Apostolic and Prophetic Training

It is the assignment of the Apostle as in the fivefold ministry to teach and equip

Ephesians 4:11-16
And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

"For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ" till we all come in the unity of the faith" described in Ephesians? What happened? It’s buried under layers of hierarchy and selfish accolades. Apostleship is not called to glamorous positions of recognition and accolades. True Apostles govern and establish. We are called to change the world’s system by activating Kingdom principles in every believer, so they understand, they don’t just "come to church" but "they become the church!" When this happens, everywhere they go, the Kingdom comes forth, and the will of God is carried out and expanded on earth as it is in Heaven. We must stop making the church a place of "limitation." It is to be a place of Power in Demonstration, and revealing the undiscovered gifts of God. We stand together in the common covenant of grace and not the traditions of men.

Apostolic Ministry

Jesus wants to activate the apostolic in your life because of the dynamics and benefits that will enrich your life. He has given you a team of teachers to accomplish His goal. We call those teachers five-fold ascension gifts.

We know that Jesus imparted five distinct gifts to equip His Church: some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, pastors and teachers. Since the 1990’s the Holy Spirit has been teaching us about the Apostle’s ministry and the release of apostolic grace into the Church. Even though some are still debating the existence and inclusion of modern day apostles, scripture is clear that He gave five gifts for the perfecting of the saints and for the work of ministry. Ephesians 4.

Jesus though five graces, including apostles, were important to the success of His Church. Let’s look at how the apostolic grace releases apostolic dynamics and discover how apostolic alignment benefits the believer.

Apostolic grace releases apostolic dynamics. If we can recognize what apostolic grace does, then we can position ourselves to benefit from it. Just as a pastor imparts pastoral grace and a prophet prophetic grace, it stands to reason that an apostle would impart apostolic grace.

If we have a five-fold prophet as our set man or woman we would be more open to prophetic words, deliverance ministry, stronger prayer, and spiritual warfare. But what if we have an apostle as a main leader? What would the dynamics in the church be then? Could it be possible that an apostolic five-fold gift would release something a bit different?

Apostolic ministry is a ministry of spiritual warfare, confronting principalities and powers, and "every high thing that would exalt itself against the knowledge of God". Many times, that includes religious systems and spirits that oppress a territory and people attempting to hold back the revival, reformation, and restoration that God wants to bring to His church.

The apostolic and prophetic anointing and ministry comes into such a territory, making violent contact, striking forcefully at the enemy challenging and confronting his lies and deception with the collision of present truth revelation, powerful prophetic declarations that open the heavens, and the establishing of true apostolic foundations. This results in apostolic deliverance and breakthrough for that church, city, region, and nation. The result has a compelling effect, inciting God's people to act on new truth and change, and releasing a divine momentum for the church of Jesus Christ to transition to new dimensions of glory, and to advance God's Kingdom in more powerful and effective ways.

Five-Fold Ministry Gifts

Mobilizing into purpose: Apostolic grace is a mobilizing grace. The apostolic focuses on equipping every believer to do what they are called to do. You cannot mobilize what’s not prepared. Equipping is only one measure of the five-fold ascension gift function. Where a pastor might focus on identity and purpose, the apostolic takes it to the next level of mobilizing into purpose. It’s not enough to find purpose, one must seize purpose.

Equipping: Along with the other five-fold ascension gifts the apostolic identifies both spiritual and natural gifts in people and puts them where they need to be. The Church has done a good job blessing people but the Holy Spirit wants to do more than bless people. He wants to equip them for Spiritual Led Living. Currently there is a shift from blessing only focused ministry toward blessing and training people to do what they are called to do. To do more than bless people will require a strong commitment from church leaders, the willingness to place a demand on people to grow, and in some cases a complete restructuring of the local church to enter the apostolic dimension of equipping every believer for the work of the ministry, placing them on ministry teams, and sending them out of the local church with specific assignments.

Apostolic Leadership Development

Apostles don’t work alone. Jesus sent them out two by two. Leadership is one of the strongest apostolic dynamics being released into the Body of Christ. Because leadership models that way, the apostolic gift is creating a leadership development culture. Apostolic grace is spotlighting that weakness and since the apostolic is relationship based it is requiring us to spend more time on leadership development. The apostolic is preparing people to get out of the sanctuary and into the world. The local church is not just a place of worship it is a place of blessing, equipping, prophetic instruction, and governing. The apostolic grace, working in humble unity with the five-fold ascension gifts, is preparing Christians to invade the world with salt and light.

Kingly Priesthood

Not every believer is called to be a five-fold ascension gift, but every believer is part of the royal priesthood, both priests and kings. Many believers have a hard time thinking of themselves as kings. One must adopt a kingship mentality.

Apostolic grace is leading the church into the delegated kingship of every believer under the guidance of the Holy Ghost.

Aligning to the Apostolic

To align ourselves means to come alongside of or to work together with. We are not talking about a blind submission to some controlling individual. It should be clear by now that the proof of apostolic ministry is found in function and not in title. We are talking about working together with the grace from one of the five-fold ministry gifts that Jesus set in the Church. Again, apostolic grace is only one of the five gifts given to the Body of Christ. All the five-fold ministry gifts are equally important.

Mobilizing into purpose: Apostolic grace is a mobilizing grace. The apostolic focuses on equipping every believer to do what they are called to do. You cannot mobilize what’s not prepared. Equipping is only one measure of the five-fold ascension gift function. Where a pastor might focus on identity and purpose, the apostolic takes it to the next level of mobilizing into purpose. It’s not enough to find purpose, one must seize purpose.

Equipping: Along with the other five-fold ascension gifts the apostolic identifies both spiritual and natural gifts in people and puts them where they need to be. The Church has done a good job blessing people but the Holy Spirit wants to do more than bless people. He wants to equip them for Spiritual Led Living. Currently there is a shift from blessing only focused ministry toward blessing and training people to do what they are called to do. To do more than bless people will require a strong commitment from church leaders, the willingness to place a demand on people to grow, and in some cases a complete restructuring of the local church to enter the apostolic dimension of equipping every believer for the work of the ministry, placing them on ministry teams, and sending them out of the local church with specific assignments.