christ For
International brethren & open to brethren in Training School for
Children & Youth to age 13 Monday 7th
– Friday 11th to be held at:
Ph.0746130633
email: rma@revivalministries.org.au
|
||
Suggestions about this web site can be emailed to the webmaster.