“Father, we thank you for the Forerunners and Trailblazers that you ordained in the Body of Christ to lead the Body into the full stature of Christ and the unity of the Faith.” What is the full stature of Christ? It’s the fullness of Jesus in our lives, where we all began to walk like Him, talk like Him, do what He did, and according to His Word, greater than what He did because He goes to the Father; and now, we being born again, now go to the Father and are seated with Jesus in heavenly places at the right hand of the Father (John 14:12). This is our inheritance, but we cannot get there apart from God's roadmap which is the fivefold ministries of God: Apostles, Prophets, Teachers, Pastors, and Evangelists as listed in Ephesians 4:11.
This is the Government of God, and they each have governmental authority in the Spirit according to the purpose of their gifting. But then, we see in 1 Corinthians 12:28, that we have 1st Apostles, 2nd Prophets, thirdly Teachers. What is that about? Is it a hierarchy? Or is it an order? See, I believe Apostles are at the front lines of getting us to the full stature of Christ and to the unity of the faith. You cannot do it without these giftings because God has set these gifts in men as the way to get his people there. So why do we think God will still do it another way or will still do it with you alone? We need to follow the Word of God and stop being mavericks. “I don’t submit to man." You're not submitting to man; you're submitting to the gifts inside of men, which is God! “I don’t want to submit!” Well, then you don’t want to submit to God. You need to know who has these giftings because if you don’t, you won’t know who to submit to. You can't submit to just anyone who calls themself a church leader; you have to know by the revelation that the Father gives, like Peter was given about who Jesus was. You won't be confident in following these giftings if you don’t know them by revelation; then you will always know them after the flesh because of lack of revelation from the Spirit.
Let’s go back to the blueprint of the Church, which I believe is in the book of Acts. We’re not supposed to do church like the world does business. We need to do church the way it was set up by the gifts of God, and now we still have those gifts today; and if you don’t believe that we do, then you are a cessationist and as dead as Adam and Eve became when they were tossed out of the garden. If you need to be the top dog everywhere you go, the body of Christ is not for you. It’s not a one-man show but many components coming together in submission to one another in reverence for Christ. If you want to be submitted to, the body is not for you. Though if you're ready to get on the cross to have God's way, then you're ready to be raised up to walk like Jesus walked. Any spirit that says we can never be like Jesus is a lying spirit and the spirit of the antichrist coming against the glory which is to be revealed in us, the sons and daughters of God (1 John 4:17). The world is waiting for this! The world is waiting for you! And God is waiting for you. Why are you waiting on the world to appreciate you? Why are you waiting on God to move for you? Sons do what their father is doing and say what He is saying. The body is waiting on you, too, for your submission, so the gifts in them can raise you up. See, these gifts are not even for those who have them. They are for those who submit to it. Once you see it like that, you realize that all these gifts are not about someone else being greater than you. It's actually more about you than anything because it's about getting you to walk in glory and power, to manifest Christ in His fullness. Casting out demons by your word, like Jesus, and healing the sick with our shadows (Acts 5:15)! Speaking to storms and stopping them by our word (Mark 4:39). That’s not even one percent of what these gifts are raising you up into!
Man, we need heavenly perspective so that we don’t compete with these gifts but see it as a womb for us to come into to be birthed into what the world is waiting for, which is the manchild in the book of Revelation that will be caught up in the third heaven because the women with the 12 stars around her head will give birth to it. Who is that woman? Well, 12 is the number of the apostolic, and I believe the woman is the bride of Christ under the covering of the government of God, manifesting the sons of God on the earth (Revelation 12:1-5). What do you mean, I already am a son of God? Yes, but you don’t look like one and walk like one yet. What does a son of God look like? Go read the red lettering, that’s the image of what you're called to manifest. That’s a son. He was the first seed of many who will look like Him and do what He did. And now we are in our years of raising up, like Jesus had in His time of being raised up, so that in due time He will exalt what He has been perfecting, birthing, and raising up to manifest on the earth so that He can back it with full authority and power to subdue, pursue, overtake and recover all for the kingdom of God. To multiply the same image and glory so that the Glory of the Lord can cover the earth from the ends of the earth to the ends of the earth.
See, but we need to get in the womb of Ephesians 4:11 and 1 Corinthians 12:28 because that’s where it all happens. Let’s focus on Apostles here because that’s the spearhead of this operation. Jesus, being the chief apostle and head of the church. This is one of the most important gifts when it comes to getting the church to look like Jesus and in unity because God established it first in the church because it brings the foundation upon which everything shall be built, Jesus being the chief cornerstone and revelation. Also, He, being the Rock and the Root upon which the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets is grounded.
We need to understand this gift because without the Gift of the Apostle, the glory that the church of Acts walked in would not have been manifested. We even see that Stephen, being a simple man, submitted himself to the Apostles, being a disciple, moved in miracles, wonders, and power, even confronting the religious system of his day. So much so that he was stoned for it. See, this is the power of The Apostolic; it is the impartation of Christ from the head down to the body. Christ being the head, and I believe if Apostles were related to a body part, they would be the beard, because Psalm 133 says, "How precious it is when the brothers dwell in unity; it is like the oil that comes from the beard of Aaron." Remember, these giftings we listed earlier are also to get us as a body in the unity of the faith. Apostles being first means that, after Christ, they are the forerunners and spearheads to unity in the body. They are plowing the way of unity. And submission to this gifting will get us in unity with the body and help us to continue in this unity because we see here in Acts 2, there was unity that started with the Apostles, one accord, having all things in common. What was the foundation of that unity? Remember, Apostles bring the foundation to the church, and a house cannot stand without a foundation. Let’s see here in Acts 2:42: "And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers." Then you see in the following verses the unity that followed.
See, there was a steadfast continuation of receiving from the apostles, and I like to use the word “devotion” to the Apostles' doctrine. Apostles outline the doctrine of Christ in the church, and if you do not submit to it, devote yourself to it, you won’t be able to see the same power that the Apostles walked in, in your life. See, we see it was said that when you receive a prophet, you receive a prophet's reward. Also, it says when you receive a righteous man, you receive a righteous man’s reward (Matthew 10:41-42). Now we have Apostles. I believe an Apostle's reward is that you begin to see the same things that an apostle sees! The same manifestations because it’s an impartation, and you begin to walk in the same power, the same authority. Does that mean that now you become an Apostle? No. That means you become Apostolic. Does it mean that you plant churches now, and you become a fivefold minister, or does it mean that you begin to be like Christ because that’s what they are raising you up to?
True Apostles walk like Christ and begin to walk like it more and more as they spearhead the way to the fullness of it. And as you began to walk with them and receive their word, their word begins to transform you to walk in the same power and authority as you stay steadfast in their doctrine and the breaking of bread. Not many know what it’s like to be around a real, true Apostle from God. And for those that do, submitting to an Apostle is not just about doing what they ask you to do in the natural, like, "Hey, do this, do that." I believe if Stephen wasn't submitted and devoting himself to the apostle's doctrine and only came under their command of stewarding the ministration of the widows, he probably would be doing that thinking he was submitted to the apostles. Though he would not have really been submitted because he would not have been walking in power. See, it was that he was devoted to the word that was coming out of the mouth of the gifting inside of them that was able to bring him into that place of manifestation. Many think they are submitted to an Apostle because they are submitted to the man, but they don’t submit to the gifting! Stephen was carrying the impartation of the Apostolic and became a witness of it. He became poof of their ministry. He became the flesh of the words and doctrine of the apostles. The doctrine of the Apostles is the teachings of Jesus, and not just what was written, but also what He is continuing to teach His church today. So, if the doctrine of the Apostles are the teachings of Jesus, then to be an Apostolic witness is to be the proof, the manifestation of Jesus words from their belly becoming real on a vessel because Apostles pass down new levels of revelation of His words for the body to hear and walk in as The Apostles themselves walk in it and make proof of it with power and demonstration, so that the body can see it, believe it, and do it. Then to see the manifestation of it in their own lives.
To be an Apostle is to be a witness of Jesus Christ (see Acts 1:8). I’m not just talking about a physical encounter with Him. I’m talking about becoming the encounter, becoming the manifestation of Him, the proof of Him. And a witness of His words to His own church and testifying of what they see and hear of Jesus as well as becoming it. If an apostle is to be a witness of Jesus Christ, an Apostolic Witness is one who receives the witness of Jesus Christ from the Apostles. And Jesus said to Peter that the Holy Ghost would come upon him, which was at the upper room, to empower him to become His witness. See, Peter witnessed Jesus and all that He did for 3 years, but that wasn’t enough to make him a witness. It was more than just seeing, hearing, and repeating. It was power! Proof of Jesus! Not in word and deed only, but in power and demonstration of Christ. He said you will receive power to be His witnesses, the power not just to testify to everyone about Jesus and what He did and who He is, but power to walk like Jesus and do what He did. To become the encounter! That’s the witness that God is looking for on the earth. And that’s the empowering that is upon apostles. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 12:12, "Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds."
These are the signs of an Apostle. This is the empowering that Peter received in the upper room, not just to be filled with the Holy Ghost, but to step into the ascension gifting that was ordained to be his, which was to be an Apostle, one who is empowered to flesh out Christ from Glory to Glory and impart it to the church, so they can become Apostolic Witnesses. Those who have received and drunk of the witness of Jesus from the Apostles, now carrying that same witness, that same impartation from Glory to Glory, to move in the same patience, the same signs, the same wonders, the same mighty deeds! The same empowerment. See, Apostles are empowering you to become His witnesses on the earth, just as they are. Apostles activate the power in the bellies of the church. Just as the chief Apostle empowered the apostles. The Apostles are empowering and equipping the church to become the same type of witnesses. See, we need to get into the womb of an Apostle so that we can be empowered to be witnesses of Jesus Christ. I want to witness Jesus in my life; you want to witness Jesus in your life. Not just witness about Jesus, but be a witness of Jesus. Not just in Spirit, but in power and demonstration of that Spirit. Not just a voice but signs and wonders confirming the words that The Voice speaks!
This is how you know you're submitted to a true apostle - you began to do the same mighty deeds as them and walk in the same power as them. The Apostle and these fivefold giftings are not about being greater than anybody. They are actually making you and whoever submits to this government into something greater than themselves, as they themselves press forth to the same mark of the High Calling, which is what? The Full Stature and Measure of Christ, which is The Manifestation of The Sons and Daughters of God that the world is waiting for!
By Joe Pinto
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