Appendix 7 - The Apostle: Parts 1 & 2

Part 1 Written 21 November 2022

The role of a functioning Apostle…

In its truest and most literal sense, one who is “Sent” by the Lord…For what purpose? The Bible clearly shows us, for the purpose of delivering the Gospel (testifying to the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of sins: See Acts 4:9-13) to a people who have not yet heard…to go to a place with an untapped well (Genesis 26:18-26), to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor (Isaiah 52:7; 61:1-3), with signs and wonders accompanying; leading to the planting and overseeing of churches. (I have seen this for myself as a missionary to Kenya and I know it to be true) The Lord will always watch over the truth of His Word to perform it. (Jer. 1:12)

“…and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation,

but as it is written,

“Those who have never been told of him will see,

and those who have never heard will understand.” (Romans 15:20-21)

The first Apostles, having seen Jesus face to face (1Cor9:1), were the very first to do this, paving the way, in life and in death, for other missionaries (or “lesser apostles”, if you like) to follow in their footsteps: Some were given the privilege of writing, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit the (closed cannon) New Testament. As Jesus’s first followers - people who had seen him face to face and walked with him in life - this was their right and their privilege: to suffer and to die for Him and with Him (Gal.2:20)

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God… Colossians 1:1  ~. Nobody “makes themselves” an apostle

The heart of an Apostle…

2Cor11:23-29

“Are they servants of Christ? I know I sound like a madman, but I have served him far more! I have worked harder, been put in prison more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again. 

“Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. 

“I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not.

“I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm.

“Then, besides all this, I have the daily burden of my concern for all the churches. 

Who is weak without my feeling that weakness? Who is led astray, and I do not burn with anger?”

Colossians 1:24-25

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, 

of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known… 

                                      ~~~

So there it is…The heart and calling of a true Apostle of Christ. So I put it to the Church: is this how we see these modern day, self appointed “apostles” of the so called“New Apostolic Reformation” living?

…Or are they living lives of luxury and prosperity, requiring and receiving the status of a celebrity, rather than of a slave of Jesus Christ? (James 1:1).

When we stop and take a real honest look, we will all know the answer to that.

Why have we complicated things so much? - or rather - why have we allowed these people to complicate things for us? (See Matthew ch. 23 & Jude ch. 1)  I cannot help but be deeply concerned that in a time of great deception, the blood-bought Church of Christ Jesus is rapidly looking and functioning more and more like the world.

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. Luke 9:23-24

“Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also”. John 15:20

Paul’s words in 2Corinthians 11 should be a sobering check - a wake-up jolt - to anyone calling themselves an “apostle”, to prayerfully reconsider if their “calling” is truly of the Lord.

                                    ~~~

One of the claims made by these so called apostles and prophets, is that God is using them - through their dangerous “new revelation” - to build the foundations of the Church; and they misuse Ephesians 2:19-20 to back up this claim…Yet in Revelation ch.21:14 we read that the Holy City (the Bride of Christ) has “Twelve Foundation stones” -  TWELVE! : For the “Twelve Apostles of the Lamb” (See also Matthew ch.19:28)…

…Not 777…not 22:22…nor some other miscellaneous “prophetic” number…

Not “the twelve” - and other “apostles” who would come later; 

PLEASE, I speak as someone who operates in the gift of prophecy…I believe 100% in the gifts of the Holy Spirit - BUT: There is no room in true Christianity for the New Apostolic Reformation!

The role of the true Apostle has already been fulfilled. Our Foundation has already been laid, and now we look to Pastors, Elders, Teachers of the Word and all aspects of Service in the Body of Christ - including the vital gift of Prophecy and the other gifts of the Spirit - to ensure we continue to stand upon this Foundation. Because we are a team - a family! 

And what of Paul: the ‘thirteenth’ Apostle, to the Gentiles? See: https://undergod714.blogspot.com/2022/11/study-of-word-and-prophetic-word.html?m=1&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

In Acts 1:21-22, Peter, when considering who will replace Judas as the twelve foundational Apostle, says the following: “So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.”

Paul however, was an exception to this rule, having been unexpectedly “grafted in” for the purpose of preaching the gospel to the “thirteenth tribe” - the Gentiles. (see link above) The Bible tells us clearly that he was the LAST Apostle that the Lord would raise up to complete the laying of the Foundations of the Christian Faith: “LAST OF ALL, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.” (Read 1Corinthians 15:3-8) Everything we build as believers must, and is being built upon THIS Foundation: But even this comes with a warning: see 1Corinthians 3:10-15

When we read Ephesians ch.2:19-20, we see clearly that our Foundation has ALREADY been laid: by the Apostles (New Covenant) and the Prophets (Old Covenant); when we put the two together we have the entire Word of God - with Jesus Christ at the center…the Chief Corner Stone!

Old Covenant 👉 ✝️YESHUA✝️ 👈 New Covenant 

By the Grace of God “It is finished!” All that is required of us is that by Faith, through Grace we walk in it!

(1Corinthians 12)

                                    ~~~~~~~

The Apostle - Part 2 Written 27 October 2023

Deuteronomy 18:14-16 {Moses addresses the Hebrew people}

“The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the LORD your God has not permitted you to do so.

“The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—

just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’

Who is this “prophet like Moses”?

Hebrews 1 

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 

2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 

3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 

4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. 

But how has he the Son spoken to us?

Read the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. He is the long awaited Seed of Genesis 3:15; the Sacrifice provided by the LORD in Genesis 22:8; He is the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 and the “Salvation” - Yeshua of Psalm 118;

He preached a message of repentance, forgiveness through His Atonement - and soon coming judgment. 

Having delivered His message…and followed through with it entirely, even unto death on a Cross - he then SENT his Apostles out to DELIVER this same message in its entirety. {John 20:19-21, Matthew 28:16-20}

Who were these apostles (sent ones)?

These were men who had been with the Prophet like Moses - who we now know to be Yeshua the Son of God - since the beginning of his ministry until the end  {Acts 1:21-22} - and through putting themselves under his teaching, had been discipled through a baptism of fire, into the Ways of the Lord. {Matthew 20:22-23, Luke 22:31-32, John 1:14, Acts 1:1-9, 1John 1:1-5}

These Disciples had been through the refining fires of testing and were now ready and equipped to be SENT {this is what “Apostle” means} by the Holy Spirit, to give this same message to the world - in word and in action. Church history shows us that they will truly do this, following their LORD and Master even unto death. {See John ch.12:24-26 & ch.21:16-19}

So that their teachings would not die with them, some of these Apostles and early Church Fathers were moved by the Holy Spirit to put these teachings into written form: These we know as the Gospels and Epistles of the New Testament - in order that we, the future Church, could also come under THEIR teachings and not fall into the error or deception of false teachers, apostles and prophets…

See John 15:27: These are the ones who saw…who heard…who were sent…and who testify- and through their written words they testify still to us today: The testimony of Jesus Christ. (See Revelation 7:14) This testimony is how they overcame - it will also be how we overcome. This is why we cannot be a pure and Holy Ecclesia without the pure and Holy Word of God (the testimony of the Apostles and prophets)

Read John 1:14 John is testifying here, as only an apostle (one sent by Yeshua himself) can!

Read Ephesians 2:19-21

Because regardless of what those claiming to be “apostles” and “prophets” are saying, the Foundation has already been laid: 

-first by Moses and the Prophets of the Old Testament {Pointing toward Messiah and the Sacrifice}

-Then by the Apostles of the New Testament {Pointing back towards Messiah who has now come - and the Sacrifice that has now been made.} This is why the writings of Yeshua are called Gospels “good news”.

-And finally, all that has been written is centered around Yeshua the Messiah, who holds all things together, as the Chief Corner Stone of this Foundation…this Solid Rock of Truth.

{Colossians 1:17, Hebrews 1:3, Matthew 16:15-18}

Anyone calling themselves a prophet or a (lesser) apostle now, should - under the teachings of Yeshua and His original Apostles - be preaching the EXACT SAME  MESSAGE - not pointing people towards themselves, but toward Him! There is no room in the Ecclesia of Christ, for “new revelation” or “hidden keys to knowledge”. This is how cults begin and is the hallmark of deception.

“Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead…” Ephesians 1:1

All the original Apostles lived out their faith - not via a media mountain to millions of people - but literally among the people that they brought it to: in word and in action…most of them ultimately laying down their own lives, in like manner of the Lord in whose name they had come. There are multitudes of unknown missionaries (lesser apostles) who are doing this exact same thing. Their names will never be known, except in Heaven…

As for the rest of us; we MUST read and TEST everything by the Word of God - which, in the Book of Acts and the Epistles, sets the standard for how the New Testament Church should be functioning. The Word of God - the primary vehicle through which the Holy Spirit speaks, has been given to us by Him as a protective boundary that runs along either side of this very narrow Way {Matthew 7:13-14} - a safety net to keep us from falling into deceptions that are - and will be - so subtly and seductively dangerous, that the Lord saw fit to warn us about them, in almost every book of the New Testament.

And, what we read must be an ACCURATE translation of the Word of God - not translations such as the Passion Translation, which the majority of recognized scholars and Biblical translators agree to be sectarian, highly inaccurate and unfaithful to the original Greek and Hebrew texts. Claiming special and hidden knowledge from God, via an angel called “Passion”, the author has literally added words to the Biblical texts that were not in the original, and in doing so, seems to have inserted his own sectarian beliefs and changed the meaning of significant parts of the Bible; For example, removing the word “submit” from Ephesians 5:24 changes it’s entire meaning: To change the Holy Word of God because an “angel” has told you is extremely serious. {See again Hebrews 1:4 - this same thing was happening in the time that the Book of  Hebrews was written and has happened since then: Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, received his “revelation” from an angel called Moroni; Mohamed, the founder of Islam claims to have had a visitation and commission from the angel Gabriel himself.} Can we not see how dangerous this is? 

And yet multitudes seem to love it, because of the sensual and highly emotive tone in which the author writes. This in itself highlights how dangerous this present deception is. (See: Galatians 1:8-12 & Hebrews 1:4). 

“If God’s Word is being misrepresented - yet I love the misrepresentation, am I loving God or am I loving me? - What if we’re letting God’s Word be changed, because we like the changes” Pastor Mike Winger (The Passion Project):

The words and fraises deliberately added by the author, have made the passion translation highly convoluted, as a posed to the actual inspired Word of God, which is much simpler in form and easier to memorize, just as when wielding a sword, you wouldn’t want it to be too heavy, otherwise it would not be fit for purpose. (See Ephesians 6:17, Hebrews 4:12 and Revelation 1:16, 2:16 &19:15) May the Lord help us if our Bibles are taken away, and all we have, is what we have memorized. The Lord has meant for His Sword (the Word of God) to be an effective weapon in the hands of his Church…not a sensual romance novel!                    

Like the Prophets of the Old, the Apostles of the New Covenant received their revelation directly from the Lord - but NEVER contradicting that which had already been written…only COMPLETING it. (See Luke 24:45-48) This is not the case with those who are calling themselves “apostles” today:The cannon of scripture is closed and therefore, extra biblical revelation MUST be tested by the Ecclesia - regardless of who is claiming it.

For information on the Passion Translation the  link below is balanced and sensitive  - but truthful and informative.

https://youtu.be/2EtXBxAuZ3g?si=MB-YPEpWo49mY65A

⚠️As a Bible student myself and with regards to TPT, this is not the first time I have issued warnings about it - and it likely won’t be the last. All I really want to say is this: Just because something looks good, sounds good and makes us feel good, doesn’t mean that it IS good! {Genesis 3:4-6}

We must hunger for and read, the authentic truth  - or at least place ourselves under good Pastors and Teachers who can rightly divide the Word of Truth for us.

May the Lord’s grace and mercy be upon us all.

In the beginning was the Logos {divine utterance}, and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God. John 1:1

Written with much love…

#NewApostolicReformation #deception