Insights on Apostleship

Recently I was asked, “how do we judge whether someone is an apostle?”

The following insights flowed in my understanding and I submit them to you.

 

1) CALLED and CHOSEN      

There is a specific calling from the Lord to be an apostle. Many brethren know the call of God on their life to be ministers. From the day I was saved in 1974 I knew I was to preach the gospel. In reading the New Testament before I was saved, in my heart I wanted to be like the apostle Paul, that is, to do something and write something that would benefit other people. It was not until September 1997 that the Lord began to speak to me about the apostolic ministry. However I had been serving in ministry since 1980, firstly as an administrator, secondly as a pastor and church planter and thirdly as a teacher. 

In Acts 1, the apostle Peter is led by the Lord in the Scripture to replace Judas Iscariot as an apostle of the Lamb. The disciples prayed and said “You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell” v.24-25. The person who would replace Judas and be one of the 12 apostles of the Lamb was chosen by God, even as the original twelve were named by Jesus after He had “continued all night in prayer to God” Lu.6:12. Both the men put forward qualified but one was chosen by God. This does not mean that the other brother was any less worthy but it does demonstrate God’s election.

An apostle is called and chosen by God. I believe this is crucial: that the individual knows the calling to be an apostle and then the time of ‘choosing’ whereby the apostleship begins to manifest.

 

2) REACHING NATIONS     

Paul says that “through Him [Christ] we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name” Rom.1:5. This reference to apostleship refers to the international [nations] scope of the apostolic ministry. The gift calling of apostle carries great authority given by Christ (Matt.28:18-20), and the apostle is empowered to reach and affect nations by the grace and the anointing that flow out of the gift. In the Scriptures and from historical records, all of the first apostles [both the twelve and those who followed] went to the nations except for James, the brother of the Lord, who seemed to remain in Jerusalem as an apostolic overseer of the large mother church.

It is normal for an apostle to exercise an international ministry and this is one of the marks of a functioning apostle. However if an apostle does not have an international ministry it does not mean he is not an apostle.

 

3) FRUIT of the MINISTRY      

Paul says in 1 Cor.9:2 “If I am not an apostle to others, doubtless I am to you. For you are the seal [certification] of my apostleship in the Lord.” This refers to discernible fruit. An apostle generally needs to build a local base and raise up saints and ministers in an apostolic company that manifest the grace and anointing of the gift of the apostle. Normally an apostle is not the pastor or bishop of the local church but rather has a base in a local church or apostolic company [a number of local fellowships relating together], that local church being part of the fruit of the apostle’s ministry. Obviously the development of the home base takes time and every one responding to the apostolic call must start somewhere. If you are the overseer of local church(es) and then God calls you into apostolic ministry, this does not mean that you forsake the local church ministry but rather that you actively seek to raise and appoint elders [pastors] who will shepherd the flock of God and release the apostle to fulfill the apostolic call (Acts 14:23, 20:28 & Titus 1:5).

Another aspect of the fruit is the raising of others into five-fold ministry and apprenticing apostles specifically. It is evident that Paul not only could point to the Corinthian church as the seal of his ministry but he also successfully raised sons in the ministry to be apostles.

 

4) SPHERE of MINISTRY      

The sphere of ministry of each apostle is an unfolding reality. Once the calling is clear and the ministry begins to manifest then fruit is produced as doors open both locally and internationally. Paul was a mature apostle by the time he went to Jerusalem “by revelation and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles” Gal.2:2. He met with James, Cephas and John and the result was that the other apostles “perceived the grace that had been given to me. They gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised” v.9. This is referring to sphere of ministry and Paul calls it apostleship in v.8.

Paul’s sphere was very large but he was already raising up other apostles to share in the great work he was called to do.

Each apostle must be faithful to discern and work in the sphere that God gives. We need to be aware that unity and oneness does not mean forsaking the sphere of responsibility for apostolic ministry that God gives to each leading apostle. The sons growing up in that sphere will in due time take on responsibility for that sphere.

As mentioned the sphere of ministry is unfolding and can change even as the exercise of the five-fold ministry can change. For example Paul’s sphere of ministry kept enlarging from Syria to Asia Minor to Greece and Paul’s ministry expression was at least threefold: “a preacher, an apostle and a teacher to the Gentiles” 2Tim.1:11.

 

Questions often asked:

Can one be an apostle to a denomination? 

Scripturally there are no denominations and Paul warns us against dividing the body by forming an allegiance to a particular apostolic leader. Such allegiances lead to sectarianism and brethren are then excluded because they do not relate to that particular apostle. It was happening in Corinth (1 Cor.1:10-17) and it is happening again today as certain apostles bring pastors and leaders into ‘sonship’ to themselves and form an exclusive grouping.

Do apostles lead local churches?

By its very nature, the ministry of the apostle is itinerant and the apostle has responsibilities for various churches and ministries. If the apostle fulfils the role of a local bishop then this will lead to confusion in the minds of other pastors as they could see the apostle as a threat rather than coming to know the apostle as a father who has the best interest of all the churches in his heart.

 

5) MINISTRY of GRACE     

All of the five-fold ministries are given by Christ to bring grace to the saints to enable them to come to maturity. “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift” Eph.4:7-11. The apostle is to be especially known by the ministry of grace that is effected through him.

There are many apostles and some may only have a small sphere, or like James in Jerusalem, remain in a home base, but the grace on their life is the manifestation of the five-fold gift of apostle. This grace is the manifestation of the heart of the apostle to love the church of God in all of its aspects and to be committed to the “perfecting of the saints and the building up of the body of Christ” by doing the work of the ministry of the apostle (Eph.4:12). Also every apostle in a large or small sphere is graced to be a father to the church, to all the saints and specifically to the ministers. It is the apostolic ministry that enables the church to come together in a locality and for the elders [ministers] to be able to relate to an apostolic father. This brings the oneness of John 17 and the oneness will release the ‘perfectness’ of the body.

 

6) KNOWLEDGE of the MYSTERY    

An apostle has the knowledge of the mystery “which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets” Eph.3:5. The key role of the apostolic ministry is “to fulfil the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints” Col.1:26. Apostles are being restored today to fulfil the word of God, that is, to make known again the deeper wisdom of God (1Cor.2:7).

The church for a long time has been led by ministries other than apostles and has lacked the knowledge of the mystery and because of that has been unable to come to maturity. “God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers” 1Cor.12:28a. The bishops and pastors of the church up until now fit into the leadership category of teachers and the church has lacked true apostles and prophets. Even in the situation where a bishop has successfully planted churches and raised pastors into ministry – this being an apostolic work – this does not mean that the bishop is an apostle and therefore the teaching of the bishop has fallen short of bringing to the church the revelation of the mystery.

 

CONCLUSION

The above six points give us a way to measure the maturity and effectiveness of an apostle. Jesus said that we can judge by the fruit (Matt.7:20). Every ministry is to be judged by the fruit. The ministry of the apostle is the particular ministry that Jesus instituted and the above points may help both ones called to be apostles to understand the conduct and outworking of the ministry more fully and help the saints to appraise in a positive Biblical way whether the ones coming to them are truly apostles. Every apostolic ministry must start somewhere in obedience to the Lord’s calling and there is a growth and progression to produce fruit in the various aspects of apostleship.                                                                                   Paul Galligan.

 

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HOME FROM AFRICA, ENGLAND & AMERICA

The team of five lead by apostle Paul Galligan spent two weeks in Nigeria, 10 days in Ghana, 4 days in London and one week in Florida.

 

Nigeria: We bear witness that the apostolic revelation was birthed by the Holy Spirit through deep intercession and travail, and was established through the preaching of the “unsearchable riches of Christ” (Eph.2:8) over five days of Apostolic Congress in Abuja. At the end of this Congress 28 pastors and leaders stood forth together with apostle John Aremu to acknowledge their willingness to stand with John and be part of an apostolic company forming in Nigeria. There were leaders from other cities in this fledgling company. Other ministry in Nigeria included a one day leaders’ seminar in Lagos where up to 60 leaders gathered and then a few days of ministry in the northern city of Kano, hosted by Rev Sam Akpan, who along with other local pastors, embraced the apostolic teaching and began to be joined together in a newness of fellowship and oneness that had been missing. The pastors and brethren in Kano need our prayers as they live in a Muslim dominated city and are faced continually with hostility and oppression, including serious rioting that has left many Christians killed.

 

Ghana: Our time in Ghana was very blessed because of the hospitality of our hosts, our primary host being Rev. Dr. John Amaniampong. Key leaders came to join us in Ghana from Ivory Coast, Evangelist Henry Iluna; from Liberia, Rev. William Kettor; and from Sierra Leone, Emmanuel Laha. These brothers spent the whole time with us and were excellent disciples, hungrily devouring apostolic teaching and revelation. Brother William is well established in Liberia as a senior minister with a training school already operating and he will be able to reach many pastors from all 15 counties of Liberia with the apostolic teaching. Through him a huge door has opened into Liberia for apostle Paul to visit in 2008. Dr John and Pastor John Ahuma also hungrily received and embraced the apostolic teaching.

London: The time in London was primarily to visit but we were blessed to be in fellowship with one of our sons who is living in England for this year – Donald Truss. The team was hosted by Rev. Geoff Price and his wife Hope and there was much fellowship and sharing together.

 

Florida: The team was joined in Florida by Bruce and Jean Manning to attend the Kingdomquest Apostolic Conference hosted by apostle Don Atkin and the Vineyard Church in Clearwater. This was a unique experience to be in the fellowship of apostles and prophets and other five-fold ministers and team members from the various companies. It was an experience of oneness and an insight into the potential of what God is doing throughout the earth through the apostolic restoration that is taking place. This restoration is non-denominational, non-sectarian and the church comes together through relationships. It was an experience of mutuality and being built up and strengthened by the development of interpersonal relationships linking five-fold ministers together. Paul had the opportunity to speak and shared the message of coming to maturity by receiving the spirit of sonship and there was a strong impartation of the Spirit through the team as many responded.

 

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CALENDAR                                                                               

 

NEXT COMMUNITY WEEKEND at SHILOH: Fri.23^rd - Sun.25^th November

              Fri. 23^rd 7pm – Worship/Seeking the Lord night

              Sat. 24^th - Training Day at SHILOH 10am for cuppa,

                                sessions 10.30am – 4pm                                                      

              Sun.25^th -   Community Sunday at SHILOH 9.30 for teaching,

                                                                                           10.30 worship, communion

                                                                                           12.15 fellowship lunch

 

INTERNATIONAL

APOSTOLIC TRAINING 2008

Monday 7^th - Saturday 19^th January  

 Pastors, Leaders and those called to minister in the body of Christ

 

For International brethren & open to brethren in Australia, a further two weeks of training and equipping is offered in small group tutelage from Monday 21^st to Friday 1^st February.

 

Training School for Children & Youth to age 13

Monday 7^th – Friday 11th

 

to be held at: SHILOH CENTRE

                         19 Russell St TOOWOOMBA, Q4350

                          AUSTRALIA

                          Ph.0746130633

For further information contact us on email;

postal address PO Box 2718 BC, Toowoomba Q 4350

Revival Ministries Australia Ltd. ACN 082 081 098

 

OVERSEAS TRIPS 2008: Myanmar – February, Kenya – April, West Africa – May

 

     email: rma@revivalministries.org.au

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