Apostolic And Prophetic Reality

I believe a significant transition is underway in Christendom. I see a growing frustration among many believers, a restlessness and dissatisfaction mistaken for some sort of “hunger for God”. I see that a vacuum, a place reserved for the Jesus of Scripture, being “filled” with a pursuit of mystical experiences, angelic “visitations”, “throne room encounters”, “anointings”, new and never before revealed understandings of Scripture, “end time revival” etc., etc. Combine this with “apostolic” and “prophetic” ministries that promise His presence, purpose and power in meeting after meeting, and the pursuit for “more” becomes addictive. Ironically, as the chase intensifies, the unrest and disatisfaction seem to escalate. II Timothy 4:3,4 says of this that, “The time is coming when people will not endure sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will heap upon themselves one teacher after another to foster the errors that they hold. And will turn aside from hearing the truth and wander off into myths and man-made fictions”. 

I believe (hopefully without sounding too paranoid) that forces are at work to direct people away from the Person of Jesus Christ, the sure foundation, the only One who can bring fulfillment . No wonder Paul wrote, “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness, your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity of pure devotion that is toward Christ”. I think what may be happening includes a kind of “disembodying” of Jesus where knowledge of God comes primarily through a series of unmediated encounters with a spiritualized, other wordly “Christ”. Yet, as we know, Jesus come in the flesh is God’s revelation of Himself and through the written Word of God we see Him as He is in truth. However, it seems there is a new mystical empirical seeking to become the new spiritual, trumping the Word of God.  

At the same time, there has been a rapid expansion and growing fascination with the two words “apostolic” and “prophetic”. Could it be, at least in part, that this pursuit of the ethereal, mystical and esoteric is enhanced for want of a  better understanding of these two terms? I by no means have some kind of superior grasp on this issue but rather I’m stretching myself and reaching for a greater apprehension of it. After all, Paul tells us that the church “is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself the Chief corner stone”. However, without the genuine, you get the facsimile; that which diverts us from the very Cornerstone it claims to represent. The superstructure cannot exceed the foundation and therefore the foundation, Jesus Christ, deserves the most exceeding attention. Paul warned that as builders, “each one should be careful how he builds”. That “no one can lay any other foundation than that which is ALREADY laid, which is Jesus Christ”. There is no “new” foundation.

 John the baptist came as “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight”. A prophetic voice in a wilderness of legalism, hyper-spirituality and hollow, pseudo “voices”. He “prepared the way” by removing the debris of religion and gnosticism in order to get a clear view of Jesus. He said, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”. Here was a man who was not part of the religious carnival, performed no miracles, yet was able to turn hearts, bring radical change and influence an entire nation. “There came a man sent from God, whose name was John.” (John 1:6). We see here the union between the prophetic and apostolic; one sent with a prophetic burden. What if foundational builders are not the preeminent ones of platforms and mega ministries but simply those sent by God with a prophetic voice calling us back to Jesus? That is, those proclaiming the Gospel of grace in a time where it has been forsaken for the “deep things of God”. This might not line up with current day understanding of the apostolic or prophetic anymore than John did in his day. Maybe John shows us that the definition of who is foundational is not equivalent to personal ministry accomplishments or a certain style and external achievement; that it’s not about the gift they are but about the gift of God they point to; Jesus Christ.

In this age of deception, foundational servants of the Lord are simply declaring (like Paul) that though there are those who demand signs or deeper revelation to fufill their needs and prove that God is real, “We preach Christ crucified, which to the Jews is a stumbling block and to the Gentiles utter nonsense. But to those who are called, whether Jew or Greek Christ is the Power of God and the Wisdom of God“.